Blacklist of Japanese Universities ESL Black Lists Korea Hogwon Blacklist Don't Teach in Korea The Hogwanization of Korean Universities

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This document is for informational purposes only, and there is absolutely no claim to its accuracy, rather it is only the opinion of those individuals who have shared their stories. In other words, everything in this document is complete fiction, except for that which is not.

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Subject: LCI Kids Club- Gwangj

Date: Sunday, June 29, 2008

Message: -

I would warn anyone not to accept a job with LCI Kid's Club in Gwangju. As a Sociology major, I focused on religious cult studies. After arriving at this school, I realized that this job had all the characteristics of a cult, only without the religious part. They owners ruled with fear, and everyone was afraid to voice an opinion. Most of the teachers "need" the job, and they've allowed themselves to be brainwashed. Teachers were given perks for snitching on each other. If you could provide dirt on your co-worker, you could receive preferential treatment. This created an understandable toxic environment of backstabbing and deceit. Owners also randomly select a "whipping boy," as a way to keep everyone in line. Pettiness also ruled, a clique of 5 foreign teachers would spend seemingly every minute of free time criticising and insulting their co-workers. Teachers who brown-nosed were praised as being the best teachers, whether or not they actually were. There were 15-16 foreign teachers when I left, so there were plenty of examples of this. I thought when I came to Korea, my co-foreign teachers would be a close knit group. Instead it's cliques, backstabbing, snitching, pettiness, and drama. Every time a teacher would leave, everyone would speak about them as if they were Hitler or something. The owners not only enable this division, they encourage it. Teachers who dare speak up about concerns are treated as malcontents. EVERY concern that was ever brought up was met with the phrase "that's the Korean way." Therefore, if you complain about ANYTHING, you're seen as being cultural insensitive.

The ironic thng is that I have Korean immediate family, I grew up surrounded by Korean culture, I'd spent time in Korea before I came to work there, so I felt I understood Korean culture better than anyone else there. With this is mind, right off the bat I realized this "Korean way" phrase was a complete BS tool to guilt teachers into shutting up and accepting their conditions. Let me repeat this for everyone, the "Korean way" phrase is a tool they use to EXPLOIT you.. Koreans know right and wrong just like everybody else, they know that some of the things they do are wrong. They can only get away with what they're allowed to get away with. Anyways, because I didn't accept this BS, I was expelled as an outcast among the brainwashed foreign teachers. The head teacher won't help you, he's in the pocket of the owners and is only concerned with his own bottom line, not in what is right. In fact, any of the 4 teachers who have been there more than a year will stab you in the back at any chance. They get favors for doing so, that is why they're still there. It's amazing to me that people will sell their souls for a $2000 a month job!

Truth is, the job is terrible, and everyone there knows it, and if there was ANY degree of unity, all the teachers (foreign as well as Korean) would band together to force change. Instead of improving the conditions, the owners choose to cultivate a contentious environment.

Teachers are overworked as well, most work 930-700 or 730 (way more than most other jobs) and that's including a draining kindergarten class. Owners will ask you (correction: TELL) to lie to the parents: if the kids aren't great artists, you're expected to do their art projects for them, and convince the kids to pass it off as their own. Lying is a general theme at this place: lie on evaluations, lie at parent conferences, do the kids' work for them if they're not very good, do their art for them, etc.

I was fired for refusing to come in on a Saturday for PT conferences (they picked this date 10 days in advance, I had already booked and paid for a trip for that weekend). Instead of terminating me professionally (with proper notice required by law, and with a chance to say goodbye to my kinder kids) the owner came to my apartment and tried to force his way in. He pushed me against the wall when I tried to leave, and continued to scuffle with me and yell and cuss at me in the street. A crowd had gathered in the street to watch, but they were just there for the show. I just wanted to leave for my trip.. I finally broke free and ran, and he CHASED me down the street for 3 blocks. I got away, but when I came back, my apartment had been emptied, all my belongings taken, and the locks changed. He left me jobless and homeless, all for refusing to come in on my day off when I had a prior commitment. I was given the impression by others that I should be fearful for my safety, so I fled the country. Never got paid for the 2 weeks of June I worked, or received a 30 day termination notice, as required by law. I truly believed they fired me in this dramatic fashion solely to scare the remaining teachers into subordination. My kids and parents apparently loved me, and I had the same number of students in all my classes after several months (I think I was the only one), so it wasn't because of my ability. Luckily I have the resources to pursue legal action for as long as it takes to get retribution, but it can be very expensive and time-consuming.

The school doesn't provide insurance and doesn't pay into pension. I was paid on time, and teachers were given severance when they completed their contracts. Of course, you'll be reminded of this constantly if you show any sign of displeasure: "yes, what you complain about it is true, but at least we pay you." As if it's a "special" benefit to be paid or something.

All this, and I haven't even mentioned my living conditions: I moved in my apartment mid-Feb (really, really cold). When I moved in, I had no heat, no hot water, plus the stove and washer were broken. The drain in the bathroom was broken, so there was a layer of hair and bandaid-infested water that I needed to step in to use the bathroom. It smelled like mold/sewer. My first night I was so cold, I needed 2 shirts, a thick sweater, 2 pairs of pants, socks, a stocking cap, and to hide under the covers just to survive. Couldn't take a warm shower to warm up, because the hot water didnt work either. I was treated like a whiner for complaining about this, it took about a week to get it all resolved. I was just trying to avoid pneumonia or something, as I was already sick. Also, it had roaches, and garbage bags were always piled up on the front steps of the building, which I had to literally step over every day.

Stay away from this hagwon at ALL costs, there are so many other better jobs that will hire anyone, why put yourself through this? It is possible to work here for a year, get paid, and have an okay experience, especially is you're a good brown-noser. But there's an equal (if not higher) chance of going there and living through hell. I would advise anyone to play the odds and work somewhere else that hasn't been blacklisted at all. Besides, my entire Korean family knows about this place, and word spreads fast in Korea.

Subject: Herald School

Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I was working for Herald School in Ansan for around 17 months. After my first year I was asked to resign and worked out an 8 months with Jake Ku the owner.

After my 17th month working for him he asked for a meeting. He told me that he had just opened a second school and was putting all his money into it so was in a bad financial situation. This meant that he needed to save money and wanted to let a teacher (or two in the near future) go. As I had just over 3 months left on my contract I was the next to go anyway. I was told that on a Wednesday night and that Friday would be my last day. Also he wouldn't honor the bonus, half that's months pay and stop all support (i.e. housing, medical) from 7.30 pm on the Friday I finished work. That gave me two days notice to finish me job, move out of one house and find a place to live.

Also, I was helping him out by working in a second school for him in the mornings. He went to this school and took my wages saying that unless I wrote up 120 reports for my students at his school with no pay for my time I could not receive the money from the other school. Wages for classes I had already taught.

From a regular staff or 7 foreign teachers made me the 6th foreign teacher to have left or been made to leave his company on bad terms with no or very little bonus in about a year. I know I should have seen it coming but I was one of only two trained English teachers at the school and had a good reputation with the parents so thought I was safe. Silly me.

Below are the schools details. If you need any further information then please let me know.

May thanks in advance,

Herald School

3F Zest Plaza 712-2

e-dong Sang lok-gu

Ansan city

Gyoung-Gi Province

Subject: Canada International School (C.I.S.), Changdong, Seoul

Date: Thursday, June 5, 2008 1:29 PM

I came across the testimony posted on your website recently (here). I used to work at this school and can not say that I am surprised by what the author wrote. I used to work for CIS about two years ago and it sounds that things are pretty much the same. I also was told that it was an international school (an outright lie) and when I realized that it was a hogwon I tried to get out of my contract. However,I was terminated after 4 months and many arguments with my supervisor who I suspect is the notorious Mrs. 'K' that the author refers to. She used to spy in front of the cameras and record anything that she did not like. She used to argue with me in front of students and belittle me as well. She would hadn me pieces of papers saying that I was 2 pages behind where I should be and could not play language games with the students until I had 'caught up' and abide by her schedule-trying to explain to her that teaching strictly by the book was maybe not the most effective way to learn a second language (I have an education degree with an ESL/Linguistics minor) and she used to sit in the classroom across from me, glaring and making sure that I followed page by page of her schedule.

As for the owner Mr.'K'-I had recieved pay advances at the begining of my employment with CIS. which were refused as 'punishment' for not liking me. He used to hang out in the teachers workoom and spy on us (he supposedly did not speak english-according to his korean staff but, of course, he spoke it very well). My termination letter ended on a Friday and I started a new job on the next monday and I was moving on the Sunday. However, there was a special event all day sunday. I told them that i was not going to be there as my contract had ended and i started a new job the next day but they refused to listen and docked me hundreds of won on my last paycheque partly due to this. I also had to go to the labour board and legal aid where a korean lawyer pressured them to give me my release letter (they are required to give it by law) as they were at first refusing until I gave them my new principals name (i wouldnt of course) and then just flatly refused. In the meantime, getting telephone calls from a korean lawyer prompted the owner to pay up for air fare (at the end of other teachers contract) that was contractually owed but that he was not 'coughing up' for. I recieved a call from another teacher who had given his notice to quit (this was about a month later) asking me for the contact information for legal aid as they were threatening him and trying some of the same tactics (not providing release letters) that they had with me.

I would, in all good concience, to any teacher considering a job with these guys not to work for these guys.

AND A REPLY:

Date: Sunday, June 8, 2008 6:40 PM

Hi Jon,

I am writing to you about a letter posted Jan 2007 regarding C.I.S., Kangbuk (Changdong) Branch. I am sure you get many letters like these, but bear with me.

I am from Canada, related to one of the current senior staff at the school, acquainted with the teachers there and very familiar with their current situation.

In short, the school is fine as private schools in Korea go. In many aspects, a cut above. For the past year all 12 foreign teachers have been paid regularly, on time. Miscommunication happens. And the style of management is not perfect. Incompetence is not rewarded. However, to my knowledge, no foreigner has been mistreated/abused and any issues that arise are resolved. Cultural differences related to work environment and personal relationships play a major role, as one should expect working in a foreign country. All foreign teachers have received the standard package given by the majority of private language schools in Korea and an above average salary. Anyone is welcome to contact the current vice-principal (Judy Choi) to speak directly with her, as she is fluent in English, or one of the foreign staff. The school is not an accredited International School, nor do they claim to be if you read their literature. But, they do have an arrangement with the Vancouver School Board, offer a full-immersion program and base their curriculum on North American curricula. Note this is not a typical language school. Students learn English "through" their study of various subjects such as Math, Science, Language Arts, Music, P.E. etc. And, teachers have 1 class i.e. the same group of students, all year. This is why C.I.S. strives to hire licensed teachers. It makes sense given their curriculum.

Regarding the specifics of the letter, I do not see any issues that constitute "mistreatment or abuse" and only one issue that may be considered a breach of contract (late payment) and by the author's own admission, it was an isolated incident and they got paid fully, shortly after. Further, I can confirm that since then, all teachers have been paid regularly, on time.

The issue about the other teacher who had to leave for medical reasons, the author states that he doesn't know how the issue was resolved. I checked with management and apparently a compromise was made. It is a business after all and each teacher (C.I.S. Changdong alone employs 12 foreigners) is a huge investment, several thousand dollars just to get them to Korea, if you include recruiting fees and airfare. Plus, there is a big cultural difference between the workplace in North America and Korea. For example, in Korean, there is a commonly used word meaning "be strong, endure." So, certain reactions may seem unfair, from a North American perspective, but are not necessarily intended to be. As a related aside, recently one teacher complaining of a persistent headache was sent to the hospital for an MRI, all expenses paid.

