Job Discussion Forums

[halito27]

IELTS Academy School in Hanoi - I've seen their job ads on the New Hanoian website, but can't locate any additional info about them
MOD EDIT
Any word on this school? Are they reputable?

Thanks in advance.

[pacoh]

In short: the "academy" is run by a woman with very poor English skills and staffed by some of her former students and some teaching students from various universities from around Hanoi who have no teaching experience at all (whose only merits seem to be that they have an IELTS score and they are efficient photopyists), as well as some expat teachers, long- and short-term in Hanoi, ranging from very experienced IELTS teachers to one chap who when he was preparing his first lesson at the family dinner table in the kitchen which passes for the teachers preparation area leaned across to me and whispered: "what exactly does I.E.L.T.S. stand for then?"
The teachers put up with some incredible annoyance from the owner who likes to make suggestions to your lesson plan which usually have no merit, and who insists that you submit lesson plans by email the day before your class, which, miraculously, suddenly become part of the syllabus when the same level starts a few weeks later, and after that teacher has been dispatched. All of this because she pays $25-$35 per hour for three hour classes.
Some dubious practices abound, such as laughable level testing procedures (almost non-existent sometimes, making teaching difficult); no serious TNA; absence of progress tests; end of course tests corrected and unsupervised, more often than not, by 19yo local assistants.
If this appeals to you, and the money is the only factor, apply; but be prepared to bite your tongue, when your class is bizarrely moved to another building around the corner at last minute or when asked about your lesson plan and how many games you will play with an IELTS class.
The school is not licensed and cannot offer visas or other benefits, but the owner does provide teachers with a free can of Coke.