Has anyone on this thread actually worked in China? I came looking for info on KISQ and all I see is ignorance.
I work at a University in southern China, working basically part time, and earn 10k rmb/month with a decent 2-bdrm apartment, 10k airfare, 5k travel. This is pretty normal. I had other job offers that were similar in the area. I live downtown in a city of over a million in a pretty nice environment with no air pollution.
I've also lived in Beijing and Qingdao and worked at an international school.
First, big cities are not necessarily more expensive. Beijing is not very expensive to live in if housing is provided, for example. Groceries there are very cheap compared to where I live in southern China and were often cheaper than Qingdao. Couldn't stand the pollution though.
Second, There is going to be one happy HR person if they can trick (and sometimes they get lucky) someone to work at an international school for 10-12k per month with no housing. Most people at the school I worked at, and this seems pretty standard across China, made about 15-20k per month with housing provided. Teachers that had been there a while and/or were certified teachers earned more like 30+k.
Compare that to being a teacher most places in America where the starting (as well as top salary) can be as low as $30k/year. I had co-workers who planned on staying for a year for the experience but stayed for the ability to save for a house down payment or whatever. It is easy to save $15k USD/year while enjoying long vacations to SE Asia which is a lot better than most young people are making in America. I can save almost that much at my current job and I only worked 14 hours per week with no commute, had Mondays off, and was finished by noon the rest of the week. And if you were smart with your student loans in the US, and plan to stay abroad indefinitely, you don't need to pay your student loans back.
Dave <tredoux112@gmail.com> - 2017-01-31
Ammmuzed <tredoux112@gmail.com> - 2017-02-01
Busted!
Re Shenyang Red River Center / Institute of Engineering -- Dave -- 2017-01-31
Well I had a great experience with the school.
Dave, if you are going to be a shill, you need to maintain anonymity.
Not taking any side here, just to say that if the OP is typing on a cell phone, I can understand the absence of caps, or caps at the wrong place. It happens to me all the time when I type fast on my cell.
I love posts like this, you can see clearly off the bat the grammmer errors.
british? A British person who doesn't put a capital B? mm
The lack of capitals at the start of sentence....hold on. Need to finish reading this.
Yup and the CAPITALS in the middle of a sentence...no. Try and work hard. Do they try and work at the same time?
Strenuous effort? Mmmm
Chinese, English and Korean without capitals.
i instead off I?
Yeah Mr British - you're about as British and Mr Oxford was an Oxford man in my last school.
Sorry. No good to fake an English teacher with such poor writing.
Busted!
I agree but its not just the private schools, the government schools are just as bad.
Lets just be clear about it.
I find the only decent jobs - well in my experience have been university jobs but they are not so highly paid.
He probably thought he was clever to do that and nobody would notice how he changed the truth halfway through.
But even more baffling is he writes:
An extremely large population of the English teachers in China are really only out there for their financial gain. They tend to put very little effort in their class preparation if not none.
Later he will insist there is some worthwhile financial gain for those who spend years in China, only agree to sign solid contracts, obey rules, work and hustle 6 or 7 days a week and put in long days etc.
But he is even suggesting this extremely large population of English teachers in financial gain are also the ones putting little or no effort into class preparation!
Of course, I suppose nobody knows what he means by "extremely large population" but I can tell you this:
I've criss-crossed China and I'd guesstimate meeting 1000 different foreign English teachers by now. Some are 5 minute chats on a bus and of course others I've known for years and so on.
-There are a handful who've married in China, the wife or husband opened their own training center and yes they have made some worthwhile money. More than they could make back home.
- I can think of just a few people who made somewhere around 20,000 maximum. One guy was very impressive and swore he would never do it again. He did it in order to leave China as quickly as possible. He was a master of timing. He explained an almost flawless series of schools, night jobs, private homes, how he worked like a 'scientists' (id say a mathematician) to perfect scheduling and then worked 9 hours a day 7 days a week for a year straight. He was able to save $20,000 USD in a year.
You won't find many of those. Those also have drop-off months too (Spring Festival for example) and that is very very difficult to do in most cases since scheduling and travel time can dictate hours. Even if you wanted to do 9 classes a day it might be impossible to arrange.
Yep, some of us have signed reasonably comfortable contracts, work extra hours, take side-jobs and after a few years have figured out the ins-and-outs and can clock in somewhere around 15000 a month. That's also 6 or 7 days a week though not always 8 hours days. I think that is around $2000 USD (last i checked??).
Here again, some get sweet deals on apartments, living expenses but I live a pretty humble existence and at least half of that is necessary for food, clothes, travel, rent, basic expenses.
and now to MOST. The 'extremely large population'. Whether it was in Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou whatever Zhou and from 1st to '10th tier' I see most are making their cities equivalent of about 8000 or 10,000 a month.
