Ahil English School, South Korea, Ulsan, Dong-Gu, Nammok.
The following is written in the public interest of the ESL community. If I can spare at least one teacher the misery these people caused me, this effort will have been worthwhile.

For native English teachers, South Korea offers wonderful opportunities, especially in Seoul, Daegu and Busan. This is not the case with Ahil English School in Ulsan.

According to Immigration Law, English Academy owners have a duty to help their foreign teachers who get sick. There are provisions for this in the employment contracts of reputable Academies. Ahils contract is silent about this responsibility because the president will let you die on her premises. If you are hospitalized, Ahil will fire you while you are in the hospital. Ahil has been before Korean authorities for this, but powerful friends got them off.

According to Korean Labor laws, reputable employers wishing to dismiss an employee will give that employee proper notice, that is 30 days or payment in lieu of notice. Through a crooked system, Ahil bought the right to fire foreign teachers without any written warning or written notice.

Before I got involved, Ahils president was telling new teachers that foreigners had no right to enrollment in the pension and medical insurance plans.

The 10 vacation days allowed must be taken when the Academy closes. There is no other vacation time. Compare that with what reputable English Academies offer before you sign up.

Ahil has been known to shortchange foreign teachers on the last pay. You will have to get the balance owing through the Ulsan Labor Office.

Attached is a photo of Ahil. Its the yellow building. In spite of its new bright yellow color, it is still the same old moldy, cockroach infested nest.

Contrary to what their ads would have you believe, it is not on the coast and there is no view of the sea. In fact, it is on a busy city street. This street is also a well traveled major bus route.

This is a highly industrial part of Ulsan and there is pollution from the factories and from the steady stream of industrial trucks barreling by, blowing their horns as early as 6:00 a.m. The closest beach, about a 12 minute bus ride away, is a rocky shore.

Accommodation at Ahil is on the 5th floor of the school. Its right above heavy traffic and there is frequent construction in the neighborhood. Ahils accommodation is below standards relative to what reputable Academies offer.

Reputable Academies supply clean, bug free, well furnished apartments with real refrigerators.

Reputable Academies supply cell phones whereas Ahil does not. This may seem trivial, but bear in mind that, for foreigners, cell phones are expensive and hard to buy legally in Korea, yet they are the main means of communication. If you take the wrong bus, get lost and cannot understand anyone, you will soon understand the need for a cell phone. Your boss will get very irritated if you cannot be reached.

The ANONYMOUS recommendation on the Korean Green List is over 3 years old. I believed it and agreed to work at Ahil. I paid dearly for it. Trust me: these days at least, that Green List recommendation does not hold true. Think about it; the people playing it up on the Internet are recruiters working on commission.

Ahil has been posting impressive recommendations from the same 3 or 4 previous teachers for the last 4 years. Teachers who recruit stand to gain by promoting the Academy they recruit for. Ahil employs, on average, every 5 to 7 months and they ruthlessly pursue and silence anyone who reports a bad experience with them. In fact, this posting is considered by their friends in the Ulsan Administration criminal defamation because offenders are allowed to offend and victims have no right to protect the ESL community by publicly reporting the offenses. In the 3 miserable months I dealt with Ahil, I was one of 5 native teachers who worked there for just a few months and for whom Ahil was a bad experience. Before and after that, I worked in wonderful Academies.

Among the many native English teachers Ahil employs, there are always a few who can be bought and when paid enough money, they sell out other teachers.

Dont be fooled by Ahils ads and dated recommendations.

ANET