Hagwon ... for everything
Tucked away in a small room in the basement floor of a building in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, three men in their 20s or 30s were busily jotting down their instructor's words on a Thursday evening.
"Don't worry too much about what you should say. Your job on your first date is to create a good atmosphere and make her want a second date," said the instructor, also a young man.
Taking a peek in their finger-thick materials, the words "Blind Date" could be seen in big bold letters.
Yes, this is a dating hagwon.
It is well known that Korea is overflowing with "hagwon," or private educational institutes. But if English cram schools are the only things that come to mind, you are way behind -- numerous hagwon giving out unexpected lessons have emerged in the last few years.
Anti-smoking hagwon or jump-rope hagwon assert that they can help carry out one's New Year's resolutions most efficiently.
Even when it comes to overcoming shyness or a lack of leadership, the best solution nowadays would be entering a hagwon, at least according to a bunch of leadership or speech hagwon in Korea.
This dating institute, which appeared to be flourishing underground even without a signboard, seemed to be the ultimate version of the kind.
Dating hagwon
The four men, including the instructor, were dead serious.
"I told you a hundred times that 'how to say' is much more important than 'what to say,'" said Kim Byeong-cheol, the instructor and also director of the hagwon, furiously writing "30 percent" and "60 percent" beside "how to say" and "what to say," which he had previously scribbled on the white board.
Students hurriedly nodded and highlighted the phrases in their textbooks.
A volume of teaching materials which would amaze most people who had never imagined that dating skills could be taught in such an academic way, were used in the class.
One kind was video clips of actual blind date situations. In the video, a guy was struggling to make a conversation with the beautiful girl sitting in front of him. After the viewing, the class tried to figure out what the guy had done wrong.
"I think his baseball cap was an error. His glasses, too. He should've worn contact lenses," said a student.
"He's leaning towards the girl too much. He looks too desperate. It is certainly not the ideal posture of a proud male," said another.
"Is he wearing short sleeves or did he roll up his sleeves? I heard it is better for men to hide as much flesh as possible and for women to reveal as much as possible on a first date," said the last one.
"What you guys said were all correct. I mean, what's with the baseball cap? A fedora could have been better. We have interviewed the girl, so let's hear her impressions of the guy," the instructor said, clicking another video clip.
The class continued for two and an half hours, looking at video clips, discussing them and going over the textbook with the instructor.
The textbook was very detailed, classifying women from "the beauty" to "the ugly." Men were supposed to take different approaches to women according to their type.
For instance, one should never compliment an "ugly" about her looks because she is obviously already aware of them, but a moderate amount of compliments is necessary if a "beauty" keeps on smoothing her hair and crossing her legs.
During break, the class chattered on about their field training planned for the next day. They were supposed to flirt with women on a random street in Apgujeong and obtain their numbers.
"I'm thinking about wearing exactly what I'm wearing now ... what do you think?" a student nervously asked the instructor.
"It looks great, the colors match. But you, tell me you are not wearing that black padded coat. Don't you have a decent half-coat or something?" said the instructor, turning to another man.
"And class, when you actually meet a girl, don't forget and try following this manual," he added, pointing to a page in the textbook.
Many dating hagwon recently appeared in the Gangnam and Hongdae area. Most students are men. One hagwon had an ad for a class for women on their website, but said that the class was closed for now due to internal circumstances.
"I wouldn't attend the class because I doubt the instructor's qualifications. A guy teaching guys about girls and a girl teaching girls about guys does not sound so smart," said Kim, a 26-year-old woman.
Hagwon for doctors
Students who successfully entered universities after taking college entrance exam prep schools naturally head for another hagwon that will guide them to their dream jobs.
So hagwon that provide courses for announcers or journalists, flight attendants, stylists, waitresses or even pre-law school, pre-Judicial Research and Training Institute courses are booming among young job seekers.
Recently, a hagwon for medical students and doctors added itself to the list.
Do medical students or doctors really need extra tutoring to get good jobs? Well, apparently so, according to Gwon Ryang, the founder of Medipreview, an institute that offers medical lessons.
