Here’s the latest list I’ve been able to compile:
Chung Dahm Institute
CDI in Busan http://cdibusan.com
http://eslplacementkorea.com (Busan branches)
http://teachinkorea.com (Seoul + other city branches)
Oh Sung Sik English Club
http://www.ossclub.com/
JungChul
http://edu.jungchul.com/
BCM Language Centers
http://www.bcm.co.kr/
YBM ECC
http://www.ybmecc.com/ Read More »
Originally published here: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ 2007.11.15
PAJU, Gyeonggi Province – Gyeonggi English Village is a mega-project with a question mark. The question is whether or not the millions of dollars spent on the development are paying off by improving the language skills of students or motivating them to study English.
Laid out on a tract of land an hour’s drive north of Seoul, the language theme park boasts some top-notch facilities and impressive architecture designed to transport visitors to an idealistic Western hamlet. Its main street is dotted with many of the conveniences you would find in a regular English town: restaurants, a pub, bakery, coffee shop, bookstore, library, theater, concert hall, exhibition center, and a city hall. Visitors do not just enter, they immigrate to a land where English is the official language and they are encouraged to use it to conduct their daily activities. Read More »
Original: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707030018.html
Seoul Metropolitan Police arrested two Canadians for working as English instructors with a fake bachelor’s degree and booked seven other foreigners and Koreans either on the same charge or for employing them. To work as an English instructor, foreigners have to get an E-2 visa permitting them to teach English in Korea. The visa is granted to applicants who have either a BA from universities in English-speaking countries or an English-language diploma from universities in non-English speaking countries.
Of the arrested Canadians, one studied only at an adult education center affiliated with a college after finishing high school. While working part-time in a fast food restaurant in Canada, he bought a fake U.S. bachelor’s diploma for US$300 on a U.S. website in August 2003. He came to Korea at the end of that year and started working as an English instructor for a private language institute in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The other graduated from a Canadian junior college and then worked in a factory. He came to Korea on a tourist visa in 2001 and paid US$500 to a Korean broker to buy a fake Canadian bachelor’s diploma in August that year. He worked as an English instructor at a language institute in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province since January 2004.
Meanwhile, police have arrested an Australian English instructor who made headlines last month by telling his Korean ex-girlfriend he was infected with the AIDS virus when she broke up with him.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
Black, White, Gray…I’ve even heard of Green lists…I suppose this last color is to represent “green” as in “go” — meaning the English Academy is probably worth working at. Well, I’ve worked at 7 different Academies over a span of 9 years. I have a decent grasp of what to watch out for and also what is realistic when you work in South Korea. Thus, today’s posting on what these “lists” serve you as a prospective instructor or a teacher who is looking to switch out of a situation you’re currently in. Read More »
Well, before 1996, I probably couldn’t answer this question.
However, 11 years later, 3 years working in 7 of these “hagwons” and managing in 5 of the 7, I’m feeling like I can now comfortably tell the virtual world what one is. I’ll get a little assistance from my online brethren as well.
First, let’s start with what is becoming the authority in information online, Wikipedia, which says a hagwon is “a private cram school prevalent in South Korea. For families that can afford it, hagwon education usually starts at or before elementary level. It is common for Korean school-children to attend one or more hagwons after their elementary school-day.” These cram schools are prevalent in Asia. Japan, mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong in addition to South Korea have many of these types of academies for students. India, England and Wales, Turkey and even the United States have been known as well to market these to parents so their kids can potentially supplement their daily schooling with these extra classes.
Hagwon | English Academies in Korea | Cram Schools 