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  • iSponge
  • Extrans
  • Herald
  • KCCUK
  • Avalon
  • Barclays
  • Superdrug
  • Bushey MPC

iSponge English
English Kindergarten & Academy
SinSoo-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, South Korea

Start Date: May 2010
End Date: N/A
Job Title: Kindergarten Teacher (Native English Teacher)

Job Summary: Kindergarten Teacher for young children (age 4-6) from 10am to 3pm, Native English teacher for kindergarten to elementary age (ages 4-12) children from 3pm to 6pm.

Responsibilities:

  • Teaching the full kindergarten curriculum:
    • English Language
    • Maths
    • English Phonics (Pronunciation)
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Manners
    • Science
  • Supervising playtime & lunchtimes
  • Solely responsible for one class on field-trips/excursions
  • Expanding lesson plans with activities to suit the attention & understanding of young learners
  • Recommending textbooks appropriate to students' level
  • Teaching afternoon classes following class materials
  • Testing & assessing elementary-level students

Notes: iSponge English is a very interesting concept - it focuses on making the learning process fun and has a much more relaxed atmosphere than most other English academies. The kindergarten English textbooks are structured to appeal to very young learners with many activities written into the material.
Unfortunately, the company that produces the textbooks and teaching material seem to have a shortage of native-speaker proof-readers for the material, and teachers need to watch out for mistypes or the occasional inaccurate grammar expression.
 
On a personal note, while I think the concept is an incredibly good one, one aspect that doesn't sit completely well with me is the fact that the focus is on the exclusive use of English inside the kindergarten. While this is a wonderful thing for native English teachers who don't know Korean, it leaves the following problems:

  1. The students, while becoming very good at English, are left less-familiar with Korean kindergarten materials and discipline
  2. Foreign teachers who can speak Korean are not allowed to use their Korean at all, either to children or to parents (this in-turn puts a burden on the Korean teachers who have to act as intermediary between the Native teacher and the childrens' parents.

Extrans Technologies, Inc.
Language Service Provider
GongDeok-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, South Korea

Start Date: October 2009
End Date: April 2010
Job Title: General Project Manager

Job Summary: General Manager ensuring smooth operations.

Responsibilities:

  • Translation & Proof-reading
  • Web-Design and Web-master for the main Extrans website
  • Liaising with linked organizations (SDL, LISA, etc.)
  • Recruiting non-Korean staff & freelancers
  • XML Schema design
  • XML Document creation
  • XML stylesheet publishing

Notes: A start-up company when I joined (and still when I left), the staff is very small. None of the "staff" shown on the pictures actually work there; they were all interviewed and photographed, and then the pictures were all uploaded with people's names. One or two of the people featured worked there for a short time, but the last person to actually sit in the office has not been there for at least 6 months at the time of writing this (December 2010).
Extrans purports to offer in-house globalization, electronic publishing and other services/solutions, but to the best of my knowledge, the main bulk of the work (the translation) is outsourced to freelance translators.

Herald School
English Academy
Paho-Dong, DalSeo-Gu, Daegu, South Korea

Start Date: November 2008
End Date: October 2009
Job Title: Native English Teacher

Job Summary: Native-English-speaking teacher to Elementary and Middle-School age children.

Responsibilities:

  • Teaching students of various levels using teaching materials provided
  • Checking student books and assessing students' speaking skill
  • Creating tests/teaching material for use in the academy

Notes: Herald School is a franchise linked with The Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper circulated in South Korea.

Korean Cultural Centre UK

Trafalgar Square, London, England

Start Date: April 2008
End Date: July 2008
Job Title: Researcher and Administrative Assistant

Job Summary: General duties, including helping with events and administrative duties.

Responsibilities:

  • General Admin
  • Letter/Speech-writing
  • Translation

Notes: The Korean Cultural Centre UK is part of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST)

Avalon School of English
English School for Adult Learners
Totthenham Court Road / Leicester Square, London, England

Start Date: September 2007
End Date: March 2008
Job Title: Korean Marketing Manager

Job Summary: Promoting Avalon School to Korean (and other nations') study-abroad agencies.

Responsibilities:

  • Dealing with agents via telephone and e-mail, in both English and Korean
  • Researching new agents/marketing strategies
  • Meeting agents in person to introduce the school and Avalon method
  • Processing enrolments, amendments, cancellations, etc.
  • Calculating agent commission and receiving payments from agents
  • Interpreting (in the school) for Korean students with weak English skills
  • Translation to Korean of school promotional literature
  • Unlocking & opening school doors in the morning

Start Date: January 2008
End Date: March 2008
Job Title: Korean receptionist

Job Summary: Korean-speaking receptionist

Responsibilities:

  • First point-of-contact for all Korean students
  • Assisting students/visitors (of all nationalities) with enquiries
  • Receiving payments and updating student records
  • Enrolling and changing class enrolments for students
  • Locking the school & setting the alarm at closing time

Notes: Avalon School uses its own patented teaching method which takes the learning experience "out of the book". Like other schools, grammar is taught, but unlike many schools the focus is much more heavy on speaking and using the language creatively from the beginning.

Barclays Bank PLC

Watford, Hertfordshire, England

Start Date: August 2003
End Date: August 2004
Job Title: Call Centre Assistant

Job Summary: Receiving incoming personal-banking calls, and other admin duties

Responsibilities:

  • Answering personal-banking enquiries from customers
  • Clearing Cheques (ensuring validity, returning unpaid cheques, etc.)
  • Closing Accounts
  • Unpaids notification letters
  • Referring certain queries to the correct department/person

Notes:

Superdrug Stores PLC
Convenience Store Franchise
Watford, Hertfordshire, England

Start Date: Early 2003
End Date: January 2004
Job Title: Sales assistant / Cashier

Job Summary: General shop-floor customer service and transaction processing.

Responsibilities:

  • Restocking shelves
  • Answering customer queries
  • Using the till to process transactions

Notes:

Bushey Metropolitan Police Sports Club
Sports clubhouse for the Bushey Metropolitan Police
Bushey, Hertfordshire, England

Start Date: 2002
End Date: 2003
Job Title: Silver Service Waiter

Job Summary: Restaurant service

Responsibilities:

  • Dishwashing
  • Serving food/drinks
  • Setting / cleaning tables

Notes: