Job Discussion Forums

[base5555]

Currently I am working as an ESL teacher in Vietnam but I'm looking to move to Japan and I want something a bit more. Does anyone have experience with the One World English School or Modern English School franchises?

Cheers

[timothypfox]

I can't answer about this school, but something I've seen in small towns around Kagoshima is small well-placed independent conversations schools. For example, in Kirishima next to Kokubu station is Mike's Language school. It's really a shoebox school, but he has the market cornered by his location. There is also no other Eikaiwa going here.

[base5555]

Yea, there definitely has to be a bit of market research done to see what's in the area. The one benefit of going with a franchise is the marking support (ie: you get sales support at a fraction of the cost of hiring your own staff).

[jjames]

I can�t tell you much you probably don�t already know about the two franchise operations you mention but I could suggest another option still very little known in Japan but which could be right down a lot of Japanese learners� street: SpeakYourMind. I taught at their centre in Italy where we had a group of Japanese students on a teacher training course and they really liked it.
www.speakumind.com
http://youtu.be/K5ezgP8POrs

[Mr_Monkey]

[Inflames]

I know people who have experiences with Modern English and Smith's. From their advice, the problems are things you don't expect to problems.

My advice is that starting your own school is far harder than buying a previously established school. You start off with nothing yet you have to pay a lot each month and spend money on advertising.

I highly recommend just coming over with a regular job then, if you want, starting your own school. Teach privates until you have enough to move into a space easily.

[jjames]

Mr Monkey - This clearly comes from outside your range of experience and possibly lies outside your power of imagination, but I have actually taught dozens of students who learnt simply on the basis of participation in class (3 or sometimes 2 lessons weekly) and hardly ever, if ever at all, opened their books at home. These were a minority of students but nonetheless there are plenty of busy adult learners who simply don�t want to know about �homework�. The course I used � SpeakYourMind � is developed specifically with those kinds of worst-case scenarios in mind, although self-study is encouraged and normally happens with most students anyway. Working at home helps � everyone knows that � but with SyM it is not indispensable, as it is in so many other courses where nothing really substantial remains from the vagaries of the classroom. There�s no lying involved � no miracle claims. In my experience it�s a very good method for a lot of students, including those who don�t have much time or inclination for studying at home.

[base5555]

So now does anyone have personal experience with the Smiths School? I see they got some bad press a while back but perhaps that's just someone who failed at the system, and most are hearsay anyways. Currently they have over 40 schools, and most have been open for quite some time. So something must be going right for them.

[rxk22]

[Mr_Monkey]

Yes, but I don't lie to my students.

[base5555]

No I don't work in Japan yet, but I am planning to move there soon. In regards to curriculum, I believe it's the teacher that makes the class not so much the curriculum used by the school. However I have seen the Smiths material and I see no issue with it. Now there may be areas I decided to use supplemental material based on student needs but I do that regardless of what a school provides.
As for going with one of the franchises, the main benefit I see is with the scheduling and admin support. There is no way I could hire my own staff at 60000 yen/month. Having someone knowledgeable about your program manning the phones while your in class is a real benefit.

[Glenski]

Re: Smith's
Have you read any of this?
http://teflblacklist.blogspot.com/2006/05/smiths-school-of-english-japan.html

[base5555]

Yes, I've had a good read of all the negative stuff I could find (including the smithwatch website via the internet history utility). However it seems that a lot of the ranting is primarily from someone who obviously had a falling out with the system, and they seem hell bent on doing everything they can to damage the reputation of the franchise. And of course you never know what role the competition is playing in all this negativity.

However, on the flip side I have talked with one current owner, and he is quite happy with the system and is doing good. I think some people think that buying a franchise guarantees success, and when it doesn't happen for them for whatever reason, they blame the system. So while there seems to be a few people who are disappointed, there are others that are fine.

Now $15K is a lot, no question. However if your long term minded, I think the admin support you get at a fraction of the price you would be paying on your own will pay off.

Either way, I'm just trying to be objective/fair as possible in my evaluation.

[Glenski]

Do yourself a favor and talk to more than one satisfied owner. As it stands, you are basing your impression of Smith's on a 50-50 estimation of the franchise (one good, one dissatisfied owner). Not the best odds. Ask yourself this, too: why would there be so much bad press out there and hardly any good press? Pretty much any good stuff I read was fabricated by the owner under a pseudonym.

[rxk22]

TS, I side with Gelnski. $15k is a TON of money. What does it buy you? Also, the one site said that the training is $500 an hour.

I'd just open my own place, and see about hiring a service that does scheduling for you. You can find companies that do that for you, without having to pay crazy fees for materials, and training.