Top International in Harbin, Heilongjiang

This school was previously EF Harbin but decided that they didn't need pay the franchise fee to EF and have tried to go it alone thinking that all the students and teachers would stay - Dumb Idea I
They then fired many teachers leaving them stranded with no work - Dumb thing to do to foreigners.
They then demoted their DOS and brought in a newcomer to the position to do some damage control - Dumb - even Dumber is why the previous DOS stayed at the new school.
This school is now struggling to get any teachers at all and what they do get are the dregs that can't get work anywhere else.
A definate school to stay away from!!!

Hola!

Foreign native English speakers who take this crap should be kicked in the head. This is the reason that salaries are low across the board because people will take this.

I have worked for language schools and they suck. The last one I worked for had me in on Saturday from 10 in the morning to 9 o'clock at night, then had me come in on Sunday morning for 1.5 hours. Then before a holiday, the boss would work us 6 days a week. Classes packed full of kids (20-25) with me making 88 RMB an hour (in 2002). That bitch got the goldmine, I got the shaft.

Newbies, if you want to come to China for one year, look at the Universities first. Then the local public schools. There are PLENTY of jobs available that pays at least 100/hr in the countryside and up to 150 plus in the cities. Do some research online. What is really good about a government position is not the pay (it's not great) but the time. You do not work weekends, you dont work in the evenings. There is not the pressures of making (someone else) money.

DO NOT ACCEPT a full-time contract in a school. Simple as that.

Senor

DO NOT ACCEPT a full-time contract in a school. Simple as that.

The advice here is arguable until you get to that last bit; this is a bit extreme and unrealistic as general advice. Full-time contracts, of one kind or another, are the NORM...and are also about the only way most people can get the all-important Work Permit and Residence Permit.

Most private English "training centers" DO suck...but a few don't. Or at least they don't suck to such an intolerable level.
Teaching in a public school or uni has its downsides sometimes, too.

Having been to Harbin many times and having friends still there I could see what bull they are trying to spread.  Something they also don't tell you in Harbin is that the language schools both private and public have a lock down on the teachers and don't allow them to work part time on the side.  I don't know what I would be doing if I couldn't work part time on the side, I make a decent wage from my college but not enough to save on and certainly not enough to go on occasional trips from time to time.

Quote from: Senor Boogie Woogie on September 07, 2008, 05:51:50 PM

DO NOT ACCEPT a full-time contract in a school. Simple as that.

The advice here is arguable until you get to that last bit; this is a bit extreme and unrealistic as general advice. Full-time contracts, of one kind or another, are the NORM...and are also about the only way most people can get the all-important Work Permit and Residence Permit.

Most private English "training centers" DO suck...but a few don't. Or at least they don't suck to such an intolerable level.
Teaching in a public school or uni has its downsides sometimes, too.

I work for one of those Private Language Centres and I am busy but not unreasonably so. I am happy here. The combination of Chinese and Canadian ownership is ideal. As long as I am in Harbin I will work for my school. I know I could go elsewhere for more money but happiness can't be measured in $$$

Is that your school linked under your avatar?

I never knew Ellis Island was Canadian. th_af

Is that your school linked under your avatar?

I never knew Ellis Island was Canadian. th_af

Huh?

http://www.sunshinehrb.com

You said it was co-owned by a Canadian. The site's graphic slideshow emphasizes such Canadian landmarks as the statue of liberty and Ellis Island.

Haha. I forgot about that. It is partially owned like I said but it is a franchise of a larger language company whose name has American references in it. I'd rather not name the whole thing as I don't want to appear to be pushing my school on others. Good eye!

Good eye indeed, but veering ......

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.

Harbin beer is the oldest brewery in China, founded in 1900, and it truly is a decent beer, way better than Tsing dao. Qing Dao, I have not tried them all of course but it is the best I have tried in China.  You can get cold beer in the summer.  But not in the winter, go figure. 

As far as Top International, I have been in Harbin 5 years and never heard of it. The best salary I ever received in Harbin was at a "joint venture" or perhaps what I have seen referred to here as a foundation school.  Paid in Canadian dollars, 2100 a month, at that time it was over 14,000 a month.  Have never seen anything come close to that since.

I like Harbin, even though I think there is very little night life beyond the brain numbing Disco Dirge.

I realize this is a post in 2008, but just to mention I just received that same advertisement recently. I noticed the hours required and thought it was a bit much! I asked a few questions and the answers confirmed what I was thinking, on top of the hours they want you to travel to different schools for lessons, and the accommodations appeared more like a dorm.

Sigh... I realize most of you are all BA ex-cetera  qualified, however I am still short a few courses to have mine, and have been looking to travel and teach for a year to pay down my student loan (a very slight bit) but more so to take a little break (getting burnt out) Point being I think this is getting more and more impossible for me to bother considering. 

I just got an email from this school.  Still want 40 hours per week and not much seems to have changed from what the others have said previously...

A former co-worker just left there due to the work load and the half arsed ( even by Chinese standards) management of the place.

Not too surprising, really...but we're veering firmly into "Info on Schools" info instead of discussing its ad, as we should be doing in this area.

If you wanna talk about conditions at this school, that's great!
Just start a topic about it in the right place.