Further, it sounds like the author organized a teacher strike and lobbied several other teachers to sign a formal letter of complaint drafted by himself, for personal reasons, which is extreme even in North America, I think. No teacher at any school I have ever worked for in Korea has gone to those lengths.

And regarding the extra-day off, I can only imagine the author was that upset because he/she alone had made non-refundable travel arrangements. Or something similar. While this is frustrating, it is not reason to blacklist a school. It simply means, expect the unexpected - get travel insurance. Perhaps the owner had a very good reason to have to withdraw the offer. Perhaps he wanted to be able to give the extra-time but a large number of mother's complained, considering the tuition they pay is, I believe the highest in the Kangbuk area. Also, my experience has been that since Korea is a strongly hierarchical society, seniors are not used to explaining themselves to juniors, which is frustrating to many foreigners who expect explanations and sound reasoning for most things.

As for the school not being an official, accredited "international school," its not and nor do they claim to be if you read their literature. This may have been wishful thinking on the part of the author. C.I.S. does have an arrangement with a school board in British Columbia, Canada and their curriculum is based on North American curricula, as much as possible in an ESL environment, given their resources. Its a full year long program and teachers have 1 class all year. I have looked at their textbooks (science, math, language arts, etc. etc.) and the program is great, compared to many private language schools. This is also the reason the school tries hard to hire only individuals with a teaching license, because some knowledge of grading, preparation of supplements, integration of various materials, incorporation of learning strategies etc. are very helpful.

Lastly, the author is upset that the school didn't buy a filing cabinet, despite his urging; that he didn't receive a gift for Chuseok; the Principal's allegedly poor English; lack of communication, some issue regarding field trips etc. etc. These things seem petty. The school is under no obligation to buy additional furniture. And, at C.I.S Changdong, it was decided that foreigners would receive gifts at Christmas time, not Chuseok, simply because Chuseok has little meaning to foreigners besides time off. Further, the manager of the other branch that he praises highly, does not speak English well either. In other words, English ability is not connected with management skill. Also, the fact the the principal is not an amazing manager, is also not a reason to blacklist the school. In my opinion, 'amazing managers' are rare, in any country. You just have to make do and do your best. After all, he did have round trip airfare, his accommodation paid for, paid holidays and a decent salary. Plus, many language schools never go on field trips :)

Based on the above, I think the author's attack on the school is personal and not reasonable. Working in Korea is not always easy for foreigners and requires a great deal of understanding, patience and flexibility. Plus, the letter is hindering the school now somewhat, by actually causing some of the potential applicants to withdraw their application, which affects the other teachers there (additional work, overtime etc.), some of whom have stayed with the company for several years. Mind you a quick phone call usually solves the problem, but nonetheless...

Please consider taking the flame letter down or at least posting this counter view. A year has passed, and the author has vented.

Sincerely,

Ben

P.S. As mentioned above, anyone is welcome to call the school and speak with the vice-principal or any of the present staff.

Subject: Ewha ALS Blacklist

Date: Sunday, June 1, 2008 5:34 AM

1. Full name of institute

Ewha ALS ( ECC)

2. City/Area

Gunpo Sanbon

3. Institute contact details (address, email, phone, web)

1061 2 Dong

Sanbon Gyeongido

Gunpo si

4. Director/Manager Mr. K**** and ****** K*****

5. Reason for blacklisting

Do not participate in the mandatory NHIC health insurance program. Do not participate in mandatory pension program. Manager does not help you get internet. Apartments are dirty.This hogwon will lie and say they offer 50% medical insurance to get you to sign.

6. Action Taken

Contract is almost up and I am leaving for a better school.

Thank You Jon for providing this blacklist service for many current teachers and prospective teachers. I have known many people who decided not to work for schools based on it and it is a valuable resource here in Korea. Thank you for all your hard work.

Subject: ECC Kumho also spelled ECC Guemho

Date: Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:04 PM

ECC Kumho is a crappy hakwon. The pay is very low pay, the Manager is abusive to the teachers and the young children, unethical deductions from paycheck, shared apartments that are run down/dirty, cameras in the classroom…the list goes on.

I was fired by the hakwon only 3 weeks into my contract. The hakwon had failed to provide health insurance as it promised to do in the contract. I asked the Mgr if I would still have to pay for health insurance and she said YES. I told her that this was inappropriate since I had not received health insurance. I got fired that afternoon.

The hakwon paid only about 15% of the salary owed, taking a deduction for health insurance (even though I never got health insurance) and a substantial deduction for airfare. The hakwon refused to show a receipt to prove the alleged cost of the plane ticket. The hakwon refused to provide me with a signed copy of the contract (showing the hakwon's signature) and denied the authenticity of the unsigned contract that I received through the recruiter, Jason Cresswell of Ask Now.

The recruiter obtained my signature on the contract which he provided to the hakwon. However, he ignored my request for a copy of the contract with the Korean's signature. This prevented me from filing with the Labor Board since I did not have a contract signed by both parties. The recruiter has refused to do so little as ask the hakwon for a copy of the signed contract.

The Manager had nothing nice to say about any teacher. She bad mouthed all of the teachers and bad mouthed me when I tried to find another job in Korea. She told immigration not to grant me another E-2 Visa. She also sought to prevent other teachers (who faithfully finished one year contracts) from obtaining Visa renewals. The hakwon failed to pay at least 2 teachers their severance pay. The hakwon fired another teacher shortly after firing me and also stiffed him on his salary.

The Manager regularly punished the young children by latching onto the cheek and pulling them around the hallway. The Manager regularly peers through the classroom windows with a distraught, miserable look on her face..then chastises the teachers during short 5 minute breaks. Long hours, abuse, and no salary…that is ECC Kumho.

-----------------------DETAILS-------------------------------------

Hakwon: ECC Kumho also spelled ECC Guemho

Location: Location Seoul, Geumho-dong, near Line 5 Hangangjin

Manager: Min-ji Ko (Rachel)

Salary: 2.0 million won,

Age Group Kindergarten/Elementary

Class Size 20-25

Class Length 60 minutes

Working Days M - F

Schedule of Hours MWF 11:00 - 19:30 TTH 10:00 - 18:00

Base Hrs / Week 100 hours / month

Salary 2.0 million

Overtime Rate 15,000 won / hour

Subject: UNIUM COLLEGE (Busan)-The Wrong Choice!

Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:08:06 -0800

Unium College (with three branches, all in Busan) is among the most deceitful, abusive, dishonest employers in Korea . It is NOT a school you should go to work for under ANY circumstances. Not if you expect to get paid, for a start.

My time at Unium extended from July 2005 to September 2006. Having completed a first one-year contract in summer 2006, I then extended until September-clearly, in retrospect, a big mistake.

It's now late November 2006, and I have yet to receive the bulk of my severance pay from the first contract, which was owed me, contractually, in July. The full amount remaining unpaid is 1,600,000 won (over 1700 USD). I have called Unium many, many times in the intervening months (from my new home in Seoul ), politely asking to be paid. Again and again, I've been made false promises ("we'll pay you next week . . .") and am finally running out of patience.

I've chosen the word "deceitful" to describe this school's management with very good reason. Mr. P**** R*****, the "CEO," presents himself as Mr. Straight-and-Narrow-Church-on-Sunday-Christian. He prominently displays Bibles in his office, and shows an unmistakable hiring preference for similar chapter-and-verse Protestant types. If you don't know Korea well, you may not realize just how shallow and shambolic this Korean "Christianity" can often be.

Ahead of my vacation time at Unium, on two occasions, Mr. R**** asked that I lie to my students about going home to take care of my sick mother, or something equally creative, to justify my week-long absences (something which I refused to do). The sheer brazenness of it - the complete disregard for honesty—set off warning bells in my mind then, as it should in yours now, if you're thinking about going to work for Unium. P**** R**** is a liar, a cheat, and a bad man. He shows no compunction.

I could bring forward many more examples of how Unium mistreats its teachers. Forcing them (as I was, at times) to work 12-hour schedules, for instance, in addition to Saturday afternoons. To be sure, I was always paid overtime for the additional hours-but my pay was often late (and was on one occasion, I'm convinced, deliberately miscalculated to my disadvantage). The severance pay, once again, is now more than FOUR MONTHS overdue, and I have little hope of ever seeing it.

I want to make it very clear that I'm not putting this report on the Web out of spite, or malice. My sole desire is to warn other teachers against making the mistake I did. Don't be taken in by Mr. ***** R******'s sham religiosity. Don't go to work for an employer who will withhold your salary for MONTHS on end, while making endless lies about paying you "next week." No one in the world deserves to be treated this way.

AND A REPLY:

Subject: Unium College - The right choice

Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:33:05 -0700

Hi, I finished my contract recently with Unium college and for no real reason I googled the name and was taken to the "black list." I am writing because I and 2 of the 3 teachers who I worked with that finished their contracts before me (the 3rd teacher being the exception who posted Unium to the "blacklist") had an excellent experience at Unium college. Firstly, although the college did have a short period of 3 months where our pay was a week late (due to the expansion of another Unium branch) I was paid on time for the rest of my contract. Secondly, I received approximately 5-6 weeks of paid vacation during my year. The hogwan gives a week vacation every time the middle schools have exams, as well as about a week during Solnal and Chusok. We were asked to work 2 Saturdays during the busy Summer term and 2 in the busy winter term without getting overtime. But these were in exchange for vacation time given during the same month. Certainly I received far more than the contractual 10 days I was allocated. They paid me my bonus for finishing my contract BEFORE I finished my last week at the school and they also helped me arrange a round trip ticket home and then back to Korea (so I could continue my time here at a Busan university). I was treated fairly and with respect and courtesy during my experiences with management. They did ask me to work saturdays for very fair overtime rates. But when I told them I was not interested I was not harassed or coerced into doing the overtime. My apartment was larger than average and very close to the school. The textbooks and curriculum were provided and easy to use. I wanted to give an alternative "Green List" rating of Unium college. The teacher who blacklisted the school did not provide a balanced view of the school and was treated poorly in part due to his own issues. I would recommend Unium for a person looking to teach in Korea. It provided me an excellent first year.



Subject: Delphi English Country

Beware of Delphi English Country located in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do. The director systematically pays his teachers late. From May to August 2004, I received my salary late on three occasions. The usually excuses given are that he "forgot" or it's the "Korean way". Very frustrating to be forced to remind your employer time and time again to pay you your salary.

AND A REPLY:

Subject: Green list--Delphi English Country

Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006 22:50:58 -0400

Someone put Delphi English Country in Ansan on the blacklist on this site. They also posted derogatory comments everywhere they could on the internet. I worked for this school in 2002 and 2003, and had a wonderful, wonderful experience. It saddened me to think that potential applicants might google the school's name and find all these criticisms, all by the same guy. No, my year there wasn't absolutely perfect, but this guy's main complaint is payment, and that was a total non-issue for me when I worked there. Not a day late, not once, the whole year. I could depend on the direct deposit to be made to my bank account every month like clockwork--even early if payday fell on a weekend or holiday. The directors were very concerned for my health and safety and tried to make my transition to Korea as smooth as possible... doing everything from picking me up from the airport before I had even signed a contract with them, to getting me a decent two bedroom non-shared apartment, to putting my cell phone account int he director's name so that I didn't have to bother with a pre-paid account, to getting me christmas and birthday presents. It doesn't seem plausible to me that after I left they became dishonest flakes. I think (and have heard from a former co-worker) that they had problems with this teacher from the beginning and ended up having to fire him, and he posted all these black list reviews because he was bitter. During my second year in Korea, I worked for an institute in Seoul that paid almost a million won more per month and provided a swankier (though smaller) apartment near central park. I ended up hating it and quit in the middle of the contract, regretting that I had not re-signed with Delphi. If you have any questions or want me to send you a few of the bizzillions of pictures I took while working there, e-mail me at dithyxxxxxx@hotmail.com.

