Some clips of Flight of the Conchords. "Business Time" and "Jenny" are partcularly great. Two very talented and funny Kiwis!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Global Vision International


A provisional blacklisting only until The Insector has completed his research. The omens are not good however.

The recipe:
  • A weekend TEFL course
  • A UK Limited company that hides the fact in its small print
  • An impression of a charitable organisation
  • Exciting destinations
  • Expensive courses, expeditions, misssions to teach EFL to the needy
  • Oh and last but not least NO PAY.
Does that not sound like the ultimate dream business scam?

If you are young innocent and possibly fresh from university, it feels to The Inspector a bit like.......... come into my parlour said the spider to the fly!

There again as you all know The Inspector is an old cynical fart so he may well be wrong. Let's wait and see but in the meantime do read the small print and study the prices!

You can have your bank account emptied at:

Global Vision International
3 High Street
St Albans,
Herts,
AL3 4ED,
England

_______________________________________________________________


Inspector McHammered of the Lard in Val Ferret, Switzerland

  1. The Index
  2. Most Recent
  3. Nominate a School for Blacklisting

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I regularly read your blog since stumbling across it some time ago. I am really concerned how your arguments seem increasingly based on just your opinion. You read a web site and then just slate it - where's the "inspector" in that, where's the real value judgment? Where's the dialogue? This is what Dave's ESL etc has done for a while, do we need more ego in this space? I have nothing to do with GVI although familiar with the concept of volunteer travel / TEFL etc. Sure I can see that there's some cloak-and-dagger here and that these businesses should be more open - at the end of the day it's simply sheltered travel for people who lack the confidence to get out there and figure out how to volunteer directly (most people lack that time / confidence / inclination hence why these businesses exist). I'd prefer these companies existed to encourage people to make a difference and make a profit than the plethora of soul-less organizations that send westerners to the beach to get drunk every summer.

Anonymous said...

A provisional blacklisting only until The Insector has completed his research.

Are you a bug hunter now or has tracking down cockroaches like Paul Lowe finlly got to you?

Inspector Mchammered of the Lard said...

"The Insector"
Phew, what a freudian slip. I almost prefer it. Nice one Lozza.

Inspector Mchammered of the Lard said...

I am really concerned how your arguments seem increasingly based on just your opinion. You read a web site and then just slate it - where's the "inspector" in that, where's the real value judgment? Where's the dialogue?

There can't be a true dialogue given the nature of this blog. If there were, The TEFL Blacklist would be bullied and threatened into oblivion. Ask Sandy Mcmanus on his tefl-trade blog. He created this blog and handed the keys over to avoid it being shut down.
Rather than "just slate it" I prefer to think that a torch is shone into places that are a bit murky.
If enough doubt exists then I'll willingly hold my hands up and admit I got it wrong. Look at the TEFL Worldwide Prague entry for example or Cicero Languages International.

I'd prefer these companies existed to encourage people to make a difference........

Fair comment. My argument however is that it should all be more transparent and less sneaky.

The TEFL Tradesman said...

They sound like a right bunch of c*nts to me! Give 'em some of dat "arm-lock and a jab in the balls" stuff that you're so good at, Inspector!!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. Happen to agree with your choice of blacklist recipient - with possibly the first-hand experience to make my comment legitimate. I went on a GVI "expedition" and as teaching English was part of the gig, I got my Cert TESOL and a bit of teaching experience before I signed up. Chose GVI because it offered the opportunity for me to look at potential career changing experiences in conservation, with training to justify taking on board someone without the necessary experiences. Long story short - their English teaching (while I´ve not been on all trips that offer this, so can only speak for one) is at best an embarrassment. I was rotated in and rotated out, as the priority wasn´t consistency for the students or providing qualified teachers, it was giving all the volunteers a heartwarming "hug -a-local" experience. The majority of the lessons were patched together and conducted almost entirely in Spanish by the (did I mention unqualified and for the most part disinterested staff member) while 4-5 volunteers occasionally chipped in. At least they weren´t issuing the promised TEFL certificates...
For the record, their science is crap too :)