élan is not an academy teaching English, but an academy which uses English to teach students the content they need to know in each subject area. After being started in Bundang in July, 2009, it listened to the entreaties of parents by opening a second branch in Seoul’s Seocho District in 2010, and eventually entered the English education market in Singapore by opening a branch there as well.

élan’s educational philosophy is that English is not a subject which should be studied, but a tool. Students read and discuss works of literature written in English, developing their creativity through presentations, and becoming familiar with the previously unknown English words and expressions they encounter. By exposure to a variety of audio and visual materials in addition to experiments, they use English to gain a level of familiarity with science concepts comparable to what they would gain from a textbook.

The staff and instructors of élan are not simply instructors who know how to speak English, but subject experts who happen to speak English. As students learn level-appropriate material from science and literature instructors who are native English speakers, they increase not only their English ability but their thinking skills and creativity as well.

T-IME Education intends to gradually expand and universalize élan’s positive approach to English instruction, while keeping in mind the level and age of the students. We will also continue élan’s systematic expansion abroad, which began with the opening of the Singapore branch in June of 2010.