Job Discussion Forums

[Larry Paradine]

Four years ago I placed a post in the now defunct Job Information Journal warning teachers about the Ufa LL Director's penchant for cheating teachers. For that I was strongly criticised in this forum by a couple of contributors who claimed I was motivated purely by malice and that actaully all was peace and goodwill in Ufa LL. I've just received a pm from someone who has also worked for LL Ufa and who has also been swindled. I notice that Ufa LL is advertising for two new teachers. My advice: if tempted, take a long spoon to sup with the devil.

[JessInRussia]

Agreed Larry, long spoons are necessary!

Two years ago, I noticed your 4-year old text and luckily avoided an offer by them. They offered within a day of me applying and when I googled them I found out the truth. They offered $500 a month, and when I argued that other schools were paying more, they pushed this up to $800 right there on the phone!? It was dubious to say the least.

LL Ufa is a no go, unless you like to bump your head on the same place others have already.

Thanks Larry!

Jess

[MIKEBUCHAN]

AMEN, Larry!

[Larry Paradine]

I've just had a chance meeting with someone who read this string and who complained that I'm denigrating the Language Link organisation. For the record: this string is about the school in Ufa, not about LL in general. Language Link schools operate as franchises (like Macdonalds) but are not so tightly controlled as Big Mac. Some of them are beyond reproach: in my years in Samara, I met several ex-teachers and ex-students from LL Samatra, and all had nothing but praise for it. However, if Samara is LL's jewel in the crown, Ufa is the rotten apple in the barrel (excuse mixed metaphors). More to the point, Ufa recruits independently of the parent body, in fact Faniza Yakupova herself told me she pays for use of the LL name and logo only. If a teacher is recruited by LL in London, or perhaps in Moscow, there's some chance of redress or help if the local school doesn't play the game (in fact, many years ago, I had help from Moscow when a local school--Volgograd-Volskii-- turned me loose without an exit visa), but if something goes wrong for a teacher working in Ufa, the Moscow office can just turn a blind eye; the afflicted teacher wasn't recruited by them, therefore they have no obligation.

[maruss]

As a general rule,working in provincial towns outside Moscow and St.Petes is a big gamble,especially when things go wrong as you have no back up or support.Of course there are exceptions,as someone has written about LL Samara,but I know of two other schools in Samara-one is actually in Togliatti-that are not and should also be on the 'stop list!
The same goes for most schools in Kazakhstan where legislation is even more lax and corruption exceeds that in Russia!
Unfortunately going through a larger organisation such as IH is no guarantee either-as one of their staff in London even admitted outright to me ,they don't bother about feedback from teachers they recruit for overseas because the firm is too big and they have a high turnover!!

[Digdug79]

Hi Larry,

How you doin', hope everything's going well for you in Kazan Are you living in my old flat, by any chance? I was very fond of her, despite (because of?) her well-worn 'Soviet retro' appearance. You must be busy gearing up for the start of the new academic year, which I guess starts on Monday? Do keep in touch, anyway.

I certainly back up your point that most schools outside MSK and StP only buy into a franchise to get the name, and sometimes the odd perk that goes with it (e.g. being able to obtain visas to send their students on English study trips to the UK). Indeed, Oxford Crown Kazan is a good case in point - great school, whereas there have been some really bad reports about the mother organization in Moscow.