A comment in regards to the bit about "local goverments needing to shut down EF", that will never happen. With a vast array of other crimes taking place in China that would not go unpunished if encountered in civilized countries why would a few instances of unqualified employees, or salaries not being paid to a foreigner draw the attention of the police. I would rather the cops FINALLY notice the extremely lax treatment of spousal and child abusers in this country. I dont know how many times ive encountered students and mothers with bruises and scars inflicted by the male of the family. I would love to be totally secure in my job here in China but I think the police (if they are willing to admit, or even get off there asses) would be better off dealing with scumbags beating there wives and kids (which is totally legal as long as they do it at home and the victim doesn't die)

F*ck EF forever, ive never been happier since ive parted ways with those [edited]. And to the asshole who says he's "the best esl teacher", why are you wasting your time in China? Is it because of the wonderful rrsp plan your provided with? Is it the juicy retirement package your awaiting once you decided to hang up your eraseable marker for a rocking chair on a balcony overlooking a dirty smog filled landscape with horns honking, people spitting, littering, ect ect and you can say "I was the best esl teacher EF ever had". I can't take your post seriously at all, but your mission was accomplished I guess. You ruffled my feathers, chapeau

I must say, all of these little ‘confessions’ have been incredibly entertaining! Rather it is a post by a closet-drunk who hides his true nature while wearing a mask of a teacher, or a web-slinger who has taken it upon himself to be a martyr for EF despite the fact that he has not worked for that company. Opinions are like rectums: everyone has one. As far as the whole 40 hours a week goes…really? That is a problem for you people? For those who complained about working a real fulltime job, were you born with silver spoons in your mouths? I would suggest that you work in a textile mill or automotive factory and pull 60 hours a week without any inclination on when you will actually get a day off.

For your information, Mr. Devil's Savior in developed countried people who work in textile mills or automotive factories are entitled to health benefits, retirement benefits, and medical care. Before the world's business became global and out of control the pensions of blue collar workers were sufficient to live off of after retirement. Of course for a jackass like you this is the only time you will keep the most poor and deprived people in your mind, that is when you're trying to win an arguement. You couldn't care less about the miserable conditions most workers suffer working in sweatshops, toy factories, automotive factories, textile mills, etc. So stop pretending you give a damn.

Those students in Dongguan are paying good money for an education, and if you sorry pieces of monkey crap cannot put your drinks down long enough to meet the expectations of your students then I’d suggest that you find a different profession. ‘White Trash’, it is a nickname for poor folks back in the US, and a nickname for failures who go to China to party and hide behind a desk. I will be brutally honest: I teach my students English, but first I teach them to have self confidence, to have pride, and to climb to the top of every ladder and break every glass ceiling that hovers above them. As I hear the shattering of glass, I can only hope that some of those shards will fall down to where you bottom-feeders dwell. I hope that you pick up those shards and do the world a favor. Remember; go up the street, not across.

It sounds like you have a personal grudge against some people whom you think are alcohol abusers and losers/bums. Well some of my ex-bosses and managers fell into the same category of being "trash". Although using the word "white trash" would be inappropriate as they weren't always of caucasian descent. For you to believe you are teaching your students self confidence, THAT'S GREAT! But if I was a chinese student I wouldn't really be as confident what with seeing my whole life as one I cannot control with endless amounts of homework, pleasing my parents, pleasing elders/society, etc. Being in a class with a laowai would just be learning english, no more than that. Sure I can learn english with more confidence if I have a good teacher but that doesn't improve the quality of my life considering I would only be seeing you for a few hours every week. You showed some narcissistic tendencies right there with that comment of yours.

It is a very simple fact: if you are a teacher, you are responsible for teaching. That is your job. If you prefer to party and live in a drunken stupor, then go live in a box in western LA and beg for change so that you can go buy yourself another 40oz. I am sick and tired of the teachers here who want to play the part of the martyr who was mislead or misguided. When it comes to the ESL community, my friends are few and far between, and certainly none of them are from the cesspool where poor excuse for teachers writhe around like maggots. Let me bestow this little gem of knowledge on you: a company is only as good as those who work for it. So, if EF is guilty of anything, it is hiring undedicated idiots who don’t take their position seriously. What manner of impact have any of you made? Each of you is just a spoke on a wheel. When the spoke breaks off, the wheel will continue to spin. Remember, you are expendable. However, I am not expendable. You see, I am the best. I was the best ESL teacher in the upstate of South Carolina, the best ESL instructor in Atlanta, GA, the best in Los Angeles, CA, and I am the best in China. Not to brag, but I am the best in the world. So, from the bottom of my twisted and decrepit heart, I would like to thank each of you for your failures, for if it was not for embarrassments like you insignificant fools, I would not have the privilege of setting an example, of proving that I am the best! So, enjoy your parties, enjoy your trivial lives, and cherish every single second that someone acknowledges your existence, for when you exhale your final breath…no one will remember your names. Pipebomb!

