This page will give you detailed descriptions/answers to many of the EPIK questions I've received/viewed online since I've been here. All of this is from my personal experience of teaching with EPIK since February 2013.
EPIK (English Program in Korea) and Korea
EPIK is the public school system of Korea. Schools, Korean teachers and Guest English teachers (GETs), are paid by the government (this includes private schools, I'm not referring to hagwons). EPIK teachers get paid on the 25th of every month and your Korean co-teacher should help you setup the bank account within the first few days or your arrival to your school. The Korean school year starts and ends in February. Your typical schedule would be 8:00/8:30 to 3:30/4:30 depending on the school.
EPIK Orientation
My EPIK orientation was held in early February 2013 at Jeonju University in Jeonju, Korea. When you arrive at Incheon Airport in Incheon, near Seoul, you are gathered up and put on a bus to the university. We were housed in dorms for the two weeks with a roommate. Our classes/lectures were held in various buildings on the campus and we were served breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. I believe our orientation had about 200 foreign teachers (from native English speaking countries) and eventually we learned that all of us would be going to either Daegu (DMOE) or Gyeongbuk-do province (GMOE).
Here, you are in your own large English bubble with other foreigners from the United States, England, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and South Africa. Many of the lectures were given by current EPIK faculty throughout Korea. Near the end of orientation, they will have you sign your new contracts for the upcoming school year. At this time, you will also find out how many schools, and their names, you will be teaching at.
When the orientation was over, we were herded to a parking lot in Gumi, Korea, about 30 miles northwest of Daegu, where all of us were awaiting our co-teachers. One at a time, we were whisked away by our new co-teachers to our new life in Korea. I remember taking the ride to the school with my main co-teacher and the head administrator. When we arrived, I met with the principal and my life as a teacher in Korea began.
Korean Co-Teacher / Korean English Teacher (KET)
Every Native English Teacher (NET) is supposed to have a Korean co-teacher at the school they are assigned. You may also have more than one co-teacher depending on what grades you are teaching, how many class you have and the size of your school. Even though you may have a co-teacher for a class, sometimes you may responsible for teaching on your own, don't be surprised or overwhelmed. I've heard some bad stories about co-teachers but I was fortunate as you will read below.
Working at more than one school
My first year (2013-2014) I taught at two elementary schools. My second year (2014-2015) I was transferred to an all-girls middle school. I found this out a few weeks to a month before the contract was over. If you teach at more than one school, you get a bonus of W100,000 a month. If a school is considered rural, an additional bonus of W50,000 a month.
Curriculum
To my knowledge, the English books are chosen by the government and to an extent, your school. These books, over the years, are all broken up into different parts. Each grade has books that have 10 chapters, all of which have the same format for every chapter. From my experience, the book is mostly good for repetition of the key phrases and vocabulary. A cd is used alongside the book and is displayed on an overhead or through a smart TV. I think most NETs would agree with me when I say these books do not help teach the English language in a proper and efficient way. The basics of the language such as parts of speech, grammar and conjugation of verbs are never taught but simple phrases like "What are you doing this weekend?" and "Where is the ice cream store?" are repeated ad nauseam on the cd.
It will be up to you to teach these missing grammar points when you're able. Your co-teacher may or may not show interest in teaching, or even realize, that these important parts are missing from the book. In my 45 minutes classes for middle school, I often have to create more exercises because the ones in the book don't take up much time. Often times I will create games that include the target language/key expressions.
Vacation
EPIK allows for 18 vacations days, typically 8 days and 10 days for summer/winter respectively (depending when you are hired). When the school is on vacation break, usually between Aug/Sept for summer and late Dec/early Feb for winter, you are most likely expected to do desk warming on days that you are not using your personal vacation days. This means you report to school and sit at your desk for the entire day, doing whatever you wish such as working a hobby or researching stuff on the computer. There are usually a handful of Korean teachers doing the same thing.