AND YET ANOTHER REPLY:

Subject: Avoid Delphi English Country: Reply

Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 15:05:15 -0700 (PDT)

I'd like to submit a quick reply to the response to my post of Sept 24 2004 concerning Delphi English Country.

I cannot speak to the experience of the person who posted the reply; however, this person stated that I was fired, whereas I quit because I was being systematically paid late and told that forgetting to pay my salary was acceptable as this is the "Korean way" or because the director "forgot".

I also know for a fact that the Korean staff were also being paid late and that late payment of their salary had been occuring before my arrival at the school and continued during my time there.

Also, when I first met the director, he disparaged the former teacher who had lived in the two bedroom apartment, calling him dirty (as he had left the apartment infested with roaches).

When I posted my review my motivation was simply to warn prospective teachers based on my own experience, which included two other schools where I was never, ever paid late once (Gyeoyeon Academy in Ansan and Ewha ALS, Dongnae Campus, in Pusan)

I would also like to say that late payment of my salary began the first month I started working there (Wonder why the previous teacher left early)."

Subject: Feinschule of Ilsan

Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2007

Hi Jon,

Could you please BLACK LIST Feinschule of Ilsan Ilsan Gu, Goyangsi, Kyonggi-Do

This school owned by Mrs Cxxxxx Kxxxx but run by Mrs Lxxx Hxxx still owes me airfare and Severance pay for last year.

I worked the first and last day of the school year but when I appealed to the Labour Board they said because I did not work for 12 months I was not entitled to severance pay, Even though I had one week of leave in my contract.

I can be contacted any time by email. I am an Australian and have worked in Korea since July 2005,

Another Australian teacher did not get his severance pay and many Korean Teachers were not paid so they left the school.

Best Regards.

Subject: Canada International School (C.I.S.), Changdong, Seoul

Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007

For the past year and a half, it has been my displeasure to work at C.I.S. (Canada International School) in Changdong, Seoul. This school, first and foremost, is NOT an international school but a hogwan parading as such. Several employees I know were told that it was an actual international school, and were disappointed to find out this was not the case, but in fact a lie. This school will tell lies to recruit teachers, especially since they hire only certified teachers and the appeal of working at an "international school" is a great draw. Do not be fooled. There is nothing "international" about C.I.S. It's simply a hogwan that prides itself on hiring "certified teachers" and then proceeds to treat them like crap.

Let's begin at the beginning. When I first arrived, C.I.S. was not a horrible place to work. But after 4 principals in a year and a half, it has gone downhill incredibly. The real trouble began about a year after I arrived; just after I agreed to stay on to graduate the class I'd been teaching. The staff had been told we were given an extra day off for summer vacation and made plans accordingly. I personally was told this SEVERAL times by the person who was principal at the time. Then, about a month or so before the vacation actually happened, we were told we did NOT in fact have this day off. I had planned on having this day off, and was angry to find out my plans could no longer be the way I had anticipated, by no fault of my own. Other teachers felt the same way, and had also been told about the extra day off. When a letter was written (by myself) and signed by all the teachers saying we felt this was inappropriate behavior, a firestorm fell upon my head, simply because I asked for something I had been promised already. I actually thought I was going to get fired for about two weeks, and in fact was prepared to be. I did not want to work for a school that would treat professionals in this way. When I was not fired, and I thought it had all blown over (without our getting the day that was promised to us), I was asked by the principal (who, by this point, was different from the one who had told us about the day off) to apologize to our owner, who was the reason the extra day had been taken away, and to whom I had addressed and given my letter. I was asked to apologize to him because I asked for something that I had been told I would have and apparently "hurt his feelings." My letter was in NO WAY demeaning or accusing, but diplomatic and well-thought out, and should not have hurt his feelings. In fact, I even apologized if I was placing blame on the wrong person. Especially since, I'm quite sure, the owner at the time HAD no feelings about anything except money. I very carefully wrote a letter to him but in no way did I apologize for what I'd done because I didn't, and still don't, feel it was wrong. The entire situation could have been handled differently by the Korean staff at my school, and was clearly a result of miscommunication, which none of the foreign teachers were a part of but had to pay for. The excuse given was that this day was "not in our contract" so we didn't get it off. Yet all the holidays in my contract were incorrect to begin with. Plus, another branch of our school in Gangnam got this day off but for some reason we didn't. It was stupid of him (or whoever made the decision) to have the two schools on different schedules in the first place because this only causes confusion.

About two months after this, we were supposed to be paid on a Friday, as per the contract that Mr. K*** loves so much. I found out on Tuesday that this would not be happening, and told the other foreign teachers about it. We discussed it and decided to bring it up in the meeting set for that Thursday (they'd never been on a Thursday since I could remember). The meeting was set on Thursday by no coincidence. I'm certain the principal at the time was going simply slip in the fact that we weren't going to get paid at the end of the meeting right before the bell and then we'd all go off to class not being able to do anything about it. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the meeting agenda and "pay day" was listed at the very bottom, after a bunch of stuff that really didn't need to be discussed. Long story short, we demanded that we be paid by 3 pm the following day (we'd always been paid by noon before and figured 3 pm would be possible) or we would not teach the afternoon. Some foreigners on staff would not be able to eat during the weekend if they didn't get paid. This was not a situation any of us took lightly.

We were not paid by the set time the next day, so we didn't teach. Our owner came in and said that we would be paid if we went back to work. Now, please understand that this man (Mr. K***) is not a good person, nor does he know ANYTHING about education, or how to treat people; he's lied on several occasions (the day off I mentioned above for example) and personally, I could find no reason to trust him. I had no doubt that we would go back to work and still not get paid. He claimed that we "didn't care about the kids" because we weren't teaching (he clearly has never cared AT ALL about any child that has walked in this school, only the money they provide for him) and that we were "breaking the contract" when he's the one who was going to break it by not paying us. It's funny that when the contract suits him, he goes by it (the day off, our not teaching because we didn't get paid) but when it doesn't suit him, he ignores it (not paying us because tuition money was collected later than normal). Plus, I did not understand how somehow, magically, the money would appear so we could get paid like he claimed. If he had the money, which he clearly did because we did end up getting paid, why couldn't he just pay us earlier like we'd asked? It's almost like he held out to punish us for being bad, when all we were doing was getting something that we were entitled to BY THE CONTRACT.

A final incident involving Mr. K***** is the worst of all. A foreign teacher became extremely ill after serving 9 months of their contract. This teacher had been sick on and off all year, finally realizing it was an environmental allergy causing all the problems. This teacher was told by a doctor that she needed to leave Korea, and that she should be hospitalized. That's how horrible it was. Yet, when she tried to leave the school professionally and with dignity, the school told her she needed to pay back her airfare TO Korea (like most schools, CIS pays airfare to Korea and home again at the end of the contract). This stipulation is NO WHERE in the contract (again, Mr. K*** didn't seem to notice this), plus it's just a horrible way to treat a good, dedicated teacher whose body can't handle being in Korea. I can't say much on how this situation was resolved, as I have never found it my business to know or ask, but the fact that any place of work, or any person, would treat someone this way makes me sick.

This is the type of person he is: vindictive, arrogant, money hoarding and, in his mind, blameless. DO NOT work for this man. He is one of the most horrible people I've ever met in my life. Even the supervisors at the school don't like him, calling him Black Snake behind his back.

The other most horrible person is also an owner at my school. Shortly after this pay day incident, Mr. K**** sold part of the school to a woman who was a supervisor here previously. Her name is Mrs. **** **** K***. She is equally as horrible as Mr. K*** himself (they are not related as far as I know) and it is clear why he would choose to sell part of the school to her.

I first knew that she was a bad principal when I requested a meeting with her regarding some questions the teachers had about the Christmas Performance. Our questions were not answered by our supervisors (they had not been given enough information to answer them) so another teacher and I personally requested a meeting with her so we could have our questions answered. We set it at a time of day that SHE choose so that she could come and answer our questions. Yet when the time came, she could not make the effort to show up. Granted, it was a busy week (Parent/Teacher Conferences) but SHE chose the time and STILL didn't show up. To me, this shows a CLEAR lack of respect and professionalism on her part. So basically the meeting was a complete waste of time because all of our questions were once again not answered.

Mrs. K**** claims that she is very busy, and I don't doubt that she is. But she also used to stand in front of the video monitors in the lobby and wait for a teacher to mess up (in her eyes a "mess up" is one child not sitting down) and then go into their room WHILE THEY WERE TEACHING and yell at the students. Again, this shows a lack of respect for the teacher. If there is a problem, it should be brought up in a professional manner and discussed, not her bursting into someone's room to yell at a child. It's like she doesn't trust professional, certified teachers to do the job we were hired to do. Nothing says appreciation like a lack of respect! I remember once incident when I was out sick and she came into my classroom and made up some rule for my students and didn't tell me about it. Then, once I was back, she proceeded to yell at them for breaking a rule I had no idea I was supposed to enforce. Um… right. I also resent the fact that she has "observed" my morning class for a total of about 10 minutes (while they were eating snack) and thinks she knows my students. She has NEVER seen me teach my afternoon class, yet decided to make up a rule for them as if she knew ANYTHING about the way they behave in class or what they need. Again, we're not trusted to do our own jobs.

Another example: I asked the school for a filing cabinet to keep in the teacher's room where we could put class materials we'd made (games, old tests, math work sheets, holiday activities, etc.) so that teachers in the years to come could have an easy way to find resources that might be useful, rather than making their own or searching through piles and piles of books. I asked for this over 4 months ago, and I asked twice, once directly to Mrs. K***, all the time explaining why we need it and what it would be used for. While all the teachers agree that it's a good idea, we still don't have a filing cabinet because Mrs. K*** "doesn't know if we'll use it." Awesome. Let's just be honest that the real reason is money that it costs money, which is unacceptable to her.

Keep in mind that I had an entire 20 minute conversation with a supervisor about this issue with her explaining Mrs. K****'s decision to me because Mrs. K*** wouldn't do it herself. This has happened a few times for a couple of different issues; having to talk through a supervisor rather than directly to Mrs. K*** herself. At one point I said something to the effect of "If she has something to tell me she can tell me herself" to which my supervisor said, "She's not confident about her English." Now, Mrs. K*** was a supervisor at this school before she returned and bought part of it. A supervisor's job at my school is to go between parents and teachers, so they must be fluent in both English and Korean. And my supervisor's telling me that Mrs. K*** doesn't speak English? She either must have at one time or she shouldn't have been hired to be a supervisor. My personal feeling is that she is simply too good to talk to a lowly teacher like myself, even to do something as simple as answer a question. This is only my opinion but I'm a pretty good judge of character and this woman doesn't have a good one, by any means. The few times she has attempted to talk to me, there was no discussion. It was simply her telling me what I had to do, regardless of the fact that I know my students and she doesn't. She was also quite unable to answer any questions I presented to her, because it's either her way or no way and questions or suggestions seem to be unacceptable.

Even her interactions with the children give me the heebie-jeebies. It seems so insincere and ... wrong. It's really hard for me to believe she even cares about the children at all, when she seems to take pleasure in yelling at them. Again, these are only my feelings on the matter but I know you will find others at the school that feel, or have felt, the same way. She rarely says "good morning" or is even pleasant to the teachers. I think once when I cut my hair she bothered to talk to me about it. She doesn't seem to do anything to contribute to a harmonious and pleasant working environment, only to a toxic, mentally and physically draining one. Foreign teachers were given nothing at Chuseok or Christmas, not even a card of appreciation or a personal thank you. Nothing. A minimal effort was made around Christmas but by the time she decided she wanted to buy us a meal, it was the day before we all left for vacation and had already made plans. Plus, let's be honest here, the last thing I'd want to do is spend more time with her than I have to because she makes me sick. We were told we would have a dinner in January instead, and here it is, the final week of school, and no mention of any dinner has been made to anyone.

