If anyone reading this is looking for teaching jobs in Taoyuan County, may I warn you against working for English Village. I have had a terrible experience with the administration and some staff here at Wun Chang Jr. High English Village in Taoyuan City. Although you need a valid teaching certificate and it seems like a good job, foreigners are not treated well here and there is a huge double-standard. The turnover rate is unbelievable, and yet they will fire anyone for just about anything they donât like. Save yourself time and headaches and donât work here.
English Villages in general seem pretty awful from my experience (hearsay from others) - itâs literally the epitome of the caged foreign monkey school, I think.
Catâs. No particular branch.
Nothing as bad as what I was reading above, and they have good points, like decent buildings and resources. They seem to care about the kids really learning and try to follow a US curriculum. They are willing to negotiate on days off.
But they also work you very hard, donât pay a lot (NT600, about average, but feels like crap for the work you do), and have you do mounds of unpaid work - paper and test correction, preparation. When they do curriculum changes it almost always makes it harder on the teachers, with no compensation for that. They expect you to figure out the changes immediately - although few people there if any are licensed, experienced teachers. They could hand you a whole new, challenging curriculum with no training and then yell at you for not getting everything right from Day One. Although they will negotiate the hours you work, they do tend to push you into Saturday classes that you donât want or ask you at the last minute to take classes after waffling for awhile about whether the class will actually happen. There is not much training and no advancement opportunities.
For a newbie who doesnât have experience or a certification/teaching license, it could be okay. But if youâre a real teacher or are old hand, Catâs is not for you.
I have found most schools to be decent here. One must be cautious of schools that have not dealt with many foreigners because you will be treated like a local. Working at a cram school as a local is just a step up from working at 7-11. Honestly, the requirements to work at a cram school as a local are extremely low. Most of the local teachers have degrees ranging from Food Science to Nursing Assistants. To date, I have not met one that has taken the TOIEC, IELTS, or TOEFL. The education system in Taiwan has some serious problems, and cram schools do not help in my opinion.
[quote=âzenoâ]American Eagle Tianmu Branch
Worst school Iâve ever worked for. Awful management when I was there. They have no people skills and try and treat you like crap.
There is mountains of unpaid work so you work about double the hours youâre paid for. They even tried to get me to do extra weekly classes for no pay.
The kids are wild and totally uncontrollable. There is no support from anyone and you cannot punish them or communicate anything negative to the parents. Report cards and communication books are censored if you say anything remotely critical.
Most telling of all is the huge staff turnover rate. I was only there a few months and it was a carousel of new faces in and out every week. The staff who remained clearly hated their jobs and lives.[/quote]
I must have been there after you. I agree with everything you say so Iâll just expand on it from my experienceâŚ
They didnât pay my health insurance, and Iâm skeptical whether they paid my taxes. When inquiring to the former I was constantly told âthe accountant is looking into itâ. When I left I was informed they had no tax report to offer me, insisting it wasnât practice, even though I showed them the report from my previous employer.
Itâs common practice for them to give new initiatives to be taught in class each week, only for them to drop away. When asked for advice on how to implement new initiatives into a busy schedule, the response was always: I donât know, you are the teacher, no matter what you must find a way.
The curriculum is poorly implemented. Yes they follow an American style but there is never any time to revisit because there is so much.
They have a hawk-eye on everything! They do supply you with pens but when I included my own set in my teacherâs bag, I returned next lesson to find them removed. Photocopying is also strictly monitored, and if you go over your limit of 50 sheets a month they may charge you. Very childish.
The kids rule the place. In one of my classes I had a group of kids who would constantly speak Chinese. We were told it was not allowed and must be addressed. One day two kids were talking constantly, as well as eating and throwing stuff around the class. I tried to separate them, they refused, and one girl replied âfuck youâ. Trying to avoid a silly argument I called on the director to help - there is no Taiwanese co-teacher - when she came into the class she got on her knees and repeatedly apologized to them! Another kid wrote âsuck my assâ in every answer to his test - I did laugh - but I was not allowed to mention it in the report.
