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cmann
Joined: 01 Jan 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Canada
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:43 am Post subject: |
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Dear Mr. Collins, I must indeed have been mistaken, I have just checked the Yasar web page. Impressive B.A. Cambridge, M.A. and CELTA from British Side Language School, it would seem that with your sterling qualifications Yasar University is indeed fortunate to have you as a member of their faculty. I am happy that you find your position so congenial and regret if I misrepresented you on this board. In all other respects I challenge you to take the other posters to task for their observations concerning the work conditions at your esteemed place of employment. |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:48 am Post subject: |
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Thank you. I am glad we cleared that up. In fact it is badly expressed on the site but my MA is from Cambridge not British Side. I say this just in case you are feverishly Googling me for fresh material to sharpen your wit (perhaps I flatter myself). I also have a law degree and worked in London as a commercial litigation solicitor for 10 years before becoming a teacher. I have worked in highly professional firms and am not some wet-behind-the-ears new CELTA graduate desperate for a job that doesn't require weekend work. Yasar cannot compare for professionalism with some of my previous employers but this is Turkey and the Turkish education system...
As for rebutting some of the other posters' comments, I have corrected all the factual inaccuracies I could and outlined my own experiences. I am not in a position to attest to the negative experiences of other Prep Class employees other than to say this is not what I have experienced. May be things just got better. I repeat, I just want to give another voice. I have done that and now if anyone wants to check my credentials or quiz me in more detail, they can send a PM and I will be more than happy to respond. |
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cmann
Joined: 01 Jan 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Canada
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:34 am Post subject: |
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That would of course be an earned MA in English, Linguistics or TEFL and not the MA conferred by right on holders of the BA degree by Cambridge University which is not available as a postgraduate qualification. Otherwise how could you possibly be teaching at a university with only a CELTA? Or are we to believe that Yasar University employs faculty with no better TEFL qualifications than those offered by English Side? |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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No it�s just a conferred MA. Although it technically supersedes my BA certificate so that I don�t possess a BA anymore, Y�K understood the situation, presumably because they had come up with similar situations in the past. Y�K are happy for me to be teaching at Yasar with just a BA and a CELTA. Yasar also seem happy. Many of my colleagues and the majority of the foreign teachers have better qualifications and more experience than me (as you can see from the Faculty list) but I flatter myself that I do a reasonable job. But of course I have a lot to learn and will continue to do so. I don�t think anyone is claiming Yasar is currently in the top tier of universities and I�m certainly not claiming to be a world authority on EFL teaching but my posts didn�t seek to claim that. You can try to embarrass me and score points as much as you like � I�m clearly no match for your superior intellect and wit � but I�m not sure you are taking the debate much further� |
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cmann
Joined: 01 Jan 2009 Posts: 24 Location: Canada
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Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Laterne Rouge, indeed this is not taking the debate further; my concerns are not with you personally but the abysmal conditions one encounters at Yasar University. No doubt you are a fine teacher but there is a reason that respected academic institutions demand qualified instructors, these reasons are manifested in the appalling English of Yasar graduates and I�m sorry to say many faculty members, Prep. School teachers included. I will give you the last word, qualified, experienced and serious academics have been warned, I applaud your efforts to justify Yasar�s TEFL program it is always beneficial to see both sides. I only wish that I had heeded the warnings about Yasar in earlier posts it would have saved me a lot of grief. Caveat emptor |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005 Posts: 803
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
my MA is from Cambridge... |
Nick Griffin graduated from Cambridge, so their courses can't be too challenging. |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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I certainly didn't find my degree too challenging. Hitherto I had always assumed that was because I was extraordinarily intelligent but you've now prompted me to reassess this idea I even read the same subject as Griffin. Different politics though. |
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bulgogiboy
Joined: 23 Feb 2005 Posts: 803
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Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: |
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I did my MLitt at St Andrews, and I suppose it was quite challenging at times. I knew I would pass though. I'd paid the money after all. I was told frankly by one Prof at the beginning of the course that "it isn't my job to fail you"!
How are the salaries at Yasar, by the way? |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Though I'm not an expert, I understand the salaries are market rate - less than Istanbul but housing is significantly cheaper in Izmir. Over the last couple of years, the Uni has recruited a lot of teachers from the state unis in Izmir so I presume the salaries here are ok.
And contrary to what our friend cmann claims, the Prep Class faculty is full of extremely highly-qualified ELT specialists (don't worry cmann, I exclude myself from that list). May be things have changed a bit since his day but then again he seems happy to play a bit fast and loose with his "facts" - strange for someone who seems to think he is a serious academic |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 1067 Location: South Western Turkey
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:53 am Post subject: |
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On the subject of hard-earned, canwe nail it down to specfics? The other private uni has salaries starting at 2.5 thousand for turkish English teachers in the Prep programme, native speakers get more, forget MA or PHD. How does that compare at your place? |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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Otterman - sent you a PM |
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PC Parrot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009 Posts: 459 Location: Moral Police Station
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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Is that $2,500 Ollie or TL2,500? |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 1067 Location: South Western Turkey
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Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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The latter! |
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truthforever
Joined: 01 Nov 2010 Posts: 2
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:22 am Post subject: n/a |
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Well, I�m a bit confused here;
Lanterne Rouge wrote: |
You may be interested to know that out of 4 foreign teachers recruited for 2009, 2 remain at Yasar and a third returned to the US only because her husband could not find a job. The 4th left principally because his girlfriend didn�t want to live in Turkey. |
cmann wrote: |
I have just spent the most ghastly year of my life in a hell hole called Yasar University. |
historyman wrote: |
I too worked for Yasar this year and it was with out a doubt the worst experience of my teaching career. |
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Lanterne Rouge
Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 17 Location: Turkey
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Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:33 am Post subject: |
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Well cmann and historyman certainly weren't working in the Prep Class in the 2009/2010 academic year....in fact there is some debate here about whether they in fact ever did work in the Prep Class owing to the numerous factual inaccuracies in their posts. Alas, they are cloaked in the anonymity of the internet so we will never know |
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