Site Visit: Korean School in Seoul

By Victoria C., Guest Blogger from Seoul, Korea

I met with the school director at the Korean Language School in Seoul, Korea. She was very professional
and nice, and like many Korean women she was very reserved. I was greeted and
offered something to drink. We met in
the lobby of the school at 2pm. I was not able to see any classes in session
but the school director and I were able to discuss the most commonly asked questions sheet
to make sure the information was up to date. My mother, who is Korean, was with
me and was able to translate and clarify many of my questions.

Building and School Location
The Korean school is located in a university town called
Donggyo-Dong. Hong-Ik Univeristy is
located here and is a very well known University in Korea. I loved the area the school was located. The
school is conveniently located near the subway and bus. It took me only 5
minutes to walk from the subway to arrive at the school. Next to the school is a restaurant, where
students can get lunch after classes are over. The area also has many other restaurants near by and lots of good
shopping as well. The building has elevator access, bathrooms on each floor and
are very clean and well maintained.

The school is on the 3rd
floor of the building. Classrooms are located on the 2nd and 4th floors. The
3rd floor is where the lobby and teachers office is located as well as a
computer area where students have access to emails and the web at no cost.

The classrooms hold a maximum of 11 students. On average a classroom has about 7 students. The school is available to accommodate 150 students which is the maximum capacity for the school.  The most common country in which students are from is Japan. The teachers are all mostly young in age ie; mid 20’s to mid 30’s.

Language Program

There are 6 different language levels. Methods used for teaching are books, audio and video. One of the American students I met in housing, informed us that this Korean school is stronger in their text method then other schools and that their intermediate level of teaching is the strongest. When discussing with the school director on how she felt about their highly advanced levels she said she was very comfortable with this. After my discussion with the student I met in housing, I can say that this seems to be very true. 

The Korean school offers private classes to any student. They are available for 1-on-1 sessions in which a tutor is arranged during any time it is convenient to the student. The school organizes excursions for the students such as city tours, art performances and other group activities. The excursions are available at an additional cost to the students and are mostly conducted in Korean. The students are allowed to invite friends to come with them if they would like.