The Latest News in ELT
January 2008
eigoTown.com / SenseiBank / Interview Sensei on NHK
NHK's top-rated English-learning show "Eigo de Shaberanaito" featured eigoTown.com on January 28th. The show interviewed eigoTown president Russell Willis and followed celebrities through the process of using the free SenseiBank service (for matching private teachers and studens) and the paid service "Interview Sensei" (personalized job interview practice in English). eigoTown president Russell Willis commented "The response to the show has been fantastic, with our servers being nearly overwhelmed at one point. We've gained lots of new users and our SenseiBank service now needs lots more teachers." Teachers can sign up for free to offer private lessons.
The show will be repeated on NHK 1, February 1st, early Saturday morning at 1:40am.
Visit: eigoTown.com
Visit: SenseiBank.com
Visit: Interview Sensei
Visit: Eigo de Shaberanaito (January 30, 2008
)
Chris Paterson To Leave Macmillan
Macmillan Education chairman Christopher Paterson will be leaving Macmillan this month after 37 years with the company. Paterson, who as part of his brief lead Macmillan's global ELT efforts, is being replaced by Macmillan's chief operating officer Julian Drinkall.
The move followed a review by new Macmillan group CEO Annette Thomas. Paterson is a director of Macmillan Language House, Macmillan's Japanese subsidiary. (January 28, 2008
)
Newsweek Catalogs Eikaiwa Industry Woes
At the end of last year the Japanese version of Newsweek ran a cover feature on the problems of the English conversation school business in Japan. The special report by David McNeil quotes students as saying that Eikaiwa teachers "aren't motivated, and since they are working under short-term contracts, there is no sense of professionalism." Another states that instructors have told him that "They may be native speakers but are poorly trained and unmotivated." Another that "they are not punctual, and some even skip work."
A summary of the article in English appears on the excellent Let's Japan site run by Shawn Thir. (January 17, 2008
)
304 Jobs Lost at McGraw-Hill Education
The McGraw-Hill Education group has eliminated 304 positions. The cuts affect its higher education/professional/international group as well as the school publishing group.The company has consolidated many sales, editorial, marketing and administrative functions in the higher education/professional/international group, primarily in its international offices. The job cuts are said to reflect the shift toward the move towards more digital products.
No news as yet as to how this might affect the Japan office of McGraw-Hill. (January 10, 2008
)
Top
|
