Job Discussion Forums

[pauleslteacher1]

Recently I saw some banners (spanduk) for a new EF opening in my area this month. They said join EF with "A Brand New Look And Feel"... They are offering 200,000 Rupiahs off, free registration and a free trial class... Wow! But the banners failed to give the address of the "new EF"... A printing error or perhaps some new promotional strategy...?? Hmmm.. Have to go with the printing error excuse...

Having worked for EF about 5 years ago... (Medan/Pekanbaru), I was quite interested to find out more. So I took a look around and found the new EF (Ruko) near 2 lively karoke bars with a bunch more around the corner... Then as you look into the main "lobby"... a few chairs and a sofa, kind of crowded in... At the entrance at least 12 A/C fans just above the EF sign.. Nice...

"A Brand New Look and Feel"... hmmmm.... Should be interesting to see what happens....

[laughing_magpie06]

They can market it and repackage it all they like but at the end of the day it is still EF. You can't dress mutton up like lamb.

[guruengerish]

I would consider a 'new look' for EF to have classrooms actually large enough to allow classroom activities.

Having been converted to 'learning through doing', I found that pair, group and fun activities contributed much to the English class; Sadly, my EF classrooms left little room for late-comers to squeeze past other students to a vacant chair.

However, crowded classrooms appear to be the norm in Indonesia, and so the students sit for one hour and ten minutes. Hopefully the 'new look EF' includes bigger and better chairs.

[ezekiel]

"Brand new look and feel", eh?
I reckon they should have used the words 'not bad' or 'a bit better than it was before'...since when has "brand new" meant "better"?
..perhaps they should start promoting their "brand new teachers"..that should really attract the discerning customer!!
In Medan they'll be lucky to get some 'not bad' teachers and will probably never get any 'a bit better than they were before'!

You can't dress mutton up like lamb. I always thought that idiom was for a woman who liked to dress like a girl..does that mean that EF is an old tart trying to look like a pretty schoolgirl?
In the U.K. we have a different, somewhat cruder expression which could be applied to EF franchises (in Indonesia)..
"You can't polish a t**d."

salam

[guruengerish]

"You can't polish a t**d."

Sorry lad, but I can't resist this:

Where there's muck, there's brass.

[treacle]

how many of you guys that post on dave's actually work for EF?? I'd hazard a guess at 70%...? Based on the amount of knowledge folk seem to have..

[beefer]

[pauleslteacher1]

Beefer... Blasting EF??? Actually when did I do that? Perhaps a bit of sarcasm...."guilty as charged"

And yes you are right, it could be a well run school with professional teachers.. But putting it near a bunch of karoke bars, to me, is starting off on the wrong foot..

[ezekiel]

beefer yes it could be a good franchise and maybe they will do so well that they will give EF back their previous good reputation.
Personally, I will say what I like about my own experience with EF..bitter? Yes! Cynical? Damn right! The former EF franchisee in Medan suddenly went bankrupt in 2005, leaving me (and others) without a job just before my daughter was born, forcing me to sell my car and other possessions and adding stress and anguish to what should have been a happy time for myself and my wife. EF as an organisation has a lot of work to do to prove itself to me again, so, however true it may be for other teachers, don't try to tell me that EF 'made me what I am today.'

salam