The working environment she's created is made worse by the way she treats the supervisors, who are supposed to pass information onto us, especially now since Mrs. K**** won't talk to teachers. She has all of the supervisors here on edge, and they all seem afraid of her. For example, we are currently getting ready to change classrooms to prepare for a new school year. I wanted to know who would be moving into my room, so I could start taking things down, or leave them up, based on what the new occupant wants. I asked who would be moving into my room and was told it was "a secret." What?! I had a flashback to the fourth grade when someone is whispering about you and then, when asked what they're talking about, says, "It's a secret." Why does this simple information need to be kept secret? What's the problem with wanting to know things ahead of time so that a teacher can plan some things in advance? I'm certain the reason for this being kept "secret" is because a) no one around here could make a decision to save their life because Mrs. K**** has absolutely NO managerial skills or b) they think teachers will complain about it so they don't want to tell us until the very last moment so we'll have no time to. This sounds eerily like the time we didn't get paid and were supposed to be told in a meeting the DAY BEFORE. There are legitimate concerns being expressed by some teachers about next years schedule, and when a meeting was requested to discuss them, teachers were again denied. Clearly, Mrs. K***'s management style is one of scare tactics (toward the Korean staff), domination, withholding information, and miscommunication. This does not make for a pleasant teaching experience in ANY way. I seriously can not stand this woman, and don't want anyone out there to have to work for her because she is horrible.

If the above reasons weren't enough to turn you off of CIS Changdong, here are some more. I realize that CIS is a hogwan and therefore a business designed to be profitable and not an actual school, but Mrs. K****'s (and Mr. K****'s as well) concerns with money have reached a disgusting and ridiculous level. There is the filing cabinet incident, and the Chuseok/Christmas incidents, as I have already explained, but I have two more stories to relate to really illustrate this point. We went on a field trip that involved seeing a show. Only teachers, students, and one supervisor were allowed to go. The rest of the supervisors (4) and bus teachers (5, I think) had to stand outside in the cold while we watched the show because Mrs. K*** wouldn't pay for them to see it. This is a perfect example of not only how ridiculous of a person and boss she is, but also how highly she regards her employees. She doesn't even care enough about them to pay a few thousand won for them to see a show on a fieldtrip. Wow, that certainly says something about her character.

Another incident involved my supervisor. Mrs. K**** had hired another supervisor, paying her less than the others, and so needed to fire a person who was already employed. After a miscommunication between supervisor and student, and the student lying to her grandmother, and the grandmother subsequently calling to complain (about something that wasn't even true), my supervisor was fired. She was even told something to the effect of, "You're not the one I wanted to fire but oh well." My supervisor has never received a complaint from me or the other teacher she supervised, and was well liked by the parents of my students, plus she did her job well. Yet she was fired simply so the school (and Mrs. K***, a part owner) could make more money. Nice. Way to appreciate someone who does their job well.

I also find it interesting that Mrs. K***, whose English isn't good (as I mentioned earlier), thinks she is able to hire people with quality English skills. This seems a little counter intuitive, and judging from the people she's hired, I am correct. The level of English of some of the supervisors is literally below that of some of our kindergarten students. There is a fairly high turn over, however, so I can't say too much about this aspect of teaching at CIS.

Please be advised that this pertains ONLY to the Changdong campus of the school. I have heard only positive things about the CIS in Ueijongbu, so if you are looking to work there you will probably have a great experience. I also cannot comment on the Gangnam campus of the school, but I know that Mr. K*** is heavily involved there, so you be the judge.



Subject: Oedae Language Institute

Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 00:03:18 -0800

Oedae Language Institute, Ansan

(was Wonderland)

Switched contract from one I was sent while in the states (said the first was an "error". One issue is that they never give teachers the medical though promised.

After I came back from Japan they tried not to get my work visa for 90 days and wouldn't return passport, etc. I called the agent & they went and got the work visa but then wouldn't give it (or my passport)to me so I called the labor board & they returned my paperwork. etc. but then started sitting me in front of recorders, recording teaching sessions, etc. They said I shamed them by going to the labor board but it was the only way to get them to do anything. Then they called me in and tried to get me to sign a release that I had violated the contract (I hadn't, they had) so I refused. Then they rewrote it just as a release and i signed just to get out of there. They took 800,000 out of my Nov pay & 600,000 from December. There were manu spurious deductions and they got angry if anyone asked for proof.

added: (4 Feb 2007) they slander ex teachers and call the next schools, etc. to try to get them fired. They also did this to korean teachers.

And the response:

Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:33:35 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: Re: Oedae Language Institute, Korea, Ansan---highly recommended.

Hi Jon,

Please give special attention to this mail as it is intended to serve two purposes.

First and foremost, it is to serve as a 'rebuttal' to the entry made on your Korean Hogwans Blacklist against Oedae Language Institute, OLI, Ansan.

For your attention, the blacklisted entry was made on 1 January 2007 by our former American teacher.

The school that she blacklisted (OLI), can easily prove to you that the actual story is just the reverse of what she has portrayed in the above blacklisted mail.

The above-mentioned teacher came to OLI having previously had bad experiences in Korean Hogwans. And she wasn't prepared to give the 'new' school any benefit of the doubt.

It started with her demand that she be paid precisely at the end of the working month, while the contracted she had signed stated differently. In my 2+ years with the school, I don't know of anyone who hasn't been paid on time, i.e on the 5th of each month.

Furthermore, she has had advance payments made to her by the school on so many occasions that one could easily lose count!

And, she has borrowed W 50,000- from me and failed to pay it back.

I fail to understand why she had to go to the Korean Labor Board as I have never come across a school so accommodating as OLI, Ansan. And this is my 7th year as a teacher in Korea.

Jon, if you have any specific questions that have been raised in the above mails, please feel free to address them to me.

Secondly, I would strongly recommend the Oedae Languate, Ansan to anyone who desires to teach in Korea, hassle free.

I am Canadian, and the supervising teacher here at OLI, Ansan. This is the start of my 3rd year with the school.

You don't have to take my word for it---we have 4 other foreign teachers who will verify the above.

With thanks, Mark

Subject: LCI Kids Club in Pyeongchon, Anyang City

Date:

To Whom It May Concern:

From May to November I had been employed as a conversational English teacher at a private English institute called LCI Kids Club in Pyeongchon, Anyang City. In Korea these schools are known as Hagwons. In early November my mother told me that my father was sick, the prognosis was not good, and that I would have to come home in December. I relayed this information to my academic director, G***, who informed the owner of the school, Mr. P****. I'm not sure of his full name because he never told me. I asked if I could have the month of December off to go home and be with my family, he agreed to give me the time off, a fact for which I was very grateful. A few days after this agreement was made my mother called and told me that my father's condition had gotten worse and that I would have to return immediately. I informed, G**** once again and she in turn informed Mr. P**. G*** told me afterwards that Mr. P****** would not allow me to take more than a month off and that if I decided to go home I would have to quit. As much as I enjoyed my job I had to quit for obvious reasons. Before I went home another employee of LCI Kids Club, a man named David Yoon, approached me. He is the coordinator at the school. He told me that I needed to have a doctor's note that contained my father's diagnosis and a letter written by myself explaining why I had to leave sent to the school before I went home. I agreed to this request and prepared the documents. After submitting these documents David told me that I would receive a letter of release from the school, signed by Mr. P*****, whenever I decided to return to Korea. As an employee of a private English institute I require a letter of release from my previous school if I leave that school during the course of a contract and wish to work at a different school, my contract is from May 2006 to April 2007. After all this I returned home on November 21st and attended my dad's wake and funeral, unfortunately I did not get home in time to see him before he died. Last week, Thursday December 14th, I was contacted by my academic director G**** and asked to return and finish my contract. After thinking about it for a few days I agreed to return, but was told by G*** that Mr. P**** informed her I would not receive my full end of contract bonus if I did return. I told G*** I didn't want to return if I would not receive my full bonus. I told G**** I was willing to add two extra months on the end of my contract in order to make up for the time I missed, but was still told by Mr. P***** I would not receive my full contract stated bonus. Mr. P***'s reason for this action was that many students had quit the Kids Club because they were told I would not be returning, so in order to make up for this financial loss I would not be paid a bonus. Taking this into consideration I told G*** that I would not be returning to the school and asked her to have my release letter prepared. She in turn told me that Mr. P***** would not grant me a release letter anymore; her exact quote was "If you will not work for us you will not be able to work for anyone." My former employer is currently blackmailing me. I've placed the contact information for this school at the end of this message. Thanks for reading this.

Sincerely,

Bill H

School name: LCI Kids Club

Owner: Mr. P****

Address: Kids Building, 1058-5 Hogye Dong, Dongan Gu, Anyang City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Subject: Kid's College Daejeon

Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 10:05:29 -0800

Once again the Kid's College name is being destroyed by the Daejeon branch. Stay far away from this struggling school they call a hogwon. The weak, spineless (name deleted) serves as head of foreign teachers having no clue as to what that means. He is the second of two minions under the control of director the evil Ms. ***** H*****. The other being, Ms. H******* number one favorite, the pretentious (name deleted). The combine efforts of the three treat there workers like absolute garbage. Unless you are looking to "teach more harder better I'm thinking, okay" reconsider. Kid's College Daejeon, horrible.



Subject: Kids College franchise, Jukjeong-dong Yongin-si Bundang

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006

I would like to comment on a Kids College franchise that is located in Jukjeong-dong, Yongin-si, Bundang. I am going to keep my head in a composed state as I write this brief dissertation regarding my former place of employment, despite the fact that I am seething over the blatant disregard they hold for teachers who work there. The school opened last September and is run by an American-Korean woman named Ms. K***. I had numerous complications with the school throughout the year. To begin with, it took 4 months for the school to even send me the visa after I started working there. Furthermore, the school did not honour their contractual obligations. Pay, Pension registration, health insurance, living allowance, end of contract bonus and air tickets were all unfortunately negated at the contracts end and eventually I had to pressure them to pay, which took several weeks to do. The school is a horrible place to work for and the director is a conniving vixen who routinely lies to parents and teachers alike. The school operates on a shoe string budget with no supplies to facilitate the elaborate program they market to parents. Cooking and craft supplies are routinely purchased by the poor teachers working there. I had personally spent a small fortune on supplies. This is one of the most expensive ESL school franchises in the country and if child's parents really understood what was going on, this school would fold in a heartbeat! On several occasions I bent over backwards to assist in the operations of this establishment and received nothing but a slap in the face, total disrespect and a very bitter taste for the ESL industry in Korea. A school doesn't get much lower when the director/owner tells you that she didn't sign your contract to begin with and passes the signature off as a forgery by someone else in the office. Who's kidding who here ??? Keep your sanity and stay away from this institute !!



Subject: Wol-piong Foreign Language Institute

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:23:09 -0800

I have had quite a bad experience working at this Hagwan called GNB English. It is located in Daejeon. Wol-piong Foreign Language Institute. I have been here for less than three months. There have been issues right from the very start. I would have to say that one of the most frustrating experiences that I encounterd was with the language barrier.

L*** is the current director and she is terrible. She doesn't speak English very well and made my experience more of a hassle. Nothing has been easy for me since I arrived. Everything from giving me the wrong bank to do foreign banking to not paying me on time. There were a few times where I had to phone her to remind her to pay me.

When I got there I was told that I'd be working two schools. I didn't think much of it at first but what I discovered was that it was illegal. I had no idea. The other institute was on Tuesday and Thursday's. They did pay for the cab fair but it was such a hassle getting to work.

