Julia
- 2011-04-14
These hogwon owners use control, fear and manipulation because it is all the lowlife scumbags can do to retain
profits, employees and hopefully customers. I have'nt been in Korea long but if it slithers like a snake and hisses like
a snake, it's a snake AKA Hogwon Owner. My advice as one foriegner to another, stay AWAY from all hogwons.
It appears that in Korea anyone with a little bit of money can set up a hogwon, I assume many of these people have a
criminal history and an even seedier past with the horror stories Ive heard regarding their treatment of foriegners and even Korean employees.
Fortunately though, there are better jobs, public school jobs and reputable schools in South Korea, it takes more time to find them
but you'll thank yourself later for taking the time to sort out the bad schools from the great ones.
Dragonized
- 2011-04-12
Is there a plague in South Korea with the food or something? Why is it that at these hagwons people always act to control, control, and control others through usage of negative emotions? We really do live in a world full of psychos. I just wonder where they're coming from.
Hope you have found something better, thanks for the information.
Julia
- 2011-04-09
I can vouch for this being the absolute worst hogwan in Korea, it is run like a cult in every aspect, you are scrutinized at every moment of your time here, not only by the moment by moment camera watcher's, but also by the incompetent and brutal managers who are trained to direct fear and threats your way so that you do not leave the job before they decide it's your time to leave. The atmosphere is oppressive to say the least, this school also does not respect foreigners's and sees them a little lower than dirt, the treatment and open backbiting about foreigners in Korean, makes this quite evident. It doesn't make much sense why they are teaching English and try to pride themselves on teaching a higher standard of English, when they do not respect the foreign teachers who know the correct pronounciation and grammar of the English language as well as how to teach effectively, and instead opt to hire a Korean teacher who can only speak broken English and has poor grammar and English pronunciation skills.
I feel very bad for the parents and children who are being ripped off by this school, and any future foreign teachers who may encounter this life form known as Topia.
This organization like many cults believe that perpetuating fear and lies about how badly your performance is at work will get you to be their loyally devoted slave, and make you work harder for average pay, you also must attend mandatory meetings and work Saturdays for no additional pay. The cameras are used on foreign teachers as if you some experiment to find ways to manipulate and control your performance to suit their needs at the time. If they can find ANY information about you that will aid them in their control and manipulative tactics, they will aggressively use it against you and attack you and try tp devour you like the bunch of piranhas they truly are.
The people that run this franchise are the most despicable bottom feeders I have ever met, I had also accepted a job here despite the bad reputation of this school but thankfully I have moved on from the misery and enslavement this place clobbers you with and I am free from this dreadful prison known as TOPIA : Terribly Obscure Piranhas in Asia.
their contract.
BEWARE FOREIGN TEACHERS OF THE TOPIA MONSTER
Anon
- 2010-09-24
Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to these reviews and worked for this school as well. Worst experience of my life. They do paint a beautiful picture, promising greatness and help at every turn.
Once you get there, you realize that the housing is the worst available, a Korean friend of mine even said that they know it to be worth 200, and not the 500 that the school says it pays.
The medical insurance takes forever to register. They say that if you need to go to a hospital, they will reimburse you later, but then don't.
Pension will never be paid.
Vacation time is rarely given for the days that you want them, even if your tickets have already been booked.
Bonuses are withheld, Housing deposit is withheld or significantly reduced.
From all of the foreign teachers I've spoken to, this is by far the worst hagwon around. The only thing harder than finding a worse school, is getting them to sign your release papers to get the hell out of this one.
violetbu
- 2009-02-03
Our daughter teaches at Topia English Zone outside Seoul. She has not been paid for two months. They say she will be paid in March. A month before a visitor arrived to see our daughter, she asked for a day off. Her classes would be covered. The request was denied arbitrarily. Someone else asked for a got a day off with 1 week's notice and got it. In addition, recently this woman made a snarky unprofessional comment in public about our daughter. I am concerned that not only will they find fault with her, but that they will not pay her the bonus promised and the plane ticket home. I find this all quite sleazy and I would not recommend this program to anyone else.
The recruiter and director paint a beautiful portrait of the wonderful job you will have in Korea, but when you get here you find out it was misleading or bold faced lie. They will try to "save money" on you in any way they can (i.e. not paying your pension, health care plan, not paying overtime etc.). When you catch on to what they're doing they tell you that you have a bad attitude and then try to make your work experience unpleasant in some way, whether it be threatening you or adding classes scheduled outside of your normal work hours. They have recently fired 2 employees just before their 11 month mark. The reason is that they were unable to cancel a planned 3 day vacation they were told they had since they started their contract 10 months ago, and confirmed before even booking the vacation. The hagwon told them less than one month in advance that they no longer had these vacation days and if they took them they would be fired. NOTE that they have not missed ONE day of work so far and have 8 paid vacation days left. They also have done above and beyond what a teacher's contract requires. Although they were "released" in their 11th month, they lost their bonus and flight home. They are not the first teachers to be terminated at 11months from this hagwon. On a good note - they pay on time but this is the only positive aspect I have heard about this school.