[Chris Bishop]

I just googled BNOFLS to find their contact info for my resume. I saw this post and was inspired enough to register to this forum just to post a reply. The reason is that I had an overwhelmingly good experience at the Yangzhou branch (K-12 grade) of this school. I cannot comment on the other BNOFLS schools aside from Yangzhou, but I will reply to what was posted so that you can make up your own mind. My replies are in red

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WARNING-!! -Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School (BNOFLS)- WARNING-!!

Here's some free advice for anyone thinking of applying to Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School, based on personal testimonies of present and past foreign teachers. This has been compiled from tours around many cities in China and interviews.

1. Do not be duped by the colorful sales pitch (aka interview) that will not deliver on its promises.

I don't know what sales pitch or broken promise this poster is talking about. My first school in China screwed me. BNOFLS didn't. They were very professional. When we brought up problems, they took it seriously and resolved it quickly. They even introduced a new disciplinary system at the request of the foreign teachers. Point: they listen. This is one of the few schools in China that has a foreign Vice Principal. He will fight for you.
However, there were a few unpleasant surprises: A 12:00 curfew on weekdays. This pissed me and everyone else off, until we realized that this was not enforced at all. Another thing I didn't like was their rule about guests from abroad not being allowed to stay more than 30 days, since I specifically asked about this before being hired (so my girlfriend could come stay with me). I decided to go the civil disobedience route. Guess, what? This rule was also unenforced. I heard that in China they sometimes make rules just to please people who complain. Also, the kitchen they promised to have built for us didn't get built until halfway through the year. Anyway, not everything went 100% as promised but when you compare it to other schools in China, they are light-years ahead in terms of trustworthiness. I don't know what promises this poster refers to so I can't comment specifically on that.

2. BNOFLS hawks a 'new philosophy' for English teaching to wealthy Chinese parents as a method to drum-up business. The foreign 'teachers' are touted as marketing tools to support a business plan, not any kind of educational program. This aids the creation of myths that BNOFLS has a high retention rate of 'professional' foreign teachers.

Myth? I know two teachers who are in their 4th year there (they have been there since the school's inception) and 2 of my buddies are in their 3rd year there now. By the way, neither of my 2 buddies had planned to stay longer than 1 year. Is it a marketing plan? Yes. Does the presence of 20 foreign teachers help kids' English? Big yes. They lack the fear of foreigners/English that is so common in China, and even the worst students manage to pick up decent speaking skills.

3. Consequently, as a foreign 'teacher' your participation in a number of marketing strategies/gimmicks for promotional purposes is mandatory. These are usually classed as 'extra-curricular' and involve any/all activities that will persuade gullible parents to spend vast amounts of money to send/retain their child here.

This is true. These events are rare; there were maybe 6 per year. Sometimes early in the morning on weekdays, sometimes weekends. The kids do some sort of demonstration for the parents, and all the teachers in the school (includes foreign teachers) are asked to attend. Times I cancelled trips to Shanghai to attend these events: none. Punishment for not showing up: none.

4. English teaching qualifications are not welcome at BNOFLS. They will not employ you to do anything that remotely resembles actual 'teaching'. Although such qualifications and/or skills are generally not an important requirement for teaching in China, the teaching role is the sole responsibility of the Chinese english instructors. Note: they are 'instructors', you are not.

I don't know where this comment is coming from. I actually helped interview (by phone) some of the incoming teachers for the year after mine. BNOFLS ranks in order of importance: Teaching experience, certification (TESOL, etc.), attitude/cheerfulness. You are expected to teach, and you have goals that you must meet. Chinese teachers teach the grammar, and foreign teachers teach spoken English. The school pays 3 different teaching consultants to come from America every year (for weeks at a time) just to teach the school's English teachers how to be better teachers. Does that sound like a school that doesn't care about the quality of students' education?

5. While the Chinese english teachers assume the responsibility of teaching, your subordinate role as foreign 'teacher' is more like a music/dance teacher. The BNOFLS philosophy will brainwash you into believing the use of songs is enough to provide all the foreign language instruction any child needs. Angry parents only wise up to this when attending an 'open school' day, and they will direct their complaints at you about why you're not doing anything more constructive.
Bare in mind that parents send their child here at great expense and demand a return on their investment.
Advertising campaigns that, again make use of parading foreign teachers around or stating they only employ qualified teachers in commercials, create false myths that the school achieves high rates of examination success. In truth, this is not true. Foreign teachers are coerced into falsifying exam results to maintain a superficial school reputation that, again dupes more parents into the misguided belief their child's job prospects will improve.

You do teach with songs and rhymes (and dance) but not exclusively. The younger the students, the more emphasis there is on songs. TPR (Total Physical Response) is also used. These techniques are not used in isolation - students must alter lyrics from songs to make new sentences and converse with each other. It's innovative, and it's damn effective. You wouldn't believe how much my first graders could say after 1 year. It is technically true that foreign teachers are asked to falsify exam records. To be more precise, you are asked not to fail any students. But you do give them grades, and you can bet that the lower scoring students get it from their parents. Anyway, this didn't affect my conscience too much.

6. Your classroom activities, together with a host of evening/occasional weekend 'extra-curricular activities', means you will be confined to campus for 11 or 12-hour working days in cases. And with most campuses located some distance from the nearest town or city, you will have no time for yourself or to shop for necessities... like, food if you wish to avoid the risk of poisoning from unclean kitchens.
These activities occur everyday and include mandatory assistance to other classes, english club, evening classes, helping out/dressing-up, or performing at various events. The workload, not including the preparation time, and the deadlines placed on all paperwork (lesson plans and/or other reports) will consume what little free time you have left.
Don't even think about skipping classes... those cameras in the classroom, as well as the ones around campus are watching you!

