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Chaotic Flame posted:Well, I read this whole thread in one sitting. It was fascinating! Has anyone done a similar thread for Korea/Japan? I'm curious about some of the differences and similarities alluded to in this thread. If you have specific questions, go ahead and ask! There are at least two people in this thread who have taught in all three countries, and lots of folks who have taught in two out of three. Most of my info about teaching in Japan is probably a bit out of date, tbh; I left in 2010 and have only been back for a few weekends here and there. e: I hate it when people scream HELLLOOOOO at me as they go past on their bike, or out of the window of their car without slowing down. Why are you bothering? It's 8:30 AM on a Monday; just be concerned with yourself instead of yelling at random women on the street.
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Jun 12, 2017 02:34
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Baronjutter posted:Is there any market for an entirely western run english school in China that actually correctly teaches english and preps students for western universities? Or would that be illegal to open/operate? That's what we technically work at, so, yeah. I have no clue about the legality, but I assume it wouldn't be possible without some Party official as its head. You could probably pay said official to more or less leave you alone, but that's not sustainable or reliable- they could easily have a spy in your midst, like "Bob" was at our school. The problem isn't that the resources aren't out there, it's that your coworkers think you are an asshat moron by virtue of not being Chinese. If you don't speak Chinese (or if, say, you've pretended not to understand any Chinese for two years...), they'll talk poo poo about you and your teaching and basically anything you say that conflicts with Chinese stereotypes and ultimately do their best to completely undermine your authority. For example: This idiot wench who teaches TOEFL writing for some reason, despite having the English ability of a grape, spent all of last year teaching the students that the words "sages" and "experts" are interchangeable. I told them that is not the case. They went to her and complained and she told them to ignore me. Just ignore the person who speaks this language a million, zillion times better than you ever will. I think this program would be great and work well if 1. We had admissions standards, 2. There were no TOEFL classes or Chinese teachers of English, and 3. If EVERYONE reinforced the behavior and discipline standards. The Chinese teachers absolutely hate to discipline any student for anything, even stuff that should technically get them kicked out of school. And it's very hard to discipline someone whose excuse is the same every time- "Oh, I didn't understand her  "- and who knows nothing bad will actually ever happen to them.I edited this post because my initial response was very terse and scattered (realized I had to leave for work in 5 mins right as I started writing) and bitchy. Well, bitchier. This is my two week mark. I am really happy about that. The TOEFL teachers are basically putting me through an Amish shunning right now, and I have no idea why. My husband's theory is that Wilma made me a scapegoat for something, since she has no problem doing that with everyone else in the office, and it was either believable or convenient enough that these people- some of whom I'd literally yelled at my boss for treating poorly during the Bob and Joe escapade, and who KNEW that- decided to believe her. Ah, well. Save on leaving gifts, I suppose. Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Jun 15, 2017 |
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Jun 15, 2017 01:27
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I just found out that "Nancy"- who literally cried on my shoulder for two whole days, who gave me a leaving present, who I stuck up for and shouted at my boss over trying to fire- is the one who threw me under the bus regarding sick days. Nine more days until I'm out of here.
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Jun 20, 2017 07:35
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ladron posted:do tell Not much else to say, really. She pulled the ol' talk-poo poo-about-the-foreign-teachers-to-students-so-students-turn-against-them thing. So our classes went crazy and turned hostile towards us and everyone failed, and now the TOEFL teachers like Nancy (who apparently was the ringleader) are going to poach them for private lessons on the side while simultaneously continuing to sink this program by pointing to bad teacher evaluations and failing grades as more evidence that foreigners are dumb and bad at anything education-related. This is exactly the same situation that ruined the program at the "smart" school. Why don't these people just work at a training school if this is their mindset? It boggles.
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Jun 20, 2017 08:17
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BCR posted:Because they'll be teaching the 'stolen' students on their own terms, getting 100% of the fees rather than whatever the training school cuts them. I understand that, but it doesn't lessen the sting any. I'm just going to paraphrase Mean Girls and say that my stomach feels like it's gonna fall out my butt.
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Jun 20, 2017 08:45
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ladron posted:what was the present? A USB with my name engraved on it. No, I don't want to confront her. She'll lie, anyways. I have three more workdays; I'll make it through. The problem is her desk is next to mine, and remnants of my Angry Punk Youth where shouting and aggravated mischief solved everything are hard to squash right now. I'm just gonna sit in the meeting room and keep plugging away at my curriculum dev project and not talk to anyone. e: It's better than the time I fought for this girl in Korea to get a job at my school because she had really good English skills and seemed enthusiastic, and they hired her, and she turned on me at the end, too. She spent my last six weeks in Korea sending me endless Kakao/CoolMessages about how I was a child abuser (I took away a kid's rubber band because he kept shooting it in his friend's eye) and a "bad/mean/dirty/promiscuous foreigner" (she started a rumor I was cheating on my husband...hahahah okay?) Basically women and I are like oil and water. I'm sure goons can relate  but seriously folks
Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Jun 20, 2017 |
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Jun 20, 2017 08:55
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John Smith posted:Is it possible that it is your fault? If there are 2 independent incidents. Because then it seem likely that it is either you or the environment (Asian culture). In this case, it is not me. I have never had an interaction with this person that could be perceived as negative, even by some weird and inexplicable twist of culture clash. I know when I overstep bounds, and with her, I have not, unless she is a really amazing actress (she isn't.) I definitely don't mesh with "Asian culture," which I did not know was a monolithic entity, but this has nothing to do with that fact. And the girl in Korea was straight crackers crazy; she snapped on me because she didn't like the game I had chosen that day and from then on it was sheer hell. I don't think this is my fault. I think I was a good scapegoat. I also will not be addressing this again; I just wanted to make a note for the sake of the thread.
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Jun 20, 2017 15:30
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Okay, time to yell "BYE BYE!!!!!" Thank you to all the goons who contributed. I honestly learned a lot and I'm really happy that people helped answer a lot of the questions in this thread. If anyone else wants to ask a question, I have PMs. have a smoggy day!
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Jun 21, 2017 01:18
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