My Job

Often, when I speak to people outside of Korea, they are very confused about my job. It’s understandable because my job doesn’t really exist outside of Korea, Japan, Taiwan and parts of China.

Most people think that I am a foreign language teacher at a regular elementary/middle/high school. I’m not. I teach English as a foreign language at a hagwon or academy.

A hagwon (Korean: 학원)is a night school. Basically, parents in Korea are so hardcore about education that they feel that regular school eight hours a day and every other Saturday is not enough. They also send their kids to private academies that specialize in one subject. I teach at an English academy.

At most English academies, the kids come for 2-3 hour sessions a few times a week. At my academy, the kids either come Monday/Wednesday/Friday for two hours a day or Tuesday/Thursday for three hours a day. Once the kids are there, they study nothing but English. We teach reading, writing, grammar, speaking, and listening.

My school employs a combination of foreign, native English speakers and bilingual Koreans. It’s actually a status symbol among Korean parents to have their kid taught English by native speakers. This is because schools that employ native speakers are more expensive. Also, the kid’s accent and understanding of spoken English just comes out better.

Up until the late 1990s, Korea didn’t really have native English speaker teachers. What they used to do was just have Koreans go to college abroad, become fluent, and then come back and teach. The result was pretty bad.

People who learn a language as an adult have accents. So, you have a teacher with an accent teaching. The student would then pick up the teacher’s accent plus, add his or her own accent. Then, if that student taught someone else, that next person would get the first teacher’s accent plus their teacher’s accent plus his or her own accent. Basically, the accents were so bad that no non-Korean English speaker could understand them. Also, they didn’t understand non-Korean English speakers. All they could really do proficiently was to read and to write.

The solution to that problem was to recruit native English speakers and bring them over as English teachers. The practice is now so prevalent that there is even a special visa just for English teachers. We are all here on E-2 visas.

To be an English teacher in Korea, there are a few basic requirements:

1. Be a citizen of the US, Canada, The UK, Australia, South Africa, Ireland or New Zealand.

2. Have at least ten years of education in one of those countries.

3. Have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

4. Pass a background check.

Once you’re in the country, you have to get a medical exam for immigration. The exam is actually pretty comprehensive: height, weight, vision, hearing, blood pressure reading, chest x-ray, blood test and urine test. I believe they are checking to see if we have HIV or psychiatric medications in our systems. Before I could get my visa, I had to sign several statements stating that I was not HIV positive and that I had not been in a psychiatric facility and had not taken any psychiatric medications within the last five years. Also, I had to sign a form stating that if they found out that this wasn’t true, I would be deported.

Being a teacher at an academy is completely different from working at a regular school. My hours are 3pm to 10pm. Also, I don’t get summer vacation, winter break or spring break. Of course, I do get vacation but, it’s like working at an office. You just pick your vacation dates and then arrange it with the management.

Dealing with parents is also different. As a foreigner, I almost never speak to parents. This is really just because of the language barrier. Occasionally, I do encounter a parent that is bilingual and I can speak to them but, that is very rare. Also, since the parents are paying, they can be demanding. The majority of parents are nice and reasonable but, a few are not. A few think their “angels” can do no wrong. Or, they think their child that can’t string two words together is just so awesome that he should skip a level in English.

English academies are a huge business in Korea. This leads to a ton of competition and some strange demands on teachers. Basically, we have to be really nice and friendly to the kids (to make them like us so that they keep coming and paying) but, maintain discipline and make them learn. It’s really hard to do! After a year and a half, I haven’t really figured out the balance. I tend to be strict because I just don’t like misbehaving children and I do make them learn. I am not, however, especially friendly and fun. The teachers who are very fun seem to turn out poorly behaved classes that are a little behind. I guess it’s just looks a lot easier in the movies.

English academies are not the only academies around. Other popular academies are: math, science, Korean, art and music. There are other academies, like magic or jump rope but, those aren’t nearly as popular.

Well, that’s my job. I hope you know understand a little more about it.

This is the street I work on. I've circled several of the hagwons. There are more but, I couldn't identify them all.