Stay away from this academy at all costs. This is the type of place that gives South Korea the horrible reputation it has. If you do a search on the web you will notice that Pagoda and their hatchet man "Mr. Windsor" are ALWAYS looking for teachers. There is a good reason for that. English teachers are disposable and they are treated that way.

I would say that they I did not see the program go a single month without someone quitting or being fired. Often it was more. The program runs like this: at the end of each month students register for classes. The goal is to maximize profits at all cost and any teacher who interferes with that plan is gone. Expect to get your schedule for the month the night before the classes actually start. I got my schedule at midnight for an 8am class schedule. It is absolutely normal for your schedule to start at 8am and finish at 9pm.

Beware of Ian Windsor! He is ruthless. He will lure you in with nuances and suggestions that you can get a block schedule and they are flexible to the needs of the teachers. This was never the case. You have nothing to do with the schedule as a teacher and simply put they do not care.

While there Ian Windsor bragged to me that Pagoda pays a lot of money to teacher ESL review posts located in South Korea to keep negatives off of the websites. I have seen them appear and the disappear overnight. I had my comments deleted each time. I repost each hiring season in an attempt to save at least a few good teachers from this meat grinder.

There is a zero tolerance policy for complaints against you, regardless of the merit. If a student so much as whines that they do not like you, expect to be called in front of the "hiring personnel" where you will be reprimanded. Even if they find the complaint groundless they will reprimand you for not making friendships in the classroom that create a complaint-free environment. If there are problems you simply have to be to blame in part. This is absolutely a truism. No exaggeration.

The printer and office materials were normally broken or non-existent. Do not expect any kind of departmental assistance if you wish to do anything but follow the poorly written books that they make mandatory. The books are part of their profit and they don't want students to get a glimpse of alternate or better teaching styles.

You can also expect to spend a lot of unpaid time attending weekend and evening events and training and other useless time consuming activities. In addition they have a racket where the person who helps you find an apartment gets a percentage of the profit from your renting. He will only show you places that are connected with the school. Their housing assistance is horrible. They say it is part of the program but if there are any problems with it they will say it is only an optional service and will do nothing to help you fix it. You are ABSOLUTELY on your own there.

I was not fired. I quit and paid them the money under the contract. I never believed that South Korea could be as bad as people say. In truth it is only these kinds of places that gives South Korea the dreadful reputation. STAY AWAY FROM PAGODA TEACHING ACADEMY IN SEOUL GANGNAM/KANGNAM AT ALL COSTS!!