Generally, the students in Arequipa are great. By the same token, you do get a mixture of rich and lazy students who expect to be handed a passing grade, regardless of their participation and English improvement.

I worked at Extreme English (another teacher told me recently that the owner may be changing the name of the school to Via Lingua or American Linguistics). At first, I was excited and the institute appeared organized. But as the months progressed, it became obvious that the owner was disconnected with the school, teachers, staff, and students. And he makes it apparent that he doesnt want anything to do with his workers by his attitude when you see him. He never gives you a greeting, will say socially awkward comments (often sexist or racist or nationalistic), and doesnt crack a smile. At the beginning of every month, you will have to change class rooms several times and student enrollment will often be filled beyond the actual class room size, hence making your teaching and the students ability to learn more cumbersome. This is a result of the disorganization of the administrative management and the staff. Making money is the owners concern; not the students education or teachers support. Thus, if you are an advocate for education, another institution with better support from management would be better for you.

You are also limited on photo copies per month with 150. So when you have three classes with 12-15 students, you can only make 3-4 copies for each student per month. Im not a huge fan for giving worksheets, but this limit will restrict your ability to produce the best students possible. There were a couple of months where halfway through the month we werent allowed to make any more copies because the school went over the number of copies in the rental contract (the school rents the photocopier and has a contract that gives a limit to how many copies can be made). And the Outlook series material Extreme uses with the curriculums is poorly written. Also, whenever you request to use the one TV and DVD player, you have to get permission from the owner because he wants to confirm its in your lesson plan and coincides with the Unit (another tactic in reduction of your power and respect as a teacher at Extreme). The school often feels like the military, which isnt surprising considering the owner is an ex-air force serviceman and makes it abundantly clear.

The pay is sufficient and much better than most institutions in Arequipa. You will get paid on payday, even though you may have to wait an hour because of the poor pay process. Im not sure why after a few years they havent figured out an efficient procedure to pay the employees. Likewise, you should be careful of the sketchy contract that is offered. Several of the clauses are unfair and may force you to shift your plans after working there.

Provided that you want a boss who is only concerned with profits, gives you little or no support as a teacher, rarely involved and socially awkward, Extreme is an appropriate place to teach for six months. Wanting some teaching freedom and being appreciated for the work you put into lesson plans and the classroom may be found elsewhere.