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fallon77
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 105
Location: Harbin
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 Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:57 am Post subject: EF Shenzhen |
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Does anyone have any experience with EF Shenzhen? More of the same horror stories? Hao/bu hao?
Any info appreciated.
Regards,
fallon |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:12 am Post subject: EF Shenzhen |
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EF has a couple or I think three centers in Shenzhen. When they had a "grand opening" of one EF center in 2004 there, NO FOREIGN TEACHERS showed up.  Most of EF centers in China as well as the EF Shenzhen centers have advertised largely on sites and daves is one.
Cheers and beers 
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Good jobs aren't "overadvertised" |
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organix
Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 149
Location: Shenzhen, China
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| Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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| I just got back from dinner with a friend who had a bad experience with EF. Basically they hired him part-time and then pulled a 180 and dropped him from the rolls all of a sudden. I don't know the details but he wasn't too happy about it. |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:45 am Post subject: EF Shenzhen |
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I smell a rat there. Part time employment at EF for foreign staff is highly unusual...or shall I say "unstandardlike".
EF has not carried "standard part time contracts" for foreigners before. Although I was ones a one who "mended" EF contracts to accomodate that kind. Well, I was a DOS (not in Szenzhen).
Cheers and beers
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Be aware of who you work for and what contract you have |
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no_exit
Joined: 12 Oct 2004
Posts: 565
Location: Kunming
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:44 am Post subject: |
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EF Kunming has a standard part time contract. Every teacher who works there signs a contract, part time or full time. Mine finishes this month, so there ya go. There are usually between 15-20 teachers on staff at our school, and part timers make up the bulk of the staff. They'll get work visas for part time teachers too.
I doubt highly that there is anything "standard" about EF centers besides the books and the name. The stories seem to vary widely. Don't assume anything about once center (good or bad) based on info about other centers. |
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fallon77
Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 105
Location: Harbin
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| Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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Same old story: The staff member I talked to was all gung-ho about their summer program. I asked him to email me some info. I read it and sent a list of questions. Most of them were innocuous: How many students per class, children or adults, what is the dress code, etc.
But, I did ask for email addresses of foreign teachers.
And what do you know? No reply. Nothing. Nada.
I would think that a centre tagged with an EF logo would try to show the FTs they want to recruit they are not one of the "bad" EFs. Are they hoping that no one has ever heard/seen/knows of, the Internet? Or do they want FTs stupid enough to arrive without asking a single question?
I am now wary.
Regards,
fallon |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 2:00 am Post subject: |
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I am not aware of any comments that have been made about EF Shenzhen. This could be a good or a bad sign so not much help here I am afraid.
| fallon77 wrote: |
But, I did ask for email addresses of foreign teachers.
And what do you know? No reply. Nothing. Nada. |
Well done. A bit of research like this can save one a lot of trouble. The fact that they don't have any foreign teachers who are willing to speak on their behalf does not of course automatically mean that there is a problem, but it certainly does not instill confidence. It is probably worth giving them a miss just to be on the safe side.
| fallon77 wrote: |
| Are they hoping that no one has ever heard/seen/knows of, the Internet? Or do they want FTs stupid enough to arrive without asking a single question? |
In the case of a school that does have a bad reputation (and I am not saying that this one does) the answer is yes. They need foreign teachers. All they can do is advertise and see what they can get. This is why doing research on schools and cities BEFORE accepting a position is the wise thing to do. Your questions may have just saved you some hearthache.
You can be sure that even the schools with the worst reputations in China still get applications either sent out by teachers doing mass mailiings or teachers who are just too lazy to do any background research. |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:18 am Post subject: EF Shenzhen |
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| Quote: |
| I doubt highly that there is anything "standard" about EF centers besides the books and the name. The stories seem to vary widely. Don't assume anything about once center (good or bad) based on info about other centers. |
Quite well worded and true.
�Standards� have been the pride of EF English First worldwide�..or at least that was the idea once��.�The MacDonald�s of education��..�Standards� were mentioned when recruiting students, employees and when seeking investors.
Without any assumptions, how deep has the EF plunged in China?
Surely, stories vary and no story from an EF center can be taken for granted, since the staff comes and goes as well as the �standards�.
| Quote: |
| EF Kunming has a standard part time contract. |
How do you know it�s a real standard EF contract? EF Intranet if you are familiar with has had once �standard EF contracts�. Again, I�ve �adjusted� �standard EF contracts� before myself at a center. There you go.
| Quote: |
| I am not aware of any comments that have been made about EF Shenzhen. |
With all due respect to you Clark, you are again back on a topic that you are �unaware� about and have little experience with�.never mind that EF shenzhen now.
Cheers and beers
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I hate Macdonald's burgers, but I love the girl selling it |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:27 pm Post subject: Re: EF Shenzhen |
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| englishgibson wrote: |
| With all due respect to you Clark, you are again back on a topic that you are �unaware� about and have little experience with�.never mind that EF shenzhen now. |
My point is a simple one as is my involvement in this thread. Through my work in researching schools and teacher reviews of schools I am not aware of any complaint, nor testimonials, about EF Shenzhen. This is neither a warning nor recommendation for this school it is merely a statement of fact that there is not a wealth of good nor bad comments out there that the OP can make a decision based upon.
I believe that my involvement here constitutes fair comment. |
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vikdk
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 1676
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| Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Through my work in researching schools and teacher reviews of schools I am not aware of any complaint, nor testimonials, about EF Shenzhen. |
wow, that means like me - when I'm thinking back on all the reviews I've read, googling Shenzen EF etc etc - we know nothing about this school apart from we havn't heard anything about itl!!!
Brilliant - that must also qualify me to write on this subject  |
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