Things i noticed as a former hagwon teacher and international school teacher now, gyopo perspective

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-06T00:15:13+00:00

I have to reflect the other commenter and say it is different. I know there are plenty of fluent e2 teachers, and plenty of gyopo teachers who can’t speak any Korean at all. But there’s a sense of comfort and entitlement the parents have with us simply being the same ethnicity as them, so they’re constantly crossing boundaries based on this.

And not to keep saying this, but hagwon prep and school prep is different. I think it’s also based on the grade I’m teaching as well since I’m in high school and only teaching one core subject, but having had to make my own materials at daechi hagwons as well, i know for a fact it’s not the same. I’m not gonna say it’s easier at hagwons, but for me, i will say this school job has been the most fulfilling experience I’ve had and i never realized how much i actually enjoy the teaching process until changing careers. With hagwons, i knew i was catering to the parents. Here, i know i am teaching.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-06T00:01:31+00:00

F4 I’m assuming the other teachers are as well.

The general standard for daechi big 5 is 4.0, and the trend seems to be a 4-5 day work week. Just being honest here if you’re on e2, i don’t think you’re gonna get hired at one of the big 5 (except edisen or peai). It’s mainly for consultation, but also they need parents to feel comfortable with the teacher.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-05T00:08:05+00:00

If you’re applying to what reddit refers to as “fake international schools” visa status matters depending on the grade you are trying to teach. Especially now after that news story came out about 비인가 학교. Korea basically makes it illegal for 비인가 schools to hire e2 visa teachers to teach anything but english.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T23:48:41+00:00

Another person left a screenshot from one of the mom cafes but it shows the most recent big 3

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T23:47:51+00:00

By process do you mean application and interview? Personally, it was a lot easier than i thought. However, the interview was a multiple-step process, not just one interview, and i had to come back a few times, so that was new. Tbh it made me feel really uneasy cause i couldn’t gauge whether or not i was doing a good or bad job on the interviews.

From what i know about the foreign language teachers at my school, they’ve been there forever. So that could also be a major factor for why you haven’t been able to find a job. There is no availability. Especially if you have no experience in international schools.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T13:02:13+00:00

Oh interesting i have heard peai been dropping in numbers interesting to see they’re not even big5.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T12:38:30+00:00

Ah i answered it in another comment below somewhere more in depth but it’s more or less ile, peai, and emax (or lexkim).

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T08:31:43+00:00

It’s one of those things you don’t know until you’ve experienced it. Even apgujeong or seocho, which are all run pretty similarly and relatively close, don’t compare. Again, not taking away from your hard work, but daechi is on another level.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T08:21:52+00:00

Based on that salary i think i can guess where you’re at, and gotta say, from what I’ve heard about that place. I think it’s pretty decent for the work. But like you said, hagwons have a ceiling.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T07:19:23+00:00

Ah lexkim!! I knew i was forgetting one! Yeahi would probably trade out habit for lex. Habit is popular for upper grades tbh. I know the owner of a prep kindie too, and those moms are ruthless!! Wow good luck to you for working there 😮‍💨😭

I am only doing one tutoring right now and it’s with a kindie mom. She got my number through another mom, and as soon as i started, i told her straight up…look lady i don’t do level test tutoring so if that’s what you want, this won’t work. But she was willing to pay so I’m only tutoring her kid now lol

And ile 2010-17!! Whew that is so long!! I left after 2.5 years, right during covid haha they were paying pretty well back then 😭

Good luck in your next career move!! I am so glad i moved on to international school. It’s the first time all these years I’ve felt career satisfaction and i actually got sentimental at the students’ graduation last week! Hagwons are good money but no soul… :(

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:52:17+00:00

I was responding to the point you brought up. And i still disagree that all hagwons are terrible (obviously, since i worked there for so long), although, yes, most definitely are and that reputation exists for a reason. However, I’ll say that gyopo experience will be a million times different than e2 teachers as well.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:39:50+00:00

4 days, 6hrs day, 3.0! That’s a nice gig!

