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plumpy nut
Joined: 12 Mar 2011 Posts: 1652
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 5:46 am Post subject: |
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Once you get used to it Vientienne is rather nice. It's a lazy town with Tuk Tuks that charge crazy prices (I usually ignore them and walk away), although having the best beer is not the only good thing about the place. The restaurants there are the best I have ever seen in the region and cheap too. |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013 Posts: 988 Location: Cape Town
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:22 am Post subject: |
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Laos is boring...but great for cycling! Sabai Dee Lao! |
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bluetortilla
Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Posts: 815 Location: Henan
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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Yes indeed why stay in boring Laos when you can stay in the cryptic and spine-tingling Mandalay ILBC house!
Ah, to think of wasting all that time on lonely nights on the banks of the swooshing eternal Mekong when I could be marauding with the other rioters on the gritty streets of Mandalay. For a danger-loving guy like me the choice should be obvious!
--Lao Ding |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013 Posts: 988 Location: Cape Town
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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I guess speaking Lao at ILBC' Big Brothers House in Mandalay might become handy...to alleviate the boredom!!! |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2236 Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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EFL Educator wrote: |
I guess speaking Lao at ILBC' Big Brothers House in Mandalay might become handy...to alleviate the boredom!!! |
Or you can try counting flowers on the wall, playing solitaire to dawn with a pack of fifty-one
Welcome to the Big Brother House!
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013 Posts: 988 Location: Cape Town
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Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:54 am Post subject: |
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Heard Big Brother is now speaking Lao....must be a very, very, and VERY BORING place! |
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bentanddisfunctional
Joined: 19 Oct 2010 Posts: 85
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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Enjoying Mandalay?????
I'm glad I'm out of Myanmar- it is at boiling point again.
It's just a made up country with shocking sectarian and religious divides.
The Bamar kids are indocrinated into a racial/religious hatred-sad.....
and all the ILBC stories are true..you'lll find out
enjoy
Bent
YANGON, Myanmar — Authorities in Myanmar's second-largest city of Mandalay have lifted a curfew imposed after attacks on minority Muslims left two people dead and injured 14 others.
The rioting in early July was triggered by rumors that two Muslim men had raped a Buddhist woman. Mobs torched homes and shops, prompting authorities on July 3 to impose an overnight curfew in seven townships. The Home Ministry later said a man had falsely accused the two men of raping a woman due to a grudge against them.
An order carried in state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday said calm had been largely restored, allowing for its lifting.
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation, has been grappling since 2012 with sectarian violence that has left up to 300 people, most of them Muslims attacked by Buddhist extremists in the western Rakhine state.
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/08/12/3614302/myanmar-lifts-curfew-in-violence.html#storylink=cpy |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013 Posts: 988 Location: Cape Town
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 12:40 pm Post subject: |
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Myanmar is now a fine example of what happens when people abuse their own new found freedom...and violence takes over the mindset. On the other hand, BIG BROTHER is still watching over you TEFLers at his Mandalay Estate...and your every move ...but is now speaking Urdu not LAO!!! |
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conwaypk
Joined: 18 Aug 2014 Posts: 38 Location: Indiana, for the moment
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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Wellp, won't be choosing the Mandalay job then...Glad I checked out this thread. Doctors are everywhere...
Kinda makes one grateful for their Chinese job now. But not grateful enough to stay put. haha |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013 Posts: 988 Location: Cape Town
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2016 9:31 am Post subject: |
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Any updates on ILBC in Myanmar? Anyone?
Sabai dee Lao!
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Mandaloopy
Joined: 07 Mar 2017 Posts: 1 Location: Mandalay
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:00 am Post subject: |
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I'm sat in ILBC Mandalay right now so perhaps I can help with an updated 'review' of the school. I've been here a year and happily signed another contract.
Let's start with some positives
1: The Students: My students have been the best part of the whole living in Myanmar experience. They're attentive, keen, cheeky, chatty and up for any new learning experience. On the whole they are very well behaved and present few challenges when it comes to classroom management. It should be noted that lots of them have to attend Chinese school and other tuition that can leave them exhausted- outdoor games and lessons go down very well as rote learning is still very common here. The level of English is excellent- most students speak Chinese,too. Smart bunch of first graders
2: Admin: Admin have always been on hand to help me with any concerns about school or day to day life. A smile and good manners go along way here. The people who have had issues here tended to be rude and oblivious to the fact that Myanmar is still very much a developing country. This isn't America or England, so don't expect it to be!
