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Osaka27172 Posts
Think about the kind of capital they need to have up front if they are going to run training sessions in three major US cities, and promise that kind of money to teachers for that many courses. In addition they need to build their website, and they are giving themselves 4 months from website to the beginning of the session to get enough students.
On July 17 2009 11:37 psion0011 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 17 2009 11:30 Manifesto7 wrote:
Our program is quite new; we have not yet recruited students. I wouldnt quit your day job for it. I thought the number of students seeking tutors in Japan and Korea waaaaaaaaaaaaaay outnumber the tutors. So this point isn't even worth thinking about.
This isn't true. And anyway, think about what this particular school is offering, and the type of students the are looking for before you say my point is worthless.
To be this confident either the market for high-end training in Seoul is booming, or they have a lot of contacts to pull in 200 students in 4 months. The program they describe looks like an extremely expensive one from the student's point of view. There are not that many students in my experience who are ready to jump to a top-tier American university with a 2 month prep course.
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On July 17 2009 11:37 psion0011 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 17 2009 11:30 Manifesto7 wrote:
Our program is quite new; we have not yet recruited students. I wouldnt quit your day job for it. I thought the number of students seeking tutors in Japan and Korea waaaaaaaaaaaaaay outnumber the tutors. So this point isn't even worth thinking about.
Yes, but there are 2350925092 English academies/hagwons which cater for the students. Everyone is jumping on the ESL bandwagon these days so Mani's concern that the hagwon might not get enough students is very very on point. There are many teachers who have been screwed because their hagwons collapsed (due to insufficient student enrollment) and their bosses couldn't pay them.
This hagwon is also targeting the elite of the rich students in Seoul. I don't know what the market for that is like... it seems the students(' mums) are going to have to pay a fortune for this course.
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Any letter sounds good or advertisement... w/e but I wouldn't trust anything until I have solid feedback from someone I know.
I've heard too many stories about non-governmental companies screwing over teachers overseas.
I'm not saying that this is a scam but I don't think one should be so naive to jump into this without more research since all you really have is a letter. More like an e-mail.
And Korean reasoning really does bother me when it comes to education because for example, every Korean person I've ever met has never heard of schools like the University of Chicago =\
When that university has like the biggest impact on Business Economics then almost every other university in the world and that's not Ivy League but that wouldn't matter to this guys like this I presume. Another school off the top of my head that I've never heard Koreans talk about is HEC Paris, an elite business school that consistently outranks Ivy League schools.
I'm not saying that no Korean has ever heard of those schools but it bothers me even when when Westerners have that certain mindset that only Ivy League Schools and Stanford and MIT are the only elite schools in the world or something.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
You have to be very, very, very careful about who you choose to work for here. Just check Dave's ESL Cafe (the biggest ESL forum online.) for stories of scams/bad employers/dodgy recruiters etc. As someone who has worked here for two years (as a private school English teacher.) now my best advice to anyone who gets an offer/finds an email like this is to research the hell out of it before even thinking about signing anything. Also to be very clued up on visa law for Korea (E-2 is the appropriate English language teaching visa for foreigners.) and also know where your embassy is/how to contact immigration.
I'm not trying to scare anyone off, but I speak from experience when I say that jumping into teaching here in South korea without being very careful can be a very big mistake.
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On July 17 2009 11:44 Elric wrote:Show nested quote +On July 17 2009 11:37 psion0011 wrote:On July 17 2009 11:30 Manifesto7 wrote:
Our program is quite new; we have not yet recruited students. I wouldnt quit your day job for it. I thought the number of students seeking tutors in Japan and Korea waaaaaaaaaaaaaay outnumber the tutors. So this point isn't even worth thinking about. Yes, but there are 2350925092 English academies/hagwons which cater for the students. Everyone is jumping on the ESL bandwagon these days so Mani's concern that the hagwon might not get enough students is very very on point. There are many teachers who have been screwed because their hagwons collapsed (due to insufficient student enrollment) and their bosses couldn't pay them. This hagwon is also targeting the elite of the rich students in Seoul. I don't know what the market for that is like... it seems the students(' mums) are going to have to pay a fortune for this course.
I guess my information is a bit outdated. I just remember a time when it was basically a modern gold rush, so it'd make sense that it's now oversaturated with teachers.
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United States3824 Posts
You might want to fix that email so you don't get horse porn.
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hm... horse porn what is it?
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3861 Posts
So i look up 병진 (Byungjin) the school's name and find out that a lot of kids use that in replacement of 병신 ... which means idiots. LOL.
