Hakwon is a for-profit cram school that Korean students pay to attend after their regular school classes. Almost all Korean students attend some sort of hakwon – either academic or nonacademic. The most popular classes that students regularly attend are foreign languages (such as English or Chinese) often for the purpose of improving their grammar skills. Korean Hakwons also offer Korean classes designed for foreigners.
Hanyang University offers two Korean classes: Survival and Intensive Korean.
If none of these classes fit with your regular class schedule, and you’re willing to pay extra to attend a private institution outside of the university, then perhaps registering for hakwon classes is the solution for you.
Before you register for Korean classes, the staff will usually ask an instructor to test your skills with some simple phrases and then place you in a level. Usually the classes are open for registering on a monthly basis and you can select the time and days of the week you would like to attend.
A few hakwons I recommend
(You can find all the information on their website in English):
1. YBM (Jongno 3-Ga Station; 종로3가역)
http://kli.ybmedu.com/hakwon/kli/int_academy_eng.asp
YBM is the Hakwon I’ve been attending for almost two months. The fees are reasonable and the instructor is quite friendly and helpful. My instructor encourages a lot of interaction between the students for conversational practice. You also learn grammar, writing, and listening. I would definitely recommend YBM for students who are interested in taking Korean classes. The location is fairly close to Hanyang University compared to the other hakwons. The only downside (my personal opinion) about YBM is the lack of tests and homework that you are assigned to evaluate your skills. Actually – you do get homework, but it isn’t mandatory. I find that you have to be extremely self motivated to improve at YBM.
2. Easy Korean Academy (Apgujung station; 압구정역)
http://www.edukorean.com/english/
Aside from regular Korean classes, Easy Korean academy offers separate conversational classes for students who would like to improve their speaking skills. The fee appears to be slightly higher compared to regular classes.
The classrooms are much smaller compared to YBM.
3. Other Hakwons
Seoul Korean Academy
http://www.seoul-kla.com/new/en/sub01/sub01_1.html
Hana Korean Academy
Type of Fees
(1) Registration Fee
- Some hakwons require a start-up fee; usually 20,000 – 30,000 won
(2) Textbook/Work book fees
– Should be around 30,000 won
– Most of the schools use different textbooks so the prices differ
(3) Tuition
– Dependent on the number of hours and days per week
– Generally 130,000 (~6 hours a week) – 400,000 (~10 hours a week)
You can also register for private 1:1 classes – but I wouldn’t recommend them. These lessons are very expensive, and it’s actually more fun to learn in a group environment.
myHUBS 
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