Comments on: What can we all learn from Nova? http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teach-abroad/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:17:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Anonymous Bystander http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teach-abroad/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/comment-page-1/#comment-1571 Anonymous Bystander Sun, 04 Nov 2007 23:32:35 +0000 http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/#comment-1571 GABA is next in line to go. GABA is next in line to go.

]]> By: Alex Case http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teach-abroad/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/comment-page-1/#comment-1510 Alex Case Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:15:13 +0000 http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/#comment-1510 Absolutely, in fact many of these ideas only occured to me when I started to write that article, and that's 12 years and 6 countries later... Absolutely, in fact many of these ideas only occured to me when I started to write that article, and that’s 12 years and 6 countries later…

]]> By: Sadny http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teach-abroad/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/comment-page-1/#comment-1472 Sadny Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:11:58 +0000 http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/teaching/what-can-we-all-learn-from-nova/#comment-1472 The problem is that there appear to be SO many language schools that seem to follow a business model that screams "Turn everything into an income stream - even the teachers!" Look at Wall Street and several other of the less savoury EFL outfits - or should that be E$L nowadays? As you say, Alex, any outfit that attempts to fleece its students will soon be doing the same to its teachers. But if you find a school that actually cares to try and keep its students, and provide them with the services they have paid for, then it's worth hanging about , I reckon. And I certainly agree that you need a Plan B, but that is only really possible if you are a well-experienced and seasoned traveller or EFL teacher. Arriving in a foreign country where you know next to nothing about the language and/or the culture, perhaps even the job, means that most people put an enormous amount of trust in the only 'certainty' they have - their school. So having a plan B seems disloyal, perhaps irrelevant, especially if you've been brought up in a very different social and economic environment. When you've been around the block a few times, you can see the need for a Plan B, of course - but that's what they call wisdom, I suppose! The problem is that there appear to be SO many language schools that seem to follow a business model that screams “Turn everything into an income stream – even the teachers!” Look at Wall Street and several other of the less savoury EFL outfits – or should that be E$L nowadays? As you say, Alex, any outfit that attempts to fleece its students will soon be doing the same to its teachers. But if you find a school that actually cares to try and keep its students, and provide them with the services they have paid for, then it’s worth hanging about , I reckon.

And I certainly agree that you need a Plan B, but that is only really possible if you are a well-experienced and seasoned traveller or EFL teacher. Arriving in a foreign country where you know next to nothing about the language and/or the culture, perhaps even the job, means that most people put an enormous amount of trust in the only ‘certainty’ they have – their school. So having a plan B seems disloyal, perhaps irrelevant, especially if you’ve been brought up in a very different social and economic environment.

When you’ve been around the block a few times, you can see the need for a Plan B, of course – but that’s what they call wisdom, I suppose!

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