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| / Yonhap |
By Lee Ji-hye
Korean students who are job hunting spend an average some $300 a month preparing for language proficiency tests, according to a survey conducted by Job Korea, an online community portal for recruiting information.
In the survey, some 340 students were asked if they were preparing for an official language test such as TOEIC, TOEFL or TEPS - and 305 people answered, "yes."
On average the survey found that students spent 320,000 won ($304.89) a month one language tests. Of this, 102,000 won per month was used for testing fees.
An average amount of 227,000 won was used to buy books and enroll in language private language institutions, or "hagwons."
Students often take a test multiple times in order to achieve a satisfactory score.
When asked the reason for studying for a language test, 69.5 percent answered "to get a job", 11.8 answered "self-development", 9.8 percent answered "for language exchange program", and 8.9 percent said, "for graduation requirements".
Job Korea said that 91.9 percent of all participants stated that they felt a financial burden because of official language tests.
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