Job Discussion Forums

[teacherdude]

I'm considering a job with Berlitz Lang. school.

Would appreciate any feedback, u could give me.

Thanks,
Teacherdude

[luna]

got a couple of friends working there...
one of them been there for a year...when I asked him his answer was 'it is the least bad'. but they even got him his work visa and everything, although it took 7 months but hey, he got it! which is more than most schools will offer.
another one has just started and seems a bit pissed off about all the disorganization.
From what I've heard they are quite decent. They've got what they call the 'Berlitz Method' so they do not really care about your CTEFL, TESOLs CELTAs or DELTAs. They want to train you their way so sometimes they really prefer non-experienced teachers coz then they havent developed yet their own style and they're easy to 'model'. But I dont know what this magical Berlitz Method is exactly. They do not hire Turkish teachers, only natives.
Pay is good, in fact among the highest.
Hope that helped!

[Bogazicibaby]

I really feel the need to reply to this post. I worked for an entire year at this place and have to say that perhaps it might be the least of the bad but be WARNED that dealing with the owner of this place will result in dealing with many lies.
The man regularly says nasty things about the students. He makes many promises that never come to happen. He never paid my social insurance taxes even though I had a work permit. He has been known to hire men to follow people who quit working for him. He is a terrible rude man. He likes to threaten people with court and many other things. He even once held a fellow colleague in the office against her wishes by locking the door.
My Turkish husband told me to be careful before deciding to work for him. I think in the long run that it would have been better not to have worked for this place. Despite having a contract, he didnt follow through with what was written in the terms.
Contracts dont mean a thing at this place- I doubt that there are more than a few people that have the same contract. If you do decide to work there- be aware of what is being offered in other places and be a good negotıator.
Check out the previous posts. I think that there are 2 in the previous posts.
I dont know anyone who has left this place and is happy with their experiences with the owner. He isnt pleasant.

[dmb]

Wow, not someone to take home to your mother then?

[calsimsek]

Now I feel that I have to reply to Bogazicibaby.
On this site you often see people slag off one job or boss and have someone else come to their defence. Let me say up front that I work part time at Berlitz and have meet the man being attacked and while he is no saint, he's also no devil. Like all the other owners of E.L.S centers he's a business man first. In over seven months that I have been there, I have had no problem at all. The pay is the highest going, the hours are good and most of the students are very kind and respectfull. Overall my expereince has been positive.
I think that like alot of things, we take our own experiences and assume that is the norm. I think perhapes B.Baby had some issues at the place and she may have created some of the problems her self. In the end who knows what happened, all I can tell you is that as a person who has been around for a while and in most places, Berlitz is one of the best there is.
Although God knows that the rest are creep.

[dmb]

What is the Berlitz way of teaching?

[Faustino]

It's something symilar to the hypnopedia brainwashing technique that Aldous Huxley descirbed in 'Brave New World'.

Did you know that no teachers are allowed to take the Berlitz course material outside of the schools? What are they trying to hide?

[teacherdude]

I work at Berlitz also.

And yes teachers do take the books outside of school.

However, strangely teachers are not allowed to have copies of their contracts....hmmm...

TD

[OzBurn]

The Berlitz Method is also known as the Direct Method. The teacher does everything in English, no translation, ever, and is supposed to act things out, mime them, illustrate them with pictures, etc., and get the students to respond by describing actions, places, etc. Its strengths, according to what I have read, are that it uses the target language extensively, and that it mandates an active response by students, at least in terms of describing things and actions and answering questions. It is very much an oral method -- reading and writing are not considered important. Grammar is not explained.

You can read more about the Direct Method here:

http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mflwww/seclangacq/langteach5.html

"'"The method by its very nature presupposes a teacher of immense vitality, of robust health, one endowed with real fluency in the modern language he teaches.'"

I have the original (out of print) books by Maximilien Berlitz, and was not very impressed with them; but perhaps the Berlitz organization has progressed greatly since then. As other posters have noted, since the materials are not publicly available, it is hard to tell.

I don't find it particularly sinister that Berlitz would not want their materials made available outside of the school. The ESL world is rife with piracy of all kinds of materials -- at my school, at least 80% of all materials are pirated. Hardly anybody has any respect for intellectual property in ESL, and teachers least of all. They copy whatever they want and never pay a royalty. Betty Azar's books are sold in what I believe are illegal editions here, for about two dollars each, translated in part. If Berlitz values its materials, it's no wonder they don't want them outside of the school.