Job Discussion Forums

[hlamb]

That seems like an awful lot to me. How much prep do you have to do? My guess is that you'll tire out pretty quickly, working that many hours. I don't like to have more than 25 hours with students. More than that and I find I can't give full attention to their homeowrk, lesson planning, etc.

[guatetaliana]

That schedule sounds practically identical to QuickLearning, which pays something between $15,000 to 20,000 pesos a month. If you're up for that kind of rigor, you might want to go where the money is...

[Phoncible]

I did not have a good experience at GoEnglish.

The management consistently lied or misled the other teachers and I. There was little respect. Money was paid late or not in entirety, and I still know teachers who left weeks ago or more who have not been appropriately paid what is owed them.

No teacher has made it 12 months with the company, and very few have even made it 6. I know of no teacher who worked there who has received his or her $400 retention, whether they fulfilled their contract or not.

Hermosillo and GoEnglish are not the places to go to improve your Spanish skills, and the management in no way helps the teachers immerse themselves in the culture.

There are positives about the company, and I lasted a few months, but I cannot recommend working there to anyone.

[lizette627]

I worked for Educaz/Go English for about 5 months in Hermosillo, Mexico. DO NOT work for this company. Please. It's in the North of Mexico, so many people speak English. It's very americanized, much like a suburb.

The company promises a Visa on the website. Before leaving, they said that they would take care of it once I got there. However, they didn't until we found out that a girl at the Monterrey location was brought in for questioning. Two of the male teachers in Monterrey were asked not to be at the school or at their homes, in case immigration came for them. Apparently, Hermosillo has "really good relations" with immigration there, according to the director, and plus, since it's "an American-based company", visas "aren't really necessary". I don't care what kind of relations you have with immigration, if you promise Visas on the website, you should provide them to your employees. No excuses. We didn't get our visas until we all agreed not to work one morning. Striking is what it took for us to become legal employees.

We were not allowed to get our own materials; the receptionist was supposed to put our folders and manuals in our mailboxes for us before each class. However, as they were both very busy, often times the folders/manuals would not be ready. There was one printer, and we had to ask to use it, or ask the receptionist to print something out for us, which is very inefficient. The teacher's lounge had a plastic picnic table from our director's backyard.

When I arrived, one of the receptionists dropped me off at the empty house, since the teachers were on vacation and the management didn't know when they were coming back. She briefly showed me the house, then left. It was about 9 at night, and I was in a house, alone. Granted, I had been to mexico before, but that's just unsafe, not to mention unwelcoming and unprofessional. I could've come on Sunday when the teachers were back in town, but I had to unnecessarily come on a Friday, for some reason.

We were informed a few times at the last minute when new teachers were arriving. I had just gotten back from spring break on a Sunday, and Monday morning, the director told me that the new teacher that I would be sharing a room with would be arriving in a few hours. I had to finish teaching and go home and do laundry and clean and prepare the room. I'm not the neatest person, I'll admit that, but the director and the owner of the company walked in the house with the new teacher, and they peered into my room and were making wisecracks about the state of my room. I was not only embarrassed, but irked at the fact that he didn't give me a lot of notice to prepare the room to begin with. Yes, it's great that the houses are so close to the school; however, there's a fine line of privacy between boss and employee, and he crossed that line many a time. My privacy felt violated more than once when the director would show up unannounced. He had my cell phone number, so there was no excuse for that.

I could go on and on, but I won't. If you think about working for this company, don't. I was happy for a month or two.

[Samantha]

No comment on the rest of your post, but I will respond to your comments about Hermosillo, since it is unfair to slam the city based on your experience with the one language school. Hermosillo, Sonora is nothing like a suburb of the USA. There are some good universities there and ample opportunity to make money. It is one city in Mexico where the people at gas stations or restaurants seem to know the answer when you ask directions, and the drivers are much more polite than anywhere I have been in Mexico. Buses don't seem bent on running over pedestrians like they do in Guadalajara, for example.

[lizette627]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to badmouth Hermosillo. I wasn't saying that it was a bad thing. It's true, though: there is Costco, Burger King, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Peter Piper's Pizza, etc. I'm sure those businesses are in other areas of Mexico, too (maybe Monterrey? I'm not sure). It is like a suburb in the sense that it is a quiet, pretty safe town where there are lots of families and children. I'm from the suburbs myself, so that's why it reminded me of them. I've done a bit of traveling in Mexico: I studied 2 months in Guanajuato, spent a week in D.F., a day in Tijuana, a weekend in Leon, a week in Puerto Vallarta.....So, Hermosillo was nothing like the rest of Mexico, which for me was a disappointment, I'll admit. I became frustrated when people would speak English to me at least once or twice a week. Even if I wasn't speaking to anyone, people would come up to me and speak English. I understand that they were trying to help, but it wasn't helping me learn Spanish by any means!
Since it's so close to the border, I felt a lot of influence from the states, which I didn't feel when I was in the South, for example. People said "bye" instead of "adios", and it was easier to buy American music and movies than it was to find Mexican movies and artists.

