Daegu English Village: Fill & Download for Free

Here are the notes I've gathered about Changnyeong English Village in Gyesong, Korea. Not a lot has been written by teachers about this place.Notes:Before I share some of the things I've heard please remember that if recruiter for CEV allows you to speak with one of the current teachers at this school, make sure you ask the hard questions. Not simple questions like what's it like working there? Really drill down and ask the teacher, to name 3 things he dislikes about working there. Any teacher can easily tell you 3 things (no matter how trivial) they don't like about their current hagwon. What do you think teachers talk about when they go about for a beer with their fellow teachers on Friday night? So giving you 3 negatives or positives about the hagwon, management, students, parents, curriculum, hours, salary, vacation time, anything should not be that hard. If they can't seem to come up with anything, then they are probably holding some stuff back and you should speak to another teacher.In February of 2005 the Ministry of Finance and Economy appointed Changnyeong-gun as a foreign language zone. The goal was to make Changynyeong a place for cultural exchange and to prepare Korean students to study or live abroad. The school is made up of 8 native English speakers and a few Korean staff.CEV is an English camp located in Changyeong, not a private hagwon. It's a place where Korean kids come to be in an English immersion program. So, an English Village is an alternative to teaching at a hagwon or public school in Korea.So, what happens at CEV? Students visit various locations and must practice their conversation in English. Some of these places include the Bank, Airport, Duty Free Shop, Hotel, Restaurant, etc. The students are between 9-15 years of age. There are also fun rooms like the Movie Theater and the English, art and science laboratories for students to practice their English.Teaching hours are from 8:30 to 5:00 pm or 9:30 am to 6:00 pm. In the evenings there is a formal English class for the students.The teaching salary range is between 2.1 to 2.5 million Korean won per month. The contract and salary are pretty standard for Korea. The school will pay for your flight, it's 40 hours of teaching per week and you'll get 2 weeks of winter vacation in the winter and 2 weeks in the summer. They'll also provide you housing beside the school. However, you are not permitted to smoke or drink in your apartment. You are not allowed to bring Korean friends or students there either. You are also not permitted to buy a car, only a scooter, for some reason. There are bus schedules from Daegu, Busan, Masan and Jiju.Masan- 30KM- 4 Buses per day. There is a bus right outside the CEV apartmentDaegu- 50 Km- Takes two buses and a subway. It takes 35 minutes.Busan 60KM- One hour and 20 minutes by busSeoul- 4 hours by busThe teaching schedule has been described as monotonous, while the students are adorable. Classes are 45 minutes in length and teachers have 3 per day. Classes consist of only 5 students. It's not a difficult job in terms of preparation, endurance or stress. I've heard of one teacher who renewed her contract for a second year.It's important to note that Changnyeong English village in the middle of nowhere. It's located in the village of Gyesong. It takes you about 40 minutes to drive hour to get to Daegu and 1 hour to Busan (depending on traffic). So, it's not like you can go out in the evening for a night on the town in Daegu, even on the weekends without having to get a hotel room if you want to stay out late or have a few drinks. You'll need a car and a driver. For some teachers living in Gyesong will feel isolated. Advice is to move to the city.While CEV has website but there is no evidence of a Facebook page. If you'd like to reach out to teachers (current and former) your best bet is to find them via their individual Facebook pages and see if they can tell you about CEV.There a much more detailed review (first hand account) from a teacher with interesting stories who taught at Channyeong English Village posted in 2017. Just scroll down to the comments section of my wesbite to read her review. It’s far too long to repost here. You might also be able to connect with her to get more questions answered about the school. Here’s the link.Changnyeong English Village Review – Teach English in Korea