In other words, that might be 16,000 in Shanghai but everything is more expensive. Or they might be making 6,000 in NaleZhou Town but there its quite cheap to live.
One of the problems with the internet?
I'm not saying this website but in general?
Every time I visit them I see a dozen posts with people chortling and laughing and insisting they can easily make 20,000 RMB or every other internet poster swears they know lots of guys making 30K and 40K teaching English etc.
Where are they in real life? Oh, I'm sure there are some. But if the WuMoa seriously believes its anything near an 'extremely large population' he is absolutely deluded!
The vast majority must have some other reasons to stay in China. If they wanted to hustle 7 days a week, work smart and put in a few years of training then holy hell they can definitely do that in the USA or other Western Countries.
My neighbor back home, already 36 years old, two kids etc. He lost his job and for a year worked at both McDonalds and Wendy's! He'd arrange schedules and put in two 6 hour shifts a day. Now, someone will say 'That's sad" but in fact he was earning more money than 16,000 RMB a month.
You wouldn't want to put in two 6 hour shifts a day 7 days a week like he did. Having said that, spend 8 hours a day 7 days a week rushing from kindergartens to middle schools, traveling China's roads, dealing with visas, enduring smells and noises and then trying to put up with ridiculous 'managers' who's goal in life is to sabotage and derail the foreign English teacher. That is not a delightful easy job either folks!
I could go on, but you have wasted enough of my time.
You wasted your time and my time because you could not grasp basic concepts. I want you to look stupid in front of everyone so let's start:
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China.
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China.
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China.
You did that. You spoke about foreigners in China and many (or most) being there to make money and little else.
You established that was the concept.
Me. I took your concept and made rough averages, typical scenarios. I told you about what happens to most foreigners.
Remember now: What happens to most. Not what in theory might be different or could be. What most have happen.
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China.
Then you did the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You quickly decided to change the conditions and topic.
suddenly pretended that we were talking about a specific company in one specific city.You
even pretended to be laughing about how dumb it was that I must be talking about KISQ in Qindao so you could save face and trick people you moron.You
No.
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China and what most of them are doing. Which you suggested was staying here just to make money.
Now that I exposed your first mistake I want to smash you second mistake:
You introduced a general concept about what many or most foreigners are doing China. That most are here to make money.
Then you abandoned that and instead started talking about what foreigners could be doing in theory.
You really ended up agreeing with me (woops!) so instead began talking about ways foreigner
make lots of money.could
They could, in theory, make lots of money working 7 days a week and eventually earning higher and higher salaries.
They could be making good money if they signed better contracts.
They could get scams and cheats to pay up if they report it to the PSB
They could...
They could..
But that's not what you premised. That wasn't what you started with or I responded to accordingly.
You suggested that many or most were making money and staying to make the money now.
I suppose what you did was agree with me, concede that was untrue BUT you wanted to say strongly that it could be true if they just followed all these steps and rules and conditions. In theory they could!
Okay, well we agree that 'in theory' a foreigner who hustles 7 days a week will, after 2 or 3 years, assuming they start signing good contracts in Qindao with KISQ - yes they will just stay there in China to make the big money! Most of them! Just stay for the big $3000 USD a month and as you say easily be able to put away oh... wow, in theory maybe $1500 a month!!
Now we can see why, in theory, (even though its not happening to most people) but in theory, if they work at KISQ in Qingdao and hustle 7 days a week they can, in a few years enjoy that big cash reward.
But in reality, you were wrong.
You introduced a general concept about foreigners in China. and that is simply not true. It hasn't been true for years.
Its not true today.
You are surely the worst Wumao on the planet
What tends to happen, is that teachers think that walking into a classroom is enough
but it simply isnt. They then realise that they can be paid 200 RMB an hour and once
they start earning that, they think see it as easy money, when actually they are doing
nothing to earn it, other that walk into a classroom as a native speaker. In an ESL
classroom, it may be fine, but students who care, can tell if a teacher is prepared or
not. Then students tend to lose respect for those particular teachers. In a REAL SCHOOL
a teacher needs a real plan which is designed for the needs of individuals and their
personal development.
Real schools hire real teachers. Whose fault is it if you hire unqualified teachers, fully aware of their lack of teaching qualifications?
You have the option of hiring Chinese teachers that are fully qualified to teach English. You also have the option to hire fully qualified foreign teachers of English. In your particular case, you have the option to hire qualified Korean teachers of English.
You choose to hire white faces without genuine teaching credentials because your business model is based on satisfying parental demand for white faces but truly qualified foreign teachers demand 20-30,000 rmb a month and first class housing.
ESL certification does not qualify anyone as a 'real teacher' and it does not qualify anyone to teach children.
