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gugelhupf
Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2004 8:26 am Post subject: EF Bandung, Solo, Yogya |
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Tuan-tuan (dan puan-puan), I would appreciate it if anyone has any recent experience to share about working for EF franchises in Bandung, Solo and Yogya.
I am aware of the general, shall we say, features, of EF as a whole but I'm also aware that there can be a world of difference between individual franchises.
While I have a degree and teaching experience (and will have a Trinity House cert. shortly) I don't actually have any recent EFL teaching experience so I may not be in a strong position to pick and choose the very best employers in Indonesia. I have been told that TBI in Bandung are a professional lot and well worth working for but don't know anything about other schools in the area.
I live just two blocks away from EF's central recruitment division so it is very easy for me to deal with them.
On another, quite bizarre, subject: I am a former biologist with fascination for fireflies and glow-worms. Does Java have plenty of these beasties?
Many thanks. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Chalk me up as one of those rare folks who has actually had a reasonably good experience with EF. (WHAT?!? Is that possible? )
What can I say? the franchise I work for is okay. Is there any way you can talk to the teachers there first?
As for glow worms and fireflies, I've never seen any such beasties here... |
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gugelhupf
Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="ls650"]Chalk me up as one of those rare folks who has actually had a reasonably good experience with EF. (WHAT?!? Is that possible? )
That doesn't surprise me at all. Some people seem to have a good time with EF while (judging from the horror stories elsewhere on this site) some have living nightmares. The difference in professionalism between individual franchises within the same area seems quite extreme, and I'm sure that erstwhile good schools can deteriorate very quickly if something goes *beep* up.
If anyone out there has RECENT experience of an Indo. EF establishment I'd be grateful to hear about it. I know that in many towns EF pay less than the others, but frankly I'm not choosing to go to Indonesia as a place to get rich - far more important to me right now is to find somewhere supportive to gain experience for a year and decide whether to stay longer. That said, I'm nobody's doormat and don't intend to get badly ripped off.
As regards geography, i've rather set my heart on Bandung, Yogya or Solo but would consider elsewhere. |
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willy
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 215 Location: Samarinda,Kalimantan,Indonesia(left TW)
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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Well as for those places I can�t say; the EF teachers in BOGOR seen to be happy although they are some of the rudest people I have ever met, a friend of mine got hit by her DOS in baksi.
I can say stay out of Jakarta if you want to keep your shirts white.
Firefly�s here? Maybe they got barbequed; glowworms, last ones I saw were in New Zealand. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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gugelhupf wrote: |
If anyone out there has RECENT experience of an Indo. EF establishment I'd be grateful to hear about it. |
I'm talking about the EF school I'm at right now. I'm about 8 months into a 1 year contract. No job is perfect, but so far this one's going okay. |
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willy
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 215 Location: Samarinda,Kalimantan,Indonesia(left TW)
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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JUST TO SET THINGS RIGHT, YOU SAID YOUR MAKING 10,000,000. A MONTH? AND YOU�RE WORKING AT EF? I HAVE NEVER OF ANY ONE GETTING MORE THAN 7,000,000. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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willy wrote: |
JUST TO SET THINGS RIGHT, YOU SAID YOUR MAKING 10,000,000. A MONTH? AND YOU�RE WORKING AT EF? I HAVE NEVER OF ANY ONE GETTING MORE THAN 7,000,000. |
Please don't shout...
At my school the starting wage is 7.25 juta per month. I'm an AC so I make 10 juta. |
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willy
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 215 Location: Samarinda,Kalimantan,Indonesia(left TW)
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Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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O` thanks for the clarification, 7.25 that�s good for EF.
