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Avalon English
Avalon Education is an after-school English academy. Classes are held in the afternoon until 10 or 11 PM. At Avalon, students develop their English language skills by studying with both Korean English teachers and native English speakers. Students spend half of their time with a Korean teacher, and the other half with a native speaker of English. Each teacher focuses on slightly different areas. The Korean teacher primarily focuses on grammar and vocabulary, giving the students the chance to ask questions and get clarification in their own language. In the native speaker's class, the focus is on listening, speaking, reading, writing, and pronunciation, and is the student's chance to implement the things they've learned and be immersed in an English-only environment, allowing them to sharpen their English communication skills.
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Ratings and Reviews
33 of 63 people found this review helpful
Avalon English-Elementary/Middle School Levels
90%Overall
Rating
32 of 58 people found this review helpful
Solid first teaching gig
70%Overall
Rating
I worked for two branches of Avalon, totaling 18 months, and I enjoyed the experience overall as a first teaching gig.
I was always paid on time, which is not always (often?) the case in South Korea, and both of my apartments were large and spacious (not to mention free).
The teaching workload is bearable except during the summer/winter intensives, but particularly at elementary level, preparation time for classes is minimal.
So overall, if you don't have any teaching experience and want to go to Korea, then Avalon is a decent choice as you are unlikely to get any nasty experiences. Personally, I wouldn't work there again but I am grateful to Avalon for giving me the chance to start my ESL career.
25 of 55 people found this review helpful
Other Foreign Teachers Made the Experience
80%Overall
Rating
I had never taught before and had a hard my first month at Avalon. Luckily the campus I worked at (Pyeongchon) was a big one with about 15 other foreign teachers. It was a tight community that had a lot of fun together. A lot of the Korean teachers were fun too. The Avalon facilities were nearly new and pretty well maintained (for 5th grade classrooms at least). I had my own desk and my own computer to use to prep for my lessons, or keep in touch with home while at work. The apartment Avalon provided was very close to work (about a ten minute walk from work). There were also some other teachers in my building which made for a fun, dorm-like atmosphere. My only complaints about Avalon were with the campus manager and the head teachers. There was poor communication and oftentimes we would be asked to do something at the last minute which didn't have much explanation. It was also obviously a commercial operation and sometimes the bottom line came before the students. Financially I was able to save up a lot of money which I used to travel with for months afterwards. Try not and spend your paycheck on going out the first couple months, its easy to do.
31 of 58 people found this review helpful
The teacher community is the most critical component
70%Overall
Rating
Living in Korea, particularly in the Seoul metro area, is safe and easy (if you can handle being away from home). In the aggregate, Korean children are well-behaved and motivated.
This leaves company and community support as the critical elements to consider. Avalon is a major company in the private education market, and they behave accordingly. You will be paid on time, have insurance, and generally have all promises delivered on. In the classroom, this large company mentality can turn into a bit of a widget factory mentality - focus on testing can be frustrating. But this is apparently endemic to Korean education in general. Materials were useful for the most part, but with most Avalon books you will have to improvise to keep the class engaged.
The community at my particular campus included a large contingent of foreign teachers, among which were excellent head teachers. You may want an experience where you are the only foreigner around; large urban campuses will not provide that experience. Personally, having many other foreigners available at various points in their ESL experience was invaluable and made the transition that much easier. The Korean teachers at Pyeongchon were very friendly and helpful to the foreign staff with only a few sparing exceptions. You will read of unfriendly Korean co-workers in your research, and perhaps they are accurate, but I am of the opinion that this is due to lack of effort on the part of the foreign teacher in question. If you make an effort to abide by Korean cultural mores - some of which can be a tad frustrating - and don't behave like a fraternity pledge during rush week, Koreans are generally very friendly people.
All in all, the company is recommended for their professional behavior and institutional support. If you are seeking to be out on your own with no hook to wester culture, however, a large urban campus is not for you.
28 of 58 people found this review helpful
Good place to start
70%Overall
Rating
Avalon is a good place to start teaching in Korea. Small class sizes are perfect. The class load isn't too heavy. The job itself is as easy or as difficult as you make it. I enjoyed my time with Avalon.
34 of 61 people found this review helpful
Great Place to Start
90%Overall
Rating
If it is your first time coming to Korea and you are not quite sure what would be the best fit for you then Avalon is a great place to get your feet wet as an English Teacher. It's a little like teaching at the Wal-Mart of academies in Korea but the work week is very manageable and you will most likely receive a very nice apartment. Keep your expectations reasonable and remember that you were not drafted to come to Korea, it was your choice and how you approach your situation and your relationship with your fellow teachers, both foreign and Korean, will go a long way in determining how your experience plays out. Avalon has pretty clear goals as far as teaching and curriculum but you do have a nice amount of space to add material to your lessons to make them more fun and interesting. I certainly recommend Avalon as a great company to get started with in Korea.
