Life during, and after, EPIK


John Spence
Political Researcher
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London
Hi, I'm John, I'm from Liverpool in the UK and I was a GET at Bongrae Elementary School in Busan between September 2008 and September 2009. This isn't a guide to best teaching practice; this is merely a collection of my observations from my time living and working in Korea. Perhaps they may prove useful.

When I got to the Orientation period at Konkuk University in Seoul, it became immediately clear there were three discrete types of people in the programme; first, there were the 'old-hands', the people who had been EFL teaching for more than a few years, and for whom travelling from country to country imparting English was a career choice. They were the people asking most of the technical teaching questions about 'mind-mapping' and other such techniques.
Secondly, there were the freshly minted teaching graduates arrived fresh off the plane full of vim and vigour who believed absolutely that they were going to change the lives of every kid they taught, that every kid would love them and thought that every class would be like 'Dead Poets' Society' with the kids standing on their desks doing all that 'Captain, my Captain' nonsense. They were the ones that went home early.
Finally, there were the people like me, mid-to-late 20s, out of University and had worked a few years, perhaps the biggest catchment of people, who saw the EPIK programme and thought, "Yeah, why the [expletive deleted] not? It beats trying to find work at home in this [expletive deleted] economic downturn," (or words to that effect).
My background was that I had come out from University having done an MA a year earlier, having left the world of work to return to academia, and was subsequently left scratching around for work seeking something solid for at least 12 months and which presented a new challenge. So I applied, got in on the strength of my academic credentials (which didn't include a formal teaching qualification) and there I was, in a new country meeting new people whose formulation of English sometimes did and sometimes didn't use the odd 'u' in the middle of a word or '-re' ending.
What I got out of the year was one of the best experiences of my life; I made great friends from across the globe. I got a year living and working in another culture which was a mixture of frustration and amusement, but mostly the latter. I worked in an environment where the kids initially saw me as some sort of novelty item and tested the limits of my patience but also provided me with some moments of intellectual challenge, of triumph (getting the kids to spell colour with a 'u' unbidden was a personal highlight) and outright hilarity. I was able to travel all around Korea and to Thailand, China and Japan. I had a great social life, and was constantly astonished by the low cost of living.

The key to this was the relationship I had with my co-teachers and my school more widely. I was SUPER lucky to end up with the co-teachers I did. They couldn't have done more to help me settle in, and to them I shall be eternally grateful. However, my experience, while not rare, was not the norm either, and it's this relationship that will make or break your time in Korea, depending on your personal levels of resilience.
The public school system is very different from the hagwon system. Indeed, my co-teacher told me that some parents view the public schools as basically babysitting until their kids can get to the hagwon in the afternoon, but precisely how widely this view is held is not known, however. That said the kids that weren't exhausted from continuous study were pretty much always attentive in my classes. If I had suggestions for improvements, I'd say that the learning materials need a vast re-working. Before working with EPIK I was never a grammar or pronunciation freak, but some of the pronunciation in the teaching videos is disgraceful, frankly.
There also needs to be a wider awareness that not all English speakers, in fact the majority if we factor in countries like India, do not speak or spell like Americans - indeed a New Zealander friend of mine was asked by his co-teacher if he could 'sound more American', to which he politely but firmly declined. If there were differences in spelling or pronunciation of words between different English speakers, I made a point of telling the kids, because I felt it was important for them to recognise those differences and luckily my co-teacher agreed.
I came back to the UK to chance my arm at looking for work again, and was on the absolute cusp of returning to Korea when I got my current job - working as a Political Researcher in the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London. There's no doubt that my time with the EPIK programme gave me the 'added value' I needed to get this job, and I'm engaged with and enjoying the work, finally using the education I paid all that money for while maintaining links with Korea.
If I could offer a few 'Top Tips' they would be these:
1) Invest in a humidifier - vital for the winter months.
2) Research and get in touch with your local ex-pat networks> - Your local Office of Education will be, ahem, slow in providing you with necessary information.
3) Prepare ahead, and expect the unexpected - As a non-Hangul speaker you will be the last to know everything, so keep an open mind to plans changing at what will be, for you at least, the last minute.

4) Don't expect Korea to be just like where you're from - It sounds obvious, but some of the little differences, especially when dealing with bureaucracy, can grate enormously; it definitely did with me to start with. But it's not your school's place to adjust to you; it's your job to adjust to their way of doing things. If you can do that, then you'll have few problems. But, on the other hand¡¦
5) If something is important to you, don't back down - I was told in my orientation that contracts are seen as more flexible and open for negotiation in Korea than perhaps elsewhere. In practice, that depends entirely on whom you're dealing with and the battle you wish to fight. Don't let the school force you to do something you really don't want to do, if what they're asking is over and above your contracted hours. Some people will appear to get more 'holiday' than you during the vacations because they don't need to go in on days when the school is closed. Others won't be extended that opportunity. This is entirely dependent on (in my case) the Vice-Principal's interpretation of the contract. My tip would be to conduct a longer term negotiation through your co-teacher (if they're nice) rather than just rock up and demand the time off at the end of a term, and as a quid pro quo, perhaps it's worth accepting an extra afternoon's work per week if it means more time off over winter or summer. Choose your battles carefully and play the long game would be my advice.
I hope this has proven of some use to you.