Is the ship sinking?

[B1-B2]

Has anyone seen the latest NOVA ads? What is the crap graph in the bottom right hand corner? Stating that they are teaching 2 thirds of all English students in Japan! Nobody came to me and asked how many students I have, and none of the other owners I talk to have been asked either! Without that information wouldn't it make it a guess? And are you allowed to just make up a statistic and advertise it to the greater public and hope they bite?

The sooner NOVA go bankrupt the better! The noise I am hearing is it shouldn't be too long. NOVA = NOVALUE.

[HavanaClub]

That might explain all the crap English I hear in Japan... I wonder if Okki69 is a Nova student?

[Spoon]

That might explain all the crap English I hear in Japan... I wonder if Okki69 is a Nova student?

Maybe he's a teacher there?

[JayJay]

Has anyone seen the latest NOVA ads? What is the crap graph in the bottom right hand corner? Stating that they are teaching 2 thirds of all English students in Japan! Nobody came to me and asked how many students I have, and none of the other owners I talk to have been asked either! Without that information wouldn't it make it a guess? And are you allowed to just make up a statistic and advertise it to the greater public and hope they bite?

The sooner NOVA go bankrupt the better! The noise I am hearing is it shouldn't be too long. NOVA = NOVALUE.

Unfortunately the NOVA ad is probably right. The fact is NOVA is the McDonalds of English school, like McDonalds, the quality of the product is not necessary for the profit they make.

As a culture, the Japanese take a lot on face value. Looking professional is important and first impressions are everything. The Japanese spend the biggest percentage of their earnings on clothing in the world and men quite openly check their looks in the mirror (anywhere else, hear the word "___" being yelled) and women are skinny but paranoid of being fat.

Look at the effort they put even into making food look good (which I enjoy).

NOVA teachers, who are dressed like salary men, in a tidy well placed school and constant advertising with a pink mutant bunny with a ducks beak, is all they need. The fact the teachers are muppets is not the point. They're well-dressed gaigokujin and thats all that matters.

NOVA is not the only school like this. In Japan, image IS more important than quality, its just a sad fact, and it will always be so

[paulh]

Has anyone seen the latest NOVA ads? What is the crap graph in the bottom right hand corner? Stating that they are teaching 2 thirds of all English students in Japan! Nobody came to me and asked how many students I have, and none of the other owners I talk to have been asked either! Without that information wouldn't it make it a guess? And are you allowed to just make up a statistic and advertise it to the greater public and hope they bite?

The sooner NOVA go bankrupt the better! The noise I am hearing is it shouldn't be too long. NOVA = NOVALUE.

If you see NOVAs own corporate website it says that it has 470,000 students while all the other language schools have 270,000 students combined. Yearly profit is about $600 million or about 6 trillion yen

NOVA has 60% market share of eikaiwa schools, how much you can believe of that is debatable.

http://www.nova.ne.jp/corporation/05...rketshare.html

[User Name Deleted]

NOVA teachers, who are dressed like salary men, in a tidy well placed school and constant advertising with a pink mutant bunny with a ducks beak, is all they need. The fact the teachers are muppets is not the point. They're well-dressed gaigokujin and thats all that matters.

JayJay,

you could not have put it better.

Regards,

J.T

[JayJay]

JayJay,

you could not have put it better.

Regards,

J.T

Thanks but I would like to point out that not only NOVA has this flaw. In my opinion the whole private industry, and to an extent the public one too (schools) have the same problem.

Just like all fast food is bad for you but a doco was made on McDonalds (Super Size me), the same is true here.

NOVAs bad side is the industries, only NOVA is most well know so its a bigger target.

I worked for NOVA for a year, and I wouldn't go back, but is the grass greener elsewhere? A little but not much.

Somedays I think nobody really cares if I teach grammar, vocab, idioms or not, as long as I'm "genki" and look good on my schools web page. That's the reality of teaching English here.

I do try to really teach but its more out of guilt for the students and the money they are as well as my self respect, I could do a half arse job and get by as long as I look how the school wants me too.

It is funny that the Japanese spend so much money on learning English but still rank below Indonesia. You would think they would wonder about where their moneys going.

[B1-B2]

Jay jay, you have given me a great idea.

Are there any Japanese out there that would like to team up with me and make a doco for the Japanese market?

Secret cameras and we can get it all from the hard sell at the front counter and the problems associated with making bookings and finish the movie with the ex-NOVA student walking into my school.


Thanks Jay Jay

[B1-B2]

I could call it "Dumb Me Down"


does anyone else have a better name?

[B1-B2]

Take My Money and Run??

[edinjapan]

I could call it "Dumb Me Down"


does anyone else have a better name?

"The Great Scam"

How does that sound?

[pants]

Seriously though, that IS a great idea for a documentary.

[agnosto]

Seriously though, that IS a great idea for a documentary.

They were making one about language school teachers in Korea about the time I was leaving (2 years ago)....I wonder what happened with that.

[HavanaClub]

To answer the OP's original question: Lusitania, Britannic, Titanic, Bismark, Andrea Doria, Hood, Edmund Fitzgerald............

[B1-B2]

Seriously though, that IS a great idea for a documentary.

pants
I am seriously interested in doing a doco, I think it would be a eyeopener for not only Japanese but the whole English industry.

I don't know what really goes on in NOVA or any of the big4, But I would be interested in finding out, just to see if all the rumors are true.
McDonald's is open to everyone and if you want a burger you get a burger, the big schools are off limits to non students and it cost big money to get in.