Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hello]

I've hear that Gangnam has its own program or organization and you don't go through SMOE to work for them.

A few months ago, I read somewhere they were thinking of not providing housing anymore to anyone working in Gangnam but give some housing allowance instead.

Is the above all true?

Are there any other big differences from SMOE, EPIK, GEPIK andf the like?

I'm thinking about not signing again with my school in Gyeonggi-do. I live in Seoul and I have my own accomodation, so commuting to go to Gangnam (I'm a bit far) since I already have to commute to go to work out of Seoul wouldn't make much of a difference.

[teacherman1234]

Its pretty similar, we work 8.40 - 4.40. I think the main differences from SMOE are we get 6 weeks vacation instead of 4, pay starting at 2.5 and a housing allowance of 0.9.
In terms of teaching i dont know about other areas of Seoul but they are fairly well behaved and motivated with a high level of English ( the set curriculum is way to easy for most of them)
Hope that helps

[pingoo]

so when does gangnam district actually hire? and do they only hire experienced teachers?

i have some friends who work for gangnam district and they gave me an email address to send my information. I have no heard back. so now i'm curious whether i'm getting slighted or if my timing was off.

[sesyeux]

gangnam seems to be a holy grail

[teacherman1234]

yer, they only just got through finding out which teacher s are staying and leaving for next semester in September. I wouldnt worry if you havent heard back yet. You will probably here back in the next month or so.
As far as only hiring certified teachers i dont think thats the case although it may have changed with more people now applying for less positions. In general most teachers i think have at least a celta and a few years experience. Alot are teachers back home as well. It never hurts to apply but i wouldnt hold out hope unless you have one or the other or preferably both qualifications. Good luck, it is a good job if you can get it.

[Sody]

Don't be fooled by Korean perception. Koreans love to say Seoul is better than this place, or this area is better than that area or blah, blah, blah. In Korea it's all about "one upping" the next guy and Gangnam is no different. They even have a bunch of foreign teachers believing that Gangnam schools are better. They are not. I taught for GEPIK, a hagwon and Gangnam and it wasn't really that different at all. I got better pay in Gangnam, but arguably it wasn't noticable because you also pay more for everyday things and in order to be hired they look for teachers with more experience. So if you have more experience it stands to reason that you should be paid more. But that in no way implies the students are better, or the school is better. I've been to many different cities and I think Seoul is the worst city I have ever seen. Depressed, repressed and miserable are the three words I would use to describe that city.

When I worked for Gangnam there was no housing allowance. They paid for your officetel, not sure what it's like now though.

[teacherman1234]

I dont think anyone thinks Gangnam schools are better than other public schools. But they are better funded i think. For example all the schools have at least 2 native English teachers so you can concentrate on teaching two grades a few times week. This makes it alot easier to get to know your students personally, its a nice feeling to be able to call people by name alot more than when you have to teach 700 or so students once a week.
I dont know what pay is like in GEPIK but i assume you get about 2.3, so you are probably right in that the higher cost eats into your pay check if you live in gangnam. If you live somewhere cheaper like Itaewon and pay 0.4-0.6M for your housing you can save alot of your 0.9M allowance so that makes a big difference i think as well.

[Some of the Mothers Said]

[Hello]

Thank you for the answers and here are a few more questions to help me compare.

How big are classes in Gangnam? Does it vary a lot from one school to another?

What I like about my little school out of Seoul is that my classes have about 20 students each. I hear people in Seoul get something like 40 or even more students per class. Is that the case in Gangnam or does it really depend on the school?

What grades do you teach in Gangnam?

I teach all grades, from 1st to 6th, but some schools nearby start English in 3rd grade.

Do you teach teachers and/or parents? Do you have to teach anything else than the regular English classes. How many hours is your work week? Are you asked or do you have to teach overtime a lot/ regularly?

I used to teach teachers once a week, but that was cancelled last year. Teachers were usually too busy to come and I got free time half the time. However, soon I'll have to teach parents once a week. I also have to teach some kind of afterschool classes.

For the next question, you may PM me if you prefer to answer that way. Is it possible to leave early? Let's say one afternoon you have no classes scheduled, are there schools which allow their teachers to leave before 4:40?

[Some of the Mothers Said]

Thank you for the answers and here are a few more questions to help me compare.

1) How big are classes in Gangnam?
Depends on the school.

2) What grades do you teach in Gangnam?
Depends on what the school wants you to teach.

3) Do you teach teachers and/or parents?
I don't, some do.

4) Do you have to teach anything else than the regular English classes.
I don't, some do.

5) How many hours is your work week?
Contract is set at 24 classes a week. Some teach that, others don't.

6) Are you asked or do you have to teach overtime a lot/ regularly?
Some are.

7) Is it possible to leave early?
Probably not.

If you like the school where you are, stay.

[Hello]

[byrddogs]

It's just a place, like others have mentioned. I taught in Apgujeong for 3 years and the admin was shocked when I decided to move on. It isn't more special by any stretch. I wouldn't trade my days here for there any day of the week. To each your own, though.

[Some of the Mothers Said]