This review was written by a couple. Both are experienced, certified ESL teachers.

The Canadian House Center in Machala, Ecuador is not a good place to work. We worked at CHC in Machala for two months (May-June 2014) and did not enjoy our experience.

We recommend foreign teachers stay away from CHC Machala for the following reasons.

-Lack of professionalism.
The director, Veronica, is not a former teacher herself and does not understand the importance of maintaining respect from your students. Often she walked into our classes and demand we fill out some piece of paperwork on the spot. She would also come into some classes and, without first addressing us, the teachers, ask students if they thought the class was too easy or too hard. She consistently barged in on lessons and undermined the authority of the teacher in the classroom.

-Lack of organization.
Students often enrolled halfway through a school cycle and would be randomly assigned a teacher. Teachers were not given any warning, and would suddenly have a new student in their class. These new students inevitably required special attention, and were a distraction to the main lesson and long-term students.
As an example, prior to a Saturday morning class management enrolled an entire class of students while there was no available teacher OR classroom. Ten students had to be randomly assigned a class, regardless of their level. Management did not show up, and left the task of organizing to be completed by teachers in addition to our roles in leading the classes.

-Fines.
CHC retains a right to fine any employee for insubordination, yet the criteria for insubordination is subjective and inconsistent. One day at CHC, during our free period, we were doing some computer work when management told us to go out and distribute promotional flyers at that exact moment. We refused, stating that the afternoon was our only free time and we had side work to finish that day, and also were not given any prior notice. As the flyer distributing work is not paid, and no other teachers were present to do promotional work along with us, we did not consider our refusal to be unwarranted. At the end of the pay period management attempted to fine us for 'refusing to work' (for free, we might add). In the end, we successfully argued the fine off of our pay checks, however this was a very difficult argument.

-Inconsistent grading criteria.
Some time in 2013 CHC Machala lost all its foreign teachers, (rumored to be as a consequence of very similar complaints to our own), and had to lower their prerequisites regarding teacher experience. As a result, students' learning was severely harmed, and progress stalled. When we arrived in May 2014, the higher level students (who were supposed to be conversationally fluent) were unable to communicate with a native teacher. Students had progressed to the next consecutive level every 2.5 months regardless of whether they had actually improved in their English ability. This created a situation in which class level is somewhat arbitrary and did not accurately reflect the students' abilities. This lack of consistency created a learning environment where some students were held back and others were completely out of their depth within the same class.

-Private Classes can be canceled without warning.
By CHC policy, private students pay after they take a class, never prior to taking a lesson. If a private student does not show up for a class, a common occurrence, the teacher does not get paid. Management has consistently refused to implement a down-payment policy, so taking on private students opens up the possibility of lost work-hours. However, refusing to accept private students can be grounds for a fine.

-Lack of enthusiasm/ cultural exchange/ hospitality.
As an ESL teacher living abroad, one usually hopes for a school that will show you around your new town, take an interest in learning about your home and make sure you learn about their's, and make sure you are socially connected. CHC in Machala did a very poor job doing all this with the two of us. Management (from the main branch in Loja, not even our own) did take us around town on our first day, but from that point on we were largely on our own. We had to take care of finding our way to the markets, getting to the bank to cash our paychecks, and were not treated as peers amongst the local teachers.

-Secretarial incompetence
Fridays are technically free time but you are required to host catch up classes for students who have missed periods during the week. Management has stated the procedure for this is to inform the CHC Machala secretary of your anticipated students and time slot, and allow the secretary to make the necessary confirmation phone calls. At no point in our 2 month period with CHC Machala did the secretary ever successfully perform this duty. She would not call students, or would not inform us if the students were unavailable. On four occasions we arrived on a Friday for our classes, waited for 20 minutes, asked the secretary where our students were, and only then would hear that our students would not be in class on that day.

A final criticism of CHC Machala is that management cannot communicate in English, and local teachers must be pulled out of their class to translate. We taught ourselves entry level Spanish, but with no help from school. The partner schools in Loja and Cuenca offer this helpful and fairly vital assistance to foreign teachers, making the situation in Machala even more frustrating.

In summary, CHC Machala lacks a professional, respectful, or well-functioning atmosphere. While the teachers attempted to teach in a shambolic environment, management could be found having makeup applied in the office.