You are running a hospital where the nurses perform surgery. You have only yourself to blame.
[Poster2] you failed to understand the logic of the thread. Rebel was replying to a post that said:
By:[poster]
An extremely large population of the English teachers in China are really only out there for their financial gain. They tend to put very little effort in their class preparation if not none. If native speakers assume that this is sufficient to earn a livable salary, may cause a dilemma and a termination of contract. Just being white and a native speaker isnt enough. Teachers in Asia and asian educational institutes need to revise their methods for no other reason than for the needs of the kids. Get a grip [edited]
He was not commenting about your school in particular, he was responding to the post that I just quoted.
But your [edited] comments indicate the attitude that prevails your school: It is low-life. Your school has to be avoided in my opinion.
1) AvidBoxerRebel) On average an English teacher might make 8000-12,000 yuan a month.
Reply) KISQ offers 16000 on average. What are [edited]
2) AvidBoxerRebel)It can be far less than that but if someone hustles working 6 and 7 days a week (night classes, moonlighting, private tutoring jobs) they max out around 16,000.
Reply) A pointless example when compared to KISQ, If KISQ teachers choose to work privately they can earn 200 RMB an hour minimum and can earn over 20,000. With the cost of housing being roughly 3,000. KISQ teachers can save quite easily, i think. A pointless example.
3) AvidBoxerRebel) Keep in mind someone might make 20,000 in Shanghai because of many opportunities but then are paying Shanghai prices.
Reply) What are you jibbering about, this is Qingdao not Shanghai. Lol
4) AvidBoxerRebel) 10,000 Yuan. now you see many many schools are quietly removing things like airfare bonuses or company paid insurance or travel expenses etc.
Reply) Its up to the schools to offer airfare bonuses and teachers to sign contracts that don't offer them. [edited]
5) AvidBoxerRebel) Now remember to remove at least 1000 from that from skimming, scamming, fleecing, gaming, tricking and cheating the foreign English teacher. Things like insisting they were late for classes or insisting a holiday turned their wages into 'part-time wages' and all sorts of little scams.
Reply) Again the statement above is nonsense. Scamming and cheating may have gone on in the past,but if you have a proper visa and expert certificate, you are protected by the Chinese government. Foreigners should be made aware that their employers may break the law and the employee is most likely protected by Chinese (Depending on the crime) .Employers are supposed to offer foreigners the same benefits the Chinese are offered, e.g Pensions and medical insurance with a monthly credited medical card. Again be careful of your employers. Another pointless remark by Avid Boxer rebel as this does not take place in KISQ,
6) AvidBoxerRebel) Now keep in mind many foreign teachers might have to pay 3 and I've even heard 4 months rent up-front. Foreigners can't get things like monthly payments on scooters or cars or other things Chinese citizens can work out. They may need to buy things like WIFI boxes and pay for a full year of internet to get started (1,000) and then more money for all sorts of visa issues, resident tasks.
Reply) [edited] He must have just graduated recently or something. Struggling are you for cash. I pay 1 month rent every month or pay 4 months in a row equals the same [edited]. You mentioned monthly payments on scooters or cars. lol. I dont see many foreigners riding bikes or driving cars. They probably take the bus or a taxi. [edited]
7) AvidBoxerRebel) By the time you sort that out you really just have enough to cover basic living, a few treats now and then (like expensive Western food that will be ruined by cooks who don't know what a pizza is meant to be) or perhaps a little trip somewhere. The foreigner is probably still having to attend things back home. Perhaps taxes, car payments at home. So those RMB translate into next-to-nothing in dollars/pounds etc.
Reply) [edited] Then he talks about about attending taxes and car payments back home. What kind of life do you live to where you need to make car payments back home. Please elaborate [edited]
8) AvidBoxerRebel) So it is absolutely impossible a large population of the English teacher in China are there for financial gain. If they foolishly went there for that false dream they sure stop a month or two later!!
Reply) What tends to happen, is that teachers think that walking into a classroom is enough but it simply isnt. They then realise that they can be paid 200 RMB an hour and once they start earning that, they think see it as easy money, when actually they are doing nothing to earn it, other that walk into a classroom as a native speaker. In an ESL classroom, it may be fine, but students who care, can tell if a teacher is prepared or not. Then students tend to lose respect for those particular teachers. In a REAL SCHOOL a teacher needs a real plan which is designed for the needs of individuals and their personal development.
I could go on, but you have wasted enough of my time. I couldn't be asked to go through all your ridiculous points. I do suggest to "Listen more, speak less". [edited]. [edited]. [edited].
Just give the foreign teacher keys to open the doors and a sign saying
"Chinese Staff STAY OUT" and the kids progress will skyrocket!
The teaching of ESL and EFL to adults has established a notable body of academic research and a variety of valuable practicum.