See if you can get a contact number. I'll give them a call if you want. I don't know why, but something doesn't sit well with me on this ad. Maybe they are legit, but... just something... For that short a time, sounds like an English camp of sorts, but even then, I can't see how they can pay that much.
Hm.
Also, I work at the Princeton Review in Korea which is considered one of the more prestigious US university hakwons (and then I work in the consulting dept of it) and even then - they do not pay that much.
Yeah, get me a contact number.
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
When something sounds too good to be true, tread with care..
- of note too, the OP has ten posts on tl.net, two of them in this thread, he posts an e-mail offer, that even he is not sure about: "I would hope it's not a scam."
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On July 17 2009 13:07 lilsusie wrote:
So i look up 병진 (Byungjin) the school's name and find out that a lot of kids use that in replacement of 병신 ... which means idiots. LOL.
See if you can get a contact number. I'll give them a call if you want. I don't know why, but something doesn't sit well with me on this ad. Maybe they are legit, but... just something... For that short a time, sounds like an English camp of sorts, but even then, I can't see how they can pay that much.
Hm.
Also, I work at the Princeton Review in Korea which is considered one of the more prestigious US university hakwons (and then I work in the consulting dept of it) and even then - they do not pay that much.
Yeah, get me a contact number.
Really? I thought those hakwons must be making money hand over fist, because even as a high schooler I was making 35,000 won / hr tutoring kids for SAT.
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3861 Posts
Working as a private tutor is different from working in an actual hakwon. if you were hired as a HS student at a hakwon paid that much, the place is not very legit, as it is, by law, you need a college degree to teach English here.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
On July 17 2009 13:39 Aphelion wrote:Show nested quote +On July 17 2009 13:07 lilsusie wrote:
So i look up 병진 (Byungjin) the school's name and find out that a lot of kids use that in replacement of 병신 ... which means idiots. LOL.
See if you can get a contact number. I'll give them a call if you want. I don't know why, but something doesn't sit well with me on this ad. Maybe they are legit, but... just something... For that short a time, sounds like an English camp of sorts, but even then, I can't see how they can pay that much.
Hm.
Also, I work at the Princeton Review in Korea which is considered one of the more prestigious US university hakwons (and then I work in the consulting dept of it) and even then - they do not pay that much.
Yeah, get me a contact number. Really? I thought those hakwons must be making money hand over fist, because even as a high schooler I was making 35,000 won / hr tutoring kids for SAT.
I'm making just above minimum wage for England (my job is a hagwon/playschool kindergarten teacher.) so we're really not raking it in with the current exchange rate. However, because lunch and dinner are free for me and transporation is cheap as well as paying a very low rent $380 per month with television/internet/laundry and food included. I'm saving a lot (or I would be if I didn't spend all my wages on sandwiches and camera stuff.)
You can make a lot more if you teach illegally, but I'd never do that.
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I say go for it, especially if the pay is good and it isn't too long, doesn't really look like you have to make any big life changes, so go get your amazing amounts of money for 6 weeks of work.
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I was never serious about this when i send in my resume, i was just wondering if this is legit, cause this is just too good. It basically allows me to pay off half my loan from graduate school in just 6 weeks. (Obama paid the other half  ) But yeah not worth giving up my day job for. I will ask for a phone number thou. What should i tell him to ask a phone number? just straight up saying i'm ganna investigate the legitimacy of your company? He already said he will call me for an phone interview after i email him the list of information. so i can't say let me call to find out more information about you guys.
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3861 Posts
"Could you send me a contact phone number? Where in Korea are you located? I understand that there are many different hakwons in Korea and I would like to do some research about your institution."
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care they might abduct you haha :D
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"There are not that many students in my experience who are ready to jump to a top-tier American university with a 2 month prep course."
I'd kind of agree with this... in China we have this school called "New Oriental", which is the premere export school (i.e. u go in, u get exported to U.S. for college) and people barely make it to top U.S. schools. Maybe 4,5 people each year out of the many
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On July 17 2009 00:42 boezou wrote:
We prefer students at top U.S. universities, such as the
Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc.
I lol'd at this. Bit too much though.
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in his reply i quoted, he said that the school is located in East Seoul, teachers will be staying at some local university dorm.
I requested for a phone number, and I tell him i would like to do more research about the institute. by the way, on the reply i quoted He also said something about he had a lot of experience on this kind of work, maybe ask him about his past experience and if he can offer any reference on places he worked. Not sure what else I would ask if i call, susie can figure something out
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EPT