I'd have to say that the curriculum is terrible. I mean repeating things like "Are you my mother?" over and over again to 6 year olds. And the kids are terrible as well spoiled rich kids who complain about every little thing.

I found out through one of the kids that throughout there 2 years of being opened they go through teachers like the revolving door. 8 teachers all together. I'd say that is enough to cause alarm bells.

The director called me into the office. She said that my classes were boring and that I wasn't doing enough. She wanted to reduce my pay. I'm the type of person that likes to stick things out so I was getting 2.0 million and she wanted to reduce the pay to 1.9 million I said ok.

The very next day she called me and said that the other institute didn't want me working there anymore. She said that she didn't want me their either and gave me less than a month to pack up my things and leave.

I don't have a lot of experience teaching and I felt that I didn't get any support or training. This Korean teacher came and it was agreed with the director that he would help me for a while. Everything was working great. Then all of the sudden she cut the Korean teacher hours and I was back working by myself.

I do like Korea and am awaiting employment at this other institute teaching adults. I want to leave on a good relationship with her. I'm not ready to return to Canada just yet and feel so determined as to make this work. Surly there must be more decent places to work then the place that I was at. What I don't like about Korea is the uncertainty. I believe that they can do what ever they want to during your first six months of employment here. I don't know but I heard of constant stories of Koreans doing just that. I have also found them to be quite judgmental. I mean if they don't like you or your appearance your in trouble.



Subject: Boston Language School, Suweon, Korea

Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 02:03:23 -0700 (PDT)

This school has a slow turnover, but it sure gave me a raw deal. The school has elaborate and expensive video and recording equipment. Why, I do not know. The only time I ever saw them use the recording equipment was for a Christmas CD which they sell to the parents.

I accepted the job understanding that the school would help me produce commercial quality videotapes with the children. How naive I was! While I was employed there, I wrote three video scripts and asked the director to help me produce them. He ignored me.

I also accepted the job, understanding that I was to have a full schedule, with a kindergarten class in the morning. Through no fault of my own, the school was unable to enroll enough kids for my kindergarten class, so they transferred my kids to a class under a teacher with greater seniority.

I was concerned that I would be a financial liability to the director, so I agreed to work temporarily for part-time salary, provided that the director accept me as an apprentice in operating the video and recording equipment. He agreed that he needed help in that area, so we signed a contract to that effect.

My first assignment was to write music files on my computer at home. For about a month, I worked diligently on that task. At the end of the month, I told the director that I was finished with those files.

He ignored me. My afternoon classes were assigned to a new teacher, and I was dismissed.



Subject: Kang's English Academy

Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 23:28:34 -0500

The following Korean English school should be blacklisted in Canada, the United States, and any other English speaking country. This school's name is Kang's Academy in Seosan, South Korea.

Kang's English Academy Eupnae-dong

Seosan, South Korea

A second foreign teacher is leaving this school for many disturbing reasons. She has been in Seosan for less than a month. The living conditions which are provided by the school were less than favorable providing a water problem within the apartment. The apartment is extremely slippery with wet water and has caused this teacher to fall twice. The director was not responsive to her complaints as the second time she fell, she felt as if this was a serious serious issue. She took a bus to a neighboring city *an hour away* as the director's did not help her find a local hospital. She got the x-ray's back and found out that she had a broken bone in her back. When arriving back to the school, she informed the director of this issue, and she requested better living conditions. The director ignored the situation causing her to arrange a departure from the school. She is now finishing up a month of teaching, so she is monetarily compensated with a broken bone in her back, difficulties walking and waking up, and uncertainties of where her future lies due to this unfortunated circumstance. IT IS NECESSARY THAT THIS SCHOOL BE BLACKLISTED!!!! THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR TEACHERS, AND THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM AND PUT THEM IN HARMS WAY! She was not directed to a hospital and had to travel over an hour with a broken bone. No remorse was exhibited from the directors. This is by far one of the worst schools in Korea with irresponsible directors.

If you have any questions, Please feel free to contact me !!! THIS IS BY FAR NOT A JOKE!?Please HELP KEEP FOREIGNERS AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL! THEY DO NOT CARE!!!!!



Subject: Stanford Academy in Jeonju

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 17:06:51 -0700 (PDT)

Hi Jon,

I want you to know of a school in Jeonju...it is called Stanford Academy. This school is in the Seo Sin Dong Area, Wan San Gu, Jullabukdo Area, in Jeonju. The director operated another school before near i think it was Jeonbuk university, and also operated the Dr. Lee's Toeic class.

This (director) is the devil itself. One cannot get lower than this guy. Problems to obtain full bonus, repeated history of paying late. The contractual terms he refuses to respect. Instant dismissal if one does not do overtime, even though contract states that there is to be no weekend work and that overtime is discretionary. In reality, it is coercive. There are changes to the contract terms. The worst part is that one would be forced to teach for close to 10 hours without as much as a half hour break to have something to eat. If you complain, you are fired and then you will be kicked out of the apartment and be on the streets. Forget about trying to get a letter of release, learn to get accustomed to invasions of your privacy because employer has keys to your apartments and will enter your apartment. He would back every few seconds to "peep" at you. YOu are not to stand for the entire period. There is no syllabus/curriculum with respect to the school. This is a sorry name "school" which is nothing more than a money making gimmick for duped parents. There is an official complaint lodged with the Jeonju Labour Board. He was ordered to pay one ex teacher some money. This is after he threatened her for the repayment of the one way ticket. The labour board ordered him to pay. This director is very vindictive and one needs to know what one is going to have to cope with. The apartment is the only redeeming feature..it was not a one room but a one bedroom apartment.



Subject: Oxford, also known as the KCG (Korea Campus Group), Jeju-do

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:20:34 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Jon,

Thanks for running your lists. I've got another school to add to it, unfortunately. Here are the plain facts of my story.

Hello. My name is Melissa T., I'm a US citizen who worked at Jeju International English Village on Jeju-do, South Korea from July 15th to August 28th, 2006. The reason I am writing is to let you know that the managers of this hogwan (Oxford, also known as the KCG (Korea Campus Group), among other names) are breaking contractual agreements and actually breaking the law through their labor practices with US, UK, and New Zealand citizens. I left on August 28th, and I hope that my experience will add to others and get this hogwan shut down.

BROKEN LAWS:

Mr L*** **** ***, the owner of the camp, made the Korean and foreign teachers work for two weeks straight with no weekend break, 12 hours a day. I have since managed, through a strike, to get overtime pay for one break day. No one else has been compensated.

I, Melissa T., was not paid for 8 weeks of work, 12 hours a day, or compensated for my airfare, to the tune of 4.1 million won.

BROKEN CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS:

Mr L*** **** *** promised to pay me, Melissa T., 4 million won on August 28th, a contractual agreement which he did not honor.

Mr L*** **** *** promised a New Zealand teacher, Aroha, that she would work 30 hrs a week, a contractual agreement that has not been honored.

Mr L*** **** ** promised a New Zealand teacher, Aroha, that she would work Monday through Friday, a contractual agreement that has not been honored.

Mr L** *** *** promised two New Zealand teachers, Aroha, Molia, and myself that we would have private accomodations, a contractual agreement that has not been honored.

Mr L*** **** *** gave Aroha and two UK teachers, J** C. and M*******, no warning that they would be coming to Jeju Island, and they were on Jeju, working 12 hrs a day, on their vacation time.

FURTHER INFRACTIONS:

Mr L*** **** *** and his camp coordinator, Mr N*** **** ***screamed at M*****, A******* and myself, causing us a lot of emotional strain and anguish.

Mr L*** **** *** promised New Zealand students and teachers (B******** W***** and K**** M**********) one New Zealand meal a day, which was not honored.

During the camp, Mr L*** **** *** did not pay the supermarket over 1 million won, so the supermarket would not sell food to the cooks. Most of the cooks quit after one night when all we had to eat was french toast and potatoes.

Mr L*** **** *** promised New Zealand students and teachers a field trip every weekend, which was not honored.

At the camp, Mr L*** **** *** did not pay for oil to heat the water, so for over one week 80 students and teachers were forced to have cold showers.

Mr L*** **** *** told me that 60 NZ and Aussie kids are scheduled to come for the next winter camp! He is trying to scam even MORE people! It seems that unless he commits immigration infractions, the police and labor board are reluctant/unable to do anything.

BAD PRESS:

I saw a Korean newspaper article that Mr L*** **** *** did not pay the rent on the winter camp location, and as I left, he was scouting out places to have his next winter camp.

This is just a rumor, but I heard from another foreign teacher, J** C*********, that Mr L*** and his wife used to run a Wonderland hogwan, which had been shut down because of poor management and bankruptcy.

Another rumor, heard from another foreign teacher employed by Mr L*** for the past 10 months, M***, is that the owner of the camp, Mr L*** **** **, has been in jail before, and is not allowed to use his name with this camp, but he is using his name with this camp.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS:

I was screamed at by Mr N*** **** *** for perhaps the third time on the night of August 20th so I cried and called the police (dialed (02) 114) but no one there could speak English, so I hung up.

On August 21st two policemen showed up at the camp around 2pm, (I was taken out of my class to give them my passport), (but a Korean teacher, Hannah, told me not to tell Mr L** or Mr S***, it was a secret raid, they'd been investigating the camp for some time) and through Hannah I told them how upset I was and how no one was getting paid, and she told them about all of the other Korean teachers were getting scammed as well.

The police got very angry. A******* K** is an American citizen (Kyopo) who was forced to work 12 hours a day despite the fact that she does not have an E-2 visa and is not legally able to work more than 20 hours a week in Korea. The police have been investigating this camp for some time. I told my lawyer, Mr J*****, and he said, "But aren't they a government sponsored camp?" And I said, "Well, I hope not!" The lawyer told me to call him on the last day, and the police gave me their card and told me to call them too.

(The Big "office helper" apparently knew they were there, because he took off in the van and didn't come back until nightfall, but it's possible that Mr L*** **** *** never knew).

On the 23rd I succeeded in talking with the lawyer, Mr M****** J****, around 1pm, and he advised me to sit tight and be a model teacher in the HOPES that I would get paid.

On August 27th the board of education raided the camp again in the mid-afternoon/evening, but I don't know if they succeeded in talking with Mr L**.

On August 28th I was supposed to meet with Mr L*** **** *** at 8:30am and I was waiting in the office but at 8:15am he ran out and wouldn't come back in and a Korean teacher, J******, ran after him and begged him to pay me, and he reported that he would pay me at noon on August 29th, and I said no, he can't, I'm leaving at 11am that day, and so J******* promised to go back and try to convince him to pay me earlier again and I left for Seong-Eup to catch the bus.

I got to the Jeju airport at 10:30am on August 28th, where I promptly went to the information desk on the 2nd floor and asked the woman there to help me call the policeman who had given me his card when he secretly raided the camp on August 21st. She did and he arrived within ten minutes, with an interpreter, Ms. Y**** ***-*****. Then the interpreter arranged for my flight to be delayed until 3:30pm, and my baggage to be left in the luggage office, and we went in the policeman's car to the Labor Board. In the car he and she quizzed me about my boss and what was happening and what my address was in America and where I went to school, etc, and wrote it all down.

We got to the Labor board around 11:30 and E**-Y****** took photocopies of my diploma, the contract that Mr L*** signed, my passport, my alien card, and Mr L**'s business card, all of which I'd luckily had on hand. Then the man at the labor office (sitting in the desk nearest the door) (whose name I never learned) called Mr L** (around 11:45?) and asked him if he knew me, Mr L** at first said no, then he said that I'd have to wait two weeks for my money, and the labor guy said, well, okay. And the policeman, Y*** ***-****** and I went back out to the car and I was SPITTING MAD and waving my contract but apparently there was nothing that they could do, they said it's better to have many people who were scammed with you (but I didn't have any of the Korean teachers' contact information, argh).

