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bobs12 Saint Petersburg Crusty Tech Support Veteran Posts: 1017	Benedict School St Petersburg, 'Benedict International Ltd.'  13th Mar '06 3:19 PM The following is a declaration from the Benedict Network, Switzerland: "Benedict Network International Ltd, worldwide licensor of the brandname "Benedict School" and trademarks, copyrights, associated knowhow, methods and books since 1928 and present in over 12 countries, has been compelled to expel two licensees from its international network for very serious anti-ethical behaviour, including the documented theft of intellectual property and repeated breaches of contract. The two licensed units belong to one Russian national and are located in St Petesburg, Russia and Norwich, UK. Our network is not in the position to recognize professional experience acquired at these two schools and we strongly discourage teachers to work with these institutions. Identically diplomas granted to students by these institutions have no formal recognition as far as our network is concerned. We are currently evaluating legal action against the owner of the units." If you've ever worked at the SPb 'branch', you'll know what they're talking about. Branches in Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo are unaffected and are not connected to Saint Petersburg.
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tlarch Not in Russia Innocent Civillian Posts: 66	12th Apr '06 3:40 PM I've heard nothing but bad stories about this school franchise. Not just here but several other forums also. I think I will stay away from these jokers. Now I'm curious, what did the Saint Petersburg branch do?
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bobs12 Saint Petersburg Crusty Tech Support Veteran Posts: 1017	Benedict Petersburg 12th Apr '06 6:31 PM They were expelled from the group for violating guidelines. I don't really know what they were thrown out for exactly, but it was most likely a case of death by a thousand cuts. I suspect mistreatment (and possibly swindling) of teachers had a lot to do with it.
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wallaby60 Saint Petersburg Send Flowers Posts: 1	Benedict School St. Petersburg 13th Apr '06 8:14 PM Just a few words about my experience with the Benedict School in St. Petersburg. I went to St. Petersburg to do the CTEFL course through Via Lingua. As arranged I was collected at the airport but on reaching the "hostel" was very surprised to see just how sub-standard it was. It had been advertised as "basic accomodation" but this phrase is a little decptive: think no hot water,mice running all over the kitchen, rooms that haven't seen a paint brush since about 1961 and toilets so dirty that I wouldn't even expect an animal to use them.
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finstu London Innocent Civilian Posts: 1	Terrible course and a good scam 8th Aug '06 12:50 AM I went on the same course by the so called via-lingua and the whole organisation of it was a joke. The flat i stopped in was the worst flat i have ever been in, even more no hot water for the whole stay. My advice to people is stay away from VIA-LINGUA in St.Petersburg
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Sky007 Erehwon Defected to the USA! Posts: 120	9th Sep '06 8:41 AM I interviewed a teacher recently who had done some certificate with Benedict in the early 1990's. She said that it was really good for learning to review books, but said that it was only 1 week long. (Sounds more like a short inservice.) Anyway, I didn't say much about it...and she said she had never worked for them. (I did tell her that she was lucky not to.)
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Schnork St. Petersburg Gettin' the hang of it Posts: 55	22nd Oct '07 11:37 AM Well, you won't believe it but I have just found out that an interview has been arranged for me to be a teacher at that school. I just found out about it now and it is in 2 hours. I guess i will at least go down and see what they say.
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bobs12 Saint Petersburg Crusty Tech Support Veteran Posts: 1017	24th Oct '07 12:49 AM Been arranged for you? By whom?! Huh? Don't work there man!
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pdamore Saint Petersburg Crusty Veteran Posts: 16	benedict 18th Nov '07 9:53 AM Do not DO NOT DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO............... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT! even consider working for Benedict. Whatever they tell you, it's a LIE!
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Schnork St. Petersburg Gettin' the hang of it Posts: 55	23rd Nov '07 3:38 PM Don't worry! They just wanted to sell me a TEFL course so I left. I am working at a State School......I think! I just started last week.
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candidate77 London Innocent Civillian Posts: 1	benedict school 14th Mar '08 3:19 PM they really are a shocking company to work for. I did for about five minutes (before having my documents ripped up in front of me). They don't like paying teachers for their work and get a bit funny if you ask for more than $3 an hour. I was sent out to work in all manner of random places around the city. Hated it. Ended up going to Estonia to renew my visa with another company. They were AWFUL to work for. DON'T DO IT!!
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