U to Z
ULI
A couple of unhappy troopers. 3/01
United Language School  (ULS)
Taejon
One report of lying and contract breaches including not getting deposits back. 11/00
Washington Language School
Seoul
Kyung-ki-do, Buhm Kye station
One report of not being paid in full and possibly no housing. 7/00
Western Foreign Language Institute
Changwon City
Wonderland (also advertises under
"The Alliance of International Education, Ltd."
In General
  They have about 70 branches. The get a bit of bad press mainly due to the babysitting aspect so apparently have taken to sometimes advertising under different names, both for the umbrella organisation ("The Alliance..." instead of "Wonderland") and for some of the individual branches ("Sangke Language School" instead of "Wonderland Jungkye") .
   So whats Wonderland like? Well theres lots of preschool kids who can hardly speak any English. I hope you like singing and other similar activities. Can be very stressful. Generally teachers find the Korean kindergarten classes among the most challenging. Salaries are the fairly standard 1.7 but really could be higher. But if you sign up knowing all this please don't come back and complain about it being a babysitting operation. Another thing is that like ECC they usually without a 600000 won "security deposit" which if you leave before the years up you will probably lose.
Changwon One report of them withholding the 600000 security deposit when they left early but thats normal for schools that take out a deposit. If you see that in a contract you should know what to expect. 9/01
Ilsan
Several negative reports. See the two attached letters. 12/00
Koje Island 1 2
Kyongki do
Sanbon dong just out of Seoul
One report about perhaps hiring someone and then finding someone else at the last minute. Another not so uncommon occurance unfortionately. 7/00
Haeundae Beach
Pusan
One report of unpaid severence, being forced to work large amonts of overtime, serious upaid monies, many contractual complaints, personal threats etc. 7/00
Pyongtaek
Seoul
Kangdong, Seoul?
One unhappy trooper reporting no hot water and threats when she left. 7/00 Another report of not getting a release letter and related problems. This is normal though and few schools will give a release without you "buying them out". 9/01
Karak-songpa
Kwachon
One report of everyone being worked some 70 hours a week all up. 7/00
Olympic
No complaints out of the ordinary. Except for the missing bed that is! No pillow? Oh poor dear! Why can't you buy one? Just the usual unhappy teachers. See the attached letter. 3/02
Uijongbu
One report of baiting and switching with contracts, being forced to work large amounts of overtime, and trying to get out of paying return airfare. 7/00
Sanggye but now called Jungkye/Bukbu or Chungyye (sp). In Nuwon gu.
A several people warning against this place. One person listed some serious contractual complaints including unpaid salary/airfare/deposit monies and other problems. See the link for one letter that I was able to publish. 11/00
Seodaemun New branch opening in Feb 2001. New schools are a bit risky. They often have teething problems.
Taegu
Jisan dong, Susong go
One report of very high staff turnover and many  complaints, although mostly non-contractual, apart from paying, but not being provided health insurance. Click on the location to read the letter in full. 7/00
Uijongbu
1)Eun Pyoung Wonderland:  One negative report of management problems and other things like not being allowed to leave the school all day even during breaks. 9/01
2)WONDERLAND Sun-Chon: One report of serious amounts of unpaid monies and other complaints. Sometimes once they relize you are going to leave they will just try and get you for everything they can.9/01
Unknown
Woo Song University Taejon
One unhappy trooper. See the attached letter. 3/01
World Foreign Language Institute
Pusan
World Vision Agency
One complaint of not getting paid and a couple of lying (see attached note). 7/00
Shillim
Yale FLI (Foreign Language Institute)
Chinju
Taegu
Suwon
One port of no severence pay, no or "fake" release letters, that the director has some connections with immigration (bad for you), and high teacher turnover. 7/00 Another negative report of unpaid monies and other troubles including threats for the teachers there. 3/01
Yangi Foreign Language Institute
Nonsan City
Sindoan
A couple of reports of significant pay problems and some other serious complaints. 7/00
YBM Education Centre not the real YBM (previously called ELS Youngdeungpo)
A couple of reports of contract breaches at this ELS branch including not being paid in full and pretending to be affiliated with YBM apparently. 7/00
Youngdeoungpo
Seoul
They have kids schools, look under ECC, and they have adult schools, look under ELS on the database. YBM is the biggest language chain in Korea and overall they're reputation is above average although they're pay is generally below average, especially the ELS schools. The conditions vary considerably on the individual school and director so it pays to look up the specific institute.
All Over Korea
YBM/Si Sa Yong O Sa
YBM/Si Sa Yong O Sa Language Institute/ English Conversation Department YEC (a subsidiary of the parent YBM)
See below under YEC.
YEC
Seoul
One unhappy trooper. See the attached letter. 8/00
Chongro-3-ga
Yeil Foreign Language Institute (FLI)
One report of not being paid. 5/01
Chonan
YES (Youngdo English School)
In General
Seoul
Bundang
New branch opened in Jan 2001. New schools are more risky. They often have teething problems.
Daechi dong, Kangnam gu
One serious report of not getting a month and a halfs pay and other problems.. 8/00
Soon Soon?
One report of lying and various other non contractual complaints. 7/00
Taegu
Yeungnam University
Pusan Pusanjin One report involving some serious lies. 7/00
YMCA
YOJ Foreign Language Institute
Changwon City
Yurnkwang CEC