FT
- 2011-09-01
"So, the quality of the students isn't even worth mentioning in this context!Wow!"
The students sit an entrance exam, so there is a minimum standard and therefore no need to mention student quality. You are just grasping at any fabricated opportunity to be negative.
[edited]
X GAC Instructor
- 2011-08-31
I think you'd agree with me that GAC students in China are certainly not scholarship material sought after by Western universities. Such students tend to be rich and spoiled by their parents. They did not do well at senior middle school, and often have an entitlement mentality, just like their parents. Many are lazy too.
GAC in China is a big [edited]. It is used and abused by private school directors looking to milk the uninformed and unscrupulous rich, whose offspring are expected to and will pass by fair means or foul. Avoid becoming a GAC facilitator, and so part of the [edited]. The high psy isn't worth selling your soul for. And your former students won't get top marks abroad - they're not the creme de la creme! Most scholarship talent in China can't and needn't afford the high cost of GAC. That's a fact!
Gwendolyn Rumpelstiltz
- 2011-08-30
Mr. Crap School Spotter's job is exactly what his name says - to spot crap schools.
And I have spotted Lulu International Exchange School as such!!!!!!!!!
FT - GOOD TEACHER?
- 2011-08-30
'The GAC program is not perfect, but with good teachers it provides a period of English immersion that prepares students well for overseas study. It comes down to the quality of the teachers in any program.'
So, the quality of the students isn't even worth mentioning in this context!Wow!
FT
- 2011-08-30
Mr 'Crap school spotter' you choose such a negative name for yourself which is why I ignored your comments and took a job at the school.
It is a pleasant place to work. What is this Police BS stuff you talk about? I have never seen the police anywhere near the place and I have nothing to fear with my resident permit. I am actually a very experienced, registered teacher in my own country.
The GAC program is not perfect, but with good teachers it provides a period of English immersion that prepares students well for overseas study. It comes down to the quality of the teachers in any program.
FT
- 2011-08-30
I'm sitting in the school right now. There is no smell from the toilets in any class room. Sure, the toilet itself does not smell like roses, but this is China. I can honestly say, I cannot smell the toilet from the corridor and certainly not the classrooms.
As for the physical surroundings. It is quite pleasant. I am sitting at my desk and there are nice trees outside the windows. Yes there is pollution in Taiyuan, but it is worse in Beijing. I met a foreign teacher who has lived in Taiyuan for 11 years and he is asthmatic. He had no problems at all with his breathing and enjoyed his stay here.
FT
- 2011-08-23
As a teacher at this school, I wish to say that the comments by 'crap school spotter' are completely false. It is a decent place to work and I am likely to extend my contract. Note, I am highly qualified and experienced with multiple degrees and teacher registration in an English speaking country. I had a choice of places to work.
I would question the motives of 'crap school spotter'.
Native Chinglish speaker
- 2011-05-26
I was offered the job of DoS at th school and initially was very interested.
I can't stand DOS, is grovelling weasel.
FT
- 2011-05-26
The owner is a woman without a clue. The place is constantly under police BS looking for money from ESL teachers without the proper visas. She now has the legal right to hire foreigners, but it is not any place you would want to work. Her GAC program is a failed GAC program and come to think of it, all GAC programs are failures anyway. The woman that owns that GAC center is a witch from hell with a real ego problem. I know two people that used to work there and both hated it.
The owner is a businesswoman who has sold two apartments to finance her school. She doesn't know everyday life things like the price of electricity, and is definitely a person with her head in the clouds. She worries herself sick if students who have not paid up and leave. Once their parents pay the whole fee in a oner, she won't refund despite heated arguments. Failure is not an option for her students. And most have failed the pre-test! That means the two FTs must doctor the scores so that the course takers can all 'pass'. Her husband is a gentleman, but no businessman, and loves her to bits. Their daughter is very clever and has studied abroad. Her English is way above her mother's. They're not bad people, but they've dug themselves into a financial hole. It's rather a pity, but I'd have to have little sympathy for Nancy's plight as she is definitely a haughty woman. I do not envisage that school ever becoming a viable concern, so I wouldn't be one to teach there and be left high and dry with cash owed me when it goes to the wall. What I've said above is common knowledge within academic circles of professional people, both foreigners and Chinese, in Taiyuan.
Jon Bradford
- 2011-05-25
Hi
I was offered the job of DoS at th school and initially was very interested. I went to see the school before i signed and have decided not to accept the offer.
The owner is a very pleasant and helpful lady, who is looking to make a profit like everyone in her position. However she is a little confused about her business model and priority of spending. There is a high staff turn over so beware.
Th physical location of the school is not very appealing and the smell of the toilets wafts into the two small classrooms. The city is dirty and highly polluted.
If you can tolerate cramped, dirty and smelly conditions, both inside the classroom and out, then you will enjoy your time there. The staff and students I met were all very pleasant, friendly and helpful.
If you want any more information please contact me
Jonathan
Crap School Spotter
- 2011-05-26
AVOID!!!!! Total dump in a really bad location with heavy toxic pollution. The owner is a woman without a clue and she was paying 10,000 RMB per month for GAC teachers a few months ago. The place is constantly under police BS looking for money from ESL teachers without the proper visas. She now has the legal right to hire foreigners, but it is not any place you would want to work. Her GAC program is a failed GAC program and come to think of it, all GAC programs are failures anyway. If you want a GAC program, work in the south or in Qingdao where the wages are better and the pollution is less. The woman that owns that GAC center is a [edited] with a real ego problem. I know two people that used to work there and both hated it. She also tried to recruit me which of course went no where.
It is a privately run GAC Center in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province. Can anyone advise me what it would be like to teach there?
How does 8000 RMB per month for 24 lessons a week teaching three GAC modules at a time sound?