Metro Korean Academy

Starting in the beginning of May, I started taking a Korean class at a private language school (hagwon) here in Seoul. I originally came to Korea to learn Korean, and I'd been doing a poor job of studying really... I hadn't made nearly the progress I thought I'd make by the 10 month point. So, I started shopping around for a Hagwon. A friend of mine was attending classes at a school in Gangnam, but her class almost got canceled because of small class sizes. Another co-worker had signed up for a class in Hongdae but his class too was canceled because of lack of students to fill the class (there was a 3 person minimum to run the class). I found Metro Korean Academy in 10 Magazine (a magazine for foreigners here). I went there and they leveled me that day with a written and oral placement exam. I placed into the second lowest level.. just above hangul. It was really depressing to me, because I knew present tense, past tense and future tense! But, that is just a sample of how limited my vocabulary is I guess. Not to mention that the test was conducted in the highest formality level which I never use (imnida, imnikka...). But, I signed up anyway, especially when they told me that there was only one other person in the class... and they were running the class anyway!

Friday I just signed up for another month with the class. I love it. I go Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7-9pm. The small class size is amazing because you can't hide and let someone else answer. I have two teachers, one on Mon. and Wed. that teaches from the book, then another teacher on Fri. to teach conversation. Also, starting at such a low level is great because I understand everything very easily and it lets me focus on picking up the vocabulary and not be stumbling over grammar while trying to do that too. It's really reinforcing the vocabulary that I know I've learned, but never gotten a chance to use. I feel so smart too, because the other student in the class only just came to Korea 2 months ago and had no experience whatsoever with Korean before he came here. But... he is an exchange student and he needs Korean in his daily life much more than me.... he is picking it up at an unbelievable rate... and starting to make me look slow.... hmmmmm....

Anyway, I highly recommend Metro Korean Academy if you're looking for a good Korean hagwon in Seoul. It's located right near Gwanghwamun Station, and is a 10 min walk from City Hall station, so you can reach it easily from line 1, 2 or 5. All classes look very small, and they may even create a class if there is none at your level of Korean. They also offer intensive courses and Saturday courses too. I highly recommend them! Please check out their website: http://mka.kr/