Yes, I earned a decent amount of money working for the school, but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter; it's the intrinsic benefits that make you happy.

I don't know how long you were in Hermosillo, but a couple months, it's not bad, but longer than that tends to wear on you. I guess because I've lived in France, too. I'm used to a lot of excitement and culture, and Hermsillo just didn't have it for me.

I'm sorry about my previous post. I should've been more clear. Phoncible (who also posted) and I just had bad experiences and we wanted to let people know that Hermosillo is very different from the rest of Mexico in the sense that it's very influenced by the states and it's not the place to go if you wish to improve your Spanish.

[J Sevigny]

The truth is, there are Burger Kings, McDonalds, Wal-Marts and the rest in many, many, Mexican cities these days. Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City have all three. Saltillo, Coahuila has all three as well as a Costco.

The presence of those chains, however, does not necessarily mean that an entire culture has been "americanized." In Monterrey, frequently labelled the most americanized Mexican city, there are far fewer US citizens than in Guadalajara.

Take a walk away into one of the colonias here and it's all taco stands and street markets.

[lizette627]

You have a very good point. However, I think the bottom line here is that you can be happy anywhere. I've lived in many a place (in many a country), and I realize that it takes an open mind and a good attitude to be happy. So, I can complain about Hermosillo, but there are plenty of people that probably love it. This is just my opinion. Since I couldn't find a lot of info on the city before I went, I just went with it. I wish I had known beforehand, though, how difficult it was going to be to improve my Spanish.

I think that if the company had been better, I could have learned to like the city. I just became frustrated at the influence of the states that I did NOT find in Guanajuato. Guanajuato, I'm sure, has its fair share, but definitely not compared to Hermosillo. But hey, that's what I get for moving to a Northern city, right?

mexico city is chock full of culture, beautiful architecture, museums, plazas, excellent nightlife, and a myriad of food choices. If you throw in a few starbucks and mcdonald's, it's not a huge deal because it's D.F. There's Starbucks in Paris, too, but it's still Paris. One or two American chains don't take away from the magic of both those cities. However, in Hermosillo, when there's just one main cathedral and maybe 2 museums? and really not a whole lot else to do, the American chains tend to stick out.

There's a lot of great things to say about Hermosillo. I mentioned it was safe. The food was great (although there wasn't much variety, but I guess I'm spoiled because I like a place where I can eat Ethiopian, Indian, or Korean whenever I want), it was sunny every day, the people were friendly like Samantha said.

For me, American citizens does not make a culture americanized. I didn't see very many Americans in Hermosillo. The presence of English in the language, the chains, and my students constantly traveling to Tucson and Phoenix was what had the most impact on shaping my opinions.
Every big city I've been to has American tourists (who often try to talk to me), but ...it's a big city, with lots of things to do, so it doesn't matter as much. I've never had Italians, Spaniards, or French people approaching me in a supermarket or a restaurant and speaking pretty good English without even asking me what language I spoke. In Hermosillo, I would speak to someone in Spanish, and they would respond in English. Or, I would be in costco, accidentally bump into someone, and before I could say anything, they would say, "Go ahead!" THAT is what I'm referring to.

[Samantha]

Guanajuato, GTO does not have the English teaching opportunities of the cities where folks need English for their work. GTO is quite different from ALL other places in Mexico. Nice place to visit but I wouldn't live there.

Hermosillo is a major business center, being the capital of the State of Sonora. It is not a border city like Tijuana, Mexicali, Nogales, by any stretch. It's not for everyone in the heat of summer, but that is throughout Sonora and some other northern States. Whenever I have been to Hermosillo, no one tried to talk English to me. Maybe because I was with my Mexican husband. Throughout Mexico people will try to speak English to practise. It happens in my city in southern Sinaloa, where learning English is far from a priority, and we are a 2 day drive to the border. Here too, they say "bye" when they hang up the phone which DID sound weird to me at first. "Adios" along with a wave, is more of a greeting in the street when you don't have time to stop and talk, at least here.

I hope someday you get to go back with a different perspective after working in some other places in Mexico. You may view it completely differently, including the school where you worked. Hermosillo stands out to me because of the politeness and friendliness of the people. Every place has it's pros and cons. For one example, think about what it would be like to be teaching English in our Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan, these days. Pretty scary thought but there are foreign teachers there who must wonder what on earth possessed them! Besides money. And a nice beach 2 1/2 hrs south. Our relatives in Culiacan have to come visit us because we won't be going there anytime soon.

