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| Kim Tae-woong, founder of Dayoung English / Courtesy of Kim Tae-woong |
By Choi Ha-young
South Korean students eagerly learn English-speaking skills through various ways. A common way is through "phone English," talking with a native speaker over the phone.
University student Kim Tae-woong, 23, who now runs his own English tutoring company Dayoung English, was one such customer who paid for the phone service to improve his speaking skills.
"One day I learned most teachers in the phone English industry were Filipino. But no companies revealed it and refused to admit it when I asked," Kim told The Korea Times.
The prices of the lectures were higher corresponding to the lighter the skin color of the teachers. "Companies hiring white teachers were about 10 times more expensive than those hiring non-white teachers. It seems like ethnic discrimination," Kim said.
This led the university student to establish Dayoung English in June. Like other tutoring services, he hires Filipino teachers. Filipino students in universities, retired professors, marriage migrants and those working remotely from the Philippines have joined his initiative.
Unlike others, the company confidently advertises the ethnic background of its Filipino teachers, via its website and social media channels. By doing so, Kim hopes to break the perception of English teachers as white Westerners.
"English is a language that symbolizes diversity. Working with teachers with diverse ethnic backgrounds, I hope to say English is a key to a broader world and make friends from all over the world."
Kim recently launched face-to-face tutoring services. "This is more interactive than telephone dialogue. Now English is bridging the Filipino community in Korea and Koreans. The program also promotes the single-race nation's tolerance and multiculturalism."
Uniquely, the company's contract with teachers reads: "Dayoung English does not take more than 10 percent of teachers' profits as a commission. Additional money will be contributed to a fund which is dedicated to supporting immigrants."
What makes the company special is its distribution system. "Normally, phone English companies usually take 60 percent of tuition fees. While operating Dayoung English, I figured out a higher wage is a very effective measure to ensure the teachers' sustainability and high quality of service as well as their active engagement in the business," Kim said.
He dreams of creating a scholarship foundation through the fundraising. "My coworkers who came to Korea from the Philippines are very ambitious and promising. It would be very rewarding if the scholarship could help their life here and make their dreams come true after returning to their home country."
Other than phone tutoring and offline lectures, Dayoung English provides English resume-editing service. Once the service flourishes, Kim is planning to expand it to other languages. For more information visit dayoungenglish.com or send a Kakao message to daisyday02
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