Job Discussion Forums

[corall]

uhh...sounds pretty normal in most respects - pointless meetings and admin, crap accomodations (hey at least their free!) and you can always move. contracts??? what are they??? it's not like your working in a kolej or uni or something (-even then what good are they?) it's ET - at least they pay on time and are you legal here? if not then why would you think that your contract meant anything anyways.

language schools are good for somethings and bad for all those things you mentioned there. and as for working a lot - you don't have my sympathy on that one either - i work all the time! don't like the job - get a new one. pretty simple really.

you could get stabbed anywhere, anytime. everywhere is dangerous some places more then others - i am not going to lose sleep or stop going out because of the dangers of living. oh and by the way there are 16 million people here- it ain't all roses and happiness all the time with everyone.

ps - gotta throw something in there off topic - hey steve could meet you for a drink or two if i am in town send a message or just answer here ET threads are good for organizing drink gatherings

[Estelle]

Just to respond to a couple of your points.
My comments were directed at ESL teachers who were coming to Turkey from abroad. Especially the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. İf you are paying your own fare on the basis of a contract that you think is legitmate and hoping to recoup the fare from your salary then you should think twice with Englısh First İstanbul.
Secondly, the flats are rented out and teachers have to pay for them at market rates or above.

[yaramaz]

First of all, of course I'd love to join you for drinkies, Corall. We missed out last weekend. For shame! Friday? I have recovered sufficiently from the paratrooper-fortnight and can now handle socialising again.

Secondly, re: airfare-- really, if you are coming from overseas to a language school, why on earth would you expect to get your ticket paid for? It isnt standard for non kolej or university positions. You typically get reimbursed for some or all of it upon completion of contract. If you are fired or if you leave then, er, you dont get the money. Its standard and its in the contract. In a kolej you will probably get reimbursed fairly quickly-- I did, with the cash in my bank account only days after I arrived. Very nice. And they bought my return ticket for me when I left. Door to door service.

And as for the flats, yes you pay for them at EF (about 350ytl). At some schools you have free flats (eg my old kolej) or subsidised ones or none at all. You didnt have to stay in that beep-infested place. A lot of us got our own flats. Its not a crazy suggestion- how many other jobs give you a free apartment?

And really, the work here is EASY. Compared to the slog I dealt with for the past two years, with the kids' behavior problems, endless meetings, bureaucracy, disagreements about teaching methods with the Turkish teachers (grammar grammar grammar!), mandatory in-school hours (last year on wednesdays I only taught from 12:00 till 12:45 but had to sit in the dept from 8-4, hence my proliferation of posts here), etc, etc, this job is a breeze. I am so much more relaxed and happy to be teaching.

Can I just say that I taught for two years at the evil school where ghost's poor Springbok friend endured such barbarous treatment, and am now at the school where Estelle (or her alter ego) lasted perhaps two months and yet I have never been mistreated by either place. I asked other long-term teachers here and they didnt feel used or mistreated. It isnt perfect but goodness, what school is?

Why was your contract terminated?

[whynotme]

[Bogazicibaby]

Gee Faustino,

I am offended by your use of very disgusting Turkish. If it had been in English, it most certainly would have not gotten past censorship. In Turkey, it isn't even considered acceptable to say this to your friend in jest.

Random pressing of buttons my big toe!

shame on you, cok ayip, and may your face be red!

[Estelle]

Well looks like you have been coopted as a corporate spokesman, my dear.
Basically the reason the school should pay for airfares is that you are doing them a favour by working for them. They are recruiting the teachers and not the other way round. Teachers are the basis of their profitability. They have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that if they bring teachers here from other countries that they should be ensuring that the teacher is not out of pocket for basic costs such as air fare, accomodation or medical insurance, especially if the school terminates the employment.
Secondly you preumptuous moron, who said that İ worked for that school. İ have been collecting horror stories for a while about them. Your glıb approach merely assists them in evading their ethical responsibillty by suggesting that teachers should bear the brunt of costs that are normal costs of doing business. And Englısh First is certainly a business and not an NGO. No credible NGO would attempt to make their employees pay for their own accomodation nor would any major international business. The only entities who seem to excel at justifying this lapse of moral responsıbılıty are private sector ESL schools and schools lıke Englısh First not only have a less than exemplary reputation with teachers but also with the students that they cheat with inadequately designed curricula.
But lıke İ said before, İ am only trying to present the argument that if you are a teacher considering English First in İstanbul, there is no harm in getting them to pay for your return airfare before you leave your country. Prudence, my dear, is priceless insurance indeed.

[Faustino]

Oooops! It does look like my totally random keypressing antics could have created something that might possibly be construed as a wee bit naughty if one were to try and decipher said random keypressing as being a Turkish idiomatic expression relating to the building of goalposts in an unfortunate location and the playing of matches day and night therein. I'll be more careful in future.

Yes, that's four embarassed faces.

[dmb]