Last night my daughter was rummaging through one of her book collections. From a very early age she was intrigued by books, and in order to encourage that we ordered quite a few different sets for her. Some are Korean, some are English.
Obviously, I have no idea what the Korean books are. I have never looked at them unless she brings one over to me to read for her. They are, for the most part, the wife’s territory.
Last night, baby was rummaging through her books, when one of them caught my eye. The first thing I noticed was actually the title. 응아, as far as I know, means shit. Not shit as in bad. Shit as in the stuff that comes Mr. Whippy-like out of your arse.
쉬? That’s piss. Now… I’m sure there are probably other, more innocent meanings for these words but I thought it had to be more than a coincidence for them to be together like that. Surely my wife is not reading a book called “Shit Shit! Piss Piss!” to the baby? I picked it up. One glance at the front cover told me all I need to know.
So we have a girl and her teddy bear, both on the shitter. What do we see on the back?
Well we have a dog, pissing on the loo seat, and the happiest little turd I ever saw. Obviously this is a book that needed further investigating (and translating into Scouse)!
This is a debate that has been raging for some time, and it seems that Public Schools are fallen. Foreign/er Joy has recently given some advice on the matter and, following some I figured it would be fun for me to tell MY story… but before I do that… I thought I would throw up a video that was passed along by Rob, the guy who does the awesome Korean classes I am taking.
That’s a great fucking job, right? 6 weeks vacation? Just 6 hours a day? 2.5m? Seriously… if I was a single bloke, I would! I would much rather live there than Seoul (but I digress). The ad is for the school that Rob is part-owner of, and if you think it’s a job for you, click here.
I have worked both public and private schools, making the switch at around the 15 month mark. Here is a quick rundown of my experience…
Public School
My first 6 months at my public school in Uijeongbu went pretty smoothly. The Principal was a nice enough guy, and I had an awesome co-teacher who (unknown to me at the time) was planning to go and study for 2 years in the USA. She had asked to be my assistant, and she fought tooth and nail for me. I didn’t really appreciate how much she did behind the scenes until after she left.
My only ‘incident’ in the first few months was a corrupt Vice-Principal who decided to try and steal from me. She drove myself and a Korean teacher to an open day in Paju. The next day, she demanded 100,000 won from the teacher and I for her fuel expenses. I told her to get fucked, and all hell broke loose. The other teacher handed over her white envelope, so I was considered unreasonable. My awesome co-teacher took the matter to the Principal who apologised to me, and made the issue go away. Still… I pissed off the VP, so things were pretty tense for the rest of the year.
As a teacher, I sucked. Seriously. I had to meet with classes of 40 students, and I saw grades 1 and 2 once a fortnight, with occasional grade 3 classes. There were English teachers at the school I never met in the first 11 months, because I never had classes with them. My classes were simply “read from the book” classes, and whenever I tried to add anything to them I was told “No… just read from the book”. Boring!
Just before summer camp, I was informed that I had to submit 20 lesson plans. It was a Thursday. The plans were needed for that afternoon. When I pointed out (to the awesome co-teacher) that this was impossible, she agreed. She told me because the VP had told her to, and once I laughed it off she went to bat on my behalf. Still… I had to do them for Monday. Guess how good those 20 classes were?
I worked a few additional classes that first half a year. As is customary in the Public Schools, you work a session of 10 weeks, then you get paid. The VP had decided to set the fee as (Mikes hourly salary) / 16 students per class, and then signed up the students. A few of the students dropped out, and a lot more simply didn’t pay. Apparently, I was supposed to say goodbye to that money (it totalled around 30% of what I should have had). I went apeshit and demanded the names of the parents who didn’t pay, saying I would go collect the money myself. The school refused to give me the names and addresses as it would embarrass them Eventually, my awesome co-teacher did the collections work herself, against the wishes of the VP. I didn’t get it all, but I did get most of it, and made it clear I would not be working additional classes for them again.
After the awesome co-teacher left, I got lumbered with a young, fresh graduate. Things went downhill pretty fast. Last minute cancellations became the norm. My summertime experience (summer camp in the morning then go home) changed for the worse (winter camp then sit in cold school for 4 more hours).
The principal expressed an interest in renewing my contract. Out of sheer laziness (I was planning a wedding at the time), I agreed. The VP then called for an assessment. The same VP who hated me. The Korean teachers assessed me, (this included the ones I had never met) and had to explain themselves to the VP. Needless to say, I got a bad assessment. I was pissed (it was them who told me to just read from the book), and I knew I had improved as a teacher. I had the co-teachers I was close to apologise afterwards. The VP had let it be known beforehand that she thought I was a bad teacher and my evaluations had to reflect that.
