Job Discussion Forums

[Warrivar]

Okay so since my first post was such a raging success as it spanned from Dave's to Saigon ESL i thought id post another one

Elite language center

Pros:...okay so the toilets work

As for the staff about half of them have this attitude which to me seems to be a mix of jealousy and arrogance. Because in vietnam foreign teachers are paid 3-4 times the amount of native teachers. so logically the best thing to do is take it out on the foreign teachers cause i mean we are stealing thier money! we are the ones paying them 2-3 bucks an hour and are responsible for thier bank account looking like the subtotal of a receipt from a five minute shopping spree at salvation army right?...oh wait we dont pay them? the school's management does?...oh wow ya learn something new everyday.

they have thier own material...too bad it is boring and utterly useless unless you are looking to learn how to assimilate into north american pop culture and stay there. they teach you how to ask questions. the learning process is sitting there and repeating what is written on the board. the rest of the lesson is spent going through conversations used on CDs.

My students learned most effectively when we turned off the CDs and i used the Projector as a writing tool displaying each sentance i wrote out and playing speech games. that was loads of fun cause in a classroom you learn theory and theory is but a very small portion of skill. but i dont need to tell you this cause chances are you have more than two neurons firing at any given time.

Now the first few weeks were okay i was getting 9 hours a week coupled with my 18 hour a week job so i was making a decent living then the hours went from 9 to 6 to 4.5 to 3 and i kept getting the same complaint from the same woman in the same robotic voice "Mr warren this is Trang from elite...we have received feedback from student and the feedback is not good the students have said the lessons are boring and there are no speaking activities please try harder and we will improve your hours." then before i could answer she would hang up.

now when students laugh and participate in class ask me for my email after class and wave at me when i walk down the street i am assuming my lessons are not boring. even if the lessons are boring, tough shit this is school not six flags. I wont even touch the lie about no speaking activities. So i decided to do some investigating. i noticed there were alot of new foreign teachers at the school and they all seemed to have the classes i had before...then i asked them about thier pay...$13/hr i was getting $16/hr...bad feedback my foot.

so aside from irritating staff a lying management body and a half assed curriculum the redeeming quality of elite in addition to the toilets working is the students. they seem to be quite friendly and they are typically older,more mature and willing to learn. the age range usually is 20-35

work at this place if you need extra cash but the second your hours dip and you get an illegitimate complaint from that cow mrs trang get your pay and run for the hills!

-Warrivar

[inky]

What are your qualifications?

[BenE]

Where is this great school?

$16 an hour is not the greatest salary either.

Again what are your qualifications?

[London Bridge]

I agree with most of the point Warrivar makes.

Elite is the low-end of the market. Fast food, low quality English instruction.

Large classes, with mixed level and mixed age groups. An intermediate 12 year old with an elementary 42 year old. The school has its own curriculum, with new vocabulary words for students such as "bean curd." One chapter is on "meditation when you're stressed out."

The listening is too long and too difficult with no transcripts.

I was called almost everyday to substitute at different branches.

And yes, you will get a phone call with a complaint by the students: "The students was more of this," or, "the students want more of that."

What percentage of students want more or less of this or that?

Which class in particular?

The staff was very depressing and the managers treat you like a factory worker. It's a cheap English factory.

[mickeyrex]

So to be clear IWEP, ELITE and perhaps Eduworld(under a different nic.)didn't work for you. $13 at Elite? What frickin' monkey would work for that. What's with the fixation on toilets?

[blateson]

Warrivar, that's a good writeup of a personal account of what happens here in Vietnam. It just goes to show how superficial the school administrators and "managers" are. The act of "respect" is a facade. "Helloooo teechuh" doesn't mean much. Students will backstab you in the office, and managers will capitalize on and exaggerate it, as we have all seen time and time again. Even worse is that "managers" here resort to telling lies so blatant that you can easily catch them in the act when you have your thinking cap on. School staff will replace you if they can get a newer teacher for $2 less per hour. One or two of the worst, rudest students will say bad things and the management will blow it up but refuse to give you a chance for rebuttal or to stand your ground, and won't give details on who said it. Even if they did, some administrators will hold it against you anyways. Any VN local teachers that feel the least bit perturbed about you will gossip behind your back but smile in your face an hour later.

School facilities here can be quite crummy. 2" of water all over the bathroom floors, desks with broken tops, student handwritten graffiti on the walls, and how about the teacher rooms. Cramped and crowded, hardly enough room to walk through at times, rarely a place to sit and if you do find a seat, they're so noisy that they can't be used to make preps for class, or just unwind for 10 minutes before your next class.

[Oneonta]

[inky]

blateson: "Students will backstab you in the office... as we have all seen time and time again."
Please, speak for yourself. We haven't "all" seen this. My students are almost universally the most wonderful people I've ever met. I would ask you the same question posed to the OP: What are your qualifications? That is, why are you forced to work for such bad schools? Why don't you get a job at a more reputable institution? And if it's so awful in Vietnam, why not leave?

[Warrivar]

Actually i beleive Elite is part of the LeeScam tribe but i dont know all i know is that they suck

this is how the wages work in VN if you want more money you get more hours not a higher wage. reputable institutions are hard to find but when you get one keep it. a group i am with called Panasia group contract out foreign teachers and so far they have treated me quite well, infact i recommend them the go to gal of the operation is Ngan Lowe. wonderful lady. i dont leave vietnam because of two reasons, one: i have a goal in money i have to make and two, sometimes you find gold after digging through acres of granite so i have faith and hey why not at least try. i just like to bitch

my qualifications include a TESL course 120 hours and 6 months teaching experience 1 year tutoring experience complete with observation. we all have to start somewhere and as far as i am concerned 2 weeks of experience trumps 4 years in a sheltered university to get a BA in Philosophy for a work permit for all of those who might be turning your noses up at me right now.

i have met people here who are supposed majors in the english language here in Vietnam and i could understand at most 60% of what they said.

as for the toilets it's just a gimick continued from the IWEP post.

[Warrivar]

[Oneonta]

[Warrivar]

no problem oneonta ive met a few...low lifes here myself. so many of them come here to get laid and use teaching as an avenue to pick up girls.


ive noticed the fluid change of teachers in classes at the two schools. im working with a guy here called richard donarski. an english speaking club was started due to his scathing remarks about the way english is taught here. and in a week 100 people showed up for one day they had an influx of people wanting to practice. and not enough foreign speakers. the cafe is M&M Saigon on 3/2 street district 10 ward 12 address: 130 for those of you who are interested. always fun undermining the LeeScams IWEPs and Doung minhs of the city

[lemke2020]

what time does that group meet?

[Warrivar]

oh yes the times of the meetings are sunday mornings 10-12 afternoons 2-4 and monday to thursday meetings are 6:30pm-8:30pm at M&M Saigon 130 Ba thang hai across from Maximark

[Green Acres]

I've often wondered why there aren't more English clubs or informal group opportunities to offset the unreasonable learning conditions in many of the schools. Good luck to yas!