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L.Rai |
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Sunday, July 20, 2014 |
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Monday, August 10, 2020 6:32:31 PM |
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To ALL Teachers:
If you are thinking of pursuing a higher certification in TESL and want a CELTA or DELTA, here is a word of caution.
Go on the official Cambridge website and check out the list of authentic schools and instructors before agreeing to pay someone who is claiming they are "real".
My school was taken in, I am really ashamed of it and posting this is not easy for me. We trusted this person because they were once an employee of our company and have since started their own business. We thought we'd be kind and help them out, but in the end 8 of our teachers were scammed and so were we.
I did report this to Ofqual the official UK government bureau who is supposed to stop this sort of thing from happening. They took my report and as of today nothing can be done because as they put it "I need to give them more information"...my reply was if I had the information they wanted I'd just proceed with a lawsuit.
I pursued this with Cambridge and while they expressed concern and even were sorry for our problem, they will not do anything to help us. They have further stated that they will not post a warning to others. I have given them plenty of proof so they could at least post and warn others, but they are choosing not to pursue it. They will not even go after this person who ripped them off as well.
In the end, I am sorry to say that 8 of my teachers and my school were scammed and cheated out of money and a valid certification.
Please NOTE my teachers wanted to do the work, and they did a course but in the end the course and certification are worthless. I take full responsibility for being hoodwinked, and our company is taking steps to insure this will not happen again. We have done our best to compensate our teachers some of the cost for the bogus course. It however doesn't provide them with a real certification which was the goal.
So, word to others, check out the school and confirm they can offer the authentic course from the provider. Have them show you a real certificate and verify that it contains all the information that makes it valid, (ie: Cambridge logo, Ofqual logo, real certification numbers etc). If in doubt ask the provider to verify it, before you pay and get scammed.
My teachers wasted 3 months of time and a good sum of money (none of them can afford to lose right now) for a worthless piece of paper. The saying "buyer beware" is so true.
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Dear Oscar:
I live in China, and I am ashamed to admit I am from the US. My country has done so many stupid things since Feb. and list continues to grow. Everyone back in January thought I was insane because I went back to my job in China. I was locked down for 14 days with a video camera outside my front door to insure I stayed put. I have had a mandatory COVID test a month ago so we could go back to teaching inside a classroom, and we have strict protocols we must follow to remain teaching in the classroom...yet people back in the US complain about wearing a mask or staying at home if they are sick...really?
We are really a country without any true leadership at this time and it's very sad. I can only say as someone who lives IN China right now, the thought of having to return to the US is not appealing in the least.
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Dear Hope:
I hear your heart and I feel for this poor guy. If he wants to fight this he will need to do what Harvard and MIT did when the Feds decided that ALL colleges had to open up or International students who only took on-line courses would be sent home. Harvard and MIT took the Feds to court and many other schools joined their suit so that in the end the Feds backed down.
On the flip side of this coin, teaching on-line has not been easy or really effective. This year has been (in my opinion) a lost educational year for all students. We and they can't afford it. While it is a difficult choice to make, we also can't continue to live in bubbles and not find better solutions.
Here in China we have finally been able to open up again and have students come to classes in person. So far so good but time will tell. We are taking every possible precaution. Every student and teacher must wear a mask, wash their hands (we even have the gel stuff in the classrooms) and have their temps taken when they first arrive. A temperature log is kept by all students and teachers, and if someone even seems to be sick they are sent home. However, on the street, life is going back to "normal" and such precautions have been tossed aside. Night markets thrive and so far we are lucky, but again time will tell.
It's a hard choice, and no one has all the answers. We think we know and then something new is discovered and it's back to square one. I'm not sure because I am not that old (LOL) but I don't believe the Spanish Flu was this complicated. This time around we just don't know how to deal with this thing and so we are in a mess.