[MO39]

Samantha, I don't see why you feel the need to criticize lizette's reaction to the time she spent in Hermosillo. It seems to me that she made an effort to present both the good and the bad sides of the city, but that in the end, she concluded that she didn't enjoy living there that much. She has a right to complain, doesn't she? After all, isn't that one of the functions of Dave's - to express your feelings and opinions about your experiences in Mexico?

[Samantha]

My post wasn't meant as a criticism of anything, and I don't think she took it that way. It was to point out the facts that Hermosillo isn't a town nor is it a border city and there are some good people and jobs there. It seems to me that her comments could apply to teaching in much of Mexico in general, including the job itself. I could have commented further, but her job experiences were her job experiences. She specifically advised against Hermosillo initially, which I thought a little unfair given the multitudes of job opportunities there. So I chose to post my feelings on that to balance the issue, based on my experiences, which is also what this board is about. Balance.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Everyone is entitled to express his or her opinion as long as it is done in accordance with board rules and policies. I see nothing here that is inappropriate and there is no reason for anyone to drift further into a discussion unrelated to the topic of the thread.

[Prof.Gringo]

Remember, different strokes for different folks. I like living in Mexico City. Others hate it and live in the countryside of Oaxaca or in a coastal resort town or in a smaller city like San Luis Potosi. Whatever floats your boat.

Just because someone else does or doesn't like a place or job doesn't mean that for everybody else.

My advice: Come to Mexico with enough cash to get by for a month or two. Come as a tourist. Take it easy and visit several different places. When you find a place you like, apply for some jobs and take it from there.

Also, about Hermosillo looking like or feeling like the US, I've never been there, but I did live in Tijuana. You would expect the border area to be as Americanized as possible. The truth is that TJ is very Mexican, in it's own way. In no way did I ever feel like I was in the US. Nor did I feel like I was in Mexico City for example. TJ is it's own thing. Neither good nor bad, just different.

BTW, for all of the people who have worked at Go English, do you think it is worth it to try them out? Also, have you stayed in Mexico or did you return home?

[hermosillo1]

Go English and Hermosillo are not nearly as bad as everyone has said. I personally worked there for five months and had a great time; in fact I didn�t want to leave. What has been said is partially true, the company is new and there is still a lot of work to be done but I saw a lot of improvement! Am I saying the company is perfect? Absolutely not but again that is my personal opinion.

I started at Go English in January and must admit that my first impression was not great but things got better. I signed a contract and fulfilled my contract which meant I did get my $400 deposit. I was always completely honest and forward with my boss and the owners of the company, expressing how I felt and when I would be leaving. They worked with me and because I was forthcoming, they also asked me for my opinion on a number of different subjects.

A number of teachers did leave do to a number of different reasons while I was there. Most did not come close to completing their contracts and those who did gave about a 2 week notice before they left. To me, 2 weeks notice is considerate in the United States, but for a company that hires employees and has to relocate them, train them, etc. two weeks is not sufficient. Plus, the teachers who were left had to cover classes and work more hours to make up for their coworkers� leaving.

The biggest complaint that I heard while I was there was about the uniform. To me the uniform was not a big deal, I was told from the beginning that I would have to wear a white blouse and black pants. This to me was fair and part of getting the job. After 2 months there, we were told we could also wear skirts, which was nice considering the heat in Hermosillo. There was some miscommunication at the beginning of my time there regarding who would provide black pants but to my understanding that has also been taken care of.

The other complaint was the curriculum which was rough at first (and still is) but the company has hired a curriculum developer to help with this. It may be slow progress but the main thing is the students are learning and enjoy classes.

Because the school provides housing, which could have been a lot worse, our work life and personal life was always intertwined. However after voicing our opinions on a number of different subjects, things definitely improved for the better and I can only see things improving as time goes on. The girls and the boys lived across the street from one another which could be a good thing and a bad thing depending on the group of teachers that was there. Personally living and working with the same people can be difficult though I think we were all under the impression that we were going to agree to disagree on a number of subjects. The houses are not the newest but again I was happy living where I was.

About Hermosillo - no it is not a Central Mexican colonial city and no it is not the most gorgeous place on the planet but it also has its good spots too. Most of all I enjoyed the people. My students were awesome!! The more time I spent there the more friends I made. By the end of my time there, I was hanging out with my students just about every night. We would go get tacos (the beef in Hermosillo is considered the best in all of Mexico), bowl, go to a bar, go to the beach (which is only an hour away from town and accessible by bus) or to any of the local festivities. I was able to practice speaking Spanish and learn a lot of new words and phrases. Though I have been gone for about 3 weeks, I still hear from many of my students everyday through email and other means.

Overall I enjoyed my experience, learned a lot (about life and Spanish and in general), met a bunch of great people and did what I enjoy doing � teaching. Let me know if you have any more questions!