Then the policeman asked if I wanted to go out for Jajamyeon so I said all right even though I didn't feel like eating and at 11:50am we went to this restaurant where all of the senior police officers were eating (around the corner from the police station) and I used Y*** ***-******'s cellphone and called my lawyer, Mr M****** J*****, from there, at around 12:15pm. I told him the problem and he said he'd call a friend to check on the law, and call me back. So I tried to eat with the policeman and the interpreter and tried to be friendly and not cry, and I think it worked for a little while. E**-***** asked me if I could stay on Jeju for another two weeks, (as she thought I could get paid if I stayed) and I thought about it, but said that I had no money. And then she offered to let me stay with her, and pay for my food, which was sweet, but I told her that I just couldn't, I was so homesick (but really just sick of the terrible lies and screaming and injustice). Then the lawyer called me back after we finished eating (Around 1:20pm) and said that Mr L*** was within his right to deny me pay for 2 weeks.

So I gnashed my teeth and went with E**-******* and the nice policeman to Nonghyop bank, to see if I could transfer my money out of there from America, and it seemed that I could, so we went back to the airport and they left me there.

At 2pm I found the Korean teachers, A*******, H****** and S***** waiting with the kids at the airport, they of course asked why I was there, and I told them, and they wanted me to wait with them, but I didn't want anything to do with them anymore, it was just too painful, and so I took my Asiana flight at 3:30 pm back to Seoul, saw the big ugly office helper greeting the parents with the kids, (suppressed my urge to kick him, walked on by), caught a bus to Itaewon, left on August 29th for the airport. Caught my NW008 flight to Tokyo/Seattle at 11:20am and was back in Portland, Oregon, USA at 11:20am the same day.

Anyway, hope this will help others not work for these despicable people.

Peace,

Melissa

Subject: Blacklist Ewha ALS Saha-gu, Busan

Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 12:21:39 +0000

Useless school. I feel sorry for the teachers and students still there. A psychotic director, she'll stop at nothing to make you feel worthless and at her mercy. I was there less than 3 months when I had enough and she told me that I'd never work in Korea again. She blacklisted me, didn't pay me, and got the police after me for petty lies she created. She also took it upon herself to email a bunch of schools in Busan with my passport photo telling them I was a horrible teacher and a theif etc... (deflemation of characher? i think so!)

She also told people I ruined her business... She ruined her business on her own! She's gone through probably 10 teachers in the past 6 months which is tons considering this is a very small school. She takes advantage of the contract and skims money off the top of your pay. She pays very little, works you very hard and treats you like dirt. The resources are embarassing and the atmosphere is miserable. If you have any respect for yourself, other potential teachers or the students, never work at an Ewha and hopefully they all shut down so nobody has to deal with this crap again.

Anon.



Subject: IN THE WORLD (they also use the name E&E) - Located all over the city.

Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006

-They have not filled their end of the contract several times in regards to pay and hours.

-Very little support is given

-poor books

-bad attitude towards teacher: the hours and pay might seem like a good deal, but it's not worth the hassle

-No insurance is given (all E2's require it)

- They require you open a bank account which they have complete control over. The kids money goes into this and then they pay you from this into your other personal account...the one you still have the bank book and password for. It's unclear if tax is being payed on this. The bank account is in your name and they take control of this. You should never give anyone control of your personal bank account.



Subject: The Sang Kyoung Elementary School, Madeul

Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:38:41 -0400

Hi! I was cheated out of $1100. The Sang Kyoung Elementary School in Madeul, Seoul and/or the scumbag recruiter GLE (Good Luck English) didn't pay me for the last 3 weeks. G.L.E. and in particular Mr. L**** are incredible scumbags and liars. They constantly lied about things from first contact. (He) is a real turd. I had some other bad experiences in Korea but that was the worst. The Madeul school had 5 teachers in 1 year. That's a deathtrap.



Subject: either JaSan and/or Kids Club, Pyeong-Taek

Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:22:45 -0500

Hi Jon.

This school goes by either JaSan and/or Kids Club. They all keep changing to different job titles so I just added all the names above.

It's probably the worst school around in this area (Pyeong-Taek) The director has conned numerous teachers and owes millions to former employees. Do not expect your own apartment or any form of payment whatsoever.

Severance pay has been withheld from teachers on at least three occasions.

Contractual obligations in relation to accommodation, pay dates and vacations will not be kept. The director has little or no respect for Westerners. This is a poorly managed school with no interest in education. No teaching materials for native speakers are provided. Expect your pay to be docked if you decide to take your contractual vacation time.

Poor accommodation with a complete lack of privacy. Do not expect your medical insurance or your pension contributions to be passed on. Do not expect your final wages, or your contractual notice time to be honored.

There is a high turnover of staff here, with very few teachers staying longer than 6 months. Former teachers have found the director deceptive and guilty of trying to implement ridiculous rules.

Teachers here were fired with short notice so that the director could save money. Compensation was not paid.

Statutory notice not given. Expect to be fired unjustly.

Delays in pay and non-payment of some wages and original deposit. Tax, insurance and pension are taken from teachers' wages but are not paid.

Horrible and unsafe living conditions

Less than half salary was paid to three foreign teachers and two Korean teachers due to various, dubious deductions. Airfare also wasn't paid. The apartment provided lacked furnishings.

Early firing of teachers to avoid severance pay for two teachers.

You may be harassed, threatened and not paid if you work here.

I know I may have repeated a lot but I want other foreigners to be aware. I suggest that you ask the school to provide you with the other foreign teachers email address and/or phone number and contact them first before taking the job. I made the mistake of not listening to the other foreign teachers and took the job because the school was the closest to my friends. As of July 2006, I know of 2 Canadian teachers, 4 American teachers, 2 New Zealand teachers and 3 Korean teachers that have worked there in the past. Be wise as to which schools you choose. I have been working at other schools and I have never had any problems like this before so please be careful. If you have any question concerning this school or any other questions please contact me via email: bytcxxxxxxx@hotmail.com

Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003

Subject: LCI Kidsclub/Yangchun-Gu,Mok-Dong,Seoul,www.mkidsclub.com;

This institution is dishonest and has left many of the teaching staff without a final full paycheck.

They have deducted huge amounts from the last months salary for pension cost's, even after monthly payments have been made.

Personally, I would not trust working for these people! They will try and swindle out every penny, leaving you with nothing.

The Korean staff is a different story, they will lie and cheat by sneaking things into your classroom to cover-up their own mistakes.



AND A REPLY:

Subject: L.C.I. Kids Club-Mok-dong

Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:10:26 +0000

S.L.P. Gwangjin/Godeok

The worst, and I repeat WORST hagwon in S. Korea. Cheating teachers out of lunch breaks, not paying over-time, not listening to suggestions that would raise enrollment and then yelling at teachers when enrollment drops, lowest pay I've earned in my life as a teacher, teachers are told to teach Arts & Crafts and must find and pay for all supplies, no technology is used-poor toys in play room, playrooms are also the cafeteria, there isn't a teacher's room, then they overcharge you on ALL utility bills, threaten to fire you when you complain about it, directors constantly screaming in the corridor, and one month away from my 2,000 bonus, they fired me. No reason to be fired--given the fact that I wanted to quit after 3 weeks but held on for my bonus--strongly encouraged by my recruiter--I was a very good teacher. I could go on, but don't want to remember anything about my experience there.



AND A REPLY:

Subject: LCI Kidsclub, Mok-dong

Date: Saturday, July 5, 2008 5:02 AM

Could you please remove this - this information is false. Please confirm that you have removed this. I worked there for 1 year in 2005 for the full year. During my year, I even received a pay increase. As well, my friend has been there for 4 years. Again this information is FALSE.

Sincerely,



SUBJECT: HEARLD SCHOOL CHEONG JU CITY

Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:28:51 -0700 (PDT)

(1) Students are sent to classroom without books.

(2) Teachers are told to make copies for the students without books.

(3) Casette tapes are used in classroom, not spoken English.

(4) Students repeat after tape, they do not engage in English conversation.

(5) Teachers are told to write elevuation reports that reflect only good about school and students.

(6) If teachers write truth about school or student reports are retyped and changed to reflect only what is good for school.

(7) Teachers are told they must order new books two weeks before finishing the old book but have no way of knowing what book is to be ordered.

(8) New teachers are placed into classroom with no training.

(9) School is only interested in filling the slot not the walfare of the student or teacher.

(10) School is not interested if students learn English as long as they can make the school look good on paper.

(11) School is only intrested in the money they can make from the students and the parents.

(12) School is not concerened about students learning or the walfare of it teachers.

(13) I would not and could not recemmond this school to anyone wanting to learn English.

(14) Therefore I am leaving this school as I will not be a part of this scam to steal from the parents and students.

(15) School took my passport to get my alien card and charged me for card and now refuse to return passport or card and origianl copy of my degree until I leave Korea.

(16) Gave school 60 day notice, and had to pay back fonds for trip here which is fine. But school wants me to leave in less time and kept all of my pay for the month of June to pay for their ticket. But given me nothing to live on for the month of July and the earilest fight I can ge out of Korea on this ticket is 7 September, 2006.

Had I worked the two months required by school 1/2 June pay and 1/2 July pay to refund ticket price. But because they want me to leave earily have to borrow money from friends or not eat until I can live. Have no money or anywhere to live. But as a dog on the streets. It is reasons like this that teachers will not come to Korea to work.

(17) Now school wants to redo my contract to reflect only 6 classes a day and cut my pay also. They are the ones who took the classes I only requested that they reduice one class on Firdays.

(18) The school says I must also pay for the trip to Japan for my Visa and they are the ones who asked me to come here without it. I worked 30 days with on contract of Visa . Then had to get my passport extended and make a Visa run to Japan. Because school did not do their job upon my arival.

(19) Feel this looks bad for the Education system and reflect bad on Koreans and the way teacher are treated from other countries here in Korea.

(20) If you came to America and were treated this way with no friends or way of support how would you feel about Americans?

(21) had I known this about the Korean school system here I would have never come to Korea and never will again.

Subject: Poly School - Incheon City.

Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:45:25 +1200

Hi Jon,

I am writing to warn possible employees of this school. There were a host of issues right from the time I started. I have over two years experience teaching in South Korea and they were the worst employers I had. The list of problems listed includes issues experienced by other teachers working at the same time as me just so everything I know of can be included.

-Takes non contract deductions without explanation. Money was removed from first pay checks and later for reasons including "apartment deposits" and " overdue gas bills". Nothing mentioned in contract.

-Illegal pension deductions. Later complaints were made to the Pension office and some remunerations were made but not to past teachers.

-Sub standard apartments which had issues including- no hot water, bug infestations ( more than a couple at night ), no furnishings, no kitchenware.

-TEACHERS FIRED ILLEGALLY- I heard that one teacher managed to sue the school but they are 'letting staff' go at the moment just before contracts are finished.

-A manager and director who are hostile and will yell at staff. Tactics included but were not limited to trying to make people work extra hours, taking money from the contract end bonus, blaming teachers for students violent behaviour, going through staff members desks and bags.

Please think twice before you choose this school. Thanks.

