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Education
Koreans possess a passion for education bordering on obsession that stems from the highly competitive nature of their society. As universities in Korea are clearly ranked, and space in the top universities is limited, the competition to get into one of the top universities is very strong. Universities use an official entrance exam system to determine whether or not students are accepted. As such parents will spend countless hours and money on private institutes trying to prepare their children for this entrance exam, so that they may gain entry to a top university. Graduation from a top university in Korea almost guarantees a solid job for the graduate.
In preparing for this exam students will attend institutes (hagwons) outside of their regular class time. Virtually every student in Korea attends at least one hagwon and some children attend three or four different institutes, so that they may gain an advantage over other students. As one of the most important subjects in Korea with regard to the entrance exam is English, the number of English institutes in Korea has boomed. The majority of these institutes offer classes catering mainly to three student groups: kindergarten, elementary and middle/high school students. At most institutes elementary students make up the largest number of students.
The popularity and development of these English institutes in Korea was largely a reaction to the inadequacies of previous English education in Korea. In the past Korean students began their English education in middle school and were taught about English in Korean by teachers who did not speak English well. As a result, this produced students who were quite knowledgeable about the rules of the language, but could not apply this knowledge. Native speakers were brought in to assist the students in using a language that they had studied for years but never had the opportunity to practice. As the class sizes in institutes are quite small (usually between 7-12 students) compared with the class sizes in public schools (30-40+ students), students have many more opportunities to practice the language by attending an institute.