When I put in a request for my contract-mandated honeymoon vacation, I was told no. I had to be married. Of course, I was going to get married. I wanted to have the week after my wedding as honeymoon. Nope. Get married, submit your wedding certificate, and it will be approved in 2 weeks.
After my wedding it got worse. I had signed a new contract. The school then informed me that they would not be providing us with married persons accomodation. We had agreed to wait until the end of the year before they had to find us a place, but now they said they were putting us in a 1 room. With a baby on the way. We put down our own key money and found a place. Although I had signed a new contract at this stage, it was the beginning of the end for me. All of the shit I had put up with before was just that… shit… but now they were pissing me off!
When I returned from my UK trip, I was introduced to the new VP who insisted that I work flexible hours.. starting very early some days and finishing very late on others. This is because he wanted to charge for morning and afternoon classes and avoid paying me. When I told them I would start early, or I would finish late, but I wanted the same start time every day as I wanted to maintain some stability in my working hours. They offered me more money, and I said no. Fool me once…
My airfare for the return flight to the UK (part of the contract renewal deal that is standard with Public Schools) did not arrive within 14 days. In fact, payday (25 days) came and went without me seeing the funds. The school told me that they had the money (the GEPIK funds had arrived), and they were dealing with it. I was relying on this money to buy some much needed items for the home. When the money was 1 month late, I started kicking up a stink. I was told that I “have had enough money this month” and so I would have to wait.
The school offered me a contract amendment to sign. Not only did this amendment insist that I do extra classes, but they also wanted me to work “an average of 22 classes per week throughout the semester”. This, as it was explained, was to cover things such as vacations, teachers not showing up to class, and those times when they cancelled all of my classes to prepare for exams. They wanted to increase my teaching hours to 30+, to cover these times. I called the GEPIK co-ordinator, who called my young co-teacher and made her cry. That problem went away.
I had a sick day around this time. Some pretty nasty Asthma was brought on my the cold air of Dongducheon, and I was in bed from Sunday until Monday (when the local hospitals were open). I messaged the school with an explanation (I could not speak) and then had my wife call them. A few minutes after the call, somebody else called my wife and hurled abuse at her for not making me go to school. Seriously. I mean abuse. I took the phone from her and hung up as I could hear the yelling.
I handed a nasty complaint letter to the school the next day. They countered with another contract amendment, stating that I would not be sick again. When I laughed at them, they said I need to be more Korean now that I am married. This day, 8 weeks into my second year, I resigned. When I resigned, they said they would have me deported. I was lucky. I had a nice shiny F-2 visa that I took particular glee in explaining to them. My co-teacher made an appointment for me at Immigration to cancel the F-2 visa and revert back to an E-2. I cancelled the appointment for her on two occasions before I had my wife call Immigration, and she had Immigration call the school and tell them to shut up!
The timing was awesome – my daughter was born in the last week of my notice period, so I did get to take some paternity leave.
Fuck em! I will never work in a Public School again!
Private Schools
Since I left Public School, I have completed a single full year contract, am working through another 2 year contract, and I have done freelance work for 3 other private schools.
My first boss was awesome. My salary increased by 400,000 each month, and I did not have to be at school if there were no classes. As it was a new school, there were few classes at first, so I had a lot of time at home with my new daughter. I was never paid late, and there was absolutely no bullshit for the entire year. When my wife got sick and had to go into hospital he gave me a week off with 2 hours notice, and didn’t utter a single complaint.
I saw my kids EVERY DAY. I saw progress. This encouraged me to start a M.Ed. degree, and my professional development was encouraged. The boss allowed me to experiment, and to teach however I wanted to teach. I would still be there had we not decided to move to Seoul.
After we moved, I went about securing a fantastic job. I spent weeks interviewing, and eventually got the job that I had wanted since I first saw it. It’s a strange job though – I am more like a freelancer, working at different schools (though all for the same company). It’s hard to compare it to a regular job, but I have never received late pay, and have been treated very well. I expect to stay here for a while.
Once I secured that job, I had 2 months of freedom, so I signed up for some summer camp work at different academies. I was always paid on time. I only asked for a contract from one of them, and the other I worked without a contract. I was paid in full, and on time, on the date agreed.
And now… my regular job gives me Mondays free, so I work at a small academy in Goyang (without a contract) as their only foreign teacher. Again, I have never been paid late.
By my reckoning, that is 4:1 to the evil hagwons.
Typically, a hagwon will give less vacation, and you will teach more. If these things are important, go with a PS or secure a great hagwon gig like the one in the video above. If you want high salary and less hours at work, go with a hagwon. First timers may benefit from having a chain of command to follow. This certainly helped me overcome my problems. Outside of that first year? I would say hagwon all the way!
