Hello and welcome to Gangnam.
Some of you might recognize this guy from the song Gangnam Style.
First and foremost, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Chris.
Here in Korea, I make videos in Spanish and I try to share what’s best about Korea
with my Latin American audience, sometimes from here and sometimes from Latin America.
Today, I’ve been invited by EF to check out their new school in Seoul, in Gangnam.
I’ll show you their facilities and also around this place because Gangnam is really cool.
A lot of interesting things can be found here.
The building you see behind me - that’s where the school’s located.
It’s right in front of this exit of this station, Sinnonhyeon.
We’re about to go in, but first let me tell you a little bit about EF.
EF is a language school organization that has offices in 53 countries.
It’s the biggest in the world and has been around for about 50 years now.
Their philosophy is “live the language” by studying the language where it’s spoken.
They were also the official education services sponsor for the Winter Olympics
happening in PyeongChang here in South Korea.
I think those are very impressive facts. Let’s go in now.
Here I am with Yohan. He is the director of the school, EF Seoul.
I’m going to be asking him a few questions. First, what kind of accommodations do you offer?
We provide two great options.
First, students can choose to stay with a host family.
It’s a great opportunity for students to experience Korean culture.
Another option, which is more suitable for those who want to have more freedom, is to stay at our residence.
It’s only a 15 minute walk from our school in central Gangnam,
so we actually provide two great options for our students.
I’ve been speaking to a few students and they’ve told me that you have activities after school.
Could you tell me a little bit about that?
Sure. I think one of the great advantages of joining EF Seoul
is that we have great activities for our students.
One theme of our activities is “Hallyu", Korean pop culture related activities,
which our students really love.
We have our K-pop dance lessons and K-makeup classes as well.
We also go to a famous Korean cultural heritage place.
Another theme of our activities is experiencing local culture.
We go to a local market, which is very famous and you can see traditional Korean products.
Students can enjoy traditional Korean food there as well.
Those are the most popular activities we provide.
I hear there are different levels of Korean classes.
How do you determine in which level students are placed?
I think that’s another good question.
Allocating students to the right level is key to their success in learning the Korean language.
So, we provide a very careful assessment to determine a student’s level of Korean.
First, we provide a placement test before students arrive.
When they actually arrive, we provide an oral test,
so we can determine the exact level of Korean the students have and
can allocate the students to the right class with the right classmates.
Alright. That’s it. Thank you so much. Thanks, Chris.
“Do you have time?” “I have plenty”
“Where are we going to meet?” “Let’s meet!”
What’s your name? My name is Ahenk. I’m from Germany.
You’ve been learning Korean at EF Seoul, right? I came here two months ago, actually.
I started learning three months ago back in Germany, but it wasn’t that effective for me.
Coming here and having Korean classes every day is absolutely more effective.
Here, you’re forced to speak Korean.
And you’re in class with people with the same level of fluency?
I didn’t get into this level right away. I’m still a beginner, but more advanced.
It’s totally my level.
I hear you take quizzes every week to see how you’re doing.
You took one today? Yeah. I took one today.
Okay, I won’t be asking too much.
I usually do very well but it was New Years. I went to Busan and I couldn’t study.
I see that a lot of people are very close here. No one’s just quiet.
I come in here and everyone is speaking to everyone.
Yeah. I’ve met people who I feel really close to. We even went to Busan together.
Where are you from – from Mexico? Yes.
How come you came here?
I had already studied with EF in England. Then I was studying Korean at home.
I was looking for a Korean course and I downloaded the EF brochure.
Then I spoke with the EF staff and they sent me your video
and I was like “wow it’s Chris” and then I decided to go.
How do you like it here? It’s great!
They say you have activities at the end of the day? Yes. This weekend, which was a holiday,
I went to Busan with some friends.
It’s very nice because we are like family, so I feel comfortable here.
That’s the impression I get. Yes, because we always hang out and that’s great.
Where do you stay? With a host family. They are fantastic.
They are so nice, so helpful. They are always there for me.
I met Gaëtan from France just now.
I want to ask you about your experience here. What do you want to tell us?
Here in Seoul?
Yeah, here in Seoul, here at EF. Has your Korean gotten better?
Yeah, sure. When I came here, I was a total beginner in Korean. Zero.
You started from zero when you came here. Yeah. I’ve been here for one and a half months.
I think it’s crazy how much you can improve by being here.
I just heard you doing that exercise. You asked “Do you want to go to dinner?”
“Do you want to have lunch with me?” “Where and what time? On the weekend?”
All of that. If you started from zero, then that’s quite a lot of improvement.
Yeah. The teachers are here to help you if you don’t understand something.
Most importantly, you’re not having a class in your own country,
really far from the country whose language you’re learning. You’re on the inside.
You’re in Korea learning Korean.
Yeah. If I want to practice or anything, I can do it anywhere.
I hear people speaking Korean everywhere. It’s really cool. It’s total immersion.
Yeah. That’s the most important point, I guess.
Have you made a lot of friends here? Yeah, everyone is friends here.
Yeah, that’s what I keep saying, that everyone’s so friendly with everyone.
Now, I would like to show you cool places that are located in Gangnam.
I am now in the basement of Gangnam Station.
This place is really famous for selling a lot of clothes at a reasonable price
and for having a lot of cosmetics shops.
Now I’m here behind the Gangnam Station where there are a lot of restaurants.
Really, there are very few places that have more choices than Gangnam.
It’s like a traditional Korean style restaurant.
Almost right next to it is this place where you can cook meat Korean barbecue style,
which I definitely think you should try if you come to Korea.
And just around the corner, maybe you could come for some coffee and tea.
There’s also an Irish pub.
As you can see, I would define Gangnam as a very international place.
You can find food from all over the world. But, okay, I know what I want to eat.
I have decided to come and eat Korean- style barbecue, which is really good.
When you go to a Korean restaurant, they always bring you side dishes
and if you need more, you can always ask.
I believe the meat is ready.
Places like these are even better when you come with friends.
I believe that’s it for this video. I hope that you could learn a little bit more about EF Seoul.
And also, I hope you got to know a little bit more about this area.
If you would like more information about studying here at EF Seoul,
I recommend going to the link in the description. I’ll see you around!