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ironic100
Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 4
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:36 am Post subject: Bad experiences with International House Mexico |
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I am currently a language teacher at IH Mexico City. I started here in July and I have had extremely bad experiences so far. To name some include:
1) Bad co-ordination by the school which resulted in wasted journeys
2) Way too long trips across the city to get to classes (the time written in the contract is wrong)
3) Non paid sick days (also against the contract)
4) Alterations of exam marks by the school in order for the students to pass (i.e. so the school get paid by the clients' companies)
And alot more. I want to find people who have had similar experiences working at any IH in Mexico, I'd like the teachers to have a say in matters.
Thanks,
Amit |
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Guy Courchesne

Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:57 am Post subject: |
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Sorry that you're not having a good experience here in Mexico City. I always thought IH ran a good ship.
It's quite common in DF to have to make long trips out to classes (I assume they send you to company classes - and in Santa Fe, I'll wager). It's nice to have short trips to classes, but some language schools chase the bigger contracts out in the business burbs and out to the State of Mexico.
How long have you been working there? |
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ironic100
Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 4
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:57 pm Post subject: RE: Bad Experiences with IH |
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Well you guessed right that I have classes at Santa Fe. Actually everyday and twice a week I have classes there twice a day! I don't think IH appreciate the amount of travelling we do in terms of transport and location. They all have cars so it's easier for them.
I've been working for IH since July and I did my CELTA in Playa Del Carmen in June (I wanna go back!) |
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lozwich
Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry for the slow reply, I thought this post was over in the Mexico forum and couldn't find it again!
I've not worked for IH in Mexico, but the IH school I used to work for would change the scores on our reports so that they were similar to the exam result. For example, if you got 70% on the exam, you got a 7 or 8 for grammar, but the speaking result was supposed to be connected to that. I had several students who got 60% on the exams, but their speaking was way below that. My DOS insisted on changing their grade so that all the grades looked similar. At no point was I supposed to tell my students that they were weaker in some areas than others.
I know that the DOS position at IH Mexico City has recently changed. Could this have something to do with the bad co-ordination and so forth?
In the end, although I had a lovely life outside work where I was living and working for IH, I decided to vote with my feet and left. I miss my pals and the lovely town where I lived, but I'm much happier in my working life.
Hope this helps (somehow),
Lozwich. |
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Guy Courchesne

Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:57 pm Post subject: Re: RE: Bad Experiences with IH |
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ironic100 wrote: |
Well you guessed right that I have classes at Santa Fe. Actually everyday and twice a week I have classes there twice a day! I don't think IH appreciate the amount of travelling we do in terms of transport and location. They all have cars so it's easier for them.
I've been working for IH since July and I did my CELTA in Playa Del Carmen in June (I wanna go back!) |
I wouldn't be surprised if you see some of the larger chain schools moving shop out to Santa Fe. Would make the commute so much easier if you could work and live out there, though I don't think there's much by way of affordable housing. Santa Fe is a city-planning nightmare so I've read.
Why not have a chat with the DOS and let him/her know your concerns? It's certainly not unreasonable to do so. Draw the line if you have to. |
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