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| Would you work for an EF school??? |
| Yes |
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14% |
[ 2 ] |
| No |
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85% |
[ 12 ] |
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| Total Votes : 14 |
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pattyflipper no more
Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 27
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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 Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2003 11:30 pm Post subject: Do all English First school rip you off, or just a few?? |
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I have seen a lot of colourful comments regarding EF schools. These comments I am finding are quite helpful, but it leaves me wondering if all of the schools are bad, or just a few. I have seen many posts for EF across China, and I am wondering are there different owners for each, or is it one big corportate hole. Any info regarding English First would be awsome, as well as any info on any good EF schools. Thanks a lot in advance,
Cody |
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Dragon
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2003 1:22 am Post subject: |
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Well. You work 6 days a week. They pay 5500 for 24 + hrs a week. Shared apartments. You must work 40 hours so outside work is out of the question. What does that tell you 
Boycott EF
DRAGON |
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Bertrand
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 293
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| Posted: Wed May 21, 2003 6:45 am Post subject: It's complex, and for a reason |
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EF = Education First. It has many, many, seperate daughter outfits most of which are registered at different states around the world. The real head office is in Switzerland and you will NOT FIND ANYTHING ABOUT IT ANYWHERE! Just try! It took me some 4 months to get their head office address! EF English First is but one of the many 'sidelines' and is run (I use the term in a broad fashion) out of Shanghai. EF schools in China are franchises and are owned and run by local business people (like MacDonalds ironically enough). They pay about 2,000,000 RMB for the franchise license and for some it is a license to print money (whether or not anyone benefits as regards English).
AVOID EF HUIZHOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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baby predator
Joined: 12 May 2003
Posts: 176
Location: London, United Kingdom
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| Posted: Wed May 21, 2003 8:42 am Post subject: |
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Hi Cody
I was an English First teacher for a year and found it a very positive introduction to teaching and living in China. The workload was manically busy in the summer, but chilled out the rest of the year. I had plenty of free time. My apartment was paid for ( I chose to live in a shared one, but you can live on your own). I certainly didn't save any money, but I had enough for beers and travelling. I also had a network of colleagues all over China, so I was able to find people to stay with in loads of different places! If I hadn't been too lazy to work on Saturday and Sunday, I'd probably have signed on for another year.
There are a lot of valid criticisms levelled at English First on this forum (although you'll notice that most of the vitriol comes from a rather small group). However, the tendency to make sweeping generalisations about all the many English First schools is unhelpful and unfair to the large numbers of teachers who work in them. It used to really annoy me when fellow "professionals" stereotyped me as an exploited drone.  I enjoyed my job! Yes, its a big company with a lot of franchises - that doesn't mean it doesn't employ decent teachers or provide a good service.
Feel free to PM me if you want and I can put you in touch with friends who are still teaching at various English First schools around China. They'll be able to give you a more balanced picture of the pros and cons.
BTW, EF stands for Europeiska Feriescholan, which means European Holiday School in Swedish.  EF English First is the schools part of EF.
http://www.englishfirst.com/aboutef/default.asp |
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Bertrand
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 293
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| Posted: Thu May 22, 2003 2:27 am Post subject: |
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| EF is not recognised by the British Council. That should tell you something........ (nor do EF even so much as apply for recognition.) |
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arale
Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2003 4:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Bertrand wrote: |
| EF is not recognised by the British Council. That should tell you something........ (nor do EF even so much as apply for recognition.) |
What does it tell us and does it matter?
Excerpts from the British Council website (www2.britishcouncil.org):
"The British Council was founded as an organ of international propaganda. "
"Particular Council initiatives included the teaching of English, but political messages always came along with the language tuition."
"There can be little doubt that the British Council facilitated the post-war emergence of English as an international language, or that its activities have aided the wider objectives of British foreign policy."
"Despite neglect, the British Council lives on..."
"The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity." |
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Bertrand
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 293
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2003 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| arale wrote: |
| Bertrand wrote: |
| EF is not recognised by the British Council. That should tell you something........ (nor do EF even so much as apply for recognition.) |
What does it tell us and does it matter?
Excerpts from the British Council website (www2.britishcouncil.org):
"The British Council was founded as an organ of international propaganda. "
"Particular Council initiatives included the teaching of English, but political messages always came along with the language tuition."
"There can be little doubt that the British Council facilitated the post-war emergence of English as an international language, or that its activities have aided the wider objectives of British foreign policy."
"Despite neglect, the British Council lives on..."
"The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity." |
If you can't see what it tells us then I'm afraid it is not worth the effort of explaining it to you. |
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arale
Joined: 29 Apr 2003
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 7:47 am Post subject: |
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| Bertrand wrote: |
...
| Bertrand wrote: |
| EF is not recognised by the British Council. That should tell you something........ (nor do EF even so much as apply for recognition.) |
...
If you can't see what it tells us then I'm afraid it is not worth the effort of explaining it to you. |
Bravo! What a brilliant answer! Too bad I won't have the benefit of your superior intelligence, knowledge, and experience. But I'll cope.
Just in case you hadn't noticed - from the British Council website list of accredited institutions (http://www.britishcouncil.org/english/courses/institutions/index.htm):
EF Corporate Language Training
EF International School of English, Bournemouth
EF International School of English, Brighton
EF International School of English, Cambridge
EF International School of English, London
So, what was your point?
On a side note: the British Council has my deepest graditude for operating the only library in the western half of a third-world country that I worked in several years ago. That library and its staff provided invaluable services to the foreigners in the area and to the local residents. My sympathies went out to the family of the British library employee who was slain in a botched robbery attempt. |
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