I Teach English at a Hakwon
I teach English at a hakwon. In Korea, a hakwon is a private academy where students come in the afternoons and evenings to study subjects they are already studying during the day. My students are twelve to fourteen years old. It’s not as glamorous as some of the other places I’ve taught in Korea. Certainly not as glamorous as teaching at Yonsei University’s Foreign Language Institute (FLI), which, for all practical purposes, was a uni-hakwon —a university hakwon. And certainly not as glamorous as teaching business majors from around the world at the SolBridge International School of Business. But in some ways, this job reminds me of my earliest days in Korea. Back then, I also taught at a hakwon —ELS—but the students were adults from all walks of life: office workers, college students, engineers, people trying to improve their English for work or travel. Teaching twelve to fourteen-year-olds is different. It requires a differen...
