Program Reviews

Avalon changed my arrival date 3 times in one month. When I came to Korea they did not train me and give me a 2 week orientation. Most of the foreign teachers there receive no training and have to work the next day. During the year, teaching the kids were great. I got to work with some amazing foreign teachers from around the world. Our interactions with Human Resource were frail. They act as a liaison between foreign teacher and Korea. Communication was horrible.

Avalon English is probably one of the more reliable hagwon chains that I am know about. I worked for a franchise for a year and overall enjoyed my experience. The Korean teachers I worked with were great and very friendly and since I worked in a small school (only 3 foreign teachers and 4 Korean teachers) it made the year long experience a lot more enjoyable.

Day-to-Day: Work hours aren't bad, I worked usually 2-10, though at times that was stretched to 12-10:30p.m. depending on circumstances. I taught anywhere from 2-6 classes in a day (each 50 minutes long) for elementary & middle school school students. The work hours can be nice because it allows you to have your mornings while still being able to hang out and see people during the nights, which I enjoyed. Usually the first couple of hours are spent planning the days lessons and getting office work done; depending on your schedule that can vary from day to day.

Difficulties: Just like many hagwons and afterschool programs; Avalon isn't without its quirks. Communication can be very slow and difficult (language barrier aside), so at times that made meeting expectations and deadlines difficult as things weren't always communicated timely. There are times when tasks will be thrown at you and you are expected to finish it last minute (but that can be with any school, so not out of the ordinary).

Overall: Avalon can be a great place to work, always paid on time, very little hassle with money/insurance/end of the year bonus and often the Korean teachers and staff are extremely helpful and understanding. Avalon to me is a very reliable institute and I would feel most comfortable working with this large chain then some of the others out there. I enjoyed my experience very much.

I was brand new to teaching and living abroad, when I hopped on a plane to Korea and to Avalon's Pyeongchong campus. Overall, my experience was great. I stayed in a hotel for my first week, and I got a great chance to attend a party at what would be my new apartment. I fell in love with my new space, and I got to spend time with current teachers and those that were completing their contracts. I taught on the IVY Nokjiwon level, which was a very close-knit group of foreign and Korean teachers. I loved my students, who were well-behaved, intelligent, and talented. Whenever I had a question (and I had a lot!), someone had an answer. I was given responsibility according to my talents and interests; for example, I created a United States History class. When wonderful personal issues drove me to see a doctor, my co-workers were right there to support me and make sure I was comfortable. I would have to say that I wish vacation time was more ample and more on my own terms, and there were times when some of the expectations of teachers seemed a bit unrealistic. But honestly looking back after 2-3 years, I realized that a job is a job, and the experience alone was worth everything to me. I learned that I really can teach and enjoy it, to take responsibility for my own attitude, and that life can be good anywhere in the world. I walked away from Avalon with great experience, new friends, a family, and confidence. For a first-time teacher, I would say Avalon is a good place to begin your teaching career.

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 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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.