The teaching of a second language to children has not. This is critical because young children acquire language skills in a manner markedly different than adults.
The belief that placing the typical private language school FT in a room with children will generate "skyrocket progress" in second language acquisition is ludicrous. European elementary schools with professional teachers have been teaching multiple languages for decades, with less than 'stellar' results.
FTs are not the solution to inadequate language education in China.
An extremely large population of the English teachers in China are really only out there for
their financial gain. They tend to put very little effort in their class preparation if
not none.
This is impossible. It cannot be true. On average an English teacher might make 8000-12,000 yuan a month. It can be far less than that but if someone hustles working 6 and 7 days a week (night classes, moonlighting, private tutoring jobs) they max out around 16,000. Keep in mind someone might make 20,000 in Shanghai because of many opportunities but then are paying Shanghai prices.
10,000 Yuan. now you see many many schools are quietly removing things like airfare bonuses or company paid insurance or travel expenses etc. Now remember to remove at least 1000 from that from skimming, scamming, fleecing, gaming, tricking and cheating the foreign English teacher. Things like insisting they were late for classes or insisting a holiday turned their wages into 'part-time wages' and all sorts of little scams.
now I'm going to say the airplane tickets to China, medical exams, passport paperwork, visas etc etc 12,000
In other words, instantly remove 1000 a month needed to pay TO work there. now we are at around 8000 yuan.
Now keep in mind many foreign teachers might have to pay 3 and I've even heard 4 months rent up-front. Foreigners can't get things like monthly payments on scooters or cars or other things Chinese citizens can work out. They may need to buy things like WIFI boxes and pay for a full year of internet to get started (1,000) and then more money for all sorts of visa issues, resident tasks.
By the time you sort that out you really just have enough to cover basic living, a few treats now and then (like expensive Western food that will be ruined by cooks who don't know what a pizza is meant to be) or perhaps a little trip somewhere. The foreigner is probably still having to attend things back home. Perhaps taxes, car payments at home. So those RMB translate into next-to-nothing in dollars/pounds etc.
So it is absolutely impossible a large population of the English teacher in China are there for financial gain. If they foolishly went there for that false dream they sure stop a month or two later!!
Indeed, the very opposite is true in many cases. Foreign English teachers find themselves 'financially stranded' as they actually spend their own money to get started, quickly realize they aren't making nearly what they'd hoped, get ripped-off of course, lose more than they make, are surprised to find China is becoming more expensive and soon they literally cannot afford to go back home! Even ones who've 'gained' money soon realize that after exchanging their big RMB savings they might have just barely enough to what.. pay security deposit and one month's rent on an apartment and what..a few weeks groceries? So they try to 'earn their way out' of China which is kind of like a 1-step forward 2-steps back game.
So no, what you've said is impossible.
They tend to put very little effort in their class preparation if
not none.
They shouldn't put any preparation into it. The Training centers and schools should provide all the classroom preparation. Otherwise, Foreign English teachers are usually far superior to Chinese counterparts (who believe teaching is actually filling out 'preparation documents') but foreigners don't need that. They can actually do the class spontaneously, in real time, as it happens. They don't do telephone conversation preparation either. They don't do 'KTV preparation' or prepare a 'talking plan' when they see you and talk to you at the water cooler.
But they shouldn't have to do any classroom preparation or planning outside of 'looking at the class content' and then 'doing it'.
Just being white and a native speaker
isnt enough.
Contrary to popular opinion - that is enough. and its rare. You will almost never find this mythical English teacher. Almost all foreign English teachers will have much more. First, those who don't won't be in China in the first place. Then the next ones will be instantly eliminated and just quit days or a week later. Then, those who stay are ones who will actually try and learn, improve, take on the challenge and they will soon improve and find all sorts of techniques, methods and learn by doing. Because they are foreigners they will actually become better and better and even start to innovate and invent things robots can't do.
Teachers in Asia and asian educational institutes need to revise their
methods for no other reason than for the needs of the kids.
Yes and the first thing they should do is stop impeding the foreign English teachers, stop bothering them, stop trying to interfere, stop trying to 'train them' which leads to problems. This is how the kids lose - its the Chinese teachers and managers constantly doing everything possible to screw up the foreign teachers, assign them to stupid schedules, antagonize them and these things. most Foreign English teachers would IMPROVE their kids abilities if all the Chinese employees left the building from the time they arrive. Just give the foreign teacher keys to open the doors and a sign saying "Chinese Staff STAY OUT" and the kids progress will skyrocket!
Holy shit, this school is terrible! Most of the bad parts of the school have already been outlined by others here, so there's no point in repeating them. But this really is just a terrible school, and as soon as my contract is up I am getting the hell out of this place!
