Job Discussion Forums

kdaca · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 31

Hello,

Has anyone recently been to an Interlingua recruiting session? I'm interested in learning about what they're about from those who've attended. Opinions posted here or sent to me via PM are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
K.

Phil_K · Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 2041 Location: A World of my Own

I haven't been but I know that these are held just about every week, so either they know the secret of getting all the available students to come to them, or they have a high turnover of teachers. I suspect the latter.

On the plus side, 1) my (Mexican) wife said it was the best school she attended... and she also attended Berlitz, Harmon Hell and Anglo. 2) They offer all legal benefits - paid hols, aguinalado, IMSS, Infovavit etc.

On the minus side, I've heard that the pay is around between $30 - 70 p.h. Hardly adecuate compensation for a professional teacher.

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

I attended their teacher training course in Merida a year and a half ago and was appalled by the inanity of the program. I dropped out the second day of the training session. We had started with about 20 people and by the second day it had been better than halved. When the recruiter told the class her favorite website was one in which there is a multitude of images of human dismemberment, I suspected that was not the company for me to work for. When immediately after revealing to the class her sadistic proclivities she repeatedly reprimanded me for instructing my imaginary students, �Repeat after me�with the simple one word instruction, say only �REPEAT�and would allow no other deviancy from their cookie cutter format for instruction, I took a walk. For those with a need for military conformity, this is the place for them. Otherwise, avoid these people like the plague.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

The recruiting sessions seem to be about how much abuse, humiliation and pressure you can stand - if you survive the 3 weeks they give you a job.

guatetaliana · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:49 am Post subject:

My husband works for Interlingua. He has some college education and is not a native speaker of English, no TEFL certificates or anything. He is thriving there, but I would say someone with further qualifications probably should be looking at something else. The pay is pretty low, and The Method is a pretty serious deal, although you may get lucky like my husband and end up in a location where they let teachers take creative license when they're not being officially observed.

The reason they recruit so much IS because of high turnover. This high turnover, I suspect, is related to the low pay and the fact that once teachers have some experience, they usually look towards other, better-paying schools. Also, a lot of the nationals who teach there only do it for a short time, while attending university, preparing for a stint abroad, or some other temporary activity.

I would say it's a place to start out your career, as The Method isn't actually a bad way to learn some great strategies for teaching. My husband loves the fact that he's building skills and confidence. But it's not something for someone who's already invested time and money in extensive training and career experience.