Korean Job Discussion Forums

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I'm pondering taking some time to study Korean and get a student visa next year.

Any suggestions from anyone who has done this. Where did you live? How much did it cost? I hear you can work legally on the side -- true?

I'm not quick at picking up Korean, but I've been here a while and have picked up a lot of basics. Not sure if I should go for the "full immersion" plan -- 4+ hours of class per day, or not.

I tried studying twice at a hagwon in Kangnam, but only lasted a month each time because it just started moving too fast. And the Japanese students ran circles around me. Most all of the other non-asians dropped like flies, too, except one guy.

Just decided that if I want to do anything that makes money here, I'll have to learn Korean (at least it will help my future chances more than an MA, anyway).

Any advice about schools, cost, etc., would be helpful.

Any programs starting next March?

Cedar · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject:

Derreck,

Yonsei FLI offers two programs: one for the Japanese and others who learn Korean easily, and one for the rest. The program for the rest is 8 levels long, but the 8th level is supposed to be no argument from anyone totally fluent.

It's not legal to work when you are on a student visa for the first six months.

Yonsei FLI and a couple other Uni programs are the only ones that offer visa sponsorship for students, but you have to go to their more intensive classes to get sponsored.

There are some hagwons that offer low hours and low pay but visa sponsorship and you can study while still working a little.

All the uni programs have classes starting in late March or early April.

Seoul is expensive to live in, if you aren't working, your money will go faster than you think. You can find a little tiny room for 200 or so per month, but the odds are with utilities, it'll get to be far more. Homestay is an option-- but then where do you go with your girlfriend?

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

I was wondering about Ewha. Kind of got turned off on Yonsei, based on what Polychronice (or somebody) said about cocky students.

There is also a place here in Bundang, and my co-worker gave the the site: www.aks.ac.kr and phone #: 82)031-709-8111 ext. 213, but I didn't have time to look into it yet.

mithridates · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:43 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure about any of the programs myself but here's what somebody wrote on the Korea Wiki:

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

taobenli · Joined: 26 Apr 2004

Mashimaro, you seem rather bitter recently...did something trigger it or just having a bad spell?

The Korea govt. is not the only one to not allow people to work on student visas. The U.S. does this, too, as do many other countries. That's what working visas are for...

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

It makes sense to me. They want all of the control possible, and letting us work while on a student visa will put too much control in our hands.

chance2005 · Joined: 03 Apr 2005

Sucker · Joined: 11 Feb 2003

If they allowed people to work part-time on a student visa for hagwans, they would have a flood of people applying to study at various hakwons and then most of these "students" would enter the illegal labor market (construction, factory work, etc). This exact thing happened in Japan and they don't want it to happen here.

I guess they frrl that those applying to study at a university are more legit. Also, if you skip out on your classes, at a university, then your student visa is revoked, whereas a hogon (possibly) would be more interested in receiving your enrollment fee and not care about your attendance.

thekingofdisco · Joined: 29 Oct 2004

If you have an f4 visa.... can you work without any problems while at a university language program?

mithridates · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:00 pm Post subject:

Mashimaro's right. Japan lets its students work part-time on student visas. Korea's just starting to get up into the expensive country category and there really isn't any way for the average student to live here and pay for their tuition. It's either all or nothing.
Korea's always done sweet fa for Korean language teaching. In Japan just about every small city in the country has a cultural centre where volunteer teachers teach the language for free on the weekends. Here there's that university, and maybe a few other places. Definately nothing out in the countryside.

It stems from two basic problems:
"Korean is too difficult for others to learn"
and
"Why would anybody want to learn Korean anyway?"

It's a bad combination of superiority and inferiority complex that doesn't help them any.

Universalis · Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Seoul

mithridates · Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject:

Universalis:

They's not my comments, but rather a review someone has written on the Wiki. If you feel that something there needs to be edited feel free to do so:

http://korea.wikicities.com/wiki/Korean_language_learning_institutes

Go there, click edit, type in whatever you want, and click save.

I've never studied at any of the places myself so I haven't written any of the content there. I have no idea how they're run.

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

YBM sucks.... the comment on the wiki is spot on. I went to YBM in December/January this year and also for 2 months three years ago. The classes are boring and the teachers are mediocre at best.