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| Should I take the summer job with American Language Village? |
| Yes take the job! |
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| No don't take the job! Stay in Japan! |
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| Total Votes : 11 |
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Lover
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 86
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 Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 4:26 am Post subject: American Language Village? |
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Does anyone know about American Language Village? I am having a bad time in Japan and so I am thinking of taking a summer job with them to see if I like Taiwan.
I can speak Japan but I can't speak Taiwanese. And even though, I studied here in Japan for a semister a company has taken advantage of me. Japan's Labour Board is worthless so I want to leave this country.
I hear good things about Taiwan and so want to see what working and living there is like before committing myself for a year or longer! |
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Big John Stud
Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 513
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 4:53 am Post subject: |
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Lover you should have another option and that is to go back to your home country  
Seriously, if you take the job you will be working illegally and will probably get arrested beaten and deported!
To get a working visa in this country you must agree to work for a year or more. Good luck to whatever you decide! |
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DirtGuy
Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Posts: 529
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 4:56 am Post subject: |
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Lover,
Can't give you a direct answer but I can tell you about my experience to-date with ALV.
I, too, want to "test the water" to see what teaching in Taiwan is like so I applied to ALV. They have given me a contract for one time period, changed the dates a few weeks later, and just sent me a new contract with another set of dates. I changed my ticket once at a cost of $100 and can no longer change it. At this time, I really have no clue as to whether I have a job or not. Maybe they have gone and offered you my time period. Who knows?
Many posters on this forum continually stress you really cannot trust school owners in Taiwan. Things like contracts and labor laws are a joke. That certainly applies so far in my dealings with ALV. Try these people if you like but, IMHO, you're better off in Japan.
DirtGuy |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| DirtGuy wrote: |
| I, too, want to "test the water" to see what teaching in Taiwan is like so I applied to ALV. |
| DirtGuy wrote: |
| Many posters on this forum continually stress you really cannot trust school owners in Taiwan. Things like contracts and labor laws are a joke. That certainly applies so far in my dealings with ALV. |
So let me get this straight. You chose to ignore the repeated warnings on this site that any work you undertake for ALV will be illegal, as the company will be employing you illegally. The company stuffs you around, which isn't really very surprising when you consider that they are willing to employ foreigners illegally. You then turn around and make a broad generalization suggesting that school owners in Taiwan can't be trusted.
Well, if you choose to dance with the devil then chances are that you will get burned.
I am only aware of one person on this forum who suggests that school owners per se can't be trusted. Most users of the forum are more reasonable and realize that some schools are good some aren't. What did you really expect in choosing to work illegally anyway?
To the OP, you are probably better off going for all or nothing. If you are committed to coming to Taiwan then find a legal position on a year long contract as you are far less likely to encounter the problems that illegal work brings. If you don't think that you can stomach a year here, then you may be better off just giving Taiwan a miss. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:34 am Post subject: |
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| Well I am not sure what the OP expects to learn by working for ALV for a few weeks. I have not yet taught at a cram school in Taiwan or in a kindergarten but I doubt that teach at a summer camp will really give you a feel for teaching a regular ESL class. Secondly if you hope to get a feel for what Taiwan is like I am not sure that you will have much time to do that if you are teaching 8 hours a day at a summer camp. So I would agree with Clark that if you are going to come just go for it all. |
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Big John Stud
Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 513
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:49 am Post subject: |
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I can understand the OP's motivation for wanting to get a taste of Taiwan before committing her/hisself. When I went to Korea, I was so surprised how different the Koreans were from the Japanese!
Most Japanese are kind, honorable people, while most Koreans were the opposite. Koreans like to protray themselves as the victim so they feel justified to hate and do they hate. They hate everyone even themselves.
I never want that to happen again going to culture of hate. Many times, If I would of gone to Korea has a vacation first I probably would of never taken a job there, because many times when I told a Korean, I used to work in Japan they would say with passion, "I hate the Japanese!"
I agree with the other threads specially about dancing with the devil. Maybe the OP should consider coming here as a vacation to see what Taiwan is like. |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:07 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Japan's Labour Board is worthless so I want to leave this country.
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If you think the labor board in Japan is worthless you are in for a big surprise on Taiwan.
The Council of Labor Affairs of the Republic of China falls far below most third world countries standards in terms of protecting workers civil and human rights. Foreign workers are treated even worse than the locals. Most non Chinese working on Taiwan are forced to work as slaves or indentured servants and treated no better than animals by their local Taiwanese/ Chinese overlords.
Welcome to Taiwan!
