Re GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

To the student...apparently your learned English well there as your posting is very good. Congrats on learning English.

Re: GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

I have been working at GLV for over a year now and my personal experiences about the school administration and the student enrollees have all been good. This is contrary to all the negative publicity written by pretenders trying to undermine the schools credibility. And I am not a shoe-in either. I have worked in different countries, taught in the university and worked in professional corporate environments in the past so i believe i have sufficient judgement to back up my statement. Salary can definitely improve but if you consider the context of English teaching in China, it's not too bad for a start. All told, thumbs up for GLV.

Re: GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

I was a teacher at GLV for 2 years, and I'd like to join others in saying that some of the disgruntled opinions expressed here are unfounded. GLV is a wonderful place to work and most students who stay a month or more say that it was an experience that changed their life.

First, the colored "ribbons" worn by students and the issue of favoritism: As other students have already pointed out, The different colored ribbons distinguish teachers, new students, old students, night-class students, and sometimes the summer youth program. These colors have absolutely no relation to the amount of money paid by students, which is standard. Students pay a flat rate per-session. There are no private lessons or other special privileges for sale. Everyone pays the same per session and no one gets special treatment. Teachers are contractually forbidden to take additional pay from students for any additional services. Naturally teachers will respond better to students who are friendly and who participate more in class, and since many teachers at GLV truly love the students and enjoy sharing meals with them in the dining hall and outside of school, they will naturally develop closer relationships to students who stay longer and participate more in class activities and school outings (all of which are included in the standard price at no additional charge).

Like anything in life, you will get out of GLV what you put into it. This goes for teachers as well as students. If a student or teacher is committed to their work and to getting all they can out of their time there, they will invest more of themselves in the school and receive dividends proportional to their investment. The only teachers I met at GLV who were unhappy were those who either really sucked at their job because they put nothing into it, or those who were more concerned with their salary than with the success of their students. Admittedly there are many places that pay teachers more than GLV, but my experience leads me to believe that this actually benefits the students, because it attracts teachers who teach because they love students and love teaching, and because it repels teachers who teach only for the money. The teachers who stay at GLV are passionate about teaching and about making a difference in the lives of their students. And many, many students have told me that their time at GLV was the best time of their life, that they came only to learn English, but learned so much more about the world and themselves, and that they built friendships that will last a lifetime. As one student told me, "I came to GLV to become a better English speaker so I can get a better job. But GLV also taught me to become a better person and make a better world."

On the issue of non-native teachers: First let me say that I am an American, born and bred in the USA, with a university degree in English, and a lover of linguistics and imitator of dialects, and students often complimented me on the clarity of my pronunciation and on my teaching. Now let me say that, though I thought myself a very qualified and effective teacher, there were several non-native teachers at my school whom I felt were considerably more qualified and more effective teachers than myself and most of the native-speaking faculty. The few native-speaking teachers whom I considered equal to these excellent non-native-speaking teachers were those who had decades of overseas teaching experience. Do native speaking teachers have an advantage in English proficiency? Absolutely! Does this make them better teachers? Not necessarily. I believe that when it comes to teaching a language, those who had to learn that language themselves as outsiders have an advantage because they understand the students better and they understand the learning process better. For us native-speakers use of our language just comes naturally and this makes it more difficult for us to see our language as foreign students do and to see how to help them grasp concepts and usages that are so embedded in us that we are barely conscious of them. Non-native-speaking teachers are more sensitive to these oddities and inconsistencies in usage, and are usually better able to explain them to other non-natives. Frankly, especially for beginning and intermediate students, I think this sensitivity and skill are of more value in teaching than native-level proficiency. Another factor that I think foreign English students and native English teachers often fail to realize is that English is a global language with more non-native speakers than native. The value of English to students like the Chinese goes way beyond just being able to communicate with Americans or Brits. It will allow them to communicate with Indians, Africans, Brazilians, Germans, Italians, Klingons (Hey, you never know, it always worked for Capt. Kirk), and people from hundreds of other countries who've learned English as a second language. It opens up the whole world to them. So whose English should they learn? Students often complained about teachers who dont have American or British accents, but there are more English speakers in India than in America, England, and Australia combined. And Chinese seeking jobs in foreign companies or wishing to start a foreign trading business are more likely to end up doing business with Indians, Nigerians, Japanese, or Malaysians than with native English speakers. So familiarity with these non-native accents and dialects is of enormous value, but even more important is the flexibility to comprehend English in all its various forms. Students greatly underestimate the value of attending a school with teachers from a variety of non-native and native-speaking countries. I believe it is this variety which is one of GLV's greatest strengths, because GLV students do not study under a single teacher, but have 4 different teachers in a single day and the opportunity, depending on the classes they choose, to study under up to 31 different teachers in a two-week term. While I was there, I worked with teachers from at least 18 different countries! (This is not even counting the visiting teacher-trainees from around the world who share the dining hall and dormitory with the students.) Where else can a student (or teacher) have the chance to be exposed to and study so many varieties of "World English?"

