What does an EPIK Teacher do? Where is Gangwon, South Korea?

EPIK (English Program in Korea) is a government

initiative working towards placing a native English
speaker in every public school in Korea.
3

EPIK
An EPIK teacher serves the community as an English
instructor and a representative of his or her home 21
country. It’s common to be greeted warmly anywhere in
your host town and a great deal of 6
interest is taken in the few foreign- 5
ers working here. TV stations and
newspapers seek us out at the 4
many festivals and seasonal
occasions in the Korean calendar.
The cities as marked above are;
Most EPIK teachers have a home 1. Gangwon, South Korea 4. Shanghai, China
school and one or more satellite schools. The home
school, typically a middle school, is where most of your 2. Seoul, South Korea 5. Fukuoka, Japan

Gangwon
working week is spent, while on other days you will visit
your smaller schools. Sometimes these satellite schools 3. Beijing, China 6. Osaka, Japan
are elementary or high schools.

The normal work day is Monday to Friday, from 9am to Comparison EPIK JET
5pm, with a maximum of 22 lessons a week.
Free Housing YES NO

Cost of Living LOW HIGH

Annual Holidays 35 to 49 days 14 days Gangwon-do is the most beautiful province in

South Korea. Pine-covered mountains roll across
Capacity to save HIGH LOW the green landscape interspersed with river valleys
At the end of the school semesters most schools
and rice paddies. The long coastline features fine
provide a vacation camp for students or additional
sandy beaches for summer recreation, national
conversation classes. Often, this is a great way to make
parks offer year-round hiking, and winter sports
connections with other teachers in your area.
For more information on EPIK Gangwon, enthusiasts can enjoy a number of ski resorts.
However the job is only half of what an EPIK teacher call: +82 33 258 5518,
Living here is definitely different from
does. Most EPIK teachers find that they have plenty of +82 10 7100 1782 wherever you might call home, but there
time for traveling around Korea and having fun! The
or is no lack of most modern conveniences.
public transport system in Korea is cheap, fast and
plentiful. email: jdychung@gwe.go.kr Come to Gangwon Province and join
the EPIK teaching experience!
Why EPIK Gangwon?
• EPIK Gangwon offers one of the best teaching
contracts in Korea and the EFL world.
• EPIK Gangwon offers 3 weeks of winter vacation and
2 weeks of summer vacation with a bonus 2 weeks for
those continuing into another year contract – the best
vacation provision of any Korean province.
• flight to Korea and return flight home reimbursed.
• rent-free housing.
• 50% of national medical insurance dues
covered.
• for those who renew their contracts,
provision of return airfare for a home visit
(or to a holiday destination).
• EPIK Gangwon is geared towards
keeping good teachers, leading all other
provinces with its new pay scale.
• EPIK Gangwon has regional coordinators in place to
help out with any troubles or questions you have.
These coordinators are experienced native English
teachers who serve as a source of information and
assistance during your stay in Korea.
• EPIK Gangwon hosts regular social
events throughout the year.
Networking and socializing among
teachers is important to working &
living well in a foreign country.
These social events also provide
great opportunities to visit the
province’s many worthwhile
sites.
"Teaching everything from seven year-olds
to seventeen year-olds has been a very
rewarding challenge.  Having a ski
resort a 15 minute walk from my house
was pretty sweet too!"
Adam Skory, EPIK Gangwon 2006
“The tremendous support, wonderful
students, and caring community have made my
experience here simply amazing.”
Jean Bai, EPIK Gangwon since 2006
The duties of an EPIK Teacher
An EPIK Teacher is required
• to plan and coordinate practical
English lessons for students, and
sometimes teachers, with a strong
emphasis on conversational English.
• to become informed about the
practice of team-teaching and to
“Great job in an interesting corner of the world. work closely with Korean English
  I signed up again today for my 7th year.”
teachers to realize this method in
Chris Grayson, EPIK Gangwon since 2001
the classroom (some guidance is
EPIK Gangwon provided).
• to prepare for all classes as expected of any regular
The purpose of EPIK Gangwon is to foster elementary teacher working in a professional environment.
and secondary school students' ability to communicate • to provide supplemental English-teaching services
in English.  It also facilitates cultural exchange to improve during school vacation periods.
the students' global awareness.  Korean English • to be an active member of one’s school and local
teachers benefit from interacting with native English community.
speakers too.
 
We make a real difference in our students' lives.  For
those so inclined, there are additional opportunities for
local volunteer work.  It's not just a job in Gangwon, it's
a chance to make a lasting impact within a welcoming
community.
“Teaching with EPIK has been a very rewarding,
interesting, exciting, sometimes frustrating,
enlightening, educational experience.”
Sonya Clarke, EPIK Gangwon since 2004
Gangwon Online
http://eng.gwd.go.kr Gangwon provincial site
http://wiki.galbijim.com Excellent site on Korea
http://english.tour2korea.com Site on traveling
to Korea