AC, is that =Academic Coordinator
Academic(adj) irrelevant in practice: theoretical and not of any practical relevance
and or Academic(n)
professor, instructor, teacher, lecturer, researcher, college lecturer, scholar, tutor, don
Coordinator(n)
manager, director, planner, controller, coordinator, arranger
And if we are teaching grammer do all the above apply, if so should it be AAC? |
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bayabule
Joined: 05 Feb 2004 Posts: 82 Location: East Java Indonesia
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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I saw millions of fireflies in the jungle in South Kalimantan about two years ago. It were right pretty... ahhhhh! |
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guruengerish
Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 424 Location: Australia
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Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:04 am Post subject: Teaching with EF, Bandung, Solo, Yogya |
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Hi there.
I've worked for two of the three schools you mention.
If you're still chasing information, drop me a line. |
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Winmar
Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 125 Location: Melbourne
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 9:18 am Post subject: |
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I worked at EF in Bandung, which was aok as far as I was concerned. I've written about it quite a lot in previous posts. I'd happily go back and work there again. I left there in January last year, so I don't know if that's recent enough for you. I doubt much has altered since I left though. If you have any more questions, fire away.
There are fireflies in Bandung. Id' go back there in a flash actually. |
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gugelhupf
Joined: 24 Jan 2004 Posts: 575 Location: Jabotabek
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the help, much appreciated! |
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willy
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 215 Location: Samarinda,Kalimantan,Indonesia(left TW)
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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a king??? maybe but that wes 7 years ago now that would omly buy food in a street stall. fried rice with very little meat. |
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guruengerish
Joined: 28 Mar 2004 Posts: 424 Location: Australia
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2004 8:43 am Post subject: living like a king... |
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I heartily agree. Maybe the writer hasn't heard of 'krismon', where the rupiah went down to Rp10,000 to one U$1.00 for a long time.
In Yogya, we were paid Rp3.1million a month less than two years ago, and we were broke by the end of the month, if not before.
To rent a house (payable a year up-front) and pay the inevitable 'tourist prices' expats get stung for, you would need at least Rp5 million a month to live reasonably, albiet a little frugally, and hopefully, the school would supply a small house, but there's a good few who don't.
Working in Indonesia is a great experience, but you're not going to save anything. |
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GuruStip
Joined: 24 Jun 2004 Posts: 47
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2004 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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HeyHey, this is my first post (cheers Dave) and it's a positive one.
I'm just coming to the end of my second contract with EF Bandung (I started as you were leaving, Rob), and I have to say the last couple of years have been quick and fun. The first year wage is 6.2juta, negotiable if you're a bit special. Don't expect too much though- if you're well qualified, they probably can't afford you! Holidays are OK, cover isn't too good though.
Judging by many of the posts on the Cafe about EF, I think Bdg must be one of the few good schools. The DOS is laid back but on top of things, the senior teachers work really hard and you have a lot of freedom to try out your ideas. The students are really cool, if a little lazy, and most of the bule teachers are reasonably sane and pretty social. At the moment, the staff is quite young, and not too weird. The main rival, TBI, seems to be going through some management/ staff issues at the moment, and is staffed mostly by nutters. From the outside I'm happy to be earning (only slightly) less for much less stress and a happy staffroom.
The cons are probably the same as any other money-making institution in Indonesia- the ethic seems to be maximum profit, minimum spending, and sometimes the school management are a bit frustrating when it comes to spending money or fixing things. If you're patient or have any amount of initiative, it's easily handleable.
The area is really nice, and lots of decent wee houses ar springing up to accommodate the Meesters. One thing to note is that it IS NOT HOME! Anyone who's been here before will understand, but we have had a couple of teachers break contract recently, as they were going insane.
Things don't work the same, and common sense is not abound, but hey, it's life and it's fun. Just bear in mind that if you can't take it when the Starbucks girl at home ****s up your order and you get mad, maybe you should go somewhere a little more disciplined.
It's fun. The school is good. Life is good. It's a good way in, but maybe not a career.
soon there'll be a website for Ef Bandung, if you want to have a look:
www.geocities.com/efbdg
Take it easy. |
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