Oegugin

Welcome to my blog! My name is Helene, and I’m passionate about languages, teaching and travel. As far as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to travel and discover the world. When I was a kid I had international penpals, then I moved to Montreal and, with my international friends, explored exotic cultures, cuisines, and languages. Finally, one day, I boarded my first plane on a very cold January morning and headed to Korea to teach English. When I returned to Montreal, I continued working on my Master’s thesis (French, creative writing) but teaching had grown on me: I ended up inventing a language exchange method that became so popular, a language school grew out of it! But I couldn’t forget Asia, and my partner Daniel and I eventually moved to Shanghai. After three years, we moved back to Canada and soon realized home life is not for us anymore, so we took a career break and left in September 2009 to travel in Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. We’re back in Canada for the summer, and then new adventures await! Please visit Daniel’s blog for stories and pictures of our 9-month trip.

I’m happy to share my favorite links with other language teachers, as well as people learning French or English.

“OEGUGIN” (pronounced “way-goo-geen”) is the Korean word for “foreigner”. Korea is the place where I first learned to appreciate being a stranger in a strange land.