Toilets in the kitchen to smell your own shit while you are cooking? Good idea, it's the way the bosses of that shitty operation live...
the bestest thing about KISQ is the teacher apartments have western toilets in the kitchen.
An extremely large population of the English teachers in China are really only out there for
their financial gain.
True. But I would suggest that the percentage of profit motivated FTs is dwarfed by the percentage of profit motivated English language schools.
If native speakers assume that this is sufficient to earn a livable salary,
may cause a dilemma and a termination of contract
All schools have the ability to terminate FTs for infractions of their contracts. Do it. Then pay your recruiter to find another incompetent illegal employee. Repeat. The bitch and moan again.
Just being white and a native speaker
isnt enough.
Legally it's not enough. So it should never happen. It only happens because recruiters and schools recruit and hire incompetent employees whom they are fully aware are teaching illegally.
Teachers in Asia and asian educational institutes need to revise their
methods for no other reason than for the needs of the kids.
I have no idea what an "asian educational institute" might be. A school to teach students how to be Asian? A school where all students are Asian? Every teacher needs to revise methods to improve student performance.
Get a grip idiots.
Blaming incompetent FTs for the problems with education in China is akin to blaming Filipino maids for housing values in Hong Kong.
Clean your own houses of education.
An extremely large population of the English teachers in China are really only out there for their financial gain. They tend to put very little effort in their class preparation if not none. If native speakers assume that this is sufficient to earn a livable salary, may cause a dilemma and a termination of contract. Just being white and a native speaker isnt enough. Teachers in Asia and asian educational institutes need to revise their methods for no other reason than for the needs of the kids. Get a grip [edited]
All jobs in private training centers in China are only good for Russians and Africans
Teaching rich kids at private schools in China can be very rewarding financially. White native English speakers, especially young women, can make pots of money here if they are good at acting the giddy goat.
the students are great and being korean under korean standards the students do try and work
hard with the strenuous effort required for many more subjects taught compared to
regular schools
I'm not often treated to Korenglish, but I find it fascinating.
Over the years on this site many private schools in China have tried to repair the damage to their recruitment efforts made my unfavorable posts on this forum written by ex-FTs.
A routine tactic has been writing positive posts in the guise of non-existent happy current FTs at the school. This almost never works because few non-native students of English write very well. Even Chinese professors of English at universities have difficulty with various aspects of writing English, prepositions, articles, SV agreement, etc. Native English speakers who write poorly also have many errors but they are distinct from Chinglish. FTs reading the forum easily distinguish between genuine and bogus posts.
KISQ has also been unsuccessful with its charade, but at least they are exhibiting grammatical errors that are culturally fresh.
Kimchinglish?
Private schools in China are crap and they employ the lowest level graduates. All of them are farmers kids and will do anything to keep their jobs.
They are also jealous of foreigner’s salaries. However without foreigners they would have no job
Chinese no nothing about quality education because they have not been allowed to think since 1989 or longer. It is clearly a government strategy to keep Chinese peasants stupid and obedient through education. All they do is learn by rote from 7-9 or more. Chinese have no personality, no individuality, and no soul
They are like robots. This makes them very happy to meet a white man and have a white man compliment them. They have often grown up with no love in their pitiful lives. They love a white man listening to them. Most of all they love a white man dancing for them. Its great to see the evil foreign devils be clowns for the noble Chinese haha
Chinese have been told to feel like victims to those foreign devils, so why not make them dance
These stupid students always get angry after a few weeks or months when they realize they blew all of their cash on a monkey show. It is a pity they do not learn English above simply conversational level
All jobs in private training centers in China are only good for Russians and Africans
Never take crap from Chinese. [edited]. Go to a better place with culture like Japan
And let your school prosper while abusing its teachers?
I don't think the moderators would allow me to write here what I really feel like telling you, asshole, but if I follow your "advice" and focus on the future, I tell any teacher in the future who will be thinking off joining this shit hole, exactly what another poster wrote today: RUN!
Learn from yesterday, live for today and hope for tomorrow. That's it.
It's precisely because you don't understand that ex teachers are pissed and write bad reviews: You still don't get it!
Most of kisq teachers are quite decent and have manners. Don't slander behind , just come out
to school to discuss the specific issues in a constructive manner.
"Most of" "have manners" "slander behind" "come out to school"
If you are attempting to credibly critique the competency of English language teachers, please enlist the assistance of someone on your staff who is a competent writer of English.
I would not go to your school for any reason in the world after the stupid false reviews I have been reading in this thread today. You are an idiot!
the bestest thing about KISQ is the teacher apartments have western toilets in the kitchen.
the cafeteria food is yum so I eat much. But in my apartment I can cook pasta as I sit and wait for the last meal to pass.
Haaaa haaaa ha ha ha ....
