The Private Language Academy
From an owner’s perspective
The private academy is a mainstay in Korean culture, both depended upon and a constant target of criticism. The challenges of running an academy receive far less discussion however.
In Gwangju’s neighborhood of Sinchang-dong sits mu:m, an English academy. Gwangju News recently had the opportunity to interview Na Yeon-jeong, its owner and operator, about what it is like to run her academy. The exchange was quite educational.
GWANGJU NEWS (GN): Tell me about your academy, mu:m.
NA: mu:m is a private English language academy, and we have been open about three and a half years. Three teachers, including myself, teach our roughly 50 elementary and middle school-aged students. I teach the middle school students and the other two teachers educate the elementary students.
As teachers, we are able to cover all areas of language learning with our students, such as listening, writing, reading, grammar and phonics. However, we focus on different areas with different students depending on their level. For example, lower level students study phonics.
GN: Why did you decide to open your academy?
NA: I worked as a private academy teacher for many years, but I wanted to be my own boss. In Korean society, it is more and more difficult to gain employment as one gets older and older. As such, the owner of a hagwon, or private academy does not typically want teachers to be older than he or she.
GN: It seems age is a definite advantage in owning your own academy. Can you walk me through the preparations it took in order to open mu:m? What went into that initial groundwork?
NA: I spent about two months getting everything together. First, I had to find a good location. Then, I needed to decide if I wanted to start a new hagwon or buy an existing one. Once I decided to go with an existing brand, so I took some time to decide which style I wanted.
GN: Did you have any struggles in opening Mu:m?
NA: Yes. Finding the money to be able to open the academy was the biggest struggle. Another problem was finding teachers that I felt I could trust to do a good job. Also, when I took over the existing hagwon, I decided to change the name and the brand. I had to meet with all of the parents beforehand to introduce myself and then explain the new system and how it would benefit their child’s education.
GN: I imagine it was difficult to get all of the existing parents on board with the changes. Will you describe for our readers what a typical day looks like for you?
NA: When I first come in, before my classes start, I have to do a good deal of tidying up and cleaning. Then I prepare for my classes, and then my classes begin.
Another thing that comes into the equation is that I do all of the administration work myself. I do not employ anyone to do it. I take all of the phone calls, meet potential new students and their parents and perform other administrative work. I also make the daily, weekly and monthly plans for the hagwon.
One more thing that I do is call the parents of existing students. I spend about 30 minutes a day talking to parents and discussing how their child is doing in class. Each set of parents is called at least once every month, but I try to call them more often than that.
GN: Do you have any experience running another type of business other than a private academy? If so, what are some differences?
NA: I have only ever worked in hagwons teaching English so I cannot comment on what goes into running another type of business.
GN: Wow, so you have a lot of experience in operating your own English academy as well as working at other English language schools. What would you like our readers to understand about the work that you do?
NA: I believe many foreigners might think that, given the time and money spent on learning English, many Koreans are not very good at English. But this isn’t true. It simply comes down to personality, and many Koreans can be very worried that their English must be perfect before they can say anything, and that if their English is not perfect, it is better to say nothing.