I am sick also of people liike you who come onto here with your holier than thou attitude towards other people whom you don't really know much about. So everyone who speaks out against you MUST be a drunk? Everyone who decides that EF's business model is inherently flawed must be lazy? Anyone who criticizes is a self imposed "martyr"? You're just like the immature brat back in primary school who preted to know it all and telll others what right is. LET ME TELL YOU THIS: You are a stupid, disgusting, waste of life who does not have the capacity to feel empathy, trust, or compassion like a normal human being. Your post just said it all. You are a stupid monkey who behaves like a human being as well as being a dumbass parrot who repeats "right" things to say and does the "straight" and "appropriate" without knowing the actual good behind them. You are a DISGRACE TO ALL AMERICANS, PERIOD!! As an American I have stated that people from the USA make the worst Grovelling Weasels, and we can see why. You don't see anyone else in the world but yourself! You had better hope you didn't use your real email because if we track you down we will ALL have been happy to find yet another Psychpathic, Sociopathic troublemaker who is a part of the problem in the ESL world. Who gives a shit what people think of you and your pipe dreams of being the "best"? You're nothing but a big, walking dustball!

I had posted earlier about the collaboration of the USA the Superpower and china the wannabe superpower and how much trouble both these countries create for their own people and for the world. I hope this message gets posted.

I must say, all of these little ‘confessions’ have been incredibly entertaining! Rather it is a post by a closet-drunk who hides his true nature while wearing a mask of a teacher, or a web-slinger who has taken it upon himself to be a martyr for EF despite the fact that he has not worked for that company. Opinions are like rectums: everyone has one. As far as the whole 40 hours a week goes…really? That is a problem for you people? For those who complained about working a real fulltime job, were you born with silver spoons in your mouths? I would suggest that you work in a textile mill or automotive factory and pull 60 hours a week without any inclination on when you will actually get a day off.

Those students in Dongguan are paying good money for an education, and if you sorry pieces of monkey crap cannot put your drinks down long enough to meet the expectations of your students then I’d suggest that you find a different profession. ‘White Trash’, it is a nickname for poor folks back in the US, and a nickname for failures who go to China to party and hide behind a desk. I will be brutally honest: I teach my students English, but first I teach them to have self confidence, to have pride, and to climb to the top of every ladder and break every glass ceiling that hovers above them. As I hear the shattering of glass, I can only hope that some of those shards will fall down to where you bottom-feeders dwell. I hope that you pick up those shards and do the world a favor. Remember; go up the street, not across.

It is a very simple fact: if you are a teacher, you are responsible for teaching. That is your job. If you prefer to party and live in a drunken stupor, then go live in a box in western LA and beg for change so that you can go buy yourself another 40oz. I am sick and tired of the teachers here who want to play the part of the martyr who was mislead or misguided. When it comes to the ESL community, my friends are few and far between, and certainly none of them are from the cesspool where poor excuse for teachers writhe around like maggots. Let me bestow this little gem of knowledge on you: a company is only as good as those who work for it. So, if EF is guilty of anything, it is hiring undedicated idiots who don’t take their position seriously. What manner of impact have any of you made? Each of you is just a spoke on a wheel. When the spoke breaks off, the wheel will continue to spin. Remember, you are expendable. However, I am not expendable. You see, I am the best. I was the best ESL teacher in the upstate of South Carolina, the best ESL instructor in Atlanta, GA, the best in Los Angeles, CA, and I am the best in China. Not to brag, but I am the best in the world. So, from the bottom of my twisted and decrepit heart, I would like to thank each of you for your failures, for if it was not for embarrassments like you insignificant fools, I would not have the privilege of setting an example, of proving that I am the best! So, enjoy your parties, enjoy your trivial lives, and cherish every single second that someone acknowledges your existence, for when you exhale your final breath…no one will remember your names. Pipebomb!

You are from Australia but actually you were
just born there.

What is that supposed to mean? Deciphering what you people write is harder to crack than the Da Vinci Code

Finally you're name is Waz

[deleted] Can any of the hugely professional teachers in this thread write properly?

And no, I am not Waz (what kind of name is that?), or Wes or Spiderman. Try again

This whole place reeks of unprofessional-ism, sexual harassment, and is completely illegitimate in terms of legality and structure. I have since left Dongguan but I spent quite some time working at this place.