Subject: Sejong Language Institute, located in Apgujeong, a district in Seoul

Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:32:29 +0900

Hi, I'd strongly discouraged any one from working at the school in Apgujeong, Seoul called Sejong. It is run by J------- P---. The school is located across the street from the Hyundai Departmet Store. The assistant director is a Korean man by the name of Mr. C--. Last I knew the academic director was a Canadian man named R-----, but I don't know if he is still there, because my friend told me this and she left some months ago--they go through academic directors fast: in the four months I was there, they went through four. In the four months, half the teachers wer arbitrarily dismissed and I know of one teacher who was fired after one month, not even given notice, just told to not come back again, and then had to pay a significant amount of money to obtain her letter of release!

Finally, while I can't confirm or deny it (the incident took place after I left), I was told that the assistant director, C--, forced unwanted intercourse upon a teacher. He seduced her while she was in a clearly confused mental state, which was in some degree brought on by the stressful conditions at the school, her doctor stated. Based on the facts I heard, I think he would be convicted of rape in most states in the U.S.

I do know, because of their repeated promises to provide me my promised health nsurance "next week," my own health was gravely impaired due to my need for prescription medicine. Upon return to the United States, my physician recommended me for hospitalization, though I declined.

Try CDI--I work there, it's good. I interviewed at Hoyah and got pretty positive vibes, though some of my collegues at CDI have warned me about Hoyah, and this was coming from people I don't think would mislead me on this point. But the Hoyah stuff was pretty minor--not getting as many hours as promised, though I read on-line a posting that said the person got paid less then the agreed amount . . . One person who wrote me in regards to a posting about Sejong told me that he had been told he could make up to 10 million won a month, that's why he was writing me; it sounded a little suspicious. All I can say is that to the best of my knowledge no teacher was paid that amount. I was paid 2.6million a month which Mr. P--- told me in an e-mail was the highest amount they offered teachers. I later found out this was false, as some teachers were making more than that, though I don't know exactly how much. Because of serious financial problems (they were 8 million in the red my final month there--June/July, 2005), I seriously doubt they could offer 10 million won a month, no matter how good the teacher was. In fact, a former teacher told me that, as their financial problems had persisted, the pay was well below what it was last year, when I worked there.

Finally, all of my students I have run into or talked to since have quit the school. . . not a good situation.



Subject: LangZon Language School, Kyunggi-Do

Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:33:17

I came to Korea in the beginning of December 2003 at:

LangZon Language School

Kiheung-Eup, Yongin-City, Kyunggi-Do 449-903

Before taking the job (my director) said I would share a two bedroom apartment with the other teacher. I said this was no problem as long as he DID NOT smoke. She said he did not smoke. When I arrived in Korea she said she was sorry and had just discovered HE DID smoke.

My employer, X******, requested that I assist her in falsifying my contract's monthly pay so she could cheat the government heath care agency, and save herself money. Therefore, I waived all my health coverage. I did not think I'd need it anyway. She told me that falsifying documents to the government health care officials was just a "white lie" and commonly done. I replied that although I might break the traffic laws with impunity on my bicycle, I would not knowingly sign a written document falsifying information in order to cheat the government out of their lawfully due health care payments. She said was doing this with her other employee and I should too.

X******* hired a third American teacher in the beginning part of March 2004. This seemed to be a strange thing to do as she had earlier mentioned student enrollment had been going poorly. (I had many classes with only 1-4 students or no shows) Due to the hiring of this other American employee, (who happened to already have been in Korea) I was only teaching three classes a day for around fifteen hours a work week. The other teachers and I all were pleased but curious at our exceedingly slack schedule. I spoke with the new employee, and he said he was getting paid 2 million won a month- the same salary of the other foreign Canadian teacher. I was making a little more around 2,070,000.00 won the equivalent of 1,800.00 US dollars a month.

Coincidentally my employer told me April 12, 2004 that she did not have enough adults for me to teach, my teaching style did not fit with her younger students, and that she needed to fire me to protect her school. She said she would not be reimbursing me for my flight back, nor would she be giving me my bonus salary sum, or any sort of severance pay. I agreed that April 30, 2004 would be my last day because it was clear to me that arguing would just make the whole situation ugly- and she obviously had one too many foreign teachers.

(This was a surprise and disappointment because She had NEVER before threatened to fire me nor had she hinted that I was a bad teacher and soon to be fired. I was NEVER taken aside by her and counseled that I must drastically change or improve or I would be fired.)

I agreed to finish out my days at the school in a conscientious and normal manner; I agreed to not inform any of the students of my soon departure. I did tell my fellow teachers the situation as I felt they deserved to know, and seeing as how they were employed at the school as well. But, I did not ever mention my firing to the students.

At first I planned on leaving Korea; however, when I realized I could still teach here for a while, and have the advantage of previewing the school- I decided to stay. My employer agreed verbally to pay me all my last days of work: 20 days were due me as I was paid on the 8th of each month- and my last day would be Friday April the 30th. The only thing I agreed for her to withhold was around 100 thousand for utility bills that would come in after I had left. Doubting the honesty of the words of my employer I again spoke with her Tuesday the 27 of April asking her if she would like to inspect my room as I could easily clean it up early. I wanted to make sure I got paid on the 30th of April.

She assured me that she was not like other dishonest employers and she would pay me on Friday April 30. Towards the end she became discordant and uncooperative. At first she claimed I did not need a letter of release until my last day, then later when I informed her that prospective employers earnestly requested she grudgingly wrote me one. But she became very sullen and angry, and told me not to ask her for another one because it was the only one she would write. She refused to let me have even one vacation day off in my final few days to look for another teaching job.

Needless to say, she refused to pay me anything on Friday the 30th of April, which caused me to become angry- which she in turn reciprocated with much more fervor, I calmed down and she agreed to pay me 100 thousand in advance. However, she informed me that I must be moved out of my apartment by Monday May 3. She said she would pay me after she had inspected it Sunday. She claimed she had a wedding to go to on Saturday; thus she could not spare me her time. She said if I stayed past Sunday May 2nd she would take money out of my last pay as rent fees.

She also said that she was only going to pay me 500,000.00 won because she thought I had paid too much for my ticket here, and therefore she was taking money out of my final paycheck to get money back for this. Further, she said she was withholding money for a cleaning fee. She told me she would pay me whatever was left over after all these charges were taken care of, unless it was a small sum of less than 50 thousand or so - in which case I should "just write it off", if I was no longer in Korea to collect it.

I was in Korea two years after and my bank account is even now still open- but I seriously doubt she will be paying me any more money out of her own free will.

I had flown to Jeju Sunday the second of May, and surprisingly, she actually did pay me 500,000.00 won on Monday May 3, when I checked my bank account. But, I feel she should pay me the other sums that she unfairly withheld from me. I also want her to pay for my four vacation days - I was never sick and took no vacation days- but I was not reimbursed for these.

I later discovered she had also fired the other original white guy worker there and hired someone from New Zealand.

As to my teaching quality itself- I admit I was knew to ESL (not teaching) on coming to Korea but I did two consecutive years with EPIK after that- and they wanted / want me to do a third.

I should also mention that early on a Korean teacher was also let go for no apparent reason that I could tell- and for reasons she could / would not explain to me ether.

It is sad it had to work out negatively like that, but I think others should know that she has set a pattern of "me-first" business in her mind. I do hope it all goes well for her and she feels enough regret to pay me some day- my bank account is still open. However, I doubt she ever will. It is all to easy to justify smart business sense by claiming the teacher caused her losses.

In fact months later she became angry when I again contacted her and asked to be paid still. She said I had damaged her school and therefore I owed her money. So I guess in her mind she was kind for not withholding more of my pay. At any rate, I DO NOT hate her, but I do feel regret that it seems she put money before me. But, as I said it seems some can justify anything if they put their business mind to it... The love of money...



Subject: Seon's Cooking and Acting Kids English Co., Chuncheon, in Toegye-Dong Green Town

Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2006

Hello, I want to tell everyone about Seon's Cooking and Acting Kids English Co., Ltd aka Seon's Kid's Cooking and Acting aka Seon's Kid's English aka I Love Gym aka My Gym...

Our boss was S**** ******, an evil man who is evidently a popular English idioms author (if cutting and pasting means you're an author); he was also good friends with the people working at Chuncheon immigration (Mr. P****).

1) He refused to pay us on time or to pay us overtime.

2) He refused to make good on our recruiter's promises (things like my husband having a job with the school--when we got to Korea, the women working at our hogwan didn't even know my husband was coming; free Korean lessons; trips back and forth between China and Korea for winter camps)...

3) He refused to meet with us to talk about grievances we had with the school before we even got here, he refused to put anything in writing

4) He hired teachers to take our jobs while we were still there working

5) We were fired without notice: we were yanked out of our classes and told to go to our apartments. We were locked out with our phones shut off. When we got inside the manager had already been there, taking the phone and disabling internet (among other things). We did not get to say goodbye to our students.

6) The two month termination notice (outlined in our contracts) was not honored- -instead our manager just made up lies at immigration to try to prove that we were a threat to our students (things like we taught class drunk and taught the children how to cuss and say really horrible things to their parents).

7) Our boss threatened our friends, who were trying to open their own legitimate hogwan.

The school is in Chuncheon, in Toegye-Dong, Green Town, right around the corner from Best English.

My name is Julie McGeorge, and I would prefer that you DO leave my name (on this)

My website is www.shakespeareseast.blogspot.com



Subject: Daejon: Information & Communications University

Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 06:38:16 -0400

The Information & Communications University (aka ICU).

Problem: Failed to pay severance payment benefit upon my departure as required by Korean Labor Law. I tried to work with them on it, giving the administration three months to check out the law themselves and see that they were indeed obligated to pay this benefit. Instead of cooperation, I got angry letters from the ELP director, Professor K********** attacking my character and my teaching performance. This was followed by a period in which my inquiries regarding the matter were simply ignored. My former colleagues still teaching at the university reported being "called on the carpet" by the ELP director to find out whether they supported my claim for the severance benefit. I had to file a complaint with the Korean Labor Board and the matter was settled quickly thereafter when the university was ordered to pay or face a court appearance.

A short while after this, Professor K**, the ELP director, in an email to me, referred to me as "a complete nuisance to the university" and issued what I took as a veiled threat against me should I ever contact the university again for any reason, and against any of my former colleagues who might mention me in her presence.

Other incidents at ICU included:

** Was told housing would be provided, then required to pay $200 a month for rent. When recruited, I was told housing would be provided on campus. The contract included this term, saying housing would be provided with the professor (myself) paying a management fee. In Korea, a "management fee" is a small monthly fee paid to the building management for services such as cleaning up and handling garbage disposal. It is usually $20 or $30. After arriving and taking up residence, the university administration referred to this as "rent" not "management fee" and informed me it would be $200 a month. A few months into the contract, the university tried to raise this to $300 without any consultation by simply sending out a memo saying it had been raised. My colleagues and I objected loudly and that increase was put off to the next year.

By the way, if you choose to live off campus, the university will not provide any housing allowance. The apartment provided on campus is quite small and is in the students' dormitory, so you are basically living with the students. (See more below about salary and expenses.)

** As I lay in a hospital bed at the end of one semester for nine days, the administration kept calling me - - - asking (demanding) me to submit my final grades ! At the end of one semester, I was quite ill. I had a fever, headache and severe sore throat. However, I stuck it out and made it through the exams. I went to the hospital the day after exams were over and I was in the hospital for nine days with a very serious illness. While my colleagues visited me and the secretary of the ELP office was very helpful, the Academic Affairs team's only concern was that I had missed the deadline for submitting final grades and they called my hospital room telephone every day after the deadline asking when I would submit them and suggesting they would send the exams over to me so I could mark them and calculate the final grades - - - and use the hospital's internet cafe to submit them - - - - all this with two IV's in my arms. Appalling.

** I was given permission to buy an item at a cost of $140 for a special lecture the university had asked me to do. I made the purchase and paid for it out of my own pocket. Then, I got an email saying that the special lecture was cancelled. When I brought up the fact that I had already bought the approved item, I was basically told "tough luck." Despite several appeals to the administration, showing them copies of their email in which they approved the purchase, they never agreed to reimburse this.