This school, frankly, writes the most stupid wumao posts I ever read.
How do you spell "wumao" in Korean?
I have worked at kisq some years. Its not bad. Last year was the best , i hope this year will be as good as last year.
So interesting that all these glamorous reviews appear on the same day.
But this one beats them all: Is the poster the best English teacher that the school could hire?
This is hilarious!
Kisq is notthe best school n everything is getting better n better for western teachers. U know what , i am working here at kisq now. Come and ask ant westerners at school. There is no ideal place. kisq is not the best but not the worst . Kisq is not bad to work. 3.30 pm it finishes . And 2month straight winter vacation.
i am a british teacher who has been
teaching at KISQ for the last 4 years
The administration at KISQ must be incredibly overbearing, requiring that all their FTs forfeit the use of capital letters to begin all sentences other than the first.
If you are going to assume multiple identities to shill for your employer, you should shed glaring grammatical markers.
I am quite amazed and by all these posts about KISQ. i am a british teacher who has been teaching at KISQ for the last 4 years. my experience hasn't been all that bad. like any job there are its perks and its qwerks but overall i have enjoyed my time here. like any school i find KISQ needs to refine some of their procedures. the effect is mostly a burden to the korean teachers andstudents, and NOT the western department and issues are actually kept away from us. i do teach 3 grades so the workload can be heavy in the 1st year then after that its quite a fulfilling position. the semesters can be quite busy like any school with grading, test prep. class prep and so forth, but with the really long PAID vacations makes it worth it.
the students are great and being korean under korean standards the students do try and work hard with the strenuous effort required for many more subjects taught compared to regular schools. in KISQ students are taught 3 languages (chinese ,korean and english) and compulsory subjects may be taught in korean and English so the students do have more exams and compulsory subjects than regular schools. so i do sympathize with them.
overall i find myself and coworkers quite happy and satisfied working at KISQ. The previous manager had caused some issues to arise but now he has left, the environment has been quite harmonious.
What a funny post indeed, lots of laughs... You obviously are a Korean Wumao. Eat your rice and kimchi, then off to bed.
what a funny post. this person must really have a stick up their butt. lol. i have just joined the institute and what a wonderful place it is. i am treated with great respect by all staff ; chinese korean and western. the kids appreeciate me too. i assume working hard and being a caring individual has paid off. shame on this person for slandering a decent educational institute with teachers who truly care for their students and are trying their hardest to develop the school for the benefit of the students. i assume this person is quite lonely with much free time who should have put more effort in their job to have gained the respect that decent teachers do. disgruntled employees should speak up instead of cowering like a herd of sheep when a wolf attacks. then problems can be resolved. feel free to visit KISQ and speak to the western teachers who will probably give you a better understanding of what goes on. it really isnt as bad as people have said , atleast to my perception after nearly a year being here.
Living and teaching in China is for people with thick skin.
Living and teaching at a Korean School in China is for people who dont like themselves.
You know, it is quite unfortunate that teachers are having such terrible experiences overseas. I have taught at schools in both Korea and Japan and in both places I felt underappreciated and misunderstood by the staff which led me to go back to the US at the end of my contracts. Fortunately, during my visit at home I came across an online teaching company called VIPKID and I have been working with them since. Being that you are having a not so pleasant time at your school I thought I would just pass on the blessing.
If you are interested in applying shoot me an email. I would be more than happy to give you inside tips on the process and be a reference for you or anybody you may know. From one Educator to another... GOOD LUCK!
Oh my god, I didn't even see these posts until after I already started working here at KISQ! If I saw these I totally would not have come here. The city is awesome and I'll probably stay here but there's no way I am staying at this school past my contract. The managers are insane, case in point they have a [edited] guy who thinks he understands foreigners. All he does is run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Then there's [edited] who can barely tie his shoes but they have him managing the foreign teachers. Students are leaving and I doubt this school has a chance of surviving in another three years. I'm surprised it even lasted this long. The Koreans here are so incompetent, and the foreigners are often worse. No real teacher should come here they will just cheat you and lie every chance they can. The only teachers that stay here are the ones who can't get a job somewhere better.
Avoid this school unless you enjoy being cheated and having a teaching experience that is the worst in your life. The management are two faced liars! Working at this school is your choice but you have been warned.
I don't know who posted this but in doing some research for a background check, I found this listing. I'm that Speech & Government Teacher & every last word is 100% true!
Not sure who is this, but, no, I didn't get fired the day of finals. I quit. The whole fire thing was a whole save face.
