In response to Re: Is Linguaphone classroom based courses as good/effective as those at EF or WSI? (nglish teaching isn't as)

in response to the last post that i agree and disagree with, i've got to set the record straight a bit. the chinese market is large and on rather slippery grounds that foreigners might never be able to cope with, especially in educational field. for the sake of all readers on this topic, i'll reply to some of the most recent post's quotes below

I always thought Linguaphone was a snobbish, superior place with far to high an opinion of itself and it's way of teaching. The school itself charges a ton of money, which is likely part of why it went out of business. The way people taught there was also a joke, and their so called "system" with which they used to teach was stagnant, and didn't teach much of anything. If you're paying 10 or 15 thousand a year Chinese yuan to learn English, it had better be damn good teaching. Sadly the teaching quality did not measure up to the money they charged students. They also had inept management, which certainly did not help.

many private schools charge "a ton of money" around and EF or Web aren't any exeptions in either sense, the fees or their teaching's got to be at least as stagnant as the one in linguaphone if not more..just look at their poor management and employee turnover. and the quality of teachers isn't any different at either of them. the teaching quality you have mentioned depends on THE MANAGEMENT. that's where it all begins with recruiting, training and then providing academic support or teacher workshops. TO SUM UP THIS, MOST OF THE CENTERS UNDDER THESE FRANCHISES ARE RUN BY THE CHINESE NATIONALS DUE TO DECENTRALIZING OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSES. THE DECENTRALIZING COMES WITH AN EFFORT TO ENLARGE, EXPEND OR SHALL I SAY TO GLOBALIZE. THE ENEPT MANAGEMENT YOU ARE REFERING TO IS JUST A PART OF THE GLOBALIZATION PROCESS IN CHINA. HOW CAN YOU FILL IN THESE POSITIONS WITH LOCALS THAT ARE UNDEREDUCATED AS WELL AS BRAINWASHED? AND HOW CAN THESE KINDA POSSIBLY RECRUIT ANY FOREIGN WORKFORCE AND THEN EVALUATE THEM ON REGULAR BASIS? :)

The worst schools tend to pay the worst, and work their teachers the most. Linguaphone was well known for this, having teachers work 40 hours a week, and not paying nearly what they should have been. All they ended up getting for the most part were recent college grads who had no teaching experience, but they were native speakers ;)

i don't quite agree as from my very recent experience, i got more than others, although at a really shitty establishment. well, i know for fact that if they offered me less on the beginning (they knew), i wouldn't take it. and, now, i wish i didn't. moreover, my former really dull (foreign) coworker, that i once worked with in nanning guanxi, got paid relatively well at the nanning linguaphone as the clueless manager/owner there had no idea how to run that center. mind you, he was recruited by THAT CLUELESS OWNER/MANAGER THERE. this also proves my point that it all begins at the ownership and management levels and so blaming the teachers or foreign academic directors for either their poor performances or qualifications is not justifiable.

Whatever you do, be original, offer simple teaching methods, not special systems, and hire good people and pay them well. Knowing how to run a business might also be a good idea.

Too many foreigners want to open English schools in China, thin king that, because of all the so called demand and talk about how much money there is in it that they'll make a fortune. Doesn't work that way, believe me. You have to know what you are doing, you have to be a good business man, and you can not be corrupt or corruptable. Also helps to know something about education. Those of you who think you can just come here, pitch a tent that says "English lessons" and think the money will come rolling in, think again.

with all due respect, i would NOT follow this advice. believe me, whatever you do, you're an evil foreigner that, in the minds of locals and especially their officials, wants to MAKE CHANGES IN CHINA AND TAKE THE MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. MOST IMPORTANTLY, IN CHINA, IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY CONNECTIONS OR DO NOT PAY TO HAVE THEM, YOU WILL BE LEFT OUT TO DRY. just look at some really farce chinese businesses have they've got their clients and how they've grown. then, you'll see what i mean here.

cheers and beers to our investments either in china or elsewhere as well as cheers and beers to our points of views on the topic