englishgibson
- 2009-12-10
Regrettably,I must say on record here that the EF has got more professional contractual agreements to sign than many other schools/centers on mainland. After having read scores of contracts for teachers in China, I have come to such conclusion today and I want all to know that.
On EF Fuzhou and to Mark Charters, after my research I have to admit that EF Fuzhou, in fact, is owned by someone else than the gangsters from early 2000s and possibly moving in the right direction too. Having known Mark Charters, I have to raise such possibility as this fella Mark is in this to help Chinese learn English rather than to just make his buck and go.
However, I, and probably some other on this forum, would like to know why Mark Charters moved from the EF to York School which he opened, and then back to the same EF under a different ownership there. It makes me wonder who owns that EF Fuzhou now. It isn't York School ownership, is it? Well, even if it is, it may be much better than the old EF crappy characters. Hopefully, Mark will come back on this one to clear the air.
Thanks for all your great replies on the topic I have once begun and appologies as my today's post seems like I am retracking somehow. Please understand that I have seen some dreadful contractual agreements handed to me and emailed to me in a cold blooded manner. The fact is that EF at least tries to hand some pro contracts to their employees, never mind those farce EF employers that think the skies are so high in China that nobody will notice or the ones that just go back on their word in the contract and destroy some lives of fts that have travelled miles to their job appointments.
Cheers and beers to improvements on mainland and that not only in EF but in every school that recruits fts
englishgibson
- 2009-11-23
To Kevin who thinks that his EF Fuzhou employer is different than his previous uni employer, he he
That's exactly what the EF Fuzhou tried to do to a few teachers before YOU CAME THERE. I bet I. O. [edited] (not sure how his name's spelled) knows what i am talking about. He went on to get that fine EF HQ Shanghai's job to make the EF look better. Why? When he could not protect his EF teachers around China. It's just a pure (blind) ambition for some, isn't it?Kevin wrote:
I went to EF Fuzhou because the university that I worked at tried their best to have me evicted from this country.
Kevin, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't your employer a former car thief that's smuggled from Singapore via HK to mainland China. Doesn't your employer have a few other schools (high/kindergarten), hotels and massage parlors??? If not, then that Fuzhou's EF must have been sold to the lucky one. :)
However,I agree with you that there are some EFs worth trying. I tried after I got dismissed for "having a different view on how to manage the academic department and the school". I was a DoS. I was directed by the HQ to send monthly reports that my employer DID NOT LIKE. You guys take a guess why. My reports were just to true to be accepted by my employer and she (and her whole family in EF Huizhou) was/were worried about that EF royalty fees:) And, I am talking about the former government officer that's owned that shite EF Huizhou now.
Once, I got fired, the daughter of the owner called Ms L. L. [edited] made sure, I would never work for any EF in China.
Now, come on guys! Why would you put your efforts to such a chain of filthy laundry machine??? Are we that desperate?
Cheers and beers to the rusty spinning machine of all filty cash that's bound to burn soon
Jacob
- 2008-09-13
As is the case with many franchised businesses, especially those who have poor support systems and accountability, EF has lost its respectability in the eyes of the ESL/EFL community. It's not slanderous to say so - it's an unfortunate but simple truth. Nevertheless, Kevin's suggestion that one should opine only about schools they are specifically familiar with is a good one. The other side of that coin, though, is that EF is perhaps growing too quickly and losing their reputation by apparently not screening more thoroughly those who wish to buy into the franchise.
English First needs to get a handle on this. I'm surprised that they've let it get this far out of hand. There are reasons I personally wouldn't work at EF. I contacted their headquarters in New York more then five years ago about a position teaching abroad and didn't find their offer all that appealing. Maybe things have changed, but at that time they expected a 40 hour work week out of their teaching staff. In my opinion that's over the top. Generally, it is agreed on by those in the ESL/EFL community that 25 teaching periods is about maximum. Beyond that, aside from burn out, the effectiveness of the teacher must be brought into question. What EF offered for that 40 hour work week didn't come close to what one should expect from such a position. They also seem a little too eager to promise career development and more lucrative positions for those who hang in there for a few years under what I would consider trying circumstances. This is a ploy often used by companies who know that their offer is not fair and are fairly certain that most teachers won't last beyond one contract period.
I will say, though, that their corporate headquarters seems to be handled professionally and courteously, so, again, I'm surprised they've let this situation get so far out of hand. Guess they're just pulling in way too much cash right now to care. Capitalism - gotta love it, and let's not forget what Dick Cavett so wisely stated:
"As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it."
Hats off to Kevin, though, the English teaching scene in China is as diverse as the country itself. Now you can add the acquiring of visas into the mix. Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing - this is a classic example.
kevin
- 2008-09-13
I have been at Ef Fuzhou for the past year and plan on renewing my contract. My Dos and I as the senior teacher try our best to look after the interests of the foreign teacher as well as recognizing that this is a money making endeavour. I went to EF Fuzhou because the university that I worked at tried their best to have me evicted from this country. They broke many of their contractual obligations and instead of making good on their mistakes they pulled my work visa. Not only did they pull my visa but they refused to give EF the letter of termination making it extremely difficult to apply for a new work visa. After reading through many of the posts I really have to question why it is that people are not recognizing the fact that there will be bad experiences as well as good. Working with the chinese management is difficult many times for they have a different mindset. It is the DOSes and senior teachers responsibility to act as buffer between the teachers and the chinese staff. Many foreigners who have been here awhile begin to think lke the chinese and see the foreigners as an easily replacable commodity which is not true. Foreigners coming here should realize without them there is no school. To be treated poorly and to accept it or to say that all places are exactly the same is not accurate. They pay me well at EF Fuzhou I will not deny it, but they pay me because I fought for what I wanted and remind them often without the foreigners they have nothing. I do not pay lip service to EF International because its my job, really I do not care what they do in Beijing or any of the other cities. I do care though about EF Fuzhou because that is where I work and try to make a difference. I am not a foreign monkey and refuse to teach classes where they want one. My CM accepts that but only after many extensive conversations.
I am sure there are many "crappy" centres in China just as there are many crappy DOSes, crappy teachers, crappy apartments, crappy living situations and so on. My experience as well as a few others here has not been the case. If you want to offer your opinion about a place at least do so on the ones you have been at and not claim all of the are the same.