Job Discussion Forums

goddess1 · Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 8

Does anybody know about schools in Taiwan like the Joy schools or the organization DD Dragon?

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Why discuss a Taiwan-based school with teachers based in China???

YankeeDoodleDandy · Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:49 am Post subject: Joy Schools

I worked for Joy Schools for almost one year. They are out of Taiwan,yet they have about 45 schools in mainland China.It costs about 3oo yuan per month per class. They textbooks are OK and they progress from simple dialogs to some fairly interesting stories. They try to make language learning fun for the students and there are a lot of games that make it fun and interesting. From my experience, there was not too much language learning going on. There were TV monitors watching you and mothers would watch their darlings on TV. It felt like something out of an Orwellian novel. They also have tapes, activity books for homework and teachers were required to call students on the telephone every two weeks to talk on the phone with for several minutes. They teach to the test and students would start reviewing questions that were very similar to the questions they would have to answer on their examinations.This would start several weeks in advance, before the students had complete the book. For example, if the actual test question was what does your mother do on Sunday? The sample questions would be what does your father , sister,brother, cousin, grandparents like to do on MTWThFS and Sunday. Hope that this helps Isn't Taiwan part of China???

Norman Bethune · Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Posts: 731

Joy Schools are a franchise operation. What goes in Taiwan probably goes on in the PRC as well.

Yankeedoodledandy's experience of the Joy school in the PRC is probably similar to what would happen in Taiwan.

I have a friend who worked for a Joy School in Anhui. The hours he worked were long, up to 35 or 40 a week. He would teach regular classes under the watchful eyes of TV monitors, give teacher training to Chinese staff who had poor english skills, and put in long office hours planning at least 20 different lessons from different texts a week.

One of his complaints was that he felt like Chattel. The school owner acted like the teacher was his personal slave to be told what to do and when to do it. The arrival of a national front husband and wife couple from South Africa who took on de-facto management roles at the school added to the sense of being in an "Orwell novel".

Maybe all Joy schools aren't the same. But a franchisee has to follow the company's basic busienss model in taiwan or the PRC.

englishgibson · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 4345

Goddess, I hope that my experience with them can help you make your decision. Well, I guess you are applying for a job there, aren't you?
Once I send my email (not Resume) to their recruiting office to inquire about a position there. The DD Dragon recruiting responded in a few days and asked for my PICTURE (not Resume or not credentials). Then, I guess I was not "handsome" or "young" enough on my PICTURE, so the recruiting did not contact me again. I wish that they would have and I wish that they would have said, "You are too old, we need a 24 year old with no experience or qualification" or "Your nose is too big, sorry" etc. But I bet that you are good looking, so you might get that job there. Then I do not really know what they might ask you to do there.
Well, I hope that I have been helpful here.
Cheers and beers