Anybody know anything about the American Eagle Schools?
[quote=“Etheorial”]Hi,
Thanks for your message.
I saw a posting of theirs on Dave ESL’s Cafe saying they needed teachers in all of their locations. I’d only be interested in working in Taipei.
How are the working conditions and salaries there, as compared with other chain schools? (hess for example)
Are they fairly adept at getting the proper visas and ARC for their teachers?
I have no TEFL certificate and no prior teaching experience. Do you think that would affect my chances of being hired?
Lastly, are there any other reputable chain schools you can recommend to me? I need to pre-arrange a job from America, so that i may begin working soon after my arrival in Taiwan.
Best Regards,
Matt[/quote]
They didn’t have the Taipei school opened yet,so I don’t know what it’s like. This is something you’d have to ask them.
Conditions are great. They spend alot of money on environment and supplies. They are also very professional about getting ARCs. But, on that note…if you have been doing your research, you’ll have noted that there are alot of rumors of raids going on at schools. It is illegal to have a foriegner teach in a kindy. It always has been, but officials have looked the other way. Now there are lots of stories about teachers being sent packing after being caught in what they thought was a legal position. As I teach adults exclusively now, these changes don’t affect me, so I have not followed this issue as closely as others have. YOu can ask AES directly about this, but remember that Taiwanese are quick to label us as “complainers” if we ask too many questions.
If I had to choose between Hess, Kojen, GV, Gram, David’s or Jy (or any of the other chains) I’d choose AES.
No TEFL, no problem, at least for AES.
As for salaries, you will make approx. 65,000 NT a month. As you can live in their dorms for 3500 and they feed you 10 meals a week, you can save alot. But you will work your ass off. Kindy all day (8-4), with a foreign co-teacher, which sounds good but I didn’t like it. In the evening, you teach a 90 minute buxiban class. You are done by 6, but you will be exhausted. Then you have to do a weekly report for each student in your care (approx 36). That gets very tedious. And, on top of that, you have to do your own lesson planning. This all takes its toll.
I make the same now (okay, a little less) but I only teach 27 hours a week and have no prep or correcting to do.
As for finding a job from overseas, I can say this. I have done that 2x now and lived to regret it. The advice of myself and other posters on the various sites that I respect is to come here and look around. Yes, much more daunting a proposition, but better two weeks of confusion than a year of regret.
Now, there was a blow-out 4 years ago at AES. The teachers, all new to Taipei, started to meet other teachers and realized that our hourly wage was way below what their friends at other schools were making. They did’nt realize that the others were getting limited hours. anyway, they started a big battle with management, started complaining to parents and AES had no choice but to take punitive action (firings). MY opinion was that the teachers were being childish and greedy and that AES staff and management did there level best to handle a tough situation. Now, a word of warning. This fiasco was fueled by 2 foriegners AES employs as managers. Their names are K (CBC guy from Vancouver)(don’t remember his last name) and GB (Old American woman, real beeyatch). If you are dealing with these people, beware…they are self-righteous assholes that think they are a gift to the Taiwan ESL business. If it wasn’t for these two, I might even consider going back to AES. But they are such that I never would. AES chinese staff and management are great, the schools are clean and modern, the clientele are usually quite well off, but you’ll work your ass off to make the same money (less actually) that would be available to you if you came here without a job and spent 2 weeks pounding the pavement.
Good Luck.
Hi everyone, hope you can help me out with this.
I have an offer from the American Eagle Institute in Judong and Changhua.
Anything anyone can tell me about these schools, or the chain in general? or the cities themselves?
Thanks so much!
I’ve heard nothing but good things about American Eagle. I don’t know anyone who works at the Judong branch, but the Hsinchu, Jubei, and Science Park branches are good places to work. The hourly pay is really good, like 750 an hour starting off, and there is very little down time, you should have block hours. Only downside is you probably won’t teach more than 16 hours a week unless someone goes on vacation, and not every teacher at the branch will get to do the winter and summer camp, so you could see a forced month vacation at that time, especially if you’re the new guy. Other than that the school is straight, you’ll have lots of free time and live comfortably. They also don’t mind if you pick up morning work to supplement your income.
Thanks valor.
According to my contract though it’s a monthly salary, not per hour.
Many years ago, a friend of mine worked at one and didn’t have anything bad to say about it.
As for locations, I used to live in Changhua. For me, it was a great place to live, but then I’m comfortable living in a place where there’s not much English or other western things. If you need these, you might not like it.
[quote=“RushTheSpider”]Thanks valor.
According to my contract though it’s a monthly salary, not per hour.[/quote]
I see. What kind of hours are you looking at and how much are they offering if you don’t mind me asking.
Don’t know much about the school, but they are spending a lot on ads in Taichung.
The ones on cable are really irritating…with the little kid giving a western guy directions to his hotel and another one with her asking " how’s the weather in Toronto today?" :aiyo: gettin’ on my nerves…I’ve heard they are struggling to get students in Taichung.
In Hsinchu/Jhubei, the people I knew who were salaried claimed not to make enough for the hours they put in, but the ones who worked casual (afterschool classes only; hourly wage) raved about it and said it was a great place to work. Apparently, the management in the Jhubei branch leaves something to be desired. Keep in mind that this is secondhand info; I haven’t worked there myself.
[quote=“valor”][quote=“RushTheSpider”]
I see. What kind of hours are you looking at and how much are they offering if you don’t mind me asking.[/quote][/quote]
It’s supposed to be 9AM-6PM 5 days a week. I’m not allowed to discuss financials as per my contract, as it could be terminated, I know it may seem paranoid but I have seen my recruiter post on here.
[quote=“americanmama”]Don’t know much about the school, but they are spending a lot on ads in Taichung.