First, the Chinese staff. Tom is their battered form of "human resources manager", if you even want to dignify him with a term other than "inhuman scumbag". If you encounter any problems with your horrifying excuse for an apartment (such as the bathroom overflowing, heating / AC not working) don't expect Tom to do anything. He'll almost never pick up your phone call, and if he does, he'll complain and tell you to fix it yourself unless you pester him to the point where he'll just continue procrastinating. The first thing a lot of teachers do is just find their own apartment because of how unreliable and generally unpleasant he is to work with.

Gary, the Chinese owner of the establishment, is also incredibly rude and distances himself from the foreign teachers as much as possible. No matter what unfair (and commonly unexplained) policy he comes up with, you are encouraged not to confront him and to instead consult with the foreign D.O.S. who is named Wes - who will tell you whatever you want to hear until you leave his office. Nothing will change.

Emma has illustrated perfectly how the rest of the male staff operates. They spend most of the time talking about the whores they picked up the night before, where the cheapest place is to acquire them, what female students they have aspirations of sleeping with (regardless of whether they have families, husbands, or boyfriends) and will constantly sexually harass the Chinese local teachers. Quite frankly, it's a joke. The fact that these men are teaching children on the weekends is beyond me!

EF Dongguan is highway robbery when it comes to their low salary. Virtually any other school (training or not) in Dongguan will pay you more money. They'll offer 5500 RMB for the first three months, and it's THAT low of a salary because of how often the new hires realize how terrible of a place English First Dongguan is to work or won't fit into the sexist clique formed there.

I am also quite surprised at how this school hasn't been shut down by the local government yet. Many ex-teachers have brought them to the Labour Board for not being paid their salaries. Many of the teachers do not have any certification to teach in the first place (TEFL, ESL, even college degrees) and all of this is fabricated and bribed for by Tom. It blows my mind how this place can operate on a daily basis.

BEWARE: EF Dongguan has read this post and have accused and threatened ex-teachers who are posting about their experiences here! This post is slowly and deservedly becoming the highest search result when searching Google for this school. I wouldn't be surprised at all if "Peter Parker" is one of their rarely literate teachers who is trying to defend what little excuse for decency this training school has ever had...

There is a reason why in the past multiple have quit simultaneously from this hellhole. EF Dongguan is a manipulative school and deserves to be run to the ground!

I can see from the video why western male foreign teachers like teaching in Dongguan. Some of the young Chinese chicks there must be really attractive. I can't blame young virile western males for getting turned on in Dongguan. They will seldom have encountered any such beautiful young women where they were born and bred. The link to the video below shows grade 2 senior middle school girls of Dongguan High School captivating their audience and looking their sexiest in the process. Enjoy, wow!

http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/video/dongguan-high-school-girls-risque-dance-performance.html...

It is unprofessional scum like you (and your buddies who replied
to this OP) that give all decent English teachers who do the right thing a bad
reputation.

I feel the need to point out that EF Dongguan wouldn't know the meaning of "decent" if it slapped them in the face with a chainsaw.

I spent three months of a 12 month contract at EF Dongguan alienated by a misogynistic boys club. A group of male teachers - in fact let's just be honest and call them sex tourists - are constantly sexually harrassing the school's female Chinese staff, openly having sex with female students (breach of professional boundaries) as well as prostitutes (breach of Chinese law; breach of the school's contract), the worst of it being the one who openly bragged in the teachers office about forcing a young Chinese woman to have sex with him (breach of basic human rights; breach of Chinese law and frankly a breach of my ears too). Horrifying.

Male teachers at EF Dongguan are openly encouraged by management and colleagues to take full advantage of the unregulated and illegal sex industry. What happened to teaching being a respected profession, and to teachers being responsible people? EF Dongguan makes a mockery of teaching as a profession in so many ways, not least by hiring men whose raison d'etre is to sleep with as many young naive Chinese women as possible, an activity for which teaching English provides a thin veil of disguise. Exploits are discussed during working hours (as well as when you are socialising), so you'd best get used to it. The DoS is a part of it so you have nowhere to go should you feel uncomfortable in any way. My induction at EF involved an afternoon of drinking beer and witnessing some of the most vile, chauvinistic conversation and behaviour I have ever experienced. Male 'teachers' harrassing Chinese women as they walked past us. Utterly humiliating for them and for me as a visitor in their home country.

If the person who wrote the above quotation DOES work for EF Dongguan, I would suggest taking a long hard look at the meaning of double standards and of the word hypocrisy. Have an honest conversation with yourself about the fairness of your expectations of staff when you present no clear boundaries and no example of decency yourself.... how the confidential nature of a manager/staff relationship is consistently breached and no level of trust can be established. EF Dongguan is a place where decent teachers who 'do the right thing' are marginalised, ignored, alienated and manipulated.... whilst the remainder of sexual deviants employed there are heartily congratulated and promoted for their 'efforts'.

