Most institutes we deal with cater to a combination of three specific markets: kindergarten, upper elementary, and high school/middle school students. At most schools, the upper elementary students (aged 8-12) make up the majority of the clientele.

Children are generally enthusiastic and outgoing. They respond very well to games and cooperative learning activities. The stereotype of obedient and attentive rows of pupils repeating after the teacher is, thankfully, a thing of the past. Younger Korean children can, however, be rambunctious. While rarely wilfully naughty, a strong classroom presence is important with the little ones.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten programs are becoming more and more popular in Korea. Ten years ago it was almost unheard of to send children off to English kindergarten; however, many Korean parents now view it as essential. Most language institutes now run some sort of kindergarten program and, if they don't run one now, they are probably thinking about opening one.

Many applicants are nervous about teaching kindergarten and I often hear "I don't want to spend my time babysitting." My answer to that is teaching kindergarten is only babysitting if you make it so. The classroom environment is set by the teacher and, if a lesson is well-planned and involves a variety of activities (none lasting more than 10 minutes for young children), then teaching kindergarten shouldn't feel like babysitting at all.

Note that, in Korea, age is counted age differently from everywhere else. When a baby is born, Koreans count him as one year old immediately. In addition, Koreans count themselves one year older every January 1. So, according to Koreans, a baby born in December, 2005 is already two years old in January, 2006. The result of this is that everyone is really between one and two years younger than their "Korean age." This is of little importance in most circumstances; however, there can be surprises when talking about young children. Some Koreans refer to non-Korean age as "American age." If possible, take the time to point out that the rest of the world, including Japan, uses standard, non-Korean age. Kindergarten children are between the ages of four and six (non-Korean age!).

One of the more important elements of most kindergarten programs is teaching English phonics. The Korean alphabet is phonetic and has almost no exceptions (like "gh" = "f", or soft and hard "c" in English). As you will probably find out, learning to read Korean is very easy. Most children are taught to read Korean when they are four or five. Teaching them the sounds of the letters in English is, thus, relatively easy and most Korean children who have spent more than a few months at a language institute can read English (though they may not know what the words mean).

Elementary Ages

When I was in Korea, my favorite classes were always those with upper-elementary students. Most of them are enthusiastic, boys and girls participate equally, and they make genuine efforts to communicate as often as they possibly can. Happily, this group (aged 8-12) makes up the bulk of the students at most language schools. Most of these children will be able to read at a basic level and, if they've been attending for more than six months or so, will be able to communicate many surprisingly complicated ideas.

Some schools offer classes for 'returnees.' These are Korean children who have lived in English-speaking countries and attended local schools. They are often indistinguishable from native speakers of English. With these children, the focus is on maintaining their English-language abilities through reading, writing, and interaction with each other and their English-speaking teacher.

Middle School / High School

By the time they are about fourteen, Koreans begin to worry about their high school leaving exams, which are far more important than they are in Western countries. Unfortunately, success in these exams involves a lot of rote learning and memorization. The English exam does not test communicative skills; rather, it is focused almost entirely on memorized structures, grammar, and listening comprehension in contrived situations. These "skills" are not greatly enhanced by attendance at private language schools and interaction with native speakers of English, so the market for adolescent ESL learners in Korea is quite small compared with kindergarten and elementary. Unfortunately, adolescence in Korea is a time when many people stop learning and start studying.

That said, there are some schools that specialize in teaching this age group. Students tend to be quite shy and self-conscious, making an interactive classroom environment difficult to establish and maintain. I was a high school ESL teacher in Canada before I went to Korea and because of this, I asked to teach Korean middle and high school students and was unsure about the idea of teaching younger kids. During the two years I was in Korea, I ended up teaching all ages and actually found teaching teenagers the least enjoyable.