I think we do need to get back to some form of "normal" and soon in order to not lose our minds. Students need to get back into classrooms so they can learn and teachers need to be back so they can teach effectively, it really needs to happen. It may mean making some major changes to do it but in the end I don't think we have a choice.
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Dear Romany:
Thank you for sharing...no one really can know another person, especially when all we know is on "posts" I am truly sorry for what you have been through, and appreciate and admire that you have kept yourself sane. Personal history does indeed color each of us and forms us into who we can choose to become.
I was just venting as it's been very difficult to read some of the posts and not comment. As of yesterday Beijing just locked down 11 residential communities near a market that was confirmed to have the virus. I have no idea what that will mean to us here but it will have a ripple effect for sure.
The constant re-appearance of this virus is tiring as you may well imagine. Beijing had been 50 days virus free and now this. It makes one wonder if this will ever end but logically you know it will.
I have adapted to life in China by choice. I am not sure where you were in China but each city I have found is different and some are better than others. I lived in the south (real south Guangdong Province) and I have lived in the Northeast Jilin Province and they are like night and day. I have seen changes (small but they are good) and it gives me great hope.
I grew up near a large urban downtown area and in my youth had plenty of exposure to both sides of the tracks. It helped to shape my worldview. I have to say it was a very multi-cultural experience which helped greatly when I began to live and work abroad. I wish more young people had that exposure, I think it would benefit our world if we encouraged young people to live in very different cultures and have those experiences.
I was struck at a very young age by the concept that fear of anything was only brought on because you didn't know it well. Once you know something well you won't really fear it. You can respect it for the danger it might possess but you shouldn't fear it because you know it. That shaped me and my understanding of my world. I still believe it.
Thanks again for sharing
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Hope:
Haircuts with masks are possible and your person will know what to do. I have had two so far and it works. He even keeps my mask on when washing my hair...it's different for sure.
To some others on this thread:
COVID-19 is real, so are planes that flew into buildings, and people who were killed in WWII by genocide. I am really sick of people who don't want to face facts, go live in your conspiracy based reality but please don't keep saying stupid things. I am sorry but I have been living in this "reality" since Feb. I have had more months of lock-down than most of you and I am sick to death with people whining about it. I have had months of work without pay and I am staying the course and not bitching about it...please stop whining.
If you want to go out without a mask do it...if you feel it's all a hoax then go ahead and risk your health, but for those of us who can see the evidence and choose to be safe, don't be offended when we avoid you and think you are a risk to others because indeed you are.
I have lived through 3 repeat visits of this virus in my area. Each one was met with a lock-down and each time the results were better. We have just gotten over lock-down 3 and life is slowly coming back...it's not "normal" but it's better.
The Spanish Flu lasted for 2 years so we all need to get ready to ride this out. Sticking your head in the sand and saying it ain't real isn't going to help anyone. It's real, people have died, people will live with compromised health for years to come...those are truths and facts.
Sorry, but I am just tired and venting, and I too would like to get back to my old life. Those days are gone. All I can do now is wait and hope the government will allow us to open our business up soon. I want to teach in a classroom again, it's been almost 5 months since we have done that. We live with the uncertainty of when it will happen because no one wants to give approval and then regret it when it may go south. It's hard and it's taxing on everyone but we live with it and say nothing. Okay yes I am in China...those are the rules, but watching the insanity going on in the US, I prefer to live with these rules for now.
I have tried to be kind and understanding of the other side, but I have to say most of the stuff you have to say is not helpful and is actually very twisted up in half-truths to outright lies. Please stop.
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Dear Hope:
I have sent you a PM
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Dateline: March 7, 1965 Place: Selma to Montgomery Alabama a peaceful march to draw attention to black voter registration, it would be known as Bloody Sunday because Alabama State Troopers beat the marchers back using whips, nightsticks and tear-gas.
You can read more about this event: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march
I bring this up because 55 years later nothing has changed...why? My response, individuals have not changed. Those who were peaceful 55 years ago tried to bring about change, we are still doing it but we have learned crowds don't equal change, small steps and quiet moments will.