The suck my ass kid complained to his mom that he couldnât find his Eagle bag, mom then came to the school to moan about it. Turned out the manager had rearranged all the names and places for the bags but neglected to tell anyone. Needless to say it was my fault for not understanding what was going on (I guess Taiwanese and British telepathy operate on different wave lengths). On that note, the same manager forgot to tell me about things on several occasions, then would send out passive aggressive emails - having copied all the Taiwanese staff and the directors into the email - reminding me to do things she had forgot to mention.
I eventually abandoned some of the OTT book work (we were told that if there was no time for games they were to be left out) and implemented as many games as possible. Kids seemed happier then.
They have no manners. Staff donât even knock on the door, they just storm into the classroom and start handing out juice and milk, or remove students to feed them. Itâs the same with observations, they walk in unannounced. However, I do understand that the other staff were working under the same conditions as me, and this is a reflection on ownership/management more than anything.
When I left they tried to implement a fine.
In my short time there eight other people left. Some teachers have been left without work for the summer.
The place is loco :loco:
Shane English schools in Changhua, Yuanlin, Homei, Lugang, and Dali. They fired people with no warning for minor infractions because they want to make an example for the rest of their foreign teachers. A lot of people then quit so they chased each of those people down at their new place of work to scare them. If a person gave their quitting notice they were then fired immediately, and many were asked to pay enormous sums of money. They have attempted blackmail, emotional manipulation, and lying in order to pit foreign teachers against each other. They will not get you an ARC until the last possible second because they want to have power over you. They have done even more than this but I donât want to post more so that individual people donât get in trouble as I am thankfully still in good standing with these schools. These schools should be avoided at all costs.
Iâm new to the job search here in Taiwan, and I have to admit, a bit naive. I recently went to a buxiban called Happy Marian near Nanjing Dong Lu MRT station. They said they would give me 16 hours weekly. What they didnât say is that they would expect at least 30 hours weekly. The extra hours of course would be without extra pay. They pushed me into the classroom before applying for the work permit. (Like I said, I was a bit naive.) Then they kept changing their story. They thought it would be nothing at all for me to just fly to Hong Kong and back if they didnât get the work permit right away, because they were so busy they didnât know when they might find the time to submit it. And letâs not even talk about micro-management! Most Americans know how to fold paper, staple, glue and write check marks and numbers before we are 5 or 6 years old, but apparently Iâve been doing it wrong all this time. I was constantly being told (even in front of the children), âYou made a mistake.â Ironic since it was coming from a Taiwanese teacher who constantly confused âheâ with âsheâ and didnât know if you âsaidâ a question or âaskedâ one. Everything they said sounded good, but everything they did was just the opposite. They apparently had a similar problem with the previous American teacher. They just didnât know why he quit. Well, it didnât take me long to figure that out. Oh yes, and watch out for the contract which will say one year in one place, but then say two years at that hourly pay in another place. Thatâs just one of the many games they like to play. Iâm not saying all of this out of anger, I just want to spare any other foreigners the aggrevation of going through the same demeaning experience I had with âUnhappy Marianâ.
English Villages in general seem pretty awful from my experience (hearsay from others) - itâs literally the epitome of the caged foreign monkey school, I think.[/quote]
The English Village program in Taipei City for elementary schools is really awful. There are 12 schools in total that have EVs, one for each district in Taipei. There are a few schools that have their shit together, but most of them have no idea what they are doing or how to deal with their foreign staff. If you want to know which ones they are, if you are actually applying, you can send me a PM.
HanLin Publishing.
I did not have a good experience with them.
[quote=âToe Saveâ]HanLin Publishing.
I did not have a good experience with them.[/quote]
Didnât they even honour your Seniorâs Discount??? :no-no:
[quote=âRocketâ][quote=âToe Saveâ]HanLin Publishing.
I did not have a good experience with them.[/quote]
Didnât they even honour your Seniorâs Discount??? :no-no:[/quote]
I know, eh?