As for the family atmosphere, during my time there I found GLV's claims to be quite merited. The opportunity is certainly available for those who seek that, but again what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Naturally students who stay only 2 weeks and worry about saving face more than speaking up will not be as likely to develop meaningful relationships with teachers and other students as those who stay for several months. And of course teachers who only go to class, do their job, and go home, will not feel as much a part of the "family" as those who eat in the dining hall, attend the outings, organize theme parties, and live in the dormitory. I did all those things and I felt a very strong "family" connection with the students and staff of GLV. I left China more than a year ago for family reasons, but many of my former students and members of the Chinese staff of GLV are still among my closest friends and I miss them dearly and think about them daily.

If you're a teacher who's looking for a place where you can really get to know your students and have a positive impact on their lives, and you find that more rewarding than an impressive salary, I highly recommend GLV. No school is perfect, and every administration has its flaws, but GLV is a great atmosphere for sharing perspectives and building relationships. It is truly a community of learning and I learned more from my students and colleagues there than I taught them.

Sincerely,
SuperDave

Re: GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

Cant you just find another place to argue about this stuff?

I wanted to say:

GLV is the most or one of the most expensive schools in China, thats right. But it has a great advantage for the students.
When I was a student there, last year summer, the majority were University students from rich families, who are going to send their child abroad. They all know that this is one of their last chances to learn english properly before they have to face the real english world.
So the most of them were hard working adults! They werent kids, who had been forced by their parents to attend an school during summer vacation.
In my opinion, perhaps they are exaggerating iwith this "family" stuff. But truth is, they had a nice environment! It seemed like everybody is having fun being there!

We did have different ribbons for the name tag. When you start a session, you will get a green ribbon to show other teachers and students that you are a newcomer. After 2 weeks you will change it into a yellow one, because now you are used to everything.
Teachers have blue ribbons and students who only attend evening programs have red ribbons.
There is NO colour difference between rich or poor students!

We had a nice and friendly environment, everybody was serious about studying and they werent childish. The students were mature and they helped each other and had fun together. Even one lunch with your morning teacher outside of glv is included.

Why do so many teachers stay in GLV, although they earn less money than teachers in beijing or shanghai...etc.?
They like the school, the people there and Zhuhai!
It is really not difficult to find a job in China right now, if you are an english teacher, perhaps native speaker!
And for sure, their salary is higher than 4500RMB !!

I stayed there for 6 weeks and I made a lot of great memories, further you should know that I am not a typical chinese student, who is writing this stuff, I was born in Europe and I am still living in Europe.
I was really surprised, because new oriental school, which I attended some years ago for four weeks, was not very effective. Or it was the real opposite of GLV.

I had fun, it was a nice time being there and I love Zhuhai!! Its a great place, not so big and exhausting like beijing or shanghai etc.

best wishes

H.Liu

Re: GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

choatle, please arrange your jumbled thoughts. Nothing made sense to most of your posts.

Re: GLV Zhuhai, China - ESL school review

Hi, just wanted to make a simple note about Foriegn teachers not being native. I have been leaving in China here for 10 years.

When China understands from other countries that you have to look for qualification and not passport (as in all the rest of the world, like Hong Kong, Japan) then they will eventualy start to improve their English.

Many studies show that qualified non native speakers can teach language better than qualified native teachers.

Regarding the accent that many people want to learn. Studies show that unless someone lives in an environment that surrounds him with the language he cannot get the accent. And this is impossible after the age of five.

Ron