Job Discussion Forums

[arioch36]

http://www.ef.com.cn/englishfirst/whyef/teachers.aspx?group=adults

[teacherbel]

Arch:
ha ha ha..Thank you for your article about Filipinos..

My niece who used to work for China were reading it. We were flattered by your description of us. The fact is even the con about us is considered in our culture as a pro - ha hahah...Living in a house with many people is a way of life for us - the more the merrier as they say it in the U.S..I

It is our way of coping with life's chores..problems and concerns are distributed to several people, the load of each one becomes lighter..Well, some other Filipinos have other explanations..probably more specific..but we don't really relish living in an apartment all by ourselves, esp if were in a foreign country..

Again, Thank you...ha haha

[teacherbel]

My niece and I...
if we're

sorry...

and if I may add, we also find it flattering to be given more load - it shows trust..-

Also, it means more pay for us...

We don't see any problem if we're given work on Saturdays. We're in China to work, to raise money..which for my nephew to be able to continue on his MA in the Philippines.

What else can we do during week ends in China? We don't speak the language and my nephew for one does not relish drinking or accompanying his elder sister shopping..

He is a good Catholic though..and he is looking for a Catholic Church in Wuhan and is praying that someone there can say the mass in English..

[arioch36]

Catholic church, yes. English, no. For english, you have to go underground

[teacherbel]

Ha ha ha..
you're funny..

I just talked with my nephew from yahoo messenger. The DOS is giving him (and I guess all the others too?) 7 days paid vacation for working hard..My nephew works "hard" because Ef is the second job he held in his lifetime..ha ha ha,,ha..He is a new teacher. Here in the Philippines, he wrote lesson plans until the wee hours in the morning for a measly pay. EF pays him 5x of what he got from the Philippines. Things are also cheaper in Wuhan.

In the Philippines, everyday he had to write a complete lesson plan - objectives, initiating activity, lesson proper, conclusion, and evaluation..

What he does at EF is therefore nothing.

He said, EF does not discriminate between Filipinos and non-Filipino teachers - they all get the same pay "unlike in other language schools".

Also, I do remember that he was accepted in one of the universities in Wuhan, but the offer came too late. He already signed up with EF.

As an aunt, my concern is his happiness and he told me, he is...I guess, I should stop reading your articles here. They make me worry about my nephew. He is only/already? 25. But he will always be my "little boy". Before my parents passed away, I was told to help my brother and his wife take care of their grandchildren..

[A'Moo]

[

[eddy-cool]

Plus Philippine natives come in a variety of suitabilities for the teching profession just as others do. The problem of the Philippines is that it continues to produce more people than it can feed and house, hence it is creating a surplus that has to be exported and that generally is malleable, flexible, impressionable.
Isn't it sad that so many young, often married, individuals have to emigrate to make a living and to raise their children back home?
Inevitably they end up being at the bottom of the social ladders in foreign countries; in Hong Kong, home to over 100'000 Filippina housemaids, they are slowly but inexorably being nudged out by cheaper Indonesians - even more meek and submissive than the maids from the Philippines.
In spring of this year I saw Filippino men heading home after in vain trying to find any job whatsoever in Guangdong.

[englishgibson]

Eddy that's a nice touch there.

EF centers've got all kinda nationalities. What matters really is if there are pros and if they can teach the macEF's first language. Some can, some can't. From my experience, many EF centers are really short of those pros. It's been difficult to recruit for this country, especially recently and who'd wanna work for macEF here? The EF's recruiting office's been really busy .. racking their brains how to squeeze water out of a dry cloth
By the way, I've worked with former prisoners, "beer bodies" and high school dropouts besides backpackers and that in two different EF centers in China. I've worked for a former car thief/EF employer and I've worked for a "graft specialist"/EF employer who'd worked for Chinese government before that. And, I've also heard about some other "grafters" around as well as former military officials as EF employers/investors.