KISQ has good relationships with Universities in Korea and every Korean living in Qingdao knows this. So, KISQ receives a lot of transfer students at the high school level, particularly the 10th and 11th grade. The student head count is around 55 for each of these grades. There is class in elementary that has only 8 students and by the time that this class reaches the 10th grade, there will probably be around 55 students. Most of these transfer students don’t speak English and you are literally teaching Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar textbooks that are designed for American students who basically only speak English. So, you have transfer students who can barely comprehend their English names let alone the text book. Here is an email from the current manager [edited] and a comment made from a former colleague regarding a transfer student:
On Friday, 1 November 2013 7:59 AM, K[edited] [email address edited] wrote:
“We have a new girl student in 10-2. She has no english name (and no english skills) and will be starting from today. I know it is a burden, and I failed her entrance exam and protested her entrance, but the school overrode my opinion in this matter.
She doesn't seem to be here for western classes, and she even seemed to view the entrance exam as something of a bother.
Just wanted to let you know to expect a new face in school.”
Response from former colleague:
“We (10 E.I) decided to name her Tina. She seems happy with the name although she lacks the English skills to reject it.”
In American High Schools if you’re not good at math and you’re a senior, you are probably in a math class with freshmen. Well, some of these students in the 10th and 11th grade have an English level of 2nd or 3rd grade. Yet, somehow they are passing their classes. So, yes all the negative gossip about the grading department is true.
What’s frustrating is that the students will actually complain to their parents about the teachers not teaching them, here’s a segment of an email from [edited] again:
“A common complaint that I have been hearing is that you go through the material without caring if the students understand or not.”
I wonder why? However, KISQ does have some kids that are great and would do well in American high schools, but unfortunately; most the kids don’t respect their foreign teachers in the same manner that they respect their Korean teachers. I’m guessing because the Korean teachers can communicate with the students’ parents, so the students won’t lie to their parents regarding the Korean teachers.
The high school department is flat out miserable in terms of teaching because the overall treatment of the foreign teachers by both the Korean students and the Korean administration is flat out unacceptable and hostile. This is why they have such a high turnover rate.
Beware of K[edited]! He basically complained about the school the entire spring semester of 2013. He would read out loud open teaching positions, probably from this website, to the foreign teachers. He absolutely hated KISQ, there’s no question about it. Then he received a nice pay raise and signed on for I guess 2014-2015. Anyways, K[edited] even told me that the school would put him in a position, where he would have to lie to the face of a foreign teacher and they both knew he was lying. K[edited] admitted that this was awkward. He gave me the old sausage analogy, stating sausage taste great, but you don’t want to see how it is made.
As you have probably figured out already, I am a former foreign employee. I initially gave a 30 day notice to KISQ, which is legal by Chinese law. Here is K[edited]’s response:
“Please be aware that your visa is held by the school. If you leave in the middle of a semester they definitely won't give you a letter of release, and they might even cancel it.”
Unfortunately, my visa was the visa for my old school, which expires seven days after my thirty day notification because when I started in March of 2013, KISQ never updated my visa. Therefore, it is impossible for my new school to get me a new visa. I asked KISQ for an extension, but they refused, K[edited] even told me to get an extension through my new school. Hello, there’s a reason it’s called an EXTENSION.
Oh yeah the visas, check this out!
“KISQ took my apt and the $5,000 I invested in it for the year. Their reason was that it cost them money to deport me-which was their fault. I also didn't get paid for July, despite the fact I was still under contract with them and essentially under house arrest there for most of July.”
That was from a teacher who was deported in July of 2013 because his visa expired. I have been working in China for 6 years and I have never seen this happen. Unfortunately, this teacher is currently banned for at least 3 years, I heard, from China for teaching. He is currently in the Middle East sweating it out.
One would think that KISQ has learned from its’ mistakes, but they currently have teachers working there without proper visas. I threatened to have the visa office do a check and K[edited] said this:
“It doesn’t matter we will survive.”
Meaning, we will get new teachers and it doesn’t matter. Anyways, I heard their contingency plan, if the visa officers were to come and do a visa check , KISQ would hide the illegal foreign teachers on the 5th floor. All the visa officer would have to do is go to the teacher’s class and ask the students where their teacher is. I find it hard to believe that KISQ would have the students lie to a Chinese government official, to help KISQ to conspire in breaking Chinese law, but we are talking about KISQ. Also, tax records would indicate how long they have been working there, if subpoenaed.
Also, there contracts aren’t for a full year. KISQ’s contracts end before both the winter break and the summer break. KISQ is notorious for firing teachers prior to breaks starting. They even fired a teacher on the day of finals (Brian). They have a current teacher who was let go because he had personality conflicts with the elementary foreign manager and then they brought him back as a high school teacher and didn’t even pay him for the winter break, which is two months. Hopefully, they read this and pay the man his money. In addition, they have a current teacher, who has a friend named Dan, who was let go before break.
Just be warned, it’s your decision.