It is a common misconception that those of us married to Koreans have an ‘on-tap’ Korean language tutor, and that our language abilities should be much better than people who do not have such ready access to a Korean to assist. My F-pat friends and I know that this is not always the case. Before I met my wife I studied Korean out of necessity. After I met her, the necessity disappeared. Rather than having access to a tutor, I found that I had access to a translator. This is MUCH more convenient! Or is it?
Sure, I can get pretty much anything I want in Korea. If I need a new bank account, my wife speeds up the process. If I want to get insurance, my wife gets it for me. When I needed business cards printed up, the wife came along for the ride. When I had to go and give evidence at the Police station, my wife ensured that there was no ambiguity when my words were translated from English to Korean.
I did try to study more, but my wife is not a teacher. If I am honest, I don’t want her to be my teacher, in much the same way I don’t want to be her teacher. I have a great set of Textbooks (Integrated Korean – Google it), but sometimes I need access to a teacher who can explain why things happen to be the way they are. Once the baby came along, my wife had less time to help out. This caused me to cut back to the point where I was only learning what I needed to survive alone. Important stuff could wait!
There has always been a little resentment in the family when it comes to my language abilities. Whilst the grandmother and the father-in-law accepted my poor language abilities 2 years ago, they are less comfortable doing so now. My wife’s sister has commented that it would be easier for me to learn Korean than it would be for all of them to learn English – and that is a pretty good argument. The father-in-law is most distressed, because he has a son-in-law that he can not properly communicate with. These people all want a relationship with me, and the language barrier is huge.
Now, my daughter is really starting to talk. She speaks a few words of English and can understand what I say to her, but her vocabulary is 75% Korean. She is starting to form her first sentences, and these are also in Korean. It’s about time I get off my arse and start to study the language properly.
I am a firm believer in L2 grammar being taught in L1. It cuts down on any confusion, especially during the early stages of language acquisition. So… I went looking for places to study. There are just a few options for studying in a traditional environment:
Language exchange: This could be good if it wasn’t for the fact that too many ‘tutors’ are really just looking for free English lessons, and they are not usually qualified to teach.
University: Many of the Korean Universities offer a program that is 3 hours per day, 5 days a week. This is expensive, though the cost per hour is pretty cheap.
Hagwons: There are a few hagwons offering classes. These usually cost a little more per hour than the University classes, but the reduced hours (usually 1 or 2 per day) does make the outlay significantly less each month.
At first I decided upon a University course. The wife agrees that it is a good investment, and she says that every fluent Korean speaking foreigner she has met has studied at Yonsei. The problem is, the 3 hour classes, and the location of the University, means that I would have real trouble making it to work each day. The same is true of all other Universities in Seoul, as they all offer similar deals, with similar times. My regular job has me travel a lot, and I need to be at different places in Seoul each afternoon. I also have an extra job in Goyang that I need to be at for 2pm on Monday. The Universities are out.
I then looked at Hagwons, and found 3 which offered classes:
Seoul KLA, with campuses in Gangnam and Jongro, offer classes from 10-11:50 daily (370K/month), though I have it on good authority that their books are pretty bad. (They actually offer a range of packages, included afternoons, evenings, or saturday intensives).
Metro Korea Academy near city hall offer a range of classes at slightly lower rates: 5 days from 10-11:50 costs 350K, or there are 3 days (M/W/F) for 230K. (Again, check the site for other options, as they also offer a range of classes that do not interest me).
YBM offer a full range of courses at Jongro, and their 9-10:50 classes would suit me (or perhaps the 10-12:50). They use the Konguk and Yonsei University textbooks (a good thing) and the tuition for 2 class hours/day is just 226K/month. Bargain!
I had heard decent things about YBM, and I was going to sign up, but then my employers presented me with an opportunity to be involved in the writing of textbooks for a new home-study course. I would be spending some time at head-office, and breakfast meetings are pretty much the norm in any deadline driven environment. I could have said no, but figuring this was a great opportunity to get involved with an aspect of EFL I had never experienced, the hagwon idea had to be shelved.
My wife was pretty pleased about this. Whilst she has a lot of respect for the Yonsei University program, she does not think a hagwon will be as useful. She learned English through a combination of self-study and having to deal with schools in the US/Canada as part of her (pre-marriage) job placing students overseas. She thinks I would do much better studying a little each day and then getting out and using what I have learned. She is probably right…
I went back to the drawing board. It looks like I was going to be stuck with textbooks and the internet. I needed a plan!