A. |
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DirtGuy
Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Posts: 529
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| Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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Clark,
Good perspective and one I cannot argue with. Not terribly bummed about how things have turned out as I looked at this venture as sort of a vacation and a way to pad my resume: Absolutely zero experience teaching kids.
No problem. I'll just change my ticket to somewhere else in the world and enjoy nicer weather for a couple of weeks.
DirtGuy |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
| The Council of Labor Affairs of the Republic of China falls far below most third world countries standards in terms of protecting workers civil and human rights. |
There is no evidence for this.
In fact the evidence at hand suggests completely the opposite. Let's take the Scott Ezell deportation which is a case that Aristotle often holds up as being evidence of wrong doing by the government. In that case the CLA supported Scott by giving him an extension and permitting him to remain in country to fight his deportation which was instigated by the FAP for breach of ARC. This is just one case that comes to mind.
Maybe Aristotle can provide some evidence of his claims about the CLA.
| Aristotle wrote: |
| Most non Chinese working on Taiwan are forced to work as slaves or indentured servants and treated no better than animals by their local Taiwanese/ Chinese overlords. |
Aristotle this is an offensive comment and I ask you to self-moderate by editing this out of your post.
How can you even suggest that foreign teachers even compare to slaves. I find it disgusting that you trivialize slavery in this way.
Are there foreign slaves in Taiwan - quite possibly if we look at south east asian migrants.
Are there any foreign teachers in Taiwan working in conditions akin to slavery -most definitely not.
I realize that Aristotle did not specify foreign teachers in his post, but this is the group that he purports to represent, and this is the group that this board relates to, so it is logical to suggest that this is the group that he was referring to. |
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Lover
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 86
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 1:39 am Post subject: |
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Why was Scott Ezell deported?
Thanks everyone for you input!
Aristotle if Taiwan is so bad, why are you still there? Please don't take any offense, I am curious. Your post gave me second thoughts of even going to Taiwan as a vacation. |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 3:45 am Post subject: |
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| Lover wrote: |
| Why was Scott Ezell deported? |
There is an article regarding his deportation here. Basically, he was deported for breach of his work permit/visa/ARC.
| Lover wrote: |
| Aristotle if Taiwan is so bad, why are you still there? |
A question many have asked in the past and one that has never been answered.
As the accuracy of Aristotle�s posts dwindle, I am becoming more and more convinced that Aristotle is not actually living in Taiwan any longer, and that his bitterness dates back to incidents (possibly a deportation for working illegally) some years ago (possibly four or five).
| Lover wrote: |
| Your post gave me second thoughts of even going to Taiwan as a vacation. |
Please don�t place too much emphasis on the posts that Aristotle makes. He is entitled to his opinions of course, but the most important factor to consider about the opinions that Aristotle expresses is that none of them are ever supported, nor are they even likely supportable. He is well known as being a extreme poster, and as time goes on his posts get even further and further from the truth. I think that his advice once had some relevance to some, but recently the usefulness of the information and opinion contained in his posts has dwindled. |
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Lover
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 86
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| Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 7:09 am Post subject: |
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Thank you clark.w.griswald for such an informative post! However, Japan is a lot more progresive than Taiwan.
So why was Aristotle deported? Was he working two jobs or just working without a visa? |
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esl
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:08 pm Post subject: more info on American Language Village |
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I have a contract with ALV for one month this summer. Does anyone know if it's illegal to teach in Taiwan unless I have a one year contract?
Any other experiences with ALV? |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 5:23 am Post subject: Re: more info on American Language Village |
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| esl wrote: |
| I have a contract with ALV for one month this summer. Does anyone know if it's illegal to teach in Taiwan unless I have a one year contract? |
I don't mean to be rude, but have you tried using the search function or read throgh other posts on this site. The question that you have asked has been asked and answered at least half a dozen times on this board already. In answer to your question, yes it would be illegal (most likely- and you will need to read the previous posts as it the reasons are quite detailed!)
| esl wrote: |
| Any other experiences with ALV? |
Again, these can be found in the other posts - just search for 'ALV using the search function and you will find the answers to your questions! |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:41 am Post subject: |
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Big John Stud wrote,
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Lover you should have another option and that is to go back to your home country
Seriously, if you take the job you will be working illegally and will probably get arrested beaten and deported!
To get a working visa in this country you must agree to work for a year or more. Good luck to whatever you decide! |
esl wrote,
| Quote: |
I have a contract with ALV for one month this summer. Does anyone know if it's illegal to teach in Taiwan unless I have a one year contract?
Any other experiences with ALV? |
Clark, this is sad. I don't mean to be insulting but I think that in this post it is mentioned several times that it is most likely illegal for a person to teach at ALV yet esl asked the question again. How can someone like this actually be a teacher? |
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