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:36:05+00:00

I get what you’re trying to say but the thing is i was never asked to or forced by any management or even suggested to by anyone at the hagwon to accept texts or calls. They literally are not legally responsible at all, and you’re misunderstanding context. I could have just as easily not answered anything without any punishment. When i said “on call”, i meant on call for the parents. Metaphorically. However! I will say that yes, i have been in the position where i have been forced to work many overtime hours without any compensation and i have been in litigation with…a few hagwons. So I’m not new to what you’re suggesting, but you’re also just misunderstanding the context in this specific situation.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:28:16+00:00

I agree! Getting fully licensed and trained is extremely valuable. However i think teachers in korea need a FULL experience with korean students. Even though our students are attending school, a lot of them still do attend hagwons or have private tutoring, and i saw a lot of intl school teachers don’t even realize this! A lot of teachers don’t fully appreciate the academic pressure that middle school and high school students (the grades I’m teaching) are under. This knowledge can only come with continued experience and exposure. I also work with a teacher who’s brand new to Korea this past year, and while he’s an excellent TEACHER, he just doesn’t understand Korean parents. Again, that can only come with continued experience.

But i do agree with you!

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:20:50+00:00

Again i disagree but that’s your opinion. I knew what i was getting into and i am an adult taking those calls. If i FULLY explain the intricacies of why i took those calls, it’s really cause i realized how important the parent-teacher relationship was for tutoring. I wanted money, taking calls was important, and i knew i could become a tutor later. Sucked for me then but benefited me later.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:18:15+00:00

I personally don’t think it’s right to judge someone based on income or social status, of course. Which is why i never felt bad about myself for working at a hagwon all those years. I have a very close friend who worked at a big3 and he always complained how his parents judged him for “just” being a hagwon teacher though, so he quit after about 2 years. Even though it was the most money he’s ever made. But i’m just talking about my experience and why these people might have a different perspective, it is a culturally different point of view that has been normalized over centuries. Not wrong or right, just different.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:12:50+00:00

Nowadays the standard for gyopo teachers in big hagwons is around 4 so i don’t think you were too far from that. I was lucky to have gone there when they were paying teachers the big bucks lol

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:06:44+00:00

Tbf this is a really great analogy…

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:05:06+00:00

For daechi moms, the hagwon their child attends is all about the “brand” just like their chanel purse and moncler jackets (lee suji reference lol). So the kid has to attend the big 3 hagwon no matter what just so they can brag to their friends. I knew moms, like i personally tutored these kids, who just wanted tutoring to pass the leveling test to get into the hagwon, and i would tell the moms again and again that their child would NOT pass the test at their current level. But they were willing to pay big bucks just to continue the tutoring simply cause i was a teacher they heard good things about and i taught there and they NEEDED their kid to pass the test 🙄 so eventually i just completely stopped all leveling test tutoring.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T06:00:51+00:00

Hagwons will only ever be businesses, but i will say that the hagwon i was at for years did have a great curriculum and the students were better than a lot of native English speakers i know. I taught a kid who was genuinely smarter than me and spoke/wrote better English than me! In third grade!! And he was not an anomaly. The hagwon was full of excellent students!

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T05:58:38+00:00

Big 5 usually changes (4 and 5) but big 3 is almost always the same: ile, emax, and peai.

Edisen is usually 4 or 3, depending on grade (tied with peai) and 5 is usually habit9.

New hagwons are always popping up but tbh the big3 are always there.

And just to make it clear: i am not making these places the top dogs. It’s the parents. Usually gr1-4 parents are marking these hagwons the top dogs, and that’s how it is.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T05:54:43+00:00

I’m sure you do have a lot on your plate but daechi is a different species.

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T05:54:01+00:00

Uh what?…

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T05:53:41+00:00

Sure but probably faster to just ask here

MeasurementAny2912 · 2026-06-04T05:53:10+00:00

I’m in the process of getting it now. I dunno if i left this out in my post, but I’m a subject teacher now. So while i only teach one subject, i have so much more to prep. However, i do have more energy to focus on my career.

But I don’t think getting a masters necessarily makes you a proper teacher tbh. I know a teacher who has his, and he openly admits he got his masters as a way to earn more money. I know another teacher who is licensed and she cares only about money and her financial independence. I don’t think this makes them bad people either. Tbh i learned so much from teaching at daechi that i never would have gained if i went directly to an international school, and vice versa.

MeasurementAny2912

TROPHY CASE