Well, I think I have heard all I need to hear about Hess! Can anyone give me any advice about the best branch to work at with Kid Castle or ELSI? My contract expires after the summer and I want to weigh my options.
What?
Nobody has responded yet? Hope you’re still checking this thread.
Afraid I don’t know much about Kid Castle. They’re curriculum should be OK, seeing as a couple of writers from Hess were working on it. But as I understand it, each branch is franchised so the quality can vary quite a bit.
ELSI is a pretty good bet, having worked for them for several years, I can recommend them quite highly. As with any school, it seems to depend on the branch. With ELSI, you won’t have quite as high of pay and not as well-organized curriculum as Hess, but generally speaking, the management system is much more humane and sane. The headquarters can get a bit goofy, but once you’ve got your visa/ARC, you won’t need to deal with them anymore. In my opinion, once you get out to the branch, it’s a very nice place to work.
One word of advice though - apply from your home country. That way, you can get your plane ticket re-imbursed. If you apply in Taiwan, no ticket.
If you want to teach and have the students have some inkling of knowledge of English, you better not work anywhere else but Hess. That dummy ELSI, I had a friend who worked there many years and was climbing uphill trying to teach with those dummy books they use. Good luck teaching there if you’re not a dummy, it will annoy you.
I have no idea about Kid Castle, but with a name like that, how good could it possibly be? And isn’t their ad that dummy dressed like a leprechaun or something?
Poop.