I used to be really happy with this company and thought of it as a 5-star company. Now, I've been with them for a year and am really quite disillusioned. They give no preference, raises, or loyalty to staff who've been with the company longer. They give and take lessons at random, even without telling you in advance. When you say you're available for 20 lessons, hands down at least 5 of them are standbys, which means you won't actually make as much money as you … (although my friend who just joined the company doesn't get standbys, but I'm guessing that's because she's new.)
They also put you smack dab in the middle of a story and they don’t tell you what happened before, so the kids know more than you and then you have to help kids answer open ended questions about what happened in the story earlier on. When the review question to start the lesson off asks “What did the witch do to Jack?” and I don’t know… how am I supposed to fill time here if the students don’t know either??
They also ask open-ended questions suggestions that are grammatically incorrect, such as “If you eat peanuts, what would have happened?” Questions like these are incredibly frustrating. The verb tenses are wrong. And on top of this, they ask hypothetical questions when they haven't taught kids how to use hypotheticals (e.g. "If I had... I would...), so they can't answer the question properly. Not only that, but sometimes (it's rare, but is still there) the curriculum asks a student a question saying "There is no food, why?" Instead of saying "Why is there no food here?" If people are paying for English lessons, they shouldn't be learning improper ways of asking questions (and English speakers wouldn't even say that).
Also, I have no idea what their level/rating system is, but there are very low level students that get up to the higher levels and I have no idea how… How do children get to a high level (e.g. L9) when it’s clear that they don’t understand what you're saying (eg. you ask them a question and then they repeat the question you just asked them)??? There is too much variation in who can make it to L6, L9, etc.
Also, the curriculum teaches them how to interpret 5 star ratings and is telling them that 3 stars = good. These kinds of cultural things, or mistranslations/misunderstandings, will prove significant in the end. If those kids end up owning a restaurant that only has 3 star ratings, they might not make so much money.
After saying all this, I am still working for them because of their scheduling flexibility and because it's $20/hr in my currency, which is better paying than other jobs around. However, I just wish the company would pay me better and actually have native English speakers on staff doing customer service and overseeing the curriculum. Simple changes could have big results.
