Job Discussion Forums

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

howmucharefags · Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 299 Location: Eskisehir

Don't worry dmb. The potato pickers victory will be short lived....The thread was locked due to the use of a word which refers to supporters of Glasgow Celtic....whoops...

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I can't believe Owen is going to Newcastle. I also can't believe Hearts are 5 points clear and Rangers are languishing in 5th place Shocked

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Rangers will surprise this season. I reckon Milan will win the group but we will be second. Prso will be European player of the year. Honestly I am awake.

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

esl_teacher1973 · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 51

Hmm I would have to go wıth E.T. on thıs one. I thınk they are very professıonal and theır locatıons are great, ın Istanbul ofcourse. Remember locatıon ıs ımportant. They seem to know what they are doıng and have thıngs organızed systematıcally perfect. I wouldn't stress ıt really ıt's a no braıner. If you want to make money ıt's just one of those places that's more lıke what you put ın ıs what you get out. I also heard they pay on tıme sooo that's pretty faır. Defınatley doesn't seem lıke a cowboy establıshment from what İ've heard.

Only31 wıll gıve false ınformatıon and he has quıte a few nıcknames on here not just one, so don't be fooled. Good luck, and hope you make the rıght decısıons.

saloma · Joined: 07 Jul 2005 Posts: 211

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

hmmm.. I have friends that work at Berlitz and there are a couple good things I can say about that place.. 1- They pay on time, and 2 - The only good things about the place are the teachers. Now.. the good is out of the way.. The place is run by a crazy old man that is like a demon at times because he wants to control everything, thinks he knows everything, and is generally an all around, top to bottom, nut case. The place has so much turnover that you never know what to expect, who will be in the office, or anything. The HR person is the big demon's right hand man. I do not know much about ET other than all the negative things i read and hear about them, but this information is unconfirmed, so I take it with a pile of salt. I am told that Berlitz is the lesser of all the evils in Istanbul as far as this type of language center. Teachers especially TEFL teachers need a watch dog organization to warn them about these places, give them good reliable information, good and bad, so they can make good decisions about these "difficult" places.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

Name one piece of false information I have given about ET.

NMB · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Posts: 84 Location: France

To the original poster:

It really depends on your priorities. If I were to begin again in the Istanbul language school circuit, I�d look into the smaller schools that send teachers out to teach in companies. I have a friend doing exactly that, so I know this set-up exists in Istanbul. Failing that, I�d look into Wall Street. The pay is not the greatest, but it�s a salary, as opposed to hourly wage. The timetables are also set up in blocks of 5-6 hours (at least when I interviewed with them a couple of years ago).

I fulfilled two contracts at ET, was treated well there, and had few complaints. However, my biggest problem � and, this is NOT unique to ET � was the split shifts. I found this type of scheduling inconvenient and utterly exhausting. I just couldn�t get into the rhythm of it. If I went home in the afternoon, my last desire at 7pm was to go back and teach. If I stayed out all day, I was too bloody tired by 7pm to go back and teach!

By teaching a lot of hours, I made decent money at ET. If you�re in a busy branch like Taksim, the down time during snow days and holidays can be easily compensated for. Summer is only a problem in small branches; it was never a problem at Taksim. If money is your priority, ET may be one of the better choices.

However, keep in mind the quality of life when working so much. Personally, I�d rather work my 6-hour shift, collect my salary, and have more energy during my off-time! With a less erratic schedule, you could supplement your income more easily with privates, anyway. From what I understand, Berlitz is a also a salaried-position � Maybe someone who�s worked there can comment.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

We are not allowed to do privates at ET.

I suppose the fact that we work illegally for them forbids us from doing privates because our non-existent work permits would only allow us to work for ET.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

I don't think any language schools allow teachers to give private lessons to their students-- why would they? As far as other privates go, most teachers are too busy teaching to give privates. As usual 31 is off base.

FGT · Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 762 Location: Turkey

I agree with Molly. The language school where I work does not permit its teachers to take on private students.

During 12 years' teaching in language schools in Izmir, I have never felt the desire or need to teach privately.

Personally I do not much enjoy one on one teaching. I get job satisfaction and enough money from the job I'm contracted to do. My free time is my own and very precious.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

I agree with FGT re teaching privates. I don't enjoy the one to ones usually,as the group dynamic is not there. Working with a group gives so much more energy and variety to the teaching.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

^ I used to agree. I didn't do 1-1s for about a decade until last year. Since then I have only done 1-1, 1-2 or 1-3. There is a different type of satisfaction. You can tailor make courses to fit with the student's needs much more easier and you notice that progress is so much more quicker.

Although I do admit I miss the group dynamics side of things.