Job Discussion Forums

crewmeal · Joined: 11 Apr 2004 Posts: 16 Location: UK

Anyone know about Berlitz in Istanbul? heard some really negative comments a couple of years ago, but since heard that things have improved.

All comments good or bad will be gratefully received

Thanks!!

calsimsek · Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Posts: 775 Location: Ist Turkey

Best of a bad lot, pay is on time all the time, flats are ok and most of your students are company workers, so no students (ie kids) to put up with, class size is quite small no more than 6-7 per class. Overall I'd say its one of the better chop shops in town.

teacherdude · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 260

Berlitz is certainly one of the moe organised schools around.

The Director Solmaz, worked for years in New York and understands the importance of having a proper logistical procedure. He also understands the importance of having a motivating environment for his employees.

One of the biggest liabilities there would have to be the Office Manager. She has worked for Solmaz for years and he tolerates her boorish attitude to the staff.

She can be quite rude and off putting to teachers for no good reason. She has a bad habbit of gossiping with her Turkish colleagues about teachers; unfortunately she thinks because she's speaking in Turkish they don't understand but they do. She will even gossip and complain about a teacher in front of the students and not seem to care.

Some teachers suck up to her or just show a lot of patience. If she's cozy with some teachers, she will give them a more agreeable schedule, eg. easier classes to teach.

There's one guy who was into his second contract while I was there, couldn't teach anything above Level 4, and she would routinely exchange his schedule with other teachers to make it easier for him. As if this wasn't bad enough, this guy would run off during an exam (providing there was no staff on the floor) to smoke. Naturally, the students would cheat, pass. You would then inherit his mess and have to reteach the grammar they didn't know. Yet, he's one of the more long lasting teachers at Berlitz.

Berlitz reshaped their contracts last year, making it very difficult to make any serious money, even with overtime.

However, they've restructured them again and now it's a little more encouraging. I think about 1500 YTL for a hundred hours or something like that. Not great, but better than before.

The classes are small, usually 7 odd in a class. Very rare to have more than 10 students.

The Berlitz method is not stuffed down your throat, which gives you the latitude to teach as you wish.

'Dude.

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

Five pounds an hour

tekirdag · Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 505

teacherdude · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 260

tekirdag · Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 505

nothing, obviously.

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

The only positive things about Berlitz are the teachers and the students. They pay on time but you have to go to them and hope they are there to get your pay. They used to deposit the pay in your bank account on or after the 15th but they stopped that for some strange reason. Yes, they are the best of this type of system, but they have management problems and the very difficult Solmaz wants to control everything and he is stubborn and thinks because he used to work in New York that that qualifies him for something. When he is around the general already dark gloomy atmosphere is even worse. Go to work there, live in one of their flats with 2 or 3 other people, and try not to let any of the normal crap bother you. If you are lucky you will not have to travel all over the place to teach at students' offices of which the travel time is on your own time. One teacher on the Asian side hopped in a taxi after a lesson and was taken out to bumf_u_c_k, robbed, and left there. Luckily she was not hurt. They have management problems.. Good luck

teacherdude · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 260

acutally during my time there, they always paid my transportation fees properly.

They didn't communicate very well when they stopped doing the automatic deposit.

And talking to the Office Manager was like talking to a mental retard as she was her usual difficult self.

TD

nutella · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 10

Here's the skinny on Berlitz, Istanbul: it is simply another company (owned by Ayko - a construction company if I have that straight) that is using a company with a name known for quality, to make a buck or many ytl in this case. Management is awful, Solmaz has outright insulted the US and New York, my place of birth at the teacher meetings, I have experienced him violently scream during a meeting like he's always wanted to be the best stasi which is why he went to the US for his education to begin with, and many of the teachers have difficulty getting their pay. And, as the students say, for example:
One evening the pay was late, Solmaz was the messenger boy and he was so busy prior that he couldn't take the time to check the envelope to verify all the pay was there. I had hurried from where I was to the office for the sake of my manager, who had called me, and thought she would get to go home after she paid the teachers. When I arrived I was told by Solmaz 'oh well, so the pay's not here....I sent so-and-so back to Taksim to get it and you'll be paid in a couple of hours or you can get it tomorrow.' This meant the manager had to stay and the teachers had to stay past when the classes ended to wait to get their pay that was already two days late because payday fell on a Saturday.

There are other things that have happened to do with pay, like Belitz refusing to acknowledge the change on the ytl exchange rate, which was noted to me in order to get me to sign the contract that it would be taken care of, I had nothing to concern about. What is interesting is that in the contract, although it can not be written out in a euro or us dollar and ytl format, it is stated in english and Turkish if you do not give 30 days notice prior to quitting, they will take 500 US dollars (in my case being from the US) as a penalty. That takes care of the exchange rate from their angle and is a lot of ytl. Ayko otherwise will not sign a contract with a teacher.

I had to wait months for a flat that I was supposed to get in less than two weeks after I had signed the contract, and I wound up with a real low-life on top of it. Berlitz has no interest in doing anything about it.

If you wish to teach in Turkey there are better experiences to be had. I wouldn't recommend Berlitz.

teacherdude · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 260

Nutella,

you really had it bad dude.

Perhaps Berlitz has really changed since I left last year.

Solmaz is no prince but he always conducted himself professionally at meeting.

Generally I was paid on time, except for the end when they stopped the automatic deposit.

The usual arrogance or lack of communication at other course schools was not evident during my time there.

When ever the rates changed it was done in a correct manner.

Perhaps the Dude was just super lucky.

I'm surprised thought that with the number of teachers who complaned about the Office Manager at the Taksim branch, that the Dude is the only one to mention this.

So many teachers and Turkish staff have moved on because of her.

'Dude

calsimsek · Joined: 15 Jul 2004 Posts: 775 Location: Ist Turkey

I'm not going to be a yes man for any chop shop. Yet of all the Mc English joints in this city, Berlitz is the least painfull of all of them. I've worked for them (part time) for past three years. Most of it has been ok. Again is no dream, but its not that bad.... Well better than E.T (sorry M)

thrifty · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1665 Location: chip van

(not sorry M)

TeachEnglish · Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 239

Yes... Berlitz is the better of all the bottom of the barrel language centers, but if you want a pleasant experience at Berlitz try to stay away from Solmaz and his trained monkeys. Go in, do what you need to do, and get out. That is one place you need to always cover your A-S-S because if you leave it exposed, you will surely get nailed. Twisted Evil

That Solmaz control freak is so paranoid about everything, trying to control everything down to the smallest detail that it makes teaching there stressful unless you develope a "don't give a f--k" attitude. I will repeat, the only good things about Berlitz are the teachers and the students.

nicoletteines · Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 9 Location: Seattle, WA, USA

I received a tentative job offer for the asıan sıde and wıll sıgn a contract wıth them ın the next couple days ıf ı decıde to go through them. what thıngs do ı need to keep ın mınd as we are goıng over the contract, and what should ı know before workıng on the asıan sıde?

If I decıde to not go wıth berlıtz, what other schools are not consıdered "bottom of the barrel"?