Oh, boy, I heard it's getting worse out there at KISQ. That's Korean International School in Qingdao. Guess why they had to find 7 new teachers for this next semester? Because of the horror stories. The Koreans have no interest in western ideas or suggestions. Once a western idea for an event is agreed upon, after all the preparations and requests have been finished, the Chairman and his "team" cancel it. Of course, all of their stupid Korean ideas, which are usually complete wastes of time, are all acted upon. That's the way I heard it. It's supposed to be a K-12 academic school for Korean expats, but it's really just a big hogwon (language institute), so parents are wasting their money sending their kids there. I'm telling you - DON'T WORK FOR KOREANS OR CHINESE!!! They'll get you one way or another. I was told the owner wanted the elementary to do an overnight camp thing at the school. It's been done in the past, but this time, the western teachers flat refused. They didn't like the idea of giving up their time to play babysitter to the students overnight. Don't blame them. The owner was soooo angry that he cancelled all of the elementary field trips, etc. Why should teachers work all day and all night without compensation? No way. I wouldn't do it either. The Korean teachers would because they're such whipped dogs. Don't apply for a teaching position at this school. I've warned you.
I can second that one. I worked there and saw it myself. Very brazen, no concern for local fuzz, and no worries since the local pigs are in on the deal. I personally witnessed at least 10 million RMB in big stuffed bags there per month, as in actual bags full of cash stuffed tight with money hanging out of them. I don't know what the hell they are into with the much loot but I am guessing human trafficking, and drugs. I saw a few whores there with the owner. I never saw guns, but I did see many other weapons. I know for sure there are drugs there but I don't know if that is their gig or a local vendor on site taking some action. I checked into KISQ, and I am glad I did not sign there. That place however is child's play compared to the Ewha scene. Don't go there. Any Korean owned business in China should be avoided.
That's nothing. Try hanging out around the Ewha Qingdao Korean School for some real mafia action where those F-ers run around with bags of cash, whores, guns, drugs, and illegal North Koreans that they shelter and then force them to work for them in the adjoining sweat shop factories. For some real fun you can head on over and watch them all cashing in on the guise of being Christians and running illegal churches. Now that's a real trip over there.
Other than the beach, there is nothing good in Qingdao and all of the schools there suck. Where is the Chinese government in the midst of all this scandal and filth? Neck deep in it.
Koreans International Syndicate Quest
It has been stated by local chinese on the web and when I was working in china that the korean mafia in qingdao is extremely problematic. Many of them also run "schools" there. Thank you for exposing one of them!
Sounds familiar...bait and switch, Hong kong isn't China...I distrust koreans even more now!
Thanks for the posting!
Just letting job seekers know that KISQ in Qingdao, China is now on my blacklist. It started out fine, but then gradually got worse, especially when we were getting our pay a month late. We DID get all of our pay, but it was quite late, and we western teachers only got it when we did because we threatened to conduct a sit-in if we didn't.
The owner, Mr. Lee, claims that the school is low on money, which could be true, but why is it low on money? It's a private school supported by a high tuition fee. Oh, yeah, maybe it's because of the other school he's investing in using the school's tuition money that should be going to pay teachers and support the students.
Recently, the principal (Korean), vice-principal (American) and other key personnel quit because of the worsening conditions - lies, cheating, dishonesty. In the past each department (ele, ms and hs) had a western and Korean director. They would help teachers and students with whatever problems arose or manage activities, disburse information, give ideas, etc. This year there is only Mr. Lee and another Korean woman running the whole show. It's not a good atmosphere. They don't want anyone else's opinion about how to conduct business or manage activities. It's purely their way or their way. Most western teachers try to ignore them because we don't usually agree with their illogical and ill-informed decisions.
This year, also, there are 4 new teachers for middle/high school. They are quite unhappy. When they applied for the job, they were told there were plenty of resources and materials for them to teach from. In actuality, the speech and government teacher found out that there were no materials at all, not even a basic textbook. They had to find materials on their own. This is because the Korean director doesn't have a clue about the western side, so they just say anything to get teachers to come there.
Mr. Lee also told two of the teachers to come as quickly as they could. They were told to get tourist visas, and then later, the school would pay for them to get work visas and residence permits. What Mr. Lee DIDN'T tell them was that they needed to go to Hong Kong to convert their tourist visa into a work visa, but the school wasn't liable for the cost of transportation or lodging for them. That's quite a large sum of money. Mr. Lee also argued that the contract, which these two teachers have refused to sign, states that the school will pay for visas while the teachers are in China. Hong Kong isn't China, so he doesn't have to pay for them. WHAT?????
Mr. Lee finally relented and merely extended their tourist visas, which makes them illegally working in China.
So, if you want a lot of trouble and confusion in your life, then come to KISQ and try teaching here. It'll be an experience you'll never forget.