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The Teachers' Lounge => Dodgy Ads...and How To Dodge Them! (ON-TOPIC ONLY!) => Topic started by: DWA on June 02, 2008, 02:33:16 AM

Title: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: DWA on June 02, 2008, 02:33:16 AM
Hello all.....It is amazing some of the information we get from a school. 

I was just sent the school information pasted below....don't know where they got my address or knew I'm in the market....kinda amazing how some things get around.  Any way, cast your eyes on this one......and NO !!!~~~!!! I'm not taking it.  Right from jump street is the shared apartment {I don't do that.....as has been said here often....private time is simply that...PRIVATE !!!! and if I choose to go to the toilet in the middle of the night in my natural state, well} then there's the salary thing....she says one place "cheap cities"...yeah, she's should talk about cheap, and....Well, you get the picture.   Just simply passing on informaion......and apologies for my editorial notes.....{{Seething and snorting fire at the mere thought of sharing an apartment.....~~~~~~~!}}

AND......praying to God I don't offend any of our folks who might work there now.... bibibibibi

Top International English School requires full-time & part-time teachers. We are looking for professional, reliable, responsible, energetic and creative teachers that enjoy the rewards of teaching.
We teach a wide variety of classes at Top International English School, including early learners, young learners, adult classes, and VIP one to one classes. This ensures that there is a massive opportunity to develop your teaching skills, and that life is anything but boring. Additionally, we teach business English offsite at some local companies including Harbin Beer and Shangri-la Hotel. We also teach at a local prestigious middle school and a couple of leading primary schools, which can be a real cultural eye-opener, and an interesting challenge. Other interesting courses we run are during the winter and summer holidays where we offer travel and study camps for our younger students.

This range of classes and learners makes our Harbin schools ideal for those who are passionate about teaching, and those who want to learn how to really teach. If you are here just for a holiday then we’re not the school for you.

Our schools have Internet access available to all teachers, and plenty of resource books, folders and other teaching materials to help teachers with the day-to-day lesson planning and teaching.

We have developed our own course books for our courses. We offer multimedia rooms for our students to study English online. Our students are also offered regular social events with our teachers, which, apart from being great fun, help foster a more authentic English-speaking environment.

The difference between us and other local schools is the effort put in on our teachers’ personal development. We hold regular training workshops for our teaching staff and encourage teachers to share their ideas with one another. Teachers are also given the opportunity to observe each other’s classes, so that they may gain new insight and offer constructive feedback. Additionally, teachers regularly give oral placement interviews to new students, and demo classes to prospective students. Our aim is to provide our teachers with diverse and enriching experience; equating to a highly qualified teaching team with a wealth of transferable skills.

We also know that teachers must be given the creativity to plan their own lessons, as well as full support from our academic team.

All teachers are offered quality accommodation within ten-minute walking distance of one of the schools. Accommodation is based on two people sharing in separate bedrooms. All flats are fully furnished with two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, and bathroom. All flats come equipped with central heating, air conditioning, a gas hob for cooking, a water dispensing machine, a television, a DVD player, and a shower.


The school is located in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China.
Harbin is famous for the spectacular Snow and Ice Festival during December through January/February when the city is transformed into a luminescent showcase of ice art. For those of you who love skiing, there is Yabuli ski resort located just a 4-hour drive away.
Harbin has four distinct seasons, each with its own particular beauty. Spring brings streets that are lined with fragrant lilac trees and abundant outdoor markets. Summer brings the comfortably hot weather and the umbrellas of the numerous beer gardens dotted across the city. Other yearly highlights include a classical music festival, and a beer festival.
Harbin has a massive variety of cuisine to offer, from local North-eastern food, to Mongolian, Sichuanese, Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Japanese, and Arabian. Harbin also has its fair share of western fast food and a couple of ex-pat run coffee houses. Eating and drinking is also extremely cheap in comparison to other major cities. A good meal for four in a local restaurant is likely to cost 40 Yuan. Drinks are also very cheap at 2 Yuan for a 630ml bottle of beer. Nightlife ranges from cosy bars and brash discos, to surprisingly pleasant “KTV” karaoke bars, and the relaxing summer beer gardens.
The people of Harbin speak very standard Chinese, arguably more so than in Beijing. The school provides free Chinese lessons once a week to all those who wish to study Mandarin. These are taught by our course consultants, or local teachers. In addition it’s very common for our teachers to have private tutors visit them at home for a very cheap hourly rate. 
Due to its geographical position, Harbin is one of China’s cheapest major cities. Eating out is cheap and popular, as is shopping in the markets and various recreation activities. Harbin is a shopper’s goldmine, abundant with fantastic places to shop, including the underground markets which were converted from bomb shelters. It’s nearly always possible to haggle which means there is always a bargain to be found. Harbin is a cheap place, which makes ideal for saving up to go travelling to see the local sights.

Harbin is a relatively attractive city. The reason for this lies in the Russian influence, with a lot of Russian architecture to be found, including the superb St. Sophia's Church.  While it has its share of Chinese communist tower blocks just like other cities, it does have some nice bits as well.  Other attractions include Songhua River, which dissects the city, the Manchurian Tiger Park, Buddhist and Taoist temples, and Sun Island, which has inspired songs through its beauty.

Harbin is ideally situated for journeys around the northeast, which offers some of China’s most undeveloped, and least travelled, countryside.  Inner Mongolia, the Russian and Korean border regions, Jingpo Lake and Changbai mountains are all easily accessible. China’s only international Ski resort, Yabuli, is only a four-hour bus ride away. There are also some lesser-known minority villages on the outskirts of the city, including Manchu and Korean Chinese areas. Harbin is also the terminus for the Trans-Siberian express, which finishes in Moscow, while Beijing is only an overnight train journey away.