Don't let the news paint the story, go get your own paint and do it. Make your story in small but meaningful ways. Crowds do very little, they will attract attention and press but nothing will change. Each of us doing small things will make the difference, after 55 years I really do believe this.
Oh and yes I do remember this event...I watched it.
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Romany:
I came to Guangdong Province in Sept 2007, I was in the south for 3 years and then in 2011 I went north to Jilin Province and have been here ever since. I had a one year break from June 2008 until Sept. 2009, I went back to Kazakhstan to teach business but that door closed and I was back to China.
That's the timeline, feel free to PM me and if I can answer your questions I will do my best. Let's just say that the cleanest I have ever seen China was in Feb. this year when I can back and it was quiet, with NO traffic and the streets were so clean it was weird. It didn't last long. LOL
Some cities are cleaner than others but where I live...not one of them. My first three years I lived in a small "town" of one million which was interesting...now I live in a city of 9 million and growing. It was 3rd tier but it soon to be 2nd. We are also preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, yes I know they will call it the Beijing games but trust me many of the events will happen where I live. This means I will have technically been in China for two Olympics, yippee???
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Dear Hope:
Update...hmmm, well we are just getting through round 3 of the virus. Yep it has made a 3rd return and now we are over it again. However, in my city they are implementing the new economic strategy that was taken into law as of last month. The Central Government (Beijing) (like our DC government in the US) has made a new ruling that "morning" and "night" markets need to be supported and encouraged so street vendors are being brought back and to get them back NO fees or licenses are required. This has meant crowded streets with these vendors selling goods that are not high quality.
It took 3 years in my city to do away with these vendors, and now overnight they are back and the risk of spreading this virus is with them. Crowded streets means I am staying home.
We are still unable to go back to work. Safe classrooms with social distance and kept clean, that isn't being encouraged but unsafe crowded streets...I say no more.
We have started on-line classes as of last month, there are problems with this style of learning for young kids and learning language. It is not ideal. Your grandchildren are college age and able to do this but 3-5 year olds...not so able. It's however the best we can do right now and we hope schools will fully open soon. Today we are told 3rd and 4th grade will return so that means 3rd to 12th grades will be back, however until Kindergarten returns they will NOT allow us to open.
So we wait and hold on. I was paid a small stipend last month, the first income I have seen in 5 months. It will help. I am working full days however but that is just how life goes for now. Thanks for asking.
Dear Foundit:
Thanks again...I see your point about "hope" but it is hard some days to hang on to it. I have lived long enough to see words take on new meanings and catch phrases take over our language. I have just been introduced to a "new" term for me.."woke"...I am at a loss to fully express what I think about it. Labels belong on items not people, I don't mind a label on my jeans but I really feel uncomfortable having a label on my person. I am not a label anymore than you are. I am a person and my actions will tell my story louder than any words I can speak. Words are cheap but actions can be priceless.
As the story goes I will keep walking along the beach throwing the starfish back into the sea...maybe I can't save them all but I can save some with my actions.
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Dear Foundit:
Thank you...
One last thing...social media is not a friend to anyone. It never was and never will be. It is a divisive and horrible place in so many ways. Social media here (China) is banned for the most part for many reasons I won't go into. Even so, many expats who engage find themselves at risk because they will post things and then get baited into discussions you can't have here.
I tend to shy away from forums, but this week watching things unfold back home has just made me very sad. Seeing how China and the US are at odds once again and the only people who will be hurt are the "people" because the "government" won't feel it really.
I could say so much given my unique perspective on things but instead, I don't say much, I keep my head down and focus on the "work" and realize my small "ripples" may one day make the changes I can't.
Hope, it's a fleeting thing but worth having. My hope, the silent majority will one day utter a single word, STOP and then DO the changes, not just talk about it. So, I hope.
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