I went back over the Sogang program, but I found I needed more instruction. I looked at KoreanClass101.com and whilst I was impressed with the amount of content, I found the site difficult to navigate. I thought it was too ‘busy’ and not easy to dip into, and that they were trying to throw together content you could memorise without any real structure (much like the PS English program in Korea).
I had also read somewhere (and I can’t remember where) about learnkoreanonline. I remembered that it was a site run by an expat in Korea, and after digging around, I realised it was somebody I had met a few years earlier and I was about to see him again at a mutual friends birthday party. His name is Rob, and he is one of those ‘all-round good guys!’
I signed up for the 4 hours of free videos that he offers for new learners of Korean, just to get a feel for the classes. His site is pretty simple: you get emailed a handout, you print it, and you watch videos of him teaching a live class at his school in Korea. The other students ask the questions you probably would, and he will answer any questions you post on his site, often by creating a video response.
After having the site checked our by the wife (who commended his Korean skills) and a foreigner friend who studied at Yonsei many years ago (who said he was the first foreigner he had seen teach Korean without making an arse of himself) I signed up. I used the wife’s details, so that he would not know it was me, and I am currently waiting on lesson 10. So that people are not overwhelmed, or skip ahead before they are ready, he releases a class every 5 days. The material is a little low for me right now, so it is a great refresher, though I can see how it would be perfect for any new learner who did not have the time/money to study formally. I have learned something new with of these beginner classes, as Rob explains the ‘why’ stuff very well. The why stuff is pretty simple, you just need a decent teacher explaining it!
So… Each class is around 40-60 minutes of video. After the initial freebies are up, you pay just $27 a month (as at December 2009). It is money well spent! After the class, I run refreshers on the subway by copying the vocabulary to google docs and downloading it to my ipod touch so that I can use it with gflash. Best of all, I jumped into my Integrated Korean book again last night, and without even realising it, I am more than ready to continue with that alongside the learnkoreanonline course.
This article from the JoongAng Daily made me smile. It tells the tale of a Korean who has worked as a driver all of his life, and is still active on the buses of Seoul at 68 years old.
it also got me thinking about something I often argue: The university experience has become severely undervalued due to there being too much opportunity for Higher Education. What we now have is a young population who are heavily in debt, and a labour market that is saturated, meaning that most people are overqualified for jobs what may be available. This is as true back ‘home’ as it is here in Korea.
Employment of young people stood at 42.8% at the end of 2007.
Small business tend to pay an average of 2,490,000 for a 201.8 hour working month, compared with 3,819,000 fir a 191.4 hour working month in a larger company. Graduates will do anything to avoid working at these smaller companies.
Graduates expect 5-10 million won/year more than the market actually pays.
In 1990, 32.2% of young people went on to college or university (with 25.8% of young people graduating). In 2006, that number had increased to 82.1% (with 52.6% graduating).
The Quality of Korean University education has decreased due to the increase in quantity, so more businesses prefer to hire experienced workers.
Kim calls for better education of students, in order to give a more realistic picture of what their future will likely entail.
The Korea Times recently printed an article about the unhappiness of Korean Teens when compared to their peers in Japan and China.
Korean teens value money more than reputation or academic career, and tend to look up to rich people the most. About 92 percent said money was most important and four out of 10 said the rich were to be admired.
I blame the parents. Children are not allowed to dream any more. They move from school to hagwon, then into University, all in the hope that they will gain a job that, usually, doesn’t exist when the only thing they like about the job is the pay. No wonder there is such correlation between key academic milestones and suicides in young people.
As for where the bus drivers will come from: The chances are, they will come from some of the better Universities in Korea, bitter at their lot in life. Jang E-in is a man who probably receives nothing more than a cursory glance from those that board his bus in Seoul. The Ajumma’s who dread the prospect of their children ever leading such a ‘poor’ life would do well to give him more consideration, for he is probably more content than their children will ever be.
…and all other things being equal, what would my concerns be?
I often talk with the wife about how Korean’s seem to be very good at working themselves up over minor issues, with the flimsiest of evidence to support their claims. At the same time, they seem to be amazingly successful at ignoring real problems in their society.
Koreans are doing an amazing job of protesting the imminent resumption of US beef imports. They also enjoy the odd paranoia induced crackdown and/or protest on English Teachers, migrant workers, and Japan. Usually, these protests are based on the rumour, hearsay, and fabricated or exaggerated evidence.
![[2009-06-15-우이동] 장이인(69) 버스 운전기사 /김도훈 인턴기자](http://yonguksaram.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/26205606.jpg "[2009-06-15-우이동] 장이인(69) 버스 운전기사 /김도훈 인턴기자")