I had to leave EF Dongguan without giving any notice because my colleagues were told if they broke their contracts they would face fines, be blocked when attempting to cross the border, and/or face deportation. Clearly the organisation would have little power to do this but behind these lies is an implied intention to make it as difficult for you to leave as possible. The contract stipulates that unless you have a "valid reason" (working alongside a sex offender? probably not valid enough) EF can withhold payment for your final working month. This is not good practice, and not a risk I was willing to take, given the circumstances.

I am posting this because other female teachers have the right to know the situation they would face working at EF Dongguan. Travelling alone in Asia has its risks but one should be able to expect her western employer would not contribute to this but provide a barrier against it. Teaching abroad should be a fun, challenging and enriching experience for everyone. My experience in China transpired as anything but. I had no concept of how naive I was before I arrived at EF Dongguan. Had I known then what I know now, I would have given the establishment a very wide berth indeed. What a sad situation for all involved.

Why don't you go back to wherever you are from and see how many hours per week you would be
working at a full-time job there? I have never worked at EF but while they have a 40
hour work week I doubt you are actually teaching for 40 hours. EF may also have a 20-25
hour "contact week" but a 40 hour work week (where the other time is used for
lesson planning, paperwork, etc). This is pretty standard across most training centres
in China (and indeed Asia). Spreading misinformation just because you have a gripe with
certain people says more about you than EF itself.

But you have NEVER worked at E.F??.....mmmmmmm...you worked in any E.F???

This is probably because of the high number of "English Teachers" who fall ill so
very, very often. Amazingly enough they usually fall "ill" after a big night
out drinking. It would not surprise me if this "Steve Parker" was such a
teacher. If you are genuinely ill, go to the local clinic and get a doctor's note,
surely that is not too much to ask and anyone with brains would do it if two days'
salary was on the line (which I doubt is actually true). The whole thing about the hours
is quite standard across all training centres anywhere and that is the nature of working
at a training centre. If you don't like it, find a job in another type of education
facility, don't bitch and whine on an Internet board.

Why don't you go back to wherever you are from and see how many hours per week you would be
working at a full-time job there? I have never worked at EF but while they have a 40
hour work week I doubt you are actually teaching for 40 hours. EF may also have a 20-25
hour "contact week" but a 40 hour work week (where the other time is used for
lesson planning, paperwork, etc). This is pretty standard across most training centres
in China (and indeed Asia). Spreading misinformation just because you have a gripe with
certain people says more about you than EF itself.

Nah not really..I was genuinely ill..twice.. and didnt get a doctor's note cos I couldnt be [edited].

If you do not want to be taken advantage of, here is an idea, go back home and get properly
educated so that you actually meet the minimum standards for teaching English in China.
Working on a tourist or business visa is illegal. Just because you and your buddies do
it, it does not mean that it should be done and you do run the risk of being fined and
deported if you do so. It is unprofessional scum like you (and your buddies who replied
to this OP) that give all decent English teachers who do the right thing a bad
reputation.

No its NOT giving *all decent English Teachers a bad reputation*.....and cooking DEGREES is illegal, you know falsifying documents is to like...come on man....its a public forum hence WE can write and say what's on our mine....The Chinese govt only crunch down when its something special is happening in the motu e.g. Beijing Olympics, Guangzhou Games etc...the next one is the University Games.

* and your buddies who replied to this OP......Bro seriously...its because WE CAN...its a FORUM....if your unhappy with the post...dont read or write...but hey....YOU CAN...right so...you have an opinion...WE have an opinion....kill ALL the noise bro...The Peter Parker whose NEVER worked THERE!

and seriously NO Its not GIVING decent TEACHERS a bad reputation....seriously they should of got rid of my [edited] after the 1st WEEK, but hey they didnt...then thats their problem...the selection process could be done another way, but hey you dont have a choice when your in need of teachers...

Educated I am I must of got my Degree from the weet-bix box...bahahaha...but I seriously couldnt stand the adults, kids and the parents and the DOS, Centre Manager and My Supervisor knew...and really I didnt give a [edited] if my students did or didnt either.

ZAI JIAN :P!!

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

THIS IS SO DAMN TRUE AND TO THE T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BAHAHAHAHA!!

I worked there for 8 months and you JST suck it in till something BETTER comes along OR GET THE STRAIGHT F**** OUT OF THERE ASAP !

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

Hell yia people there is so BETTER and MORE J.O.B.S in CHINA....THAT ALLOWS YOU TO HAVE A LIFE !!

Jst shop around for the j.o.b you want and shop around GOOD !

ONE WORD THAT I AND THE REST WOULD DESCRIBE E.F................CONTROL..............SO IF YOU DONT LIKE BEING CONTROLLED DO NOT APPLY ....BAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!

I am sure we could have a contest for the most manipulative school in china and there would be a huge tie for first place. hahaha