What to ask before you go to teach in Korea...

[abundantmind]

First of all, there are two kinds of "schools" in Korea. One is a real school (and can legally be called a School), and the other is what they call the Academy or Institute. You want to teach in the former. The latter is much more difficult.

In my Academy, I teach 5 and 7 year olds. In Korea, a 5 year old can be 3, according to the American age system. A 7 year old Korean may be ready for Kindergarten, but s/he is certainly not ready for 2nd grade (unless s/he is gifted).

In a School, you might see 10-40 students in a class, with each student in a "desk". In the academy, you will be lucky if each student has a book.

Basically, the Academy is an older cousin of "daycare". It is to be avoided, if at all possible. Trust me.

At my Academy, I teach 7yr olds (5yr olds), then 5yr olds (3-4 yr olds), and then we move on to ages where the students understand such phrases as "F*** You", and they use them often. But a co-worker has told me that not all schools in Korea are this bad.

Just pray that you get one of the others...because this one is really, really (chin-cha) bad!!!

Best of luck