This isnât a blacklist post but more of a warning to new people who donât get the game these schools play.
I recently applied to Sesame Street at a local branch and did swimmingly - the head people there really liked me. I was basically told I had a job, but had to do some mandatory âtrainingâ at the head office. This unfortunately was a misuse of English, as it wasnât training but a demo test, but I did not know until too late. This was after doing two demos, (one was really SUBSTITUTE TEACHING but whatever) and having nothing but positivity thrown my way (all in front of actual children who responded very well to me). I was told to prepare my working documents and was given hours and pay information, and told when to report when the training was to be finished.
I got to the main office and did the first day of training, and was promptly told that the next day I was to do another demo where there would be âfeedbackâ. This first day of training I thought went fine, although I was told later that the use of my phone was a decider in not getting the job, although I only used my phone briefly at the very beginning to text my GF I made it to the location and to shut off the sound (This is 100 percent the truth). I also took notes and participated in the training.
I prepared for this demo and while I didnât do an excellent job (I got a bit nervous as there was quite a bit to remember), I felt as if I mostly got the idea of what they were looking for. The other candidates did much worse than me, as they didnât even complete the demo correctly. They were searching for someone to really complete a specific method of teaching and didnât want any sort of straying away from this. This teaching method was actually completely different then what I did at the local branch (it had absolutely no similarities whatsoever). Iâve never taught so rigidly before. It let to the three candidates ultimately being confused and not doing particularly well at the demo.
I was then told they would call the branch and the branch would call me back later that day. I was called back and told I wasnât going to be given a job. Itâs really unfortunate, as it seemed this was a great job and the people at the branch were very nice, and it was also extremely close to my residence. I also have an inkling that perhaps the demo was not the ultimate decider, and something I did or said was the real decider, so be on your absolute best behavior and donât let your guard down at all.
So the gist or TL;DR I guess is if you apply to Sesame Street, you have to pass the demo at the main office or you wonât get a job, and they only train you for 3 hours about how to do a very specific type of demo. Your initial interview is really nothing in the grand scheme of things. This âtrainingâ may not happen for 2 or 3 weeks after your initial interview. The people at the branch donât have any say in your hiring beyond the initial demo and brief interview, so donât bother listening to their opinion or getting any sort of feeling of security. Continue to apply to other jobs until this âtrainingâ is finished. I got burned and Iâm a little salty because Iâm a newbie but you can avoid this by taking this âtrainingâ extra super serious.
[quote=âaaamericanâ]
So the gist or TL;DR I guess is if you apply to Sesame Street, you have to pass the demo at the main office or you wonât get a job, and they only train you for 3 hours about how to do a very specific type of demo. Your initial interview is really nothing in the grand scheme of things. [/quote]
Unless you mention the branch, this post is pointless.
Sesame Street is a franchise. Every branch makes different management decisions.
I work at a Sesame Street branch. I never did their training.
If you want to warn against a franchise school, you have to name the branch.
I also did a few months at 700 per hour in 2004! No problems.
[quote=âQueen Theodoraâ]Does anyone have up to date info on the AGKsion Language School or Columbia English Language Institute? Iâm thinking of applying and canât seem to find any info online.
Apologies if this information is already on this thread, I did a quick scan back to about 2010 but didnât see anything.
Thanks![/quote]
If you go to Columbia, I would recommend taking note of the atmosphere among the staff. It seemed pretty negative when I toured the school. I also got the impression that working for that manager would not be a very pleasant experience.
1 Like
colombia international college of taiwan. (CICT)
Sorry I cant post the details just yet, but I will soon.
Please message me for details
Wanted to add this to the blacklist⌠strange story.
But they specifically told me to move my car right in front of their school, then they gave me like a 10 minute interview. After I left I had a slashed front left tire. But I was on the highway when I noticed it. It was defiantly foul play. Someone must have stabbed my tire with a pocket knife 10 times, and cut along it.
Name of the school is: CKids Educational Organization. Itâs in Taipei.