In places such as Beijing and Shanghai, with their increasing internationalization and a Starbucks on every major street corner, it’s sometimes difficult to tell that you’re in China. Harbin is one the few cities in which you can experience a more authentic China.
The thriving capital of Heilongjiang province, Harbin is known for its warm-hearted and friendly locals, its winter Ice Festival, and the oldest beer in China.

Teaching hours are approximately 20 hours a week. Working hours are on average 40 hours a week (to include the classroom teaching, lesson planning, admin, placement testing, meetings, workshops and occasional promotional events). We work a six-day working week during the months of January & February and from June-August. We work a five-day working week at for the remaining months.

Our standard 12-month contract offers a salary of 6000 RMB a month for the first six months, then rising to 6500 RMB a month for the final six months. We offer an 8000 RMB completion contract bonus by way of an airfare allowance. The school covers all visa costs. Other 6-month, 18- month and 24-month contracts are available for those with other thoughts in mind.   

Candidates should be TEFL certified, or in the process of completing a recognised TEFL course. 

For more information contact Director of Studies, Top International English School, Harbin.

Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: AMonk on June 02, 2008, 02:55:41 AM
I don't do 40 hours a week.
I don't do 6 days per week. 
I only do "shared" accomodations with Hubby.
I am not interested on being at "regular social events" with my students.
I have no wish to teach such varied ages/levels of fluency/assorted class sizes as they mention.
AND...
I wouldn't be the least bit interested in "travelling" to other locations.

This isn't a "school"....it's a private tutorial group.  They would want to work my ass off for 6,000RMB.  And that "bonus" wouldn't pay my ticket home. 
Not happening.  No thank you.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: dragonsaver on June 02, 2008, 03:23:05 AM
This is just another run of the mill language school.  Different name same crap.

40 hours bull, once you do the social events and other crap it will be more than that.  Travelling to different schools - on their time or yours??

Shared is not for most people.

Harbin is NOT cheap to live.  Visited there and Dalian is cheaper.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: ericthered on June 02, 2008, 06:30:20 AM
40 hours a week...social activities, shared accomodation...Danger, danger, Will Robinson, Danger.

Run away, would be my sage advice.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: Raoul F. Duke on June 02, 2008, 12:34:21 PM
Nicely avoided! agagagagag
What a load of bqbqbqbqbq ... something remarkably similar to this might end up in our "Dodgy Job Ads" file someday. uuuuuuuuuu

I guess I'm showing my age, but I can remember when rivers merely BIsected cities. Nowadays of course they actually DISsect cities, and in some places (such as Bangladesh) have been known to perform full autopsies on them as well.

And I'm not clear if they mean Harbin has the OLDest beer in China, which must be terribly skunky by now, or the COLDest beer in China, which means they just stored it outside. agagagagag
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: Monkey King on June 02, 2008, 06:20:42 PM
They've got balls demanding all that for that salary. 

It's also quite cleverly written though - it tries very hard to portray things like doing  placement tests, traveling to multiple working locations and being forced to attend social functions with students as 'perks'.

Someone less experienced might fall for it - it's kind of reassuring to find an ad that isn't chock full of horrible grammar, vocab' and spelling errors when you are a newbie.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: old34 on June 02, 2008, 06:42:27 PM
It's also quite cleverly written though ....

I thought so too. My favorite sentence was this one:
Quote
We also teach at a local prestigious middle school and a couple of leading primary schools, which can be a real cultural eye-opener, and an interesting challenge.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: dragonsaver on June 03, 2008, 01:52:03 AM
Yes, a good command of the English language lets you tell somebody off and then they thank you for the compliment. agagagagag agagagagag
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: Raoul F. Duke on June 03, 2008, 10:44:24 AM
I dunno...a peppering of phrases like
Quote
Harbin is a cheap place, which makes ideal for saving up
indicates that some of this may have been, well, embellished by Chinese speakers of English...

Chinese English schools have quickly picked up on the idea of spin. Often, the harder they work to make it sound great, the worse the deal actually is...as in this case.

Hang in there, DWA. The right one will come along when it's time. agagagagag
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: Raoul F. Duke on May 15, 2011, 06:52:53 AM
The parts of this conversation that veered away from its mission of discussing a potentially dodgy ad have been relocated to http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?topic=6367.0 (http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?topic=6367.0)
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: shakemyspear on June 27, 2012, 03:44:34 PM
They are not saying that you will be actually working 40hrs a week. What they are saying is that you should expect between lesson planning at home, actual classes, and the occassional meetings to expect to put in that much effort. Now, will you actually be working that much, not if you are an experienced teacher. Lesson planning does not take that long if you have been doing it already, but for a new teacher I can see how it would take some time. Top no longer requires you to share an apartment, you get a private apartment near the school. For those of you that are wondering, no I do not work for Top, but I do however work in the same city.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: Raoul F. Duke on June 27, 2012, 08:53:11 PM
The point here is not in judging Top International per se, but rather how to interpret a job ad...and that ad was dodgy.
Title: Re: Top International English School -- Harbin
Post by: mrbeddie on September 11, 2013, 04:44:09 PM
Beware of anything with the title "international school" that is used to try and make the language mill sound like something more. A real international school would pay a minimum 10,000 a month and sometimes quite a lot more.