Teach & Study Abroad Horror Stories

Teach and Study Abroad Problems for Many

There is a huge difference between commercial schools and university departments and "language programs" as seperate faculties servicing universities. There are
huge and significant differences between the commercial schools too with some paying slave wages and housing teachers dormitory style, others paying hourly wages with no benefits and zero job security, and many schools operating openly outside all legal standards and regulations.

A friend of mine on his blog, Englishteacher... , wrote a story about a new teacher spending the first 24 hours in her Flat crying.

My mom's friend, a divorced mother in her fifties on somewhat of a whim, headed to Vietnam to become an English teacher and got violently ill while there and came back three months later for the holidays and just didn't return. She had had enough with getting sick, with the culture shock, and with the loneliness and her dislike for her co-workers and the American expatriate community in Vietnam. She thought she'd meet tons of interesting people but instead met angry, bitter, unhinged Americans who were there basically to run away from something back in the States. Not all experiences are bad, but you definitely have to do your research beforehand.

The last one was an "established" major national university in.....
No heat or hot water until spring (solar heating), no food, no plates or silverware or glassware, no telephone, no mail, no chalk or paper or pencils, no books and no syllabus. I had to pay the university to use my own computer in my office. Personal death threats from other university faculty. Racist threats from the doctor at the local church clinic. No pay and no return ticket (and accusations of fraud when requesting pay, and bills for electricity for using an electric heater). No work visa and illegal strip searches. No letter of employment after leaving. Gun battles at night and weekends, but free satellite TV. And from time to time, food (cooked and fresh-picked, and fresh eggs and cheeses at the door left by students' and their parents after dark.

Not all is perfect in The USA

When I got out of the plane in Greensboro in the US state of North Carolina, I would never have expected my host family to welcome me at the airport, wielding a Bible, and saying, ‘Child, our Lord sent you half-way around the world to bring you to us.’ At that moment I just wanted to turn round and run back to the plane.

Things began to go wrong as soon as I arrived in my new home in Winston-Salem, where I was to spend my year abroad. For example, every Monday my host family would gather around the kitchen table to talk about sex. My host parents hadn’t had sex for the last 17 years because — so they told me — they were devoting their lives to God. They also wanted to know whether I drank alcohol. I admitted that I liked beer and wine. They told me I had the devil in my heart.

Suggestions for Business English Texts

Suggestions for Business English Texts

1. Market Leader - New Edition - Practice Files, Test Books, Videos
2. Business Objectives and Video
3. New Business Matters plus video
4. Everyday Business Writing ( Longman)
5. Business Grammar and Practice ( Oxford )
6. Big City Video ( Oxford )
7. Business Builder ( McMillan )- three volumes
8. Executive Listening ( Nelson )
9. Management and Marketing ( Thomson )
10. Key Terms in People Management ( York )

Also Good References
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching, Assessment Council of Europe
Cambridge University Press, 2001

Business Vocabulary in Practice
Harper Collins 2004

English for Business Studies
Ian MacKenzie
Cambridge University Press, 1997, 2002

Intelligent Business
Tonya Trappe, Graham Tullis
Pearson Education, 2005

International Legal English
Amy Krois-Linder
Cambridge University Press, 2006

The Corporation
Joel Bakan
Simon & Schuster, Inc, 2004

Management and Marketing
Ian MacKenzie
Thomson ,1997 (LTP)

Financial English
Ian MacKenzie
Thomson, 1995 look for updated editions

Presenting in English
Mark Powell
Thomson, 2002

Business Matters
Mark Powell
LTP 1996 - Thomson 2004

The In Company series
MacMillan

http://teachenglishblog.blogspot.com/

Canada ESL Tutor Info on the Net

Canada ESL Tutor Info on the Net

Tutors and tutoring are subjects with many mixed messages. Using any of the big four search engines with the words "Canada tutor" will obtain a variety of results.

MSN provided 10 of 10 Canada tutor search results. DMOZ provided 5 of 6 sites about tutors in Canada. Google gave us a page with 4 Canadian, 2 UK and 10 USA sites.
Yahoo's top 4 "ad" links were USA with 7 of 10 results from Canada.


Some Canada Search Engines were even less usefull.
Amray had 0 zero tutors in their first 10 sites.
Canadaone had 2 resources & zero search results.
Categories had no matching links

When we searched for Canada Tutor in Directories:
This tutor listing service charges $25.
There are 41 tutor(s) that meet your criteria.
You searched: Any level, ESL, Any in Ontario
***
There are 60 tutor(s) that meet your criteria.
You searched: Any level, ESL, Any in BC

++++++++++
This UK site promised rates of pay.
BAND 1 CAN$22 - CAN$26
BAND 2 CAN$24 - CAN$31
BAND 3 CAN$36 - CAN$43
BAND 4 CAN$36 - CAN$43
Then they told you
Tutor Registration fee $50 payment
no promise of students

**********

This USA site was hyping their "certificate" The best a private tutor can do is read books on tutoring, talk with other tutors, and practice. Though all of these are worthwhile activities, none lead to any sort of certificate that the private
tutor can show to prospective clients.

Listen to this hype
Want to place yourself "a cut above" your tutoring competition? Want to improve your confidence and tutoring skills at the same time? Want something tangible to show clients that you're the best? No promise of students and no national recognition by any educational organization. This guy should go back to selling used cars.

***********

There appears to be a real need for certification of Canadian tutors who train ESL students.

It is time to organize a national "Tutor Organization" with representatives from the provincial Ministries of education, the various teachers unions, the various faculties of education and the Federal CIC LINK program.

This org would require a team that approves existing education programs, materials and tutors and assemble tutor training program standards. Having a website that promotes standards, professional development opportunities and lists contact information would be a real boost for the individual members.