They have two locations this is the one I went to first: 1F, No. 16, Lane 70, Kang Ning Road, Section 3, Dong Hu, Neihu District, Taipei City
ĺ°ĺĺ¸ĺ §ćšĺ庡寧衯ä¸ćŽľ70塡16č1ć¨
Then down the street from there taking the first right is the other location, where I parked. That is where my tire got slashed.
I suspect them because the interview was so short, almost no questions, just fill out an application. No demo. Nothing.
Very strange. Donât park your car in front of that school! I have no idea what their problem is, maybe they hate Americans or white people who knows.
I would like to add Dalton International Education Institute to the blacklist.
After passing two successful demos and offered a contract, I was told to attend a two week mandatory unpaid training. I was less than enthused about the unpaid training and due to my lack of enthusiasm and passive participation, 5 days into the training, I was dismissed over a phone call from head office due to my lack of friendliness. I was observing another teacher teach and did not engage with the students but passively observed and took notes. This came back as an accusation that I didnât have the right attitude.
I would like to warn everyone to avoid this language institution like the plague. They hire happy-go-lucky no-brained attitude over teaching aptitude and knowledge. Please let the brevity of my words serve as a foul warning so that you donât have the same painful experience as I had.
Columbia International College Taiwan ( CICT ) and Hanyin Group
Columbia International College Taiwan (CICT) in review
For the record I was a former staff at CICT. I worked for them as a Grade 11 Chemistry, Physics, Functions, and Precalculus teacher this past year (2014-2015). If youâre looking for the short version of this review here, do not work for this company (Hanyin Group), this school, or the Chairman, Allan Lo. He blatantly lies to his staff, his students, and their parents. His only care about education is that it brings him money to go on cruises and holiday, he doesnât care about anyone he works with nor the future of the students here. The longer version will follow.
To the prospective employee, there is absolutely no way I would recommend this as a workplace for you. If you are remotely professional or are passionate about your job and teaching DO NOT TAKE THIS JOB. No one cares about you as an employee, while you might argue that in Asia most foreign teachers are just a âfaceâ to show the parents of the school, and you may be right, CICT takes it to another level. The communication is non-existent, there is an academic director at the school who refuses to talk with the teachers. If we didnât know better she would tell us that she doesnât speak English. Unfortunately for her, her English is very good, fluent, and she is easy to understand. She honestly tries her hardest to have as little contact with âherâ staff as possible. At the start of the year we had weekly meetings where the teachers and other staff would discuss the week and problems etc (like no soap in the bathrooms, or toilet paper, misbehaving students, etc) The teachers would constantly bring up the lack of communication and our desire to improve that, the solution: STOP ALL MEETINGS. Not only did they stop meetings but they neglected to tell us that the meetings had ceased. After one teacher attempted to quit, the chairman spoke with her and said the problem would be fixed as he hired a âsuperintendentâ who would serve as the communication between the academic department, the academic coordinator, and the chairman. Unfortunately, he came for 2 weeks, pretended to listen, had an entire office converted for him, then sent us an e-mail saying he had a quick business trip to China. This was in March and we didnât see him again until the end of June at the studentsâ graduation. The teacher finally quit and the Chairman told other (already busy staff) to pick up the slack. The more I go on, the more I can say about this place. Please, do not give this man any assistance by working for him. He is an awful person, to top it all off he has no control over being challenged. He shouted at me during a meeting then proceeded to walk out slamming the door like a child because I did not want to sign a contract saying I would pay for a required uniform. If you have any more specific questions about what it is like to be a staff at this place please donât hesitate to message me.
Now on to what itâs like to the students⌠Almost everything about this school is based on a lie or an overstretched ideal of how the chairman thinks that a school should visually look to outsiders. However, while working here the opposite of ideal has been true. Not only is the Chairman pocketing significantly more money that necessary, the cost that the students are paying is far greater than the education and life care that they are receiving. The students pay all of these âextraâ fees for things that they are required to go to. For example, clubs and tutorial. The students MUST all be a part of 1 club and MUST all go to tutorial from 7-9 pm each night. The students must pay extra for each of these for the staff that are working during those times get no extra compensation. When confronted about this problem the response was âelectricity costsâ. The students paid an extra âclub feeâ for each club that once again they were required to sign up for but the club saw no evidence of that sign-up fee. No club got any type of funding from the money they already put into this, and when asked about this specific problem, the response was, âthey are rich, you can make them buy anythingâ.
