Job Discussion Forums

[Convoy]

Any know anything about them? See them advertising heavily in the last week but can't find out anything about them.

[maxand]

[Bud Powell]

[Convoy]

Yeah the offer is something I'd be interested in, but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually worked for them incase they don't deliver what they promise

[Bud Powell]

What troubles me is 4-5 days off a week.

Cramming 20 hours (plus presumably office time) into 2-3 days seems a bit difficult.

I'd approach this job carefully, parse the contract line-by-line, and ask a LOT of questions.

[Convoy]

I reckon it'd be doable if it was something like Fri/Sat/Sun. I'm used to working 12+ hours behind a bar, so as long as I'd prepared properly I wouldn't have much issue with long days if it meant the rest of the week off.

But your right, it pays to be vigilant . Think I'll probably give it a pass as there seems to be zero information about them

[Riff Raff]

Speaking slowly, clearly, and audibly for ESL is not the same as working 12 hours at the bar. The voice is a muscle. A few people can so it but most lose their voices if over-extended. Experienced educators throughout the world now this. You ever see singers working 12 shifts daily? Of course not!

Due to population size, CTs are great at creating lessons and classes that focus on the students doing group work-- to minimize the amount you'll need to speak. Lose your voice, and it may take weeks of not talking to get it back. Can't teach during those weeks? A school may or may not keep you or dock your pay.

Try it in your home country before deciding to leave. Research how many classes is professional. I have never, not ever seen an American school insist on 20. Insanity. You can volunteer as an ESL teacher at libraries and community centers. Preparation and cultural understanding aside, we're talking voice. Can you even last a few hours every day for weeks by speaking slow, clear, and loud? Slowwwwwly and continuously lift a 5 - 10 pound weight for 30 minutes, then see how heavy it becomes.

Weightlifters allow muscles to rest. Professional speakers and singers so. Same for anyone who uses their voice. Do you speak for an entire 12 hours at the bar? You do it slowly? No. It's not the same.

[Alien abductee]

How many octaves does an ESL teacher really need? And if you've got 12 classroom hours as an ESL teacher and talking all 12 hours then you're not doing your job.

[Riff Raff]

You design policy? Where? When?

Talk the full 12 hours? What? I learned from a variety of great people, and some of them were CTs with 20+ years in the classroom. Group work serves several goals in ESL. One of them is to save your voice from destruction and teach another day. 12 hours is more than enough in itself. Lawdy!

I don't know any professionals who speak non-stop at a slow, audible pace for 12 hours a day. I have heard of some people who choose to do it for money. You want the students to speak. Their learning a language includes instruction, conversation, accent drills, etc etc. If you're speaking non-stop for 12 hours, you are not improving their spoken English and probably not their written English. That's called a lecture.

OP, go to your local college and university. Sit in on classes if possible, preferably foreign language classes. Ask to speak with instructors. Find out how many classes is the norm and the benefits. Ask them and see how much time the language instructor speaks. I assure you it is not non-stop. Go see the real thing. You owe it to yourself to know the truth, then decide what to do. There is a lot of good advice and a lot of conflicting opinions. Go see the real thing for yourself. Call the schools in your area and ask.

[Shroob]

[MESL]

[Larry Legend]

I'd assume that it'd have to be 6 1.5 hour classes on Saturday and 5-6 1.5 hour classes on Sunday with maybe 1-2 1.5 hour classes on Friday. Not a bad schedule if you ask me.