Comments on: Teach English in Korea: What It’s Like to Work at a Hagwon

By: Alex Fernandez

Alex Fernandez — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:10:46 +0000

I’m from California and looking to teach at a Hagwon. I need help finding a good place to work. Can you refer me to where you used to work or do you have any contacts that I could speak to like friends that can tell me how there schools were?

Feel free to email me, I’m looking and don’t have much help.
[email protected]

By: Amanda Slavinsky

Amanda Slavinsky — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:21:38 +0000

A boss will really make or break the job in Korea. Some of these people seem to have the most unrealistic expectations and only care about making money. I’m glad you guys lucked out with a really great boss! Thanks for the comment.

By: Amanda Slavinsky

Amanda Slavinsky — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:20:38 +0000

Overall, I’ve had a wonderful experience teaching in Korea. You can’t beat the money and with some research you can usually land a pretty decent gig.

By: Amanda Slavinsky

Amanda Slavinsky — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:18:45 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Whitney! I agree, my hagwon experience was less than ideal, but I do have a lot of great memories. Research is key and talking to a foreign teacher is key. I didn’t do the second…and yeah…

By: Amanda Slavinsky

Amanda Slavinsky — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:17:43 +0000

Thank you so much! And thanks for the link

By: Our Dear Lady Expatriate

Our Dear Lady Expatriate — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 07:40:48 +0000

Wow – I really wish that I’d had your excellent series before I’d moved to Korea a few years back. At least I have it now to refer people to whenever they ask questions. Seriously, Amanda – you’ve done a phenomenal job!
I definitely wanted to alert my current readers to it, just in case Korea was something they happen to be considering, so I included it in my Loveliest Links post for the week.
http://ourdearladyexpatriate.blogspot.com/2012/12/loveliest-links-december-24th-edition.html
Happy Holidays!

By: Whitney

Whitney — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 06:45:08 +0000

I think this is such a fair assessment of hagwons. It is SO HARD for me to say anything good about them because the one year I spent working in one was absolute hell. This post actually made me stop and think about the positives of that first year. Deep down I do have good memories of sweet little kindy kids, building real relationships with all students, and small class sizes. My advice to anyone wanting to work in a hagwon is to do the research, talk to a current foreign teacher, and now, read this post! ^^

By: Aryn

Aryn — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:02:55 +0000

Wow, this was so thorough! While teaching English in China I met some girls who had just finished up jobs teaching English in Korea. They made it sound like a dream land!

Aryn
Driftwood and Daydreams

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:07:23 +0000

Great post about hagwon jobs! Especially the part about hagwons being a great transition for someone with little/no teaching experience.

My husband and I are currently working our second year at the same chain hagwon (JLS). One of the main differences between our hagwon experience and that of our friends (who aren’t as happy) is our boss. Because our job, housing, and transportation (to Korea) are dealt with by the school, we are reliant on our boss to help us with so many aspects of our life here. Our boss is SUPER kind, understanding, and encouraging. I’d say that is one of the first things we will look for in our next hagwon job (if we decide to stay in Korea)… What is the boss like? This can make-it or break-it for a lot of teachers when deciding to renew their contracts.

Kids are generally going to be the same most places you teach, but the adults can vary In our case, we are the only foreigners all our co-workers are Koreans who speak English (or gyeopos), so we get the best of both worlds: working in a true Korean environment, and everyone speaks English!