I lived in Korea as an English teacher. I didn’t reside in the ultra-modern, international city of Seoul, but in Daegu; the third-largest city in South Korea located at the bottom of the peninsula.The foreigner community was small; mostly consisting of a few other English teachers and military men that stayed on the United States base.Several weeks into my stay there, I decided to give dating a shot. But I couldn’t just go out to a bar and meet someone, seeing as there were already so few people to meet. Nor was dating a Korean man an option. They were too intimidated by Western women to even think of flirting with me. Alas, my options were limited.As any millennial would do in this situation, I took to Bumble. I hopped on the dating app and started swiping through a plethora Navy men; often stating in their profile that they had a short time in Korea but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have a good time.But then a guy caught my eye. He was tall, blonde, and French. Hello, I thought. This was quite the rarity in Korea.I instantly messaged him and we got to talking. His name was George, and I could tell from the get-go that he definitely wasn’t a native English speaker. But, having the patience of an English teacher, I really didn’t care.We planned our first date to an ancient village called Gyeongju.To get to Gyeongju, you have to take a bus one hour east of Daegu. George and I planned to meet up at the station to catch a bus.I got off the subway to walk up to the bus station. The moment I turned the corner and first locked eyes with George in person, I tripped— hard. George was a great guy, though, because I was mortified and he said absolutely nothing of the incident.George was, in fact, cuter in person; his smiled gleamed and he seemed very happy, go-lucky. His English was also better than expected, quite a nice relief. We hopped on our bus to Gyeongju and began the most interesting first date I’ve ever been on.The village was sprawling and magical. We walked through rice fields and passed by elaborate burial mounds. I learned about the history of Korea while simultaneously learning about George’s history.We bonded over feeling like foreigners in such a vastly different city than where we respectively called home. George was in Korea for an internship for his Master's program. He described what his family was like and how much he missed them.At the end of the night, we ventured to Wolji Pond. George’s co-worker described it as a must-see sight of Gyeongju, especially after the sunset.The pond was like any other pond but with a temple stretching over part of its surface. The traditional blue, red, and green structure allowed people to walk across the pond and enjoy its view from above.George and I found a bench near the pond’s edge. The night became colder and colder. George offered his coat to me, seeing that I was obviously freezing. I jokingly said that I’m a baby with the cold; something I never needed to worry about in California or Florida.As we sat together, overlooking the pond, the small temple in front of us lit up in a sparkling yellow glow. The lights reflected across the pond and the whole sight was something I’ll never forget.As we sat in awe looking at the pond, I felt George move closer to me. He told me how crazy it was; the two of us sitting there in a remote village of Korea. Just that morning, we were complete strangers. Yet, here we were marveling in such a beautiful sight together.I looked at him to let him know I agreed and our gazes locked. I saw the light from the temple reflecting back to me in George’s eyes. He gently touched the side of my face, pushing my hair out of the way. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. My heart raced but in the best way possible. I felt his skin brush against my face and it felt so right in that moment.George and I went on to date for a year after that. We lived for several more months in South Korea before he had to leave to go back to France. George and I lived apart for a few months before he offered for me to come live with him in Paris. We spent a magical summer together in our tiny studio apartment overlooking the Eiffel Tower.It was a first date that sparked a magical year. We ultimately decided that our relationship wasn’t meant to last forever, though we did love each other. But one thing is for sure: neither of us regrets the day we decided to swipe right.

Brushing their teeth everywhere and at any time. I remember my first time in South Korea at a small village in summer time. When I sat outside on the stairs of the home of my host, many farmers of the village passed the wall which surrounded the small farmhouse where I temporarily lived, because they had never seeen before a white European (while they in fact thought I were American). While they were watching me over the wall they were brushing their teeth, which is a slow motion and needs some concentration and therefor allowed them to stay longer besides the wall and watching me, than would have happened without this cleaning activity.During my last two stays in cities like Daegu and Daejeon, I noticed that nearly every family had one to three Chow Chows or mini poodles inside their habitation which was part of their drary and uniform scyscrapers. Those small dogs often bark horrible with their jittery high pitched voice and always scurry everywhere. I was not amused when they tried to jump on my lap and to lick my face. The mini dogs had to stay all the day in the apartment and seldom went out for a walk.When I (being 71) travelled by subway or bus, often elder people offered to me their seat while young people didn’t offer their seat.Burping loud after a meal in Korea is a sign that they had enjoyed the food.Notwithstanding that they have western style couches and tables, they prefer to sit on the floor for dinner. This causes much pain in my long legs and buttocks. This is also common in restaurants, especially in rural areas.Korean Taxi drivers often refused to carry me, when I had heavy luggage with me. This has two reasons: Their trunk is full of garbage and personal belongings and many of those taxis are equipped with LPG tanks which reduces the space of the trunk.English is not really a language that most Koreans want to speak, even so most of them had learned it at school. ‘High mister!’ and a shy smile - that’s all.In my country, a bronze suntanned skin is a sign of a healthy life in nature. Koreans instead panic-stricken avoid any sunshine, wearing large shaped caps with eventually large sun visors.Many Koreans are passionate hikers. When you meet them in the Korean mountains, they are always dressed high fashioned as if they were starting a Himalaya expedition. Therefor every entrance of a Nature Park starts with a row of fashion stores offering brands like Vaude, Jack Wolfskin, Yeti,…Chewing gum seems to be a major food. You may grope used chewing gums under many bannisters or your shoe is fixed by them on the asphalt. At my first time in Korea, there were always dealers in the buses who shouted ‘Chewing Gum, Chewing Gum’. They now have disappeared. At some tourist sites there are now extra walls where you may glue on your used chewing gum.In their bathrooms they often have no separation between shower and toilet. Therefor the used water of the shower covers the floor of the bathroom while you want to use the toilet.Most bathrooms are in a horrible condition. Black mildew stains at the walls, limestone efflorescense on pipes and fittings and a moldy smell everywhere. Koreans have no sense that those amenities need some maintenance.Toilets are high tech facilities. You need a device controller to operate them. I could not figure out the instructions that are written in Korean on the controller. On the other hand you may still be confronted with just a hole in the center of a latrine.When Koreans become aware that I may take a photo, they make the Victory sign with their hands. I personally prefer pictures which show natural motion of people.But I still love them!