Break down barriers of language, culture

EF Korea

set to expand

English training

programs

Yoon Seon-joo, country manager of Education First Korea (EF Korea), talks with The Korea Times at her office in southern Seoul. / Courtesy of EF Korea

By Bahk Eun-ji

A curious first sight one notices upon entering the local office of Education First Korea (EF Korea) in the Kyobo Tower in the bustling Gangnam district in southern Seoul, is the transparent glass partitions. These are intended to enhance unimpeded communication among workers, says Yoon Seon-joo, country manager of EF Korea.

This arrangement defies the general practice within Korean companies which is characterized by layers of control between subordinates and their bosses that stifles free communication between workers.

Yoon said, “It’s our company’s culture. We really like to communicate openly and to set up cooperative relationships with each other.”

It is one of the reasons why she switched careers from practicing law at an international firm to becoming an educator. Yoon might be the perfect role model for young people wondering how to achieve a successful career change.

Staff members of Education First Korea (EF Korea) talk with students interested in overseas English learning programs during an expo at COEX in southern Seoul. / Courtesy of EF Korea

She graduated from the prestigious Seoul National University, then went to work at SBS as a producer of popular shows, before joining an international law firm.

“I’m a very active and energetic person. Although I worked at a major broadcaster, reputed to be a very energetic place, I still had the desire to work in promoting public interest,” Yoon said.

“It probably has to do with the influence of my parents in my upbringing,” she said. Yoon’s father is former finance minister Yoon Jeung-hyun, who enormously influenced her thinking and values. One such influence was the essence of working for the collective good of people.

She decided to quit her job as a producer and “studied law and public administration” as part of her desire to realize that purpose. She subsequently entered Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School.

By this time she was keen on working with an international organization with a global reach, such as the UN.

“I wanted to make Korea known in the world and I wanted to work for it. The longer I stayed abroad, the more I felt the need to do something to make my country better, no matter how small that contribution may be” Yoon said.

As part of this desire, she led colleague students to visit Korea on a spring break. It was a great opportunity to showcase the important aspects of Korea to her colleagues, who knew almost nothing about Korea prior to the trip.

“One day, my Indian-American friend said her life would have been changed had she known Korea earlier, because of the affection she developed.”

She also stressed the importance of offering Korean young people opportunities to experience life in other countries and to meet many different people.

This motivated her to consider changing the traditional public education system here in Korea, Yoon said.

Although she was interested in working in the public sector, she also wanted to work in a more creative field, but never considered becoming an educator until she got a phone call from her friend.

The call came when she was working in Hong Kong as a lawyer and her friend, who worked for EF London, urged her to travel to Korea for a meeting with the head of EF. Her initial feeling was that the request sounded too good to be true. “Besides, I knew little about EF at that time,” she said.

She researched the company and read that it allowed students to learn in a global environment.

“And I liked the company’s mission, ‘To break down barriers of language, culture, and geography that divide us,’ with which I completely agreed,” she said.

She decided to accept the job offer, seeing it as an opportunity to help Korean students, because language and cultural barriers prevent Korean students from becoming globally competitive.

Yoon wants to expand English language training programs in Korea, as English proficiency is rapidly becoming a basic skill for young Koreans.

“But my long-term goal is to open an EF Korean school here,” she said.

“EF already offers French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German and even Italian programs, but not a Korean one at this moment. Although I know it will take time, I expect the global demand for learning Korean will keep growing. I hope more foreigners will have opportunities to learn Korean and our culture.”

EF Korea was established in Sweden in 1965. It is one of the largest private language education companies specializing in English language training.

It opened a Korean office in 1988 as the official supplier of language training services for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. It currently has offices and schools in 55 countries and 34,000 employees globally. Yoon has been in charge of the Seoul office since July 2012.