King’s Kids School: Gungun-dong, Gyeonggi-do

The school is located in a small town outside of Seoul. The building is a nice, independent construction, and resembles an actual school (not the classic hagwon in a high rise).

Teachers are provided with plenty of materials. The current curriculum is MeySen (from Japan). It requires lots of singing, reading, and repetition. There’s absolutely zero prep time after you memorize the materials (takes about 2 days per level, each level is used for a month or two) which is good and bad – it’s mind numbing after a while (for you and the students).

The classes are 15-20 students in the morning and 3-10 in the afternoon. In the morning you have a Korean co-teacher in the classroom. All classes are monitored on CCTV from the office.

Overall, I would recommend this job to anyone entering there first year of teaching in Korea. The curriculum is idiot proof so you can adjust to teaching EFL smoothly. You will never run out of content in a class … even if that means you sit there rattling off the flash cards and books like a robot (effort goes a long way). The kids will still learn. Moreover, you’ll live close enough to Seoul to visit every weekend. This is a blessing in the first year as inner-Seoul can eat an inexperienced teacher alive.

Overall, I’d say this is a great school for someone looking for an easy transition into teaching in Korea. It’s not perfect, but it works.

Benefits & Pay: 3 stars … average for Korea.

Working Conditions: 4 stars … better than your average hagwon.

Integrity: 4 stars … better than your average hagwon, paid everything in full and on time (except once).

Location: 3 stars … not Seoul but close enough + way better than Ansan or Suwon.