Comments on: ECC Korea http://www.teflschoolreviews.com/ecc-korea-2007219.html Independent Information on TEFL Life, Opportunities and Schools Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:45:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Jessica N http://www.teflschoolreviews.com/ecc-korea-2007219.html/comment-page-1#comment-136823 Jessica N Sun, 31 Jul 2011 07:47:04 +0000 http://www.teflwatch.org/219/ecc-korea/#comment-136823 My boyfriend Eric and I just started working at ECC in Gwangju, South Korea two weeks ago. The school itself is beautiful. It is clean, well decorated, and decent size. The children are curious and enthusiatic, especially the little ones. Our training consisted of one week of observing the classes of the teachers we have now replaced. There are a variety of textbooks, workbooks, supplements, cds and computer programs we have been expected to memorize. However, we've had some difficulty understanding which unit and page numbers we're supposed to be focusing on with the students. The training process could have been a lot more thorough, since we still feel like we've been left in the dark about the fundamentals. The hours are good for morning teachers, which is what Eric and I are. We work from 9:00am-6:30pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 9:00am-5:00pm Tuesday and Thursday. For our first teaching month though, we have to stay until 6:30pm every work night in order to make lesson plans and familiarize ourselves with the curriculum. Afternoon teachers have it pretty rough, They have to come in three hours before their shift for their first month of teaching. This means that they work from 11:00am-10:00pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 11:00am-8:00pm Tuesday and Thursday. In August ECC offers it's "intensive" program. August is when public school ends for summer vacation, and many parents decide to put their children (usually afternoon age students, 7-12 years old) in morning classes at ECC, in addition to parents who continue putting their children in afternoon classes. What this means is the afternoon teachers teach from 9:00am-10:00pm at night or 8:00pm at night, depending on the day of the week, for the month of August. Yikes! Additionally, I would not recommend working at ECC if you're looking to travel. Since it is a private school, the vacation days afforded to its teachers are very limited. Our longest vacation spans from Tuesday-Sunday, meaning that ECC teachers will never get a full week off, making travel plans very difficult. Christmas day we have off, but no days before or after expect for two proceeding New Years Eve. We are very disappointed that we won't have the time to travel, since we were looking forward to visiting Singapore, Thailand and maybe China. Other than the hours and vacation time, ECC offers a pretty reasonable deal. Our apartment is furnished, roomy (3 bedrooms) and our rent is paid for by the school. We have to pay utilities, but that's minimal. Our flight both ways is paid for by the school, and our salary is decent. (Approx. $24 000.00 Canadian for the year). Since it is only our second week here, I'm sure that I'll discover lots more about the good and bad aspects of ECC as the year goes on. I must say that Gwangju is a nice city to live in, with many comforts of home close by (Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin' Donuts, Outback Steakhouse, etc.) Hopefully this helps! Check out the ECC website for more info My boyfriend Eric and I just started working at ECC in Gwangju, South Korea two weeks ago. The school itself is beautiful. It is clean, well decorated, and decent size. The children are curious and enthusiatic, especially the little ones. Our training consisted of one week of observing the classes of the teachers we have now replaced. There are a variety of textbooks, workbooks, supplements, cds and computer programs we have been expected to memorize. However, we’ve had some difficulty understanding which unit and page numbers we’re supposed to be focusing on with the students. The training process could have been a lot more thorough, since we still feel like we’ve been left in the dark about the fundamentals.

The hours are good for morning teachers, which is what Eric and I are. We work from 9:00am-6:30pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 9:00am-5:00pm Tuesday and Thursday. For our first teaching month though, we have to stay until 6:30pm every work night in order to make lesson plans and familiarize ourselves with the curriculum.

Afternoon teachers have it pretty rough, They have to come in three hours before their shift for their first month of teaching. This means that they work from 11:00am-10:00pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 11:00am-8:00pm Tuesday and Thursday. In August ECC offers it’s “intensive” program. August is when public school ends for summer vacation, and many parents decide to put their children (usually afternoon age students, 7-12 years old) in morning classes at ECC, in addition to parents who continue putting their children in afternoon classes. What this means is the afternoon teachers teach from 9:00am-10:00pm at night or 8:00pm at night, depending on the day of the week, for the month of August. Yikes!

Additionally, I would not recommend working at ECC if you’re looking to travel. Since it is a private school, the vacation days afforded to its teachers are very limited. Our longest vacation spans from Tuesday-Sunday, meaning that ECC teachers will never get a full week off, making travel plans very difficult. Christmas day we have off, but no days before or after expect for two proceeding New Years Eve. We are very disappointed that we won’t have the time to travel, since we were looking forward to visiting Singapore, Thailand and maybe China.

Other than the hours and vacation time, ECC offers a pretty reasonable deal. Our apartment is furnished, roomy (3 bedrooms) and our rent is paid for by the school. We have to pay utilities, but that’s minimal. Our flight both ways is paid for by the school, and our salary is decent. (Approx. $24 000.00 Canadian for the year).

Since it is only our second week here, I’m sure that I’ll discover lots more about the good and bad aspects of ECC as the year goes on. I must say that Gwangju is a nice city to live in, with many comforts of home close by (Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin’ Donuts, Outback Steakhouse, etc.)

Hopefully this helps! Check out the ECC website for more info

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