Summer/Winter Camps
Over the vacation breaks which last 3-4 weeks, you may be required to teach English camps. Depending on the school, the camps can range from a few days to a few weeks. At the schools I worked for my first two years, each camp was three days, much less than what some of my friends had to do. In regards to the camps themselves, it's usually up to the GET to come up with the camp curriculum which may be looked over by the Korean English teacher (KET). My camps usually lasted three 45 minute periods a day, I can't speak for other teachers and I have never asked. Mty first year, they were in the morning, my second year they started in the afternoon. These camps often have themes, Harry Potter and Hunger Games seem to be popular. The point is to make the classes fun and infuse English in the lessons/games. Also, cooking a treat in one of the periods is common. Last year, we had made sandiwches. This year, I had them make brownies and my winter camp we will make Red Velvet cookies and Smores.
Renewing your contract
As mentioned before, the school year starts in early March and ends in mid-February. Depending when your intake occurred (Aug or Feb), you may be asked to sign an "intent to renew" form and appication 3-4 months before the contract ends. And from my experience with EPIK, the actual contracts that you will need to sign ansd when you find out if you are renewed another year, arrive in January or July.
Renewing your visa
The following is what you will need in order to renew your visa another year at the immigration office.
1. Passport
2. ARC
3. Signed contract (co-teacher will assist)
4. Business registration certificate (provided by school)
5. Housing contract/lease (I simply asked my landlord for a copy)
6. W60,000 revenue stamp fee
Keep in mind that I did not need to supply a teaching schedule. Also, Americans do not pay taxes the first two years of teaching here. For all years after your first two, you will need to submit a Tax Statement certificate (provided by school) when renewing your visa. I have never had to schedule an appointment for the Daegu office. As a matter of fact, I renewed my visa yesterday (1/14/16) and I arrived at 9:00am. There was no one there and I was in-and-out in under 15 minutes.
This is the form you need to submit with immigration when renewing your visa:
Renewing your passport
I have not done this yet but will need to as my passport expires in May 2017.
2013-2014 (Jinseong/Yongsong)
I taught at two public elementary schools here in Gyeongsan. One was larger (Jinseong) than the other (Yongsong) and I taught there four days a week. The smaller, rural school, was much smaller and I only taught there on Wednesdays. I took one bus to the main school which took about 40 minutes including a 10 minute walk. The rural school, took two buses and 50 minutes.
At Jinseong, I had two Korean co-teachers. One for 3rd/4th grades and the other for 5th/6th. I got along with them wonderfully and they both spoke English pretty well. One was older than me (I'm 39), maybe she was 43, and she had lived in the U.S. for a year (Texas). The other was 28, also female. Over the year, we had gone out to eat together a few times. Unfortunately, I never hear from them anymore unless I text them.
Yongsong had me teaching, initially, with five co-teachers. Eventually I taught first and second grades on my own. Sometimes Korean teachers will basically tell you that the class is all yours. The third grade teacher only had me speak when she needed me to say something in English, otherwise she taught the class on her own. The fourth grade and fifth grade co-teachers were awesome and spoke decent English. We got along well. Between the two schools, I taught kindergarten through 6th grade. Yongsong averaged seven students per class while the Jinseong was 20-25. Those co-teachers ranged in age 27-45, all female.
I found out in January, a month before my contract ended in late February, that I would no longer be at this school and be transferred to another school. I was sad because I got along great with my co-teachers and faculty. Apparently the government had cutbacks, which was not uncommon, and a new NET would be assigned to the school twice a week (whom I knew).
2015-2017 (Hayang Girls middle)
I was transfered to a private all-girls middle school in Hayang, a town within Gyeongsan. Initially I was told I was going to have to move to Hayang, but knowing someone who lived by me who didn't work far from this new school, I had asked if I can continue living in Gyeongsan and commute by bus. They said it was ok. I ride one bus 45 minutes to school. I have to be at school at 8:10, classes start at 9:30 and end at 4:30.
There are 652 students in this school. I have 22 English classes of ~30 students per class. Each class is 45 minutes long with ten minute breaks between classes. I cover all three grades in this middle school. First grade (7th grade). second grade (8th grade) and third grade (9th grade). I have six first grade classes (1-1 thru 1-6), and eight second and third grade classes (2-1 thru 2-8, 3-1 thru 3-8). I have three female co-teachers and one male.
I enjoy working here as well as I get along with the faculty and I was renewed for a second year to teach at this school.
Below is a time lapse photography video I made. I took 665 photos at 7 fps. This trip from Gyeongsan to Hayang (경산 (영남대) 에서 하양 (한사리) takes 45 minutes by bus but the video is only a minute and a half.
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