The meals at the school are another story, the amount is not enough for any active high school student to get full nutrition from, and when confronted about it the school makes the argument âitâs the kitchen not doing what we tell themâ in contrast, on days where the chairman has been showing visitors around the school, the lunches miraculously become more plentiful, and better quality. Also a quote from the daughter of the chairman and a fellow teacher and guidance counselor at the school, â we are trying to get them used to the food at the private school in Canadaâ by âgiving them lessâ and worse tasting food. But at CIC in Canada the students have the freedom and option to order food on their own or purchase from a panini cafĂŠ. You might think, well the students can just order delivery to their dorms at evening or lunch times. False. The students started doing that when the Chairman butted in and banned students from ordering drinks, meals, or snacks from outside vendors. When the teachers tried helping them to order the Chairman once again told us we were not allowed to give the students food unless approved. The Chairman decided to put in a convenience type store near the lunch room but removed any instant noodles from is in case the students wouldnât each their lunch if they had the option for instant noodles. There are so many things I could go on about but I think this review would get too long. One final problem was that my students saw how truly deceitful this man was, how empty his promises were, and how big of a joke he was. That weighs on a teacher to see your students so justifiably angry and so unmotivated to learn because they knew that because they had paid their marks were irrelevant.
I canât stress enough what a truly awful company Hanyin and CICT were to work for. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A CONTRACT. If you happen to be a parent reading this, DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE, there are other opportunities for him/her. Please message me for any questions.
[quote=âJohnnyBEdgeâ]colombia international college of Taiwan. (CICT)
Sorry I cant post the details just yet, but I will soon.
Please message me for details[/quote]
ok so now im finished with this school and surprisingly received all my money from them, so ill leave my review. I was hired to teach physical education, english and social science at CICT campus in taoyuan city (on contract) and have an âapartment styleâ living provided. I arrived to the campus actually being located in Longtan Township and was put into an uncleaned dormitory room from a previous school 20 years prior to CICT. School starts a few weeks later and I was given physics/earth sciences, writing, and presentations class to teach while dropping PE. This was all done without notice, no âis this ok with you?â I think to myself âWhatever, ill help them out, its a new school, things are just getting smoothed out.â This type of communitcation carried on through the entire year. The curriculum that was supposed to be provided was never given and in fact I was told to make one up for the school. Weekly meetings never produced any results and eventually stopped without notice. A super intendant was supposed to be brought in to help with communcation and getting things done without waiting for the chairman (allan lo) but he never showed after his introduction to the staff. As a result a teacher quit who was fed up with all the above listed problems and more. The big event for me was when Allan Lo handed out contracts stating we were getting taylored suits as a gift but if we quit we were to pay for them (fair enough) however if we didnt sign the contract, turning down the âgiftâ, we would be fined. All the teachers declined and he walked out of the weekly meeting as a result and slammed the door. When I had a personal meeting with him afterwards to discuss it and everything else, he called me a stupid american for turning down a gift. The only reasoned i stayed at this school was for my students, they saw the fakeness of the school and worried about their preparation for college. The last thing i will say is that everything about this school is fake and done to the cheapest of qualities, yet it costs more than my university tuition.
If you interview with the school, ask why 4 out of 5 teachers left and no teachers stayed from the previous year to that. (In fact, ask the school for the emails of all the previous teachers, saying youd like to hear what they have to say) just to see their response. Im willing to bet theyd only give 2 names. Take a good look at the town in which the city is. Its beautful but no social life for a foreigner and no easy transportation unless you buy a motorbike. Feel free to PM me for any specific questions.