3: Freedom in the classroom: There are very few materials and no text books for expat staff to follow for some grade levels. This gives you a lot of scope and freedom about what sort of lessons you are going to give. Honestly, the first year has been pretty exhausting but rewarding. It's made me a more creative and flexible teacher.
4: Pay: I can categorically state that ILBC does NOT retain 25% of the salary- the actual amount is 10%. Still not nice, but it is very clear in the contract who agree to sign. A certified teacher will make around $2300 a month while one with a TEFL and unrelated degree will make around $2100. There is ample opportunity to save as the cost of living is rather low. Accommodation is paid for. Apartments are spartan but furnished with the basics
A few negatives
1.Understand that Mandalay is still relatively isolated for the rest of the world; the internet is temperamental and the electric can go out for hours at a time
2. There are lots of mosquitos
3. Sending money home is hard due to sanctions against banks here due to cronyism and suspected money laundering. It's best done in Bangkok.
4. Healthcare is poor- for basic illnesses it should be fine but for anything serious you'll need to go to Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong. |
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getbehindthemule
Joined: 15 Oct 2015 Posts: 712 Location: Shanghai
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:39 am Post subject: |
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Mandaloopy wrote: |
I'm sat in ILBC Mandalay right now so perhaps I can help with an updated 'review' of the school. I've been here a year and happily signed another contract.
Let's start with some positives
1: The Students: My students have been the best part of the whole living in Myanmar experience. They're attentive, keen, cheeky, chatty and up for any new learning experience. On the whole they are very well behaved and present few challenges when it comes to classroom management. It should be noted that lots of them have to attend Chinese school and other tuition that can leave them exhausted- outdoor games and lessons go down very well as rote learning is still very common here. The level of English is excellent- most students speak Chinese,too. Smart bunch of first graders
2: Admin: Admin have always been on hand to help me with any concerns about school or day to day life. A smile and good manners go along way here. The people who have had issues here tended to be rude and oblivious to the fact that Myanmar is still very much a developing country. This isn't America or England, so don't expect it to be!
3: Freedom in the classroom: There are very few materials and no text books for expat staff to follow for some grade levels. This gives you a lot of scope and freedom about what sort of lessons you are going to give. Honestly, the first year has been pretty exhausting but rewarding. It's made me a more creative and flexible teacher.
4: Pay: I can categorically state that ILBC does NOT retain 25% of the salary- the actual amount is 10%. Still not nice, but it is very clear in the contract who agree to sign. A certified teacher will make around $2300 a month while one with a TEFL and unrelated degree will make around $2100. There is ample opportunity to save as the cost of living is rather low. Accommodation is paid for. Apartments are spartan but furnished with the basics
A few negatives
1.Understand that Mandalay is still relatively isolated for the rest of the world; the internet is temperamental and the electric can go out for hours at a time
2. There are lots of mosquitos
3. Sending money home is hard due to sanctions against banks here due to cronyism and suspected money laundering. It's best done in Bangkok.
4. Healthcare is poor- for basic illnesses it should be fine but for anything serious you'll need to go to Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong. |
Nice post. Thanks for the info, especially the negatives (good info to know). Been in China a few years now but I'm very interested in Myanmar.
You must like it if you're staying for another year, good luck to you! |
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The Great Toad
Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 80 Location: Formosa until Fall then... another English Crusade I shall sally off to ????
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2018 6:09 am Post subject: |
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I completed an ILBC contract in another city NOT Madalay.
I can say mostly good things about the ILBC I worked at:
1) they paid me back for my flight to Burma
2) They paid me the bonus flight money out of Burma
3) They paid me in full in cash my last day salary
4) I had MORE than 4 weeks of Paid vacation with them (this is counting ILBC holiday and goverment Burma holidays)
5) The BURMA staff was very professional and good at teaching- (ILBC teacher Burma make MORE money than public school Burma teachers and can therefore choose the best teachers)
6) I do not like living in Burma that much as it IS a THIRD WORLD Country. Sorry Burma people if you have:
a-stray dogs / sick animals in the street
b- people including police driving like crack head teens
c- dirt rutted roads with constrution workers hand laying rocks
d- no internet except through TWO cell phone providers
e- people burning trash and playing loud music during sleeping hours
YOU are a THird world Country!
I am now working in a 1st world country again.
ILBC seemed to pay the highest of all the schools in Burma... but Burma is a 3rd rate country and not soon to get much better as long as they have a crony government - yes I know the USA has a trash goverment too.
Anyway, feel free to PM and I will explain more about BURMA and how to win there like me. |
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