** The above two incidents are telling of the university's administration's attitude, which in my opinion is arrogantly "we can do whatever we want, whenever we want." I think this is what led them to think they could get by without paying the severance benefit; they simply didn't think they had to listen to or care about me. Time and time again, things like this happened at the university.

** The contract reads in such a way that the university can shift your required teaching hours around to meet their schedule. While the contract seems to say that you will teach 5 courses per semester, and three courses in a winter English camp, you can end up teaching much more in the spring semester because they don't need you to teach the winter camp usually. They shift these required "camp" hours into the spring semester, the busiest semester and you can end up teaching 7 courses, which there is no way you can do effectively. I was given seven courses to teach in one spring semester, including three writing classes with a total of 67 students in those writing classes. (Oh, and class size is usually 22 or 23 students.) The emphasis was getting the classes covered, not necessarily taught well, it seemed.

** All my efforts to make any kind of contribution to the development of the program went without support. In fact, in my first couple of weeks there, I presented some ideas the director, Professor K****** for classes I would be teaching, and instead of hearing encouragement, I was told "If you teach the book, I'll be happy" and with that she moved on down the hall.

** In my opinion, ICU in Daejon is not the place for a professional TESOL professor. I believe it is run more like a hagwon (language academy business) than a university program. There was no professional development opportunity; in fact, new ideas, it seemed to me, were taken as a personal challenge by the director of the program, K*******. There was great potential for an excellent ESP (English for Specific Purposes) program there since 100% of the undergrad students study just two majors: IT Engineering (about 90%) or IT Business and that's what attracted me to the program - the chance to develop ESP curriculum; but the potential, in my opinion, is squandered away in uninspired mediocrity and just plain neglect by the director. "Warm body in the classroom" and "got all the classes covered" seems to be the extent of mission accomplishment for her, in my opinion. Perhaps this will change with time, and maybe with a new director who is truly interested in the job and has the ability, training, vision, personality and emotional confidence needed for the job of being director of a university program.

The present director, was rarely seen while I was there. In this very small school, she holds another position as a kind of personal assistant or travel secretary for the school's president and, in my opinion, she seems much more interested in that job than in being involved in the English language program. My colleagues and I used to describe the department as being run "on autopilot."

The school itself is very small - - a few hundred students - - and the undergrad is really just a technical college with its two majors, though they have some kind of plan to start a liberal arts department some time, I hear. (In Korea it seems "university" is used to describe any kind of higher education institute beyond high school.)

The students are bright, but because they only get one credit hour for each of their eight English courses, - - even though these are full courses meeting 3 hours a week - - it's difficult getting them to invest much into the classes. In my opinion, poor choice of textbooks and a lack of focus or "purpose" in the course don't help. While you're encouraged to "challenge them", the more you make the students work, in my experience, the less popular you become and the lower your student ratings are. Student ratings are the only measure of your teaching success in the English Language Program at ICU; there is no classroom observation or independent assessment of your teaching by the director, which one would expect with a professional program. It is the first university position I have had where there was no professional review of my performance by the director.

There was some effort toward professional development sessions when I first arrived there, but that seems to have been a remnant of the previous professional administrators of the program, UC-Riverside, and faded away when the "university" decided it could run the program itself and put one of its Korean ESL teachers in charge as the director. In my opinion, that was a fundamental mistake that led to what I see as the major flaws of the program; it just isn't managed well, in my opinion, - - I would even opine that its grossly mismanaged - - and thus it can't even approach its considerable potential. "Quite a shame; what a waste" I used say to myself when I saw what was going on there and think about what could be going on there.

The salary the university will offer is slightly higher than what you can get at average universities in Korea. They tend to offer about 2.6 million won per month (about $2,600 US dollars). However, from that you would have to pay your own housing while nearly all universities in Korea provide housing for free or provide a housing allowance averaging 400,000 won. In the end, I think you make less than you would at most universities in Korea. (And, since the university is in Daejon, where "the scene is dead" . . . . you'll find yourself traveling to Seoul often to be where your friends are . . spending at least a $100 a month in transportation . . . and always having to beg a place to stay overnight in Seoul with a friend on the weekends when you're up there – or pay for a motel room.)

In short, the Information & Communications University has problems that should give pause to a TESOL professional considering teaching there in the ELP. The university, in my opinion, has an "above the law" attitude and the English Language Program if rife with professional shortcomings. At the urging of my colleagues, I'm adding that and sending you this final (promise!) update. Hope it's not too much trouble. Thank you, Jon.



Subject: Changdong area, Seoul, SK.

Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 01:51:22 +0100 (BST)

Hi,

I was working for Canada International School (a hogwon posing as an international school) before and think that there are really some concerns that teachers should be warned about. I was waiting to see how it was resolved (ie-recieved my final pay) .

Okay, I will go back to the begining. I started working for them (for about a month) with a C4 for a winter camp that i had finished. I was working for 2 days before seeing the contract. I was surprised that they were not an 'international school' but a hogwon as I believed that i would teaching in an actual school. I also only talked with the principal about teaching BC curicullum classes (based on the BC program of studies) which I had done in China. I was also told that I would be observed for one day (first day) only to 'mold me to their teaching style'. I also explained that my passport expired in 6 months and that I would have to pay back an emergency loan before I could get it renewed which would be very expensive. The principal told me 'no problem-we will sign a six month contract'.I was also told that it was not a problem to not have to pay into pension as it was 'very expensive'. A co-worker later told me that they were told that noone was getting their pension. So, during my first week, I found out that I was going to be working almost 34 hours (I had not seen the contract before then), teaching ESL and not BC classes, that it was now not okay to sign a 6 month contract but that I had to sign a year contract and that I would have a permanent 'supervisor' in my room observing me (one of my co-workers told me this). I refused to sign the contract and actually tried to give my 60 day notice explaining that I just needed until the end of the month and then I could accept another job offer working in a public school for the government. I told her that I had thought they were an actual international school and not a hogwon (' but we are a very good hogwon that does'nt have to advertise') and that I believed that I could not be completely effective as a teacher with the amount of hours that we were requied to work. I also said that I did not want to work at a job that I did not believe that I could put 100% effectiveness into. The principal kept telling me that it would be very bad that I quit ( as the parents would ask questions) and eventually (due to my financial circumstances at the time which she knew about) I relented and signed the 6 month contract-refusing to sign a year one. I also kept trying to get my original degrees and teaching certificate back for a period of about a month (starting from this time) and was kept being told that 'I could come back tomorrow for them' and that 'the owner had them at a house' and that they 'needed to be scanned' (I told them to scan them and give them back to me as it would only take a few minutes-she walked away at that point). Eventually, I went into my file and found them there and took them back.

When it came to my visa run (a month or so after I had began working there) first, the principal kept trying to pressure me to use my holiday to go to a visa run-I kept refusing and also telling her that i had little money and did not want to go to an expensive country like Japan with little money. She kept insisting. Then, they had taken all of the deposit from me (was supposed to be in three equal installments) and I came home (between 10-11pm) to find that they had went into my apartment and left airplane tickets for 7am the next morning. I had been trying to talk to her all day to explain that they had left me with 300 thousand won for a paycheque by taking all of the deductions in one go. She was too busy during the day. I called her and told her that I would not be going. A few days after, they refunded the money they had taken.

My supervisor and myself had a conflicted relationship. I was eventually fired (halfway through my contract) due to,at least in part, listening to her and believing everything that she said about me. The principal kept pulling me into the office to address complaints from pretty much the first day. She would belittle and reprimend me in front of the other teachers in the resource room. She would tell me to 'liven up the class' and then gave me a letter saying how unhappy everyone was that I was behind on the book pages and that I had to teach straight from the book. When I suggested that they should provide training to new teachers, she said that it was my job to know how things were supposed to be (or something close to that effect) etc. etc. We spent a good portion of our time arguing. I was asked by the school to open up a Korean bank account as they would not continue to deposit into my American one. Most of my bills are tied to this account through direct deposit. I found out that I could not open a Korean bank account without my original passport which was being held awaiting an Alien Resident Card. Therefore, I found myself having to send money for bills back to my home country through mail which would take about 2 weeks. I requested a meeting with her to translate between the owner and myself (although I was told later that the owner speaks very good English!) to ask for an advance (I had gotten them before with no problem). He outright lied to me saying that it would not be possible as he had to 'pay the busdrivers' etc. Later, when she was reprimanding and belittling me in the resource room, she said that I was being 'punished' by the owner for previous ESL complaints. After all this, I taught a Kindergarten science class that involved an experiment with candles. Two of my students lit their vocabulary cards on fire with the candles. She never really communicated information to me. Eventually, she handed me a horrible, cruel letter dated April 21rst (our gym day was may 21rst) of 30 day termination (which ended may 20th) citing 'neglect' as the reason for termination. I was pressured up until the end to attend the My 21rst gym day and 'have pictures taken with the parents'.

I had set up another job offer. I kept asking them for my release letter as it was required to be sent in order to process paperwork for my new school. She (the supervisor) kept delaying saying that she needed the name of my new school to put on the release letter-I refused to give it to her and told her that I did not believe that was needed. More delays. I had also emailed her stating that I needed a monday afternoon off to go apply for a new passport (had to make an appointment with the consulate). She told me I could go on tuesday as the consulate would not be open on monday. I called the consulate, told her that it would be open and that I needed to go on the Monday as I had another apointment at 3pm. that had to be done on that day. I got a nasty letter later (when I eventually got my release letter) stating that i had 'taken off' on the Monday afternoon and that is not how things were 'done at CIS' that one ended up a screaming match in front of the reception desk. My appointment at 3pm was with legal aid (I had told her that I would be seeking legal help if I did not get my release letter by a certain date). The lawyer called CIS and got them to promise to have a letter by the end of the week and that they would return my deposit after calling the utility companies to get bills up to the 3rd week of May. I still ended up having to go around to everyone 'reminding' them that the letter was due that day. I also later found out that they purchased the plane tickets for another set of teachers-who had told me that they felt that they were being stalled and could not understand why on the same day that the lawyer called about me.

Well, my last day ended (fittingily enough) with me spending hours figuring out my deposit, them calling the utility companies (for the first time-this was supposed to be done beforehand) and telling me that there is no record of me ever having paid utilities!! i got my last pay deposited-which is at least 300 thousand won less than I (and the lawyer) estimated and lost one days pay either for not attending the gym day or for the national holiday so I am going back to legal aid to try to sort this all out again tomorrow.

I am writing this as I know that I was not the only teacher who was lied to/misled at this school. I think that while there behaviours may not necessarily earn them a 'spot' on the black list-it is definitly in the 'grey' area.

Is there anyway that you could post this annonomyously please?



Subject: Oh Sung Sik, Suwon, Korea

Date: Mon, 29 May 2006

When I arrived in Seoul in January 1st 2005, the director and his wife were not there. After phoning them they arrived 45 minutes to an hour later to pick me up and take me to my apartment.

There were a few students who had difficulties, and a few with behavior problems, but the majority of the students were exceptionally keen and made progress, with the results proven by test results.

Around May 2005, the director came to me and stated that my students had difficulty in understanding me. However these same students have been exposed to other foreign teachers who had American, Canadian, British and other western accents.

I contacted my recruiting agent at Englishwork.com on her cell phone only to get cut off and a nasty phone call back from her either husband or boyfriend telling me not to call her again. The next day I phoned the head office of Englishwork.com and asked to speak with the supervisor, and told them what had happened. I was then informed that she no longer works with them, and apologized about the rude treatment I got from her and was given the name