28 of 64 people found this review helpful
Opportunities for everything.
90%Overall
Rating
I had a great experience with Avalon, in particular the Pyeongchun Campus.
I had never been out of the United States for either work or play and I had just signed a one year contract. Still wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into I got on the plane to Korea and was nervous. I got off the plane to Korea and was nervous. I got to the hotel where I stayed for 2 weeks, still nervous. After my first day at work I felt at home. This was mostly due to the foreign teacher staff. I could not imagine how the experience would have been had I been at a campus with only 1 or 2 other teachers. At the Pyeongchun campus we had 12-13 foreign teachers. This exponentially increased the chances of meeting people that are awesome, and spending quality time doing things in groups and sharing the experience. At all times of the year someone was always doing something fun and looking for recruits to go with.
Having a base of people around that were like family made the job a piece of cake. Have you ever had a bad day at work, been yelled at by your boss, had a bunch of crap put on your desk and told to do it? This all happened at Avalon just like any other job in the states. There are bad days but all that ended after work when someone would recognize you had a bad day and take you out for some barbeque or a beer at the local convenience store. And really, the expectations of the foreign staff were not that tall of a an order. Go through the books, interact with the class, be presentable, and if you don't get it ask for help. Not very difficult to meet the minimum standards. Compared to what the Korean staff had to do we had it easy, with 35 hours in the office, 20 teaching per week, and a rare saturday for a few hours. I was paid on time and what salary you signed on for is what you will get plus a bonus for overtime work during winter and summer.
My experience teaching for Avalon was wonderful, especially at aforementioned campus but there are many different campuses so YMMV.
29 of 64 people found this review helpful
Good starting point to get used to the Korean way
80%Overall
Rating
I would consider Avalon a safe school to begin as a first time teacher to South Korea. Considering the horror stories I heard prior to committing to move to Korea, Avalon was a great choice. I never had an issue with being paid on time, was never worried about job security and the school closing over night and leaving me stranded in a foreign country which were some of the issues other friends of mine encountered while teaching at other schools in Korea. The students I had were for the most part well behaved and genuinely interested in learning English. Co-teacher support was usually very good and I always felt my head teacher had my back if any issues were to come up. The campus I was at would usually take the staff out once a month to let loose and socialize with each other outside of the workplace. Some days were harder than others to live in a foreign country where most don't speak your language but the experience is something I'll always look back on and be proud I did. If I were to do it all over again I would absolutely live in Korea for another year!
25 of 51 people found this review helpful
Avalon English
80%Overall
Rating
I worked for Avalon English in Pyeonchong, South Korea for a year and had a very enjoyable experience. The school is well organized and the staff all very friendly and helpful. The school provides all the lessons and lesson planning so it makes it very easy to be prepared for class. Avalon has a very good reputation and for good reason. Unlike some other schools in Korea, Avalon was always very good about paying their employees on time.
Upon arrival, they really took the time and effort to make me feel welcome. My first night there I was taken out for Korean BBQ and introduced to my future colleagues. There was a real sense of community and I quickly made many new friends.
One downfall would be minimal vacation days. In a whole year, I was only able to take one week off for vacation. But I ended up saving so much money, was able to take a big trip through SE Asia when my contract was up.
If you are considering teaching English in Korea, I would definitely recommend Avalon as a school to choose.
24 of 41 people found this review helpful
Teaching at the Langcon English Academy
70%Overall
Rating
Avalon as a whole is a relatively good program to work for. They are structured and have a good amount of materials for teachers. All teachers are given a syllabus with the pages and homework already assigned for each class.
Most of the tedious work is all of the administration. You're required to write teacher reviews on all of the students and have quarterly progress reports.
The hardest part for us (in Pohang) was being treated as someone in the lower rank. Our director often used us as scapegoats when it came to talking to the parents and we always came last. No matter what we said or did, we were always in the wrong regardless of how bad the students behaved.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time (2 years) spend in Korea but would not recommend working for the Pohang Langcon branch. Overall, we'd recommend working for Avalon, but be sure to ask for reviews of that certain branch beforehand.
I worked for Avalon for two and a half years, first in middle school and then in elementary. Avalon is a large company in Korea and has a good reputation around the country for providing competitive English classes therefore I did not worry about my pay check or any other contractual issues. Overall Avalon treated me well. The salary was competitive and on par with other private academies and the housing was more than adequate. Sometimes maintenance issues were complicated to take care of but if they were serious they were handled promptly. The company also provides a good amount of training and chances for all teachers to improve their skills in the classroom. Even as a seasoned teacher here in the states, I appreciated the opportunity for training workshops and the time to meet and work with other teachers. The best part of my Avalon experience was building friendships with the other foreign and Korean teachers. Avalon's size translates into a lot of employees so everyone is able to find a group to fit into. The Korean teachers were friendly and helpful and many were excited to make friends with their foreign co-workers. There were many organized social events which gave us all a chance to get to know each other away from the students.