Job Discussion Forums

[Khrystene]

I have a friend who has been offered some work at the school in LODZ.

Now I know people have had problems with this company, however I would appreciate it if you could stick to info on the branch in Lodz.

Cheers!

K

[joshsweigart]

I don't know if there are many other people on here who are in Lodz so I'll weigh in (albeit lightly) on the subject.

Honestly, I didn't even know Profilingua had a branch in Lodz. I've never met anyone who works there or anyone who has gone there. I have no idea where it might be located and know nothing about it and I've been here for years. I don't know if this means anything other than I don't talk to enough people or look around very much...

I hope this is extremely helpful.

[Khrystene]

[Brooks]

I heard that at the university there, they have more people take the CPE in almost anywhere in Europe.
So, I guess teachers at that school had better be able to teach for that exam.

[Khrystene]

[Brooks]

I assume that some of the students are pretty good at English and wish to take the CPE, so maybe that is why the test is given to prospective teachers. Maybe in the past some teachers weren`t so good.

I do know that many people in Lodz take the CPE.

I do think it is good for teachers to take tests so they can understand how it feels for the students to take certain tests.

In Japan I know of Japanese English teachers who have to take English tests like the TOEIC in order to get a job.
For native teachers to take an Cambridge English test, yes, it does seem a bit weird.

[biffinbridge]

Having worked for Profilingua,( but not in Lodz),it doesn't surprise me that they are now making teachers do something gimmicky like the C.P.E....in order to prove that they have a command of the English language.I was a Cambridge examiner and I can tell you it is not an easy test.
However, underlying this is a reflection on the whole ethos of the organization,which is run from H.Q. in Katowice.They are out to punish teachers constantly.Don't be fooled by the schools' boast about observations;they are evaluative and rarely developmental.I taught in Poznan and left after the first semester as I was fed up with being lied to and tax diddled.They threatened to sue as resignation is not allowed according to the rules of their contract.Likewise students were coerced into signing up for the second semester early if they wanted to remain in the same classes.The stick and not the carrot underpinned the school's approach.
Don't work for them;they don't deserve your skills.

[BindairDundat GotdaTshirt]

Profi-Lingua at Lodz, huh? Like all second-raters, this school must reserve its deepest contempt for the truly first-rate: not least of them, the native speaker and teacher. When I got wind of what was afoot in schools alike, I've concluded that they are ripe for exposure in the forums back home. If they hadn't history with casual teachers not being able to teach the right stuff, they would never have had the gall to ask a new prospect to take a test. But Profi-Lingua or whoever invented this academic sub-species could never be too overly concerned with test scores if they got in the way of hiring native speakers. Again, whoever does the hiring worked vainly overtime to fashion this recruiting tinsel. I find this more pathetic than risible. An unintentional purveyor of malapropisms, me, if I was the interviewee and they asked me to take a test, I would have to say: "Thanks, but not thanks. Include me out." I�ve been there, done that. Rumor has it, Profi-Lingua at Lodz doesn�t strike me as the kind of school who looked a gift horse in the mouth.

[joshsweigart]

I'll have to agree with Bindair on this. I've been to a lot of schools in Lodz but have never heard of any giving a test to Native Speakers. Trial lessons--yes, but not the C.P.E. Such fishy tactics probably indicate some sort, incompetent/unknowing directors for example.

[YakTamer]

When I went to an initial interview at Archibald in Warsaw they gave me a similar test. It was a multi-choice cloze approximately ranging in level from FCE to CPE.

I was given about 30 minutes to do it but I rushed through it in around 5.. dunno what I scored but they did invite me back so it couldn't have been too bad. I can't imagine any native speaker taking more than 10 minutes on that or scoring less than about 90% (at least anyone that should be teaching that is).

[Uncle Bob]

[biffinbridge]

It isn't clear whether he was asked to do the 'English in Use' or the whole C.P.E.Sounds like an idea cooked up by a director with no teaching experience as was the case in Poz.There, we were told that even if the teacher trainer thought we were the best teacher they had ever seen ,we would be judged ONLY on return rates for the second semester.When I pointed out that many students left because they had been duped by the initial marketing,because they'd run out of cash or because they were going overseas to work,he simply repeated his initial statement.I left.They refused to sack me,threatened me with legal action and finally said that all would be ok if I found them a replacement teacher.I told him to f*** off.

[redsoxfan]

[YakTamer]

Bindair,

Your stupidly large picture is screwing up the message formatting on this thread, forcing the text over to the right hand side.

We know that you've been to Princeton, so can't you use something smaller and less conspicuous?

[YakTamer]

Making them sit the whole CPE would be ridiculous - especially the speaking and listening sections. Having to do two writing tasks would seem a bit harsh also!

I can't imagine any native speaker going through the whole of the CPE just to satisfy an interview requirement with a school like Profi. Oh, but I was forgetting, it's the top school according to Newsweek isn't it?