It's been well over a year since I left Taiwan and this company. Now, I'll give Richard the benefit of the doubt. He's a businessman who does what businessmen do - try and preserve the reputation of his company. However, this doesn't forgive the fact that ESL4Asia does some things it shouldn't be doing.

Be aware that Richard is not being completely candid about his company/school. The teachers are not idiots...we found out a lot of things that you probably didn't want us to know. You say that you don't have a reputation for pissing off employees to the point where they bail on their contract? Hmmm...all I have to say are a few names: Martin, Liz, Serkin, and Susan. And those are only people who were around at the time I was there (minus Serkin). I was told that this type of thing wasn't unique to ESL4ASIA. But, since I cannot personally say so myself, that's it on that.

The trust fund being withheld? That was true. At the time of my leaving, it was still in place, albeit with some kind of 6% interest or something like that.

Being promised an "apartment" and getting a converted classroom? Also true. Heard the "...this is what we think of as an apartment..." excuse many times over too.

Illegal teachers being brought into the fold on student visas? Yup...true as well. Admittedly, I was one of them.

Sending employees to work outside of the limits of their ARC? Yes again. Each of their teachers are registered with Kao Chi on their ARC. Kao Chi is a real school, but just another link on the chain of schools a teacher must work at. E4A has many "client schools" from Taoyuan, Jhongli, and the rest of the surrounding areas.

Pay? Well...they collect the money from the client schools, then pass it on to the teachers. Why don't the client schools pay directly to the teachers? Who knows. I was told once that it was because of the exorbient recruiter fees that they would charge client schools for their teachers, which they didn't want us to be aware of. I don't know how true that is, though. Just hearsay and rumors.

Working for them is a lot like being in a communist setting. Keep your head down, do as your told, and things will go well. I cannot express how many times differences of opinion weren't tolerated when coming from teachers, even when it was legitimate. If you don't stir it up, then you'll be fine.

Now, things may very well have changed with this school since I have been gone. It has, after all, been 13 months. I don't regret my time there at all. I did my best to adapt to the situation and not be a whiner. The life experience I gained made all of it worth putting up with. But, this isn't the most ideal school to work for if you have high expectations of yourself and your employer.

In closing, this is to anyone out there reading who may be considering them. To you I say this: do your research, ask a lot of questions, be thorough in examining this school as a potential employer. Keep in mind past practices, and speak with the foreign teachers who work there.

Hope this was helpful.