To sum up this, the EF organization preys on such individuals as I've mentioned above. I mean, what ordinary Chinese would come up with a couple million yuan as the initial franchise fee It's not the quality of employers/investors that matter to the EF organization, but it's the filthy money they can share in the process. This organization's become the laundry machine of the world and if you work for it, you'll get your hands dirty too.

In China, franchising works perfectly well for some. Look at those macburger or kfc places around and see how much money they had to come up with too. Then, see who they have to pay and who with they have to share. There's always a kinda "middle man" from China who well facilitates this lovely process. But it really s*cks if it has to be the educational institution.

Cheers and beers to the hard working Philipinos as well as many others in EF, but most of all cheers and beers to the ones who've chosen smaller "machines" to work for

[A'Moo]

[arioch36]

Then there is the other kind of franchise, the elite. Not sure were TAFE is now.

I think EG and I both work at GAC/ACT. ACT is the American company that makes the ACT test, which can also be used for college admission.
They sold the right to use ACT to a Sydney company. I guess part of the deal is that all students must also study for the ACT test, and by the ACT test preperation book.
Then Sydney (GAC) opens its franchises, CHinese HQ in SHanghai. The idea is that Sydney develops the textbooks and curriculum (which are not terrible) and insures the quality of teaching and grading etc. So this would create a reliable yardstick for colleges to use in consoidering admissions. Overall a laudable goal educationally and financially. I am so tired of the way England has sold out, for instance students who obvously cheated on the IELTS, "receiving" a score of 6.5 here in China, and for some stage reason not able to achieve a 4.0 in ENgland, yet the British school doesn't kick them out
I teach two really motivated classes, both 23 students (each student pays 50,000 RMB for three 12 weeks levels) The other class, almost every student has failed most of their subjects. Five of my students retook the math test (same subject areas, but different questions). The tests were given at night, so I was not there to proctor (what's the Brit word, invigilate?) I was given the tests to correct, as I must sign off on these tests. All five students had the identical score, and they all had the same questions right, and the same questions wrong, the same mistakes. Pointed this out to the head teacher. All she had to say is. "oh well, I wasn't there" In other words, just sign my name so they can all pass.

Cheers and beers to the elite franchises with high standards!

[eddy-cool]

'invigilate' istheword you were lookingfor, you know, being vigilant among a class of cheaters of a class of their own.

[arioch36]

the word in my mind when i was typing it. Not the word that came out. Think i must have done that post after coming home late

[englishgibson]

yes arioch. i do the GAC/ACT gig too and i really know what you mean there. yet another organization that's trying to take a bit out of that huge 1.3 bil pie here. one thing that many in the ACT centers get misled by is the GAC/ACT or which one. the ACT is an entry exam to unis in USA. well, to some, especially the private ones. GAC program/material does not really have enough on how to pass the ACT exams. it really is to prepare the high school grads from foreign countries for the unis of english speaking countries. it's all misleading 'cause it's supposed to be misleadin'if you catch the drift there. now, i hope that nobody's gonna cut my hand that's typed this. there are some powerful investors behind this stinky program. by the way, a foreing DOS is supposed to enter the students' scores in the computer and the ACT system but that often does not happen at ACT centers. and, there's an academic leader (that's just changed in august from one chinese to another) who barely speaks english in that shanghai's head office. watch out for the moderations on your assessments!

but back to macEF that doesn't have as "big goal" as the ACT/GAC academically. and, many mac EF centers have got to the "kids biz". it's easy to cheat those lil ones and their parents with foreign faces.

as for macEF franchising, some "groups of investors" in china've copied the indonesian style where the head office does not dictate the standards. it's the powerful "groups". imagine if a "group" owns 10 or 15 centers. who'd want to mess with them? chinese've quickly learnt how to dictate the headless office in shanghai.

now, and with all due respect to the OP, i really hope this sh*te thread and its heading will soon go down the filthy chinese river.

cheers and beers to the holiday that're coming after this difficult 7 day-week