"Of course, most medical students are smart, but once they slip and fail the National Examination for Medical Practitioners, it is hard to get back on track," said Gwon.
"Also, there is a big gap between medical classes given in universities and the actual medical scene but the professors can't teach the students one by one how to fill the gap. It is up to the students. Unfortunately, most medical students these days are used to hagwon and private lessons, so they don't know what to do unless they are taught. At the hagwon, we teach experience rather than medical knowledge," he said. Medipreview started in 2003 when Gwon gave an emergency room lecture to 40 public health doctors.
"Because they just graduated from medical school, they didn't know even the most basic things like how to read X-rays or what kind of medicine to prescribe. They needed help," Gwon said.
The hagwon grew rapidly. Approximately 1,000 students and doctors attended the classes last year. About 80 percent of the courses are for students who are preparing for the National Exam.
Last Saturday morning was the first day of a 37-hour internal medicine course for senior students. Students filed in 30 minutes before the start of the class, heating up the classroom in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, despite the freezing weather. One student had come all the way from Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province.
"A funny thing about medical students is that they like to keep good things to themselves. They never tell their friends about the hagwon. They come secretly," Gwon said.
It was obvious, as everyone was sitting by themselves. Once, a female student tiptoed into the classroom and classmate exclaimed, pointing at her, "I caught you!" She could only smile sheepishly.
The other 20 percent of the classes run at the hagwon are for full-time doctors. Dermatology class for internists, or "How to become vice director" course for orthopedics, for example. In these cases, the lecturers are not just any regular doctors but often hospital directors.
Opinions were split about the hagwon among medical students and doctors.
"I attended digestive organ classes last year, and they were pretty helpful," said a medical student who signed for this year's internal medicine class.
"I doubt that interns will have time to attend such classes. Besides, I think the actual field will still be much different from what you learn in hagwon," said Lim, a second year resident.
Pre-army hagwon
There would be few countries where this kind of school would work. A pre-army hagwon perfectly fits in Korea, where military service is compulsory for men.
The Pre-Military Information Center in Boeun County, North Chungcheong Province, is a sort of pre-army hagwon where men, or even women, can experience the army in advance.
"Korean men are extremely worried about serving in the army, probably more than going to college. There are lots of private institutes that guide students to college but there were none for the army. I thought it was time to establish one," said Park Dong-ho, founder of PMIC and retired Army lieutenant colonel who had served for 32 years.
PMIC opened in November and official courses will start by the end of January. Each course will have 100 participants and run through three days.
The participants will be trained following the military's daily timetable, which includes training sessions, meal times, washing dishes, cleaning the barracks and even keeping night watch.
Combat uniforms, caps, shoes and mock rifles will be provided. Park and two other reserve officers will be instructing them.
"I am planning on establishing one center in each province. That will help to accumulate 50,000 trainees per year," said Park.
"If a PMIC graduate is selected as an exemplary soldier in the actual army, I am planning on awarding him with some vacation bonus," Park added.
PMIC also aims to be named as an official institute by the Ministry of National Defense and the Army Headquarters in the near future.
"Do we accept foreigners? Why not, unless they are too young or need interpreters," said Park.
Blogger hagwon
One of the biggest interests for everyone is, of course, money. While investment or financial technology hagwon that appeared quite a while ago are still popular, a hagwon for bloggers is also on the rise.
A computer hagwon near Ewha Womans University is running a "Pro Blogger Marketing Course" since last April.
The 32 hour course provides lessons on "How to write posts that will bring large traffic," "How to fix photos," "How to make UCC" or "How to promote your blog." Divided into two groups -- beginners and advanced learners -- the participants are mostly housewives, students or businessmen.
"I learned some basic steps of running a blog like capturing scenes from video clips or handling picture files," said a blogger, whose site is recording tens of thousands of visitors everyday. She took the course before opening her blog.
"But the hagwon did have some limits in teaching some of the actual skills that are required while running a blog. One-on-one tutoring could help but there are some things that cannot be taught in front of the whole class. Blogger courses will need to undergo some trial and error as they are just in their beginning steps."
(claire@heraldm.com)
By Park Min-young
