Job Discussion Forums

scot · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 24

i'm looking into applying to win be or als and i could use any insight into actual conditions there, particularly in fukuoka. don't spare me, good and bad truths appreciated!

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

WinBe and ALS are carbon copies of each other. The majority of the students are of elementary and junior high school age with a sprinkling of adults. Both have branch schools and franchise schools. Branch schools, naturally, are pretty uniform and you can expect most things to run smoothly. Franchise schools vary widely, depending on the owner. If you have a good owner, you will have a good experience. If you have a bad owner, good luck. If, and when, you interview with either WinBe or ALS, be sure to have that point clarified. Otherwise, I'd say both schools are middle-of-the-road conversation schools. They will pay you on time, provide you with an apartment and phone line, take care of your visa, etc. One real positive of these schools is that you are only required to be at the school when you have classes, so if you have only 4 classes in a day, you may be on site 4 hours, depending on class length.

scot · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 24

thanks for the news. any ideas how they stack up against ecc?

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

ECC's "claim to fame" is its 7 weeks of paid vacation. ALS offers 5 weeks. There were a couple of things I didn't care for about ECC (which is the reason I chose not to work there). First, your 2 days off from work are not necessarily consecutive. Second, housing was not specifically provided; "housing assistance" was offered. ALS has the apartment already waiting for you when you arrive (this reduces a great deal of stress). Other than those two points, I can't think of anything else.

scot · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 24

thanks again. just out of curiosity do you work at an eikaiwa? these three sound the same as the one i worked in hokkaido (going back in will be painful but i gotta move south). any hidden gems among the crowd that i may not no about? i see youre in kagoshima. i'm looking to move to fukuoka with an eye to getting to a beach area like miyazaki. can you fill me in on the coastal good and bad spots? hows kagoshima? is miyazaki all its cracked up to be? any other sandy spots to consider?

homersimpson · Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 569 Location: Kagoshima

As you can imagine, Kagoshima is pretty laid back. Aside from Kagoshima City (500,000), it is a rural prefecture. I have never been to Miyazaki, but I know it's rural as well. Kagoshima has many islands (accessible by ship and air) and that's where you will find the best beaches in Japan (with the possible exception of the Okinawan Islands). Unfortunately, many beach areas in Japan are littered with trash, both foreign (Korea in particular) and domestic. Regarding work, I did my tour in the eikaiwa industry and have since moved on.

William Beckerson · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 2:30 pm Post subject:

How would you compare it to a Korean Hagwon?

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

C the D in Tokyo have lots of nice toys. I went there for an interview in November. Actual teaching of English as a second language was not very high on the duty list. They did seem to have some sort of ongoing popularity contest - they had prizes for student - voted "best teachers," etc. When I first walked in, I thought I had gone into a Hard Rock Cafe or something by accident.

Now, if you don't mind singing (karaoke room w/all the trimmings), movies, parties, tons of events, and very little in the way of actual teaching - you might like it there. However, I prefer to teach when I go to my teaching job and socialize with who I want - and more importantly not socialize with people I don't want to.

Thier "teaching strategy" struck me as a bunch of "smoke and mirrors" if you will. But, then again, it's hardly the only school about whom I'd say that....

They seemed OK, but I was personally turned off by the popularity contests (I'm getting this teaching thing down - been at it for 4 years - but I'm not the sort that wins popularity contests.)

Their head teacher guy seemed OK, but awfully enthused by everything.

scot · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 24

sorry, but what does C the D in tokyo mean?

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

It disappeared ...

I could have sword that the title of this post included an Eikaiwa known as C the D.

That's the school's name. It's located in Tokyo.

Sorry, scot. As you're the OP, I doubt you'd delete it and then ask me.

Ignore my post then. Sorry for the mix up.