A Few Things I'd Say to the Owners

As I recall this institute, Yes Youngdo, was owned by a couple who only occasionally talked to the teachers. I can remember talking to each one just a few times. This was a change for me because at my previous hagwwon teachers having a serious issue to discuss would bypass the manager or other staff and go straight to the owner. I did this several times. I remember once I went to one of the owners to talk about something and they were nice but asked me to go to the manager. This reminds me that while working for Yes I was given very little, almost no explanation of how things were run, who I could go to for help and even how to teach. Unbelievable!

Here are some things I would say to the owners of Yes Youngdo if I had a chance:

1. I think you made a mistake allowing managers to have full authority to hire, train, guide and fire teachers working for you.
2. If you had been more involved it would have been much better I think.
3. I would have loved to be able to talk to you more, ask for advice or explain to you how I felt I was mistreated.
4. I guess you eventually realized that the managers had mistreated some of the teachers after seeing all the bad posts on the ESL websites.
5. The teachers who were mistreated or fired unfairly are going to remember their experiences, and the name of Yes Youngdo for the rest of their lives.
6. There's also a good chance that their negative experiences at Yes Youngdo will affect the way they see Korea and Korean people.
7. When they return to their countries they may influence the way others see Korea by telling their personal stories.
8. Most likely some potential teachers decided not to work for Yes Youngdo after talking to teachers who had been treated unfairly or reading stories on the internet.