Job Discussion Forums

[chinwubachu]

Hi,

I have just returned from teaching in Korea for 3 years and have been looking at a contract with INLINGUA in Italy. I have read a few bad blogs on INLINGUA and have even seen some of their schools on the blacklist. I have a TEFL cert and and a fair amount of experience so I dont really want to be stuck in a bad place for another year.

Can any one give me any advice and is INLINGUA really that bad?
Do they stick to their 30 hour contracts and do teachers get paid properly and on time?

Thankyou!

[Jetgirly]

I worked at Inlingua in Turin in 2005 and 2006.

My contract was for 22.5 hours per week for EUR 1000. Jan-July and Sept-Nov I was paid EUR 1000 whether or not they could come up with ninety hours of work for me each month. I was always paid on time. This worked in my favour in June and July, for sure. However, overtime was mandatory in other months, at a rate of EUR 10.85 per hour, and there were weeks where I had THIRTY-NINE classroom hours. Inlingua does a lot of in-company work, so I was also spending twelve hours per week on busses to and from in-company jobs (this doesn't include the initial commute to and from work). That's fifty-one hours per week, plus prep. At first, travel time wasn't paid but I raised hell because the amount of travel time was four times more than I'd been promised in my interview, so we were lated paid either EUR 2 or EUR 4 for each in-company class, depending on its distance from the city center. Expect to work a lot of split shifts and be prepared for your scheduled to be constantly changed at the very last minute. Be prepared for embarassing resources that your students will hate. They will tell you that their system minimizes prep, but actually you may find you're doing MORE prep because their resources are so terrible that you have to seek out your own, and it's unlikely they will have any on hand.

I will say that Inlingua paid me on time, that the guaranteed pay was good in the summer, and that the in-company classes allowed me to meet some amazing, interesting people from all different fields. Everything else was horrible.

[chinwubachu]

Thanks Jet,

That is pretty much what everyone else seems to be saying. I dont think I could hack over 30 hours of teaching per week plus prep and travel ect..

The contract says 15 euros per hour which sounded fairly good based on a 30 hour week, but I guess there is a lot more to it than what you can make out of the contract.

Thanks for your time Jet, I think i have made my decision!