Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MollyBloom]

Looking for one in Seoul. I know a lot of universities have them, but I'm wondering if there are academies that are worth going to as well. What are the prices like?

[Tippecanoe]

I happen to go to a Korean academy called Hana Republic. They have three or four locations in Seoul. I really am impressed with them so far because of a few reasons:

1) I have been going there for only 1 month and have made significant progress.

2) They have a pretty good schedule for people including night and day classes depending on enrollment and the location.

3) Signing up is pretty easy.

4) They have a very good systematic teaching method that I feel works well.

5) They are about as much as any university course with a little bit more flexibility as it is a month by month payment.

6) I had to leave a little early to catch the bus every class and they were pretty flexible with me on that.

The downside is that it is pretty intense and you will be in class 3 hours a day for 4 days a week. It will cost you about 350,000 won a month for the class which isn't that cheap but I feel like it is a good value. I have listed the link below.

http://krlanguage.cafe24.com/gnuboard4/bbs/main_e.php


Let me know if this has been helpful. Best of luck to you.

[Slowmotion]

http://www.seoul-kla.com/

I've went here for the weekend classes. I thought it was pretty good. I've also went to university programs before I started working here which I liked better (SNU)

[happiness]

just saying here if any in in Busan wants a great school, KLIFF is the best. Fantastic teachers and great textbooks. Just saying.

now back to your thread...

[naturegirl321]

Yonsei is supposed to be good. The Migrant centers have decent ones, pretty cheap as well, think about 30,000 for a semester. Two hours, once a week.

[Slowmotion]

I think most people on here tend to say Yonsei is terrible. Sogang seems to be really popular on here.

[naturegirl321]

Really? I heard they were one of the best. Yonsei is bad?

[shadrach]

Yonsei and Edae are good but focus more on writing. I completed level 1 at Sogang and improved remarkably. Sogang focuses more on speaking. A bit expensive, but definitely worth it if you really want to learn.

[NilesQ]

Unfair to call Yonsei terrible. It's designed to teach academic reading and writing to foreigners who want to attend the university. All of the serious Korean programs at universities are the first step for foreign students seeking to enroll in undergrad programs there.

Sogang seems to be one of the newer types that teaches daily conversational style Korean for daily living. It seeks to make you a Korean speaker while the others focus on preparing you for academic language also.

One is not better than the other. However, one can be more suited to your goals than the other. Never hurts to learn the more formal way. You pick up the daily stuff on your own anyway. You don't just pick up the formal stuff. That has to be studied.

[sparklypink]

From my personal experiences + friends experiences:

Sogang is more speaking-oriented & is quite popular nowadays.

I did Yonsei's KLI Fall 2009 & it was pretty much like going to school full time. 9AM - 1PM with 10-min breaks at every hour. You go in, read the dialogue, learn 5 new vocab words in the dialogue, learn 2 grammar points, practice speaking with new grammar, then do reading comprehension class, then the last hour is writing & speaking activities.

It is very fast-paced & I was quite overwhelmed most of the time. You go through a chapter per week & your grade is determined by a midterm & final.

I guess Yonsei is great if you want to focus on everything - writing, reading, speaking. But for speaking, I'd recommend Sogang or 가나다 hagwon in Hongdae.

[ThingsComeAround]

I've been to three academies:

Easy Korean Academy located in Apgujeong.
LMC located in Ilsan
Metro Korean Academy located in Gwanghwamun

First off, how far are you willing to travel? That factors heavily in whether or not you can learn comfortably. I liked EKA, however I live in Ilsan and didn't see the point of travelling 1.5-2 hours each way on Saturday. LMC was a total disaster, the manager tried to screw with me, telling me I needed to pay for extra classes to keep up with the class. It was rude, especially after she practically begged me to pay in advance for the next month. Metro is a happy medium for me, as it is one hour from my home and the school is honest. I'd recommend EKA or Metro- if your interest is picking up conversation quickly.

I had friends go to Yonsei, they weren't interested in learning 100 new words and conjugating verbs on paper each week. That, and the class itself is on the other end of campus- far, far from the bus stop/subway station.