Re: Suzhou International Foreign Language School, Xiangcheng District of Suzhou

I've been working here for over four months now. SIFLS is far from a perfect school, but there is no such thing as perfection no matter where you teach. I have been very satisfied with the way I have been treated and never have felt any discrimination here due to my foreign status. In fact, I feel respected by the students and the Chinese teachers and staff alike. If the people posting here have problems with adapting to schedule changes or earning respect from others, it sounds like a personal problem and maybe they need to find another profession, because if you have problems here, you obviously have caused them yourself. I live in a nice one bedroom apartment that has problems on occasion (for example, my hot water heater broke last week), but the people here are willing to help (had it fixed the next day). The students are top notch learners, the facilities are modern (for China), and the wages are good for the cost of living here. Yes, there are some foreign teachers here who will complain about everything. They probably should stayed home because they are obviously not mature enough nor have the open-mind required to be immersed in another culture, but as long as you set up a life here outside of work, make friends with the Chinese who live here, and work hard at the art of teaching, the rewards are great. Considering that SIFLS hires many foreign teachers and only a few have been dissatisfied, I think you can assume that this is a pretty good place to work in China. Once again, this place is not perfect by any means, but if you are a good worker and have an open mind towards different cultures and are prepared to deal with some communication difficulties, you couldn't find a better experience. Also do not believe that lie about this place being remote. There is many things to do and services to use (such as many many stores) that are within walking distance of this campus. The rest of the city is available cheaply by taxi or bus (or buy an e-bike). Happy hunting...

Re: Suzhou International Foreign Language School, Xiangcheng District of Suzhou

I'm currently busy with the state department of foreign affairs with regards to the school so watch this space.

Suzhou International Foreign Language School, Xiangcheng District of Suzhou

Not to be confused with the Suzhou foreign language school, this school is located in the Xiangcheng District of Suzhou and is certainly an institution to AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
This school has a relatively good history as it was started by a reputable American Chinese scholar but since his retirement has been taken over by his son who is nothing more than a money grubbing, ethically challenged adolescent.The school has not continued Steve Liang's progressive and innovative methodology and rather relies on his name to promote itself with no consideration for the students who truly lose out in the end.Due to absolute incompetence and lack of ethics by the administration ,the teachers are treated as a necessary evil in order to promote enrollment and keep the cash flowing (Although this is nothing new in China).This results in constant disillusionment of teachers who leave immediately after contract completion resulting in a very high staff turnaround and thus inconsistency for the students.In my personal experience i found the administrative staff to be thoroughly incompetent and in some cases outrightly malicious.Even something as simple as a monthly schedule is constantly changed and on some occasions with no more than an hour's notice.This is extremely unprofessional but is done intentionally to keep the foreign staff on the back foot as nothing can be preplanned and contractually the school makes sure of this.The foreign staff are looked down on by the local teachers and this disrespect is witnessed by the students and filters into the attitudes we have to deal with in the classroom.The school constantly makes unsanctioned deductions from wages and even these are rarely paid consistently or on time. The school is located in an out of the way area of town and makes access to anything far from easy.Essentially this school relies on new teachers who get caught up in extremely biased contracts and i hope this review will disempower them.You've been warned!