Otherwise if you are a good teacher and do your job, EF does hold up their end of the bargain.

Yep, a pushover who grovels and puts up with all kinds of mistreatment cheerily. That's what you mean by 'a good teacher'. EF is one of the worst employers in EFL, and probably the worst of the major players in its field of operation in China.

So what's the problem ? That's a pretty standard contract and since I have worked for that same company (Changchun) I also know that everything in that contract is honoured as well .
Secondly , that works out to considerably more than double $4500 a year , that's enough to buy anything you want in China , and it doesn't include the bonuses (which are AT LEAST another $2,000) What exactly do you expect for your first year contract in a low-cost city in a developing country ? That may not get you very far in Shanghai or Beijing but for a second tier city where five bucks buys you dinner , drinks , and a pack of smokes , it sure ain't too bad .

Look , I know that EF has a reputation in China but I also know that a lot of it has to do with young adults getting their first jobs , having romantic fantasies about what living in a foreign country will be like . Very often they come with a list of demands , want special treatment , have inflated egos , spend their time complaining about pretty much everything , and put as little effort as possible into their jobs . Very often when I see complaints about a school , I know exactly who's making them and I know that the other side of the story would change peoples' opinions completely .

I'm not saying that bad schools don't exist . We all know they do . I'm also not saying that EF schools don't perhaps have a deserved reputation in some cases . Having said that , I've been at my school for three years and while I can't speak for everybody's experience , I've seen plenty of people who really never should have left their home countries in the first place . One week wonders and entitled snots are common in this business ... anybody in this business should know that . EF Changchun has never shorted me money , screwed me around in any way , or dumped every burden they could think of on my shoulders . That may well be because I have a good foreign boss (and I do) but his superiors have always kept up their end of the contract . And don't come back with the usual crap about how I must be some company man hired to say nice things . That's the standard excuse some folks around here like to give whenever they hear somebody defend a school they otherwise know nothing about .