OK, honestly, this was my biggest complaint about the school. It is 1/2 hour by bus (20 min. by taxi, 35 min. by bike) to the city center. However, we had to do evening classes 2-3 times a week. These classes started at 7:00 PM. All you have to do during evening classes is pop in a DVD, but the fact that we had to be there was annoying. We ALL complained about this, and as a result evening classes were discontinued the next year (that's why they retain teachers - they listen!). English club (once a week) similarly sucked, since it was supposed to be voluntary but since kids would rather play basketball than practice their English, they were forced by their Chinese English teachers to go. Trying to keep a convo going for 40 minutes was like pulling teeth.
Prep time: I spent about 1 hour a week. My friend spent about 5 minutes a week.
The teaching hours are few. The problem is that they are spaced out so that there is a lot of break time in the day (3 hour lunch!). You are too far from the city to go out, but you can just watch a DVD or chat with the other foreign teachers there.
Assistance to other classes counts toward your hours taught. This is called team teaching. It's a good chance for students to hear different accents and teaching styles once a week. Although it's not allowed, many teachers excuse each other from team teaching (this makes the kids sad though). I liked team teaching because I could get good teaching ideas from seeing other teachers' classes.
The cafeteria food gets mixed reviews. Most people ate at the restaurant across the street, which was fun in itself. I liked the cafeteria food, but then again I like airplane food. Most people hated it. But, we had a chef whose sole duty was to cook western food for us (every day breakfast, 3 times a week lunch). What other school in China has that??
The foreign teachers and the vice principal meet every Friday at 12:00. So, there are no afternoon classes on Friday. Sometimes, the meeting is cancelled so your weekend starts after a 1/2 day on Friday. On National Holidays, the school provides a bus to Shanghai Airport so people can take trips.

7. Being made to do eight exams in a single 13-hour school day casts serious doubt on whether examination rates can really be so high. But aside from the fact this puts a great amount of pressure on every student to perform, even more pressure falls on the teaching staff. An atmosphere of nervous anxiety hangs heavy around each campus, according to some teachers, that drives some children and staff to the point of breakdown. Complaints of exhaustion and symptoms of depression are all too common among teachers. Incidents of bullying are a familiar sight, as well as verbal and physical attacks against teaching staff (foreign included).

This is true. The kids at these schools are overworked. There is a lot of pressure on the Chinese teachers. The foreign teachers do not receive any such pressure. (You will not be overseeing 8 exams a day). It is true that, because English is a "fun" class, kids can get out of hand and bully each other or even the teacher. We had some serious discipline problems, so management instigated a warning card system (yellow, orange, red) for use by the foreign teachers only. This helped the situation quite a bit. It is true that kids need to be kids, though, and this school doesn't really let them do that. Some describe the school as "like a prison" and describe their hobbies as "sleeping". I guess that's what kids have to go through to be the best in China.

8. Still tempted to submit an application? Well, look forward to those long cold winters when the electric and/or hot water is turned off in a vain effort to save money, leaving you to wash out of a bucket of cold water filled from an outside tap.

Also true. A/C and heat always work. Hot water is sporadic, since they only turn on the boilers around the time that the cafeteria is cooking. I got used to taking showers at the same time every day. But some days, it would just be lukewarm, and some days it would be downright cold. Hot water problems are not unique to this school, however. They are very common in China.

If you're looking for an exciting and awesome teaching experience in China that will guarantee a lifetime of fantastic memories... find another school !

Here are a few other reasons I liked this school:
It's very safe. Guards patrol the campus at all hours.
Tai Chi and Chinese lessons
Top notch sports facilities (even a swimming pool & a climbing wall!)
The tight-knit and always interesting group of 20 or so foreign teachers. Of course cliques form and it's like a soap opera at times, but it's so much more interesting than being the only foreigner at a school. Also there are 400 Chinese teachers there who live at the school just like you. Parties are frequent.
The foreign affairs staff are really helpful. If you want to buy an electric bike or a mobile phone, they'll go into town with you. Need a translator when you get sick? No problem.
The school has a computer in the office for each teacher, a copy machine, and a printer so you can plan lessons and print materials. (Obvious, you say? Not in China!)

Don't choose BNOFLS if:
You want to really immerse yourself in Chinese culture (to study Chinese or whatever)
You don't want to be stuck inside the school most of the time (I made an effort to go into town every day, but in reality when it's a 35 minute bike ride away you will spend most of your time in the school)
You are picky (I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way) about: cafeteria food, consistent hot water, or disciplined children.

Don't take his word for it; don't take my word for it. I got screwed by the first school I taught at in China (and I've heard countless other stories that convince me BNOFLS is a good school despite its shortcomings) so I did a few things before I accepted BNOFLS' offer: I asked for the email addresses of returning teachers (they gave me 2) and I asked to see a sample teaching schedule (this will give you a better idea than a number; 30 hours per week could mean 7:00-9:00, 13:30-15:30, 19:00-21:00 Mon-Fri, as it did in my first school).

One last reminder: I am writing about Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou. This is not about the school's branch in any other city, nor is it about their GMAT/TOEFL test prep schools, which I assume must be vastly different.

Good luck and make the decision that's right for you!