Best Language Institute is located in Kangnung, in South Korea's Kangwon Province. It's one of hundreds of small, independent commercial English-language schools (hagwons) in South Korea. At BLI, classes meet 6 hours or more per day. The school teaches mostly grade school kids, but sometimes it teaches adults and occasionally tutors offsite for government and business offices. Best is a family-run hagwon. It was founded by the brother of the current director, Mrs. Kim Eun Ryung. The school has 6-8 employees. One is usually a native English speaker. When Margaret taught at Best in 2000 and 2001, they were crammed into the downtown Kangnung office building shown on the left above (about a 5 minute walk from her apartment). In the Spring of 2003, BLI moved to a larger, more modern building on the outskirts of Kangnung. That's it in the far right picture above (the banner hanging down the middle of the building boasts that they have an American teacher). The new digs are much nicer. More importantly, they're closer to the city's newest apartments (just as in real estate, it's all about location). The neighborhood is much more affluent. That means more students, and parents who can better afford to pay their tuition.
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