englishgibson
- 2010-07-31
MW, that's an excellent post and quite likely a great job as well. I've tried so hard to find a place like that, but have been unable to do so. I am a 45 year old fart with a lot of laguage (personal belongings, wife, little son etc). I have stopped paying much attention to employment agreements as they usually are ambiguous and contradictive, but I always worry about who will manage and/or evaluate my work. I believe this is one of the most important if not the most important issue in a pro ft's employment on mainland. We, the experienced ones, know how the local evaluation process goes around and what it consists of, don't we? So, my question is; HOW DO YOU GET EVALUATED? I know you've said there're a few fts that've been in that Tianjin school for quite some time, but i've worked with some fts that wouldn't care much about their students progress as long as everyone was happy and that's why they've been able to keep their fine gigs in one place. Such approach has earned them a highly positive evaluation, even though they've only preformed adequately. By the way, I too have been involved with IELTS courses, their exams (part-time) and I too have liked it. What ticked me off was the employer's approach to the academic program. Local teachers were to teach it all, except the "oral" part and they were also to provide their employer with a feedback on what the students thought of fts there. You could see the "friendly" Chinese teachers entering fts' classrooms on breaks and asking all sorts of questions. I've found it highly invasive and unpro, but this is China that I have seen. :) Ohh, with the local teaching approach, it was really tough to mend my students' foundation prior to their IELTS exams.
Cheers and beers to the fine place in Tianjin where I wouldn't mind moving for a better pro life
Migrant Worker
- 2010-07-30
Hello,
I can recommend an excellent place to work. First off, I am not a recruitment officer or anything of the like. The school where I am working now is a medium sized training center that teaches IELTS and general English. All the teachers here have been here for about 3-8 years and I actually enjoy coming to work here. Can you imagine? The name of the place is Compass English and it is located in Tianjin, China. A city very close to Beijing.
I have worked for some less desirable places, including Web International English, EF English First and a few random small joints. This is by far the best. This school doesn't only hire native-English speakers as I work along side a man from Italy, a women from Russia and a man from South Africa. They give about 15-20 classes per week, no office hours. You receive one month of vacation, part of which are paid trips with the Chinese staff.
The Chinese staff is overall friendly and most of them can speak fluent English. The schools pays entirely for your medical checkup and visa process. They also provide a generous sum of 8000 RMB for a return flight home or if you don't want to go home, for you to use. They provide an apartment or living allowance of 2000 RMB and they start you off at 8000 to 10 000+ RMB depending on your experience and qualifications. Sounds pretty good right?
Here are some of the drawbacks as there are always some. You need to teach English corner about 3-4 times per week (although it's not incredibly packed, usually 15-20 students at most). You will be asked to work afternoons and evenings and MAYBE weekends (but this is negotiable). The building is in a pretty busy area but it is convenient. Scheduling can be a bit strange and has room for improvement.
That's all I can say that is negative about the place. Coming from some horrible nightmare places, this place is like a dream. Whenever a place in China is doing something right, I feel the passion to really recommend the candle in the land of darkened ESL training centers.
From August 1st to August 5th, the school is taking the ENTIRE staff and NOT students to Nan Dai He, which is an amusement park with a beach. Many of us are looking forward to it and actually WANT to attend since we aren't being marketed. To make matters better, my wife is the educational supervisor (I met her WAY before she got this position) so I always try to supoprt her and guide her decisions for the better of everyone (not just the foreigners).
Anyways, if it sounds like a place you would like to work. Let me know and I will send you an email. I don't get ANYTHING out of this other than the satisfaction of helping out a fellow ESL teacher get out of a nightmare.
Regards,
MW
Hey everyone! I trust your input tremendously, and thank god for this website and it's forum.
I was an English teacher for 3 years in S. Korea, the first 2 were honest, clean, paid well and ON TIME. the third one was a nightmare out of Midnight Express. The boss (who was really a pastor) was the kind Asian employer that still believes a worker is actually "property" and women merely are "lucky" to be generating income.
I was in the middle of no where, well 5 minutes from North Korea, when they told me I'd be 20 minutes from Seoul. They had their hands in and out of my bank account and the school actually turned out to be a childrens day care with in a church. (You don't know scary til you've seen a Christian Korean explode in tounges!) I had to walk 2 miles to and from work everyday and the schedules would change often without my knowledge. Who knows when vacations were, there was no predictability. I'm a tough chick, but after 4 months, and on Christmas Day mind you, I had to AWOL.
Can any of you just tell me of a good school I should apply for from first hand experience? A name and location of a good esl school you'd recommend? I'm not picky (just not Korea or China, please)... I'd like to work somewhere in Europe this time, but I really don't care, just as long as the boss' are honest, the location and housing is desirable, the pay is on time and decent, and there's at least 2 other foreigners to work along side (i've learned the heard way that having some kind of alliance is important)
.
There's so many more wacko's out there scamming and nutting it up now a days --- I get offers, but have to try and weed through who's lying and who's straight.
Here's my email address flitey333@yahoo.com and just TELL me of a good school I should apply for on this globe coming from YOU, an experienced ESL teacher.
Thanks! You're opinions mean alot to me, and help more than you know.