I have not worked for this company, only interacted with them by email, but the way they represented themselves was alarming enough that I feel obligated to warn other ESL teachers. Dr. Kamilov, owner and DOS, solicited me, writing to offer me a position at his school, which is primarily an IELTS training center, with some General English courses. The details of the contract were not acceptable to me, but I am interested in Uzbekistan, so I wrote with a counter-offer. For example, he offered me the equivalent of $650/mo, but I think that having an M.Ed., a TEFL certificate, and 17 years of teaching experience makes me worth more, so I asked for $800. He said that the number of hours taught per week did not matter, but I said that it must be written into the contract. I currently teach 24 45-minute hours. Prime Coach's lessons are 90 minutes, so I suggested 12 teaching hours/week. He stated that the accommodation would be shared, but I am not wiling to live in shared housing, so I mentioned that. I also told him that the grammar and word choices in his email were poor, and asked why he didn't ask one of his native speaking teachers to proofread it. I invited him to respond if he was interested in negotiating, but otherwise wished him luck in his search for teachers.

His response was to tell me that it was *his* company, and I would do everything *his* way. Period. He also told me that until I could write in his native language as well as he could write in mine, I was not allowed to criticize his grammar. Remember that he wrote to me first and there was no signed contract between us!

While nothing he wrote is incorrect, his attitude is very scary. A contract negotiation is just that, and there is no excuse for abusing someone who counters an offer. You can ignore it or reject it, but pulling the kind of power trip Dr. Kamilov did is way out of line. I was trying both to be helpful in pointing out a badly written letter and trying to see if there were actually native speakers on site, but Dr. Kamilov showed an attitude that would be detrimental to English teaching. How would students ever improve if foreign teachers couldn't correct them?

If you doubt my veracity, google the centre and look at the web site. You'll find it riddled with errors, indicating that no native speaker of English has ever worked there. Just delete any email you receive from Prime Coach or Dr. Kamilov.