The ones on cable are really irritating…with the little kid giving a western guy directions to his hotel and another one with her asking " how’s the weather in Toronto today?" :aiyo: gettin’ on my nerves…I’ve heard they are struggling to get students in Taichung.[/quote]
haha those commercials sound hilarious!
oh yeah and by the way it ended up being the one in Judong not Changhua. Shame as I heard there is absolutely nothing to do in Hsinchu let alone Judong.
[quote]oh yeah and by the way it ended up being the one in Judong not Changhua. Shame as I heard there is absolutely nothing to do in Hsinchu let alone Judong.[/quote]Changhua isn’t exactly the most happening place either, considering a good week for me is a trip to Costco or a Sunday trip to the Thai convenient store for Thai kick boxing on the telly.
When I interviewed last year, I was offered $55,000/month for a similar deal. I chose not to accept it. The Changhua school was new and I was also afraid of getting all the screwed up kids that were kicked out of other schools or with whacked out parents.
You could always PM the original poster if you felt like sharing; your recruiter won’t be privy to that information.
Does anyone know the reputation of American Eagle Institute. I have been hired to start working here in July as a a writer and teacher. Has anyone experience the job as writer for lesson plans. It sound interesting and splits up my teaching day. What is a comfortable amount of pay to expect for teaching in Taiwan.
The one here in Changhua is fairly new, but I haven’t heard anything really negative about it. I talked to the lady last Summer who runs it and she seemed extremely nice. (They just didn’t have any jobs at the time).
That is about all I know about it.
Hello,
Does anyone have or know someone that has experience with the American Eagle Institute? Are they a good school to work for or are they slave drivers?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Part time salary is competitive.
If you’re roped into full time, it’ll be slave labour.
Working hours are really brutal - over 9 hours brutal.
I’ve got a pretty good deal with them- for me, anyway. At my branch.
I think they’re opening franchises quite aggressively these days, so I imagine there are a few people buying into their marketing scheme and starting schools when they have no idea how to run one… Worker beware…
I think the part timers have a better hourly deal- if they give you block hours and you can wrangle enough time elsewhere. You don’t have all the responsibilities of the full timers.
Full timers are there for 9 hours a day, teaching or not. You get extra money on top of your salary for doing more than the main classes you are contracted to teach. There’s an attendance bonus, a housing allowance, paid sick days, paid Chinese NewYear, government holidays, typhoon days, and some floating holidays you can take off paid during your second year. 12,000 a year “good job” bonus, and a 30,000 contract completion bonus. You are expected to come in on Saturdays or stay late occasionally for promotional activities. You are expected to decorate your classroom (I get my own classroom) and help out with the school decorations and functions. You are to give prospective students placement tests. You do many little jobs requiring your participation and preparation that have nothing to do with your actual classes. They have at least one special function per semester (spelling bee, speech contest) and it’s a lot of work that nobody really has time for. Communication reports are written about every two weeks, and they’re expected to be very well written and thorough. There’s a constant barrage of suggestions from “head office”, and they don’t always make sense or are considerate of your lesson plans or students’ time. It can really be too much sometimes.
The curriculum is fairly well laid out, includes suggestions for games, and has tons of worksheets. You can occasionally cruise through a class or two. The major problem is that there is too much of it, too fast. It’s like they are trying to prove how good they are by the sheer amount of work the children do. They claim an American curriculum presented in a “spiral” method, but it constantly needs your attention and effort to make it work well. I’m usually struggling to be certain that the students have caught on to some point that was taught only briefly a short time ago. I’m always looking for efficient ways to review previous material without falling behind on the current stuff. The tests are difficult. They try to match the student’s English level to the class, but it’s not always accurate, and some students suffer. They are also expected to regularly read books, write reports, present reports, and write journals. A lot of their product has to be very finished and looking nice on the walls. You’re not supposed to assign homework, but for some things, it’s necessary. I think their fees and marketing strategy cater to the wealthy, but the kids are mostly all right, if not a bit spoiled.
I guess you could say that I “slave” away there, but for now, it’s a good deal for me. The money is about on par with most salaried jobs. In my case, I get fed lunch and dinner, and I save a lot of money that way. I have a pretty nice work environment in a nicely designed, well-lit classroom with a big window. I have a computer in the class (really useful) and my bosses seem to leave me alone. I get all the supplies I need and my co-workers are very helpful. I prefer to be working busily rather than wasting time on the job. When I do get some time to waste, I appreciate it. I like not having to race around on my scooter for part time hours, even though I could probably make more money that way. I don’t have a lot of time to play games, so the students really appreciate it when I do. I feel that I work hard and make a little difference for some of my students. As far as the English school game in Taiwan, I’ve had a lot worse. It’s not a stickyball school.
Part timers still have to prepare for Christmas and spelling bees and all that stuff. I imagine some of it is unpaid. They don’t get the other bonuses.
There is unpaid training about twice a year for newcomers that really sucks. I don’t have to go anymore.
After writing this, I guess I’ve got it pretty good! My bosses are inexperienced, misinformed, and often unrealistic, but I’m pretty used to it. My work load will be better when they find another full timer to share the duties with, but for now it’s manageable. I’m looking forward to a holiday, that’s for sure.
Just keep in mind that it’s a franchise, and under the skin, they’re all a lot different.
That response was above and beyond! Thank you for all the information. You are awesome.
Is this standard in all classrooms, and is it a personal computer just for the teacher, or is it connected to a large screen in the class, so that you can show all the students?
Is this standard in all classrooms, and is it a personal computer just for the teacher, or is it connected to a large screen in the class, so that you can show all the students?[/quote]
I could be wrong, but at any decent school, it’s the norm.