Job Discussion Forums

Ivana · Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11

Hi everyone,

Can anyone give any advice on working for Berlitz? (I've done a search on this website but didnt find too much information) I've heard the working conditons are good, but this came mainly from former students, not current/former teachers... any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Nismo · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 520

Berlitz is an internationally acclaimed school of English. It is not limited to Japan. It is the most competetive of the big 5 schools in Japan in terms of acceptance. Just to put into perspective how well known it is:

I recently returned home from Japan from studying my last year of uni. I informed my family that I want to get back to Japan as soon as I can to teach English. The first thing my grandfather (who knows next to nothing about Japan) asks me, "Do they have Berlitz there? You should apply to work for Berlitz if they do."

I am certain the working conditions will be relatively better if you are comparing it to Nova, AEON, Geos, or ECC.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Berlitz has some of the most unfriendly contracts, like the pay per lesson contracts. They have also had problems with the general union in the past. It's often feast or famine with Bertlitz. I wouldn't recommend them, as many of my friends have worked and quit from there.

Please search the General Union website for more information: http://www.generalunion.org/

ECC is the best of the big chain schools, by far.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Being a good place to work and being famous (infamous) are two totally different things. Berlitz has been around for a long time, but I doubt few reputable linguists would say that their Direct Method of teaching is very effective. Personally, I could never adhere to their teaching methodologies.

zoubaidah · Joined: 03 Jul 2004 Posts: 20

Don't know if Berlitz has different conditions in different countries, but at my interview in Thailand I found that a full time job constituted more than 50 lessons a week, totalling around 36 teaching hours. I had to tell the AD that I'm not a good teacher any more if I'm teaching that many lessons and hours in the week.
I'm also quite a fan of updating teaching material as frequently as I can, and I'm not sure how often that can happen when a company writes all its own material.
Zee