Job Discussion Forums

[trillian584]

hey-

looking around at posts on here, it seems like most people don't have many good things to say about Berlitz, but never really go into detail. Any input? I kind of assumed they'd be better than most, simply by virtue of there being Berlitz schools more or less everywhere.

[spiral78]

Berlitz is a franchise, so their reputability in terms of how they treat teachers will be local - some are good, some are bad.

The thing that's the same about them all is that Berlitz applies a method of language teaching/learning that was in vogue in the 1950's, and has been essentially discredited in the past 25 years, according to extensive research in the field.

That said, many students like the method - it makes them feel comfortable, corresponding to a very traditional view of what a classroom should be.

Companies that send their staff to a Berlitz also like it - it is well-established and looks quite ok on their expense records - nothing dodgy about Berlitz as a well-established company.

From the perspective of teachers: assuming that you're paid fairly and on time, some like Berlitz and some don't. It's 'easier,' in that there is no real planning or prep. It's 'boring' because you have much less room to do what you or the students might be interested in.

In the sense of future career - experience at a Berlitz won't enhance your CV in the eyes of other kinds of language schools. It's only really useful if you want to move on to another Berlitz (meaning staying at the bottom of the pay scale in the field, in most cases).

[Sashadroogie]

Most negative comments relating to Berlitz, Istanbul are based on their conditions of employment. The contract has never been seen as fair. Being threatened with the international courts for 'breaking' your contract would bear this out. Also the laughable induction training video becomes very serious when they again threaten to make you pay for watching it if again you don't finish your contract term. Can't remember how much they claim it is worth, but over a thousand bucks at least.

They are not better than most - not at all. Steer well clear.