I wanted to highlight a scam currently going on in Prague and perpetuated by The Language House TEFL Prague (TLH Prague). In the Czech Republic there is a 21% state tax (DPH) which it is obligatory for a business to pay on every incoming transaction. The Language House Prague under their new owner have been running courses for the past few years and have only recently applied for their DPH status, to start paying this tax. This naturally means that for the past few years they have been pocketing the money themselves and not paying their appropriate taxes. No wonder they have such great prices listed on their website. They have been undercutting their competition unfairly. And no wonder the owner looks so happy in all his school photos 😀 If you have taken or are planning on taking a course with this Mickey Mouse operation – headed by the biggest cowboy in Prague: Chris Westergaard, then you may have/might be inadvertently involving yourself with tax and financial fraud. I have taken it upon myself to contact the authorities and make a formal complaint, meaning that this school might soon be no more. There are plenty of onsite and online TEFL training options in Prague and The Language House Prague definitely shouldn’t be high on anyone’s list.
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ischriswestergaardguiltyoftaxfraud 
Thanks for the FB heads up!
I’m on their current January 2015 course and shocked to think that the cash I paid has probably been labelled as under the table money.
I didn’t want to list my real name in my comment for fear of reprisals.
The course is a shambles. No-one seems to know what they are doing.
All we do is laugh a lot. Lots of laughing. This might seem a good thing but I’d rather be actually learning something! It’s basically a TEFL mill.
When the course is over I’m going to make an official complaint to the American Embassy in Prague and contact my bank for a chargeback so I can at least recuperate some of my losses.
The rest of my course fee (which I paid in cash) I guess is going on Chris and Skip’s after course personal party 😦
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Sorry to hear you got burned too.
Major bummer!
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oh, and you might want to check out their “accreditation” more thoroughly.
IATQuO is not an internationally recognized accreditation issuing body, despite claims to the contrary on their website.
When you’ve completed the course your stomach may hurt from all the laughing, but essentially what you will have in your hand is a pretty worthless piece of paper which only means something in the Czech Republic. Try teaching outside of the Czech Republic (with a reputable school) with a certificate printed in Chris’ bedroom and double bummer I’m afraid.
You might need to retake your TEFL with another more professional and recognized school.
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And finally for me this morning ( 🙂 ) I see The Language House Prague are a member of The College Of Teachers in London. This says it all really.
I don’t know who is more Mickey Mouse: The College Of Teachers or The Language House Prague.
The Language House Prague pay the College Of Teachers for an annual membership which means absolutely nothing, except that an amount of (probably) tax-free money was paid to further create a false sense of professionalism surrounding their website.
Ever written to and received a reply from Chris or Skip? (who btw isn’t the sharpest pencil at The Language House Prague.) 9 times out of 10 there will be elementary spelling and grammar mistakes.
And all this coming from a “real school” 😀
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Avoid TEFL in Prague by The Language House (TLH Prague) like the plague. They lie, cheat, and steal from you and are currently under investigation for tax evasion and fraud. They manipulate the grades so they hand-pick who they give a job offer to. If they do hire you they tax you 15% of your income and then don’t report to the government.
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Oh yeah, and I read somewhere that Chris likes to play favorites.
The better looking women in the class tend to do surprisingly well in their final grades on every course he runs.
What an outright scam!
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The plot thickens.
Some clown named Kyle Britto has been posting on behalf of the Language House Prague on forums, defending their name and defaming a competing school.
How low is that.
Exactly what you can expect from The Language House Prague I’m afraid.
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Just read Chris’ bio on the Language House TLH TEFL Prague website.
It reads:
Chris has been teaching EFL since 2001 and has taught in Vienna and Prague. Chris is primarily interested in Educational Psychology as well as integrating modern EFL methodologies. Chris is the founder and owner of the TLH TEFL and has personally trained nearly 1000 TEFL teachers since 2004. Known for his engaging and dynamic approach, Chris believes that creativity with an equal part of both structure and spontaneity is crucial for both student acquisition of language and teacher development.
Chris will be your main pre-course contact and help you with anything you need. He is always available to share his extensive knowledge regarding English language teaching and is always willing to help. Contact him with any questions you have – chris@thelanguagehouse.net
Read my Blog http://www.teflpragueandabroad.blogspot.com
No mention anywhere of any university diploma(s) in Education.
Just that he is primarily interested 🙂
It also claims that he has extensive knowledge regarding English language teaching.
Despite no formal or recognised English teaching training.
Also, if you look at the photos of the school Chris has uploaded on his blog, the Language House Prague seem very keen to highlight the red building as their school but which is actually the shopping mall over the road: http://www.thelanguagehouse.net/2013/10/september-class-photos/
Shameless.
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I am highly disappointed with the lack of professionalism here. I had lost my voice and all I got was yelled at. Heaven forbid you ask for help! They charge you for EVERYTHING extra. Run!
Kelly D.
Houston, TX
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Warning!
They (Language House TEFL Prague) have a very opaque relationship with International TEFL Academy.
International TEFL Academy by the by have an even worse reputation than The Language House Prague.
This is how this particular scam works:
A student interested taking a TEFL course in Prague finds International TEFL Academy’s website, applies for the course (which the student doesn’t know isn’t even run by International TEFL Academy) and pays a deposit to International TEFL Academy. This deposit is kept by International TEFL Academy as a finder’s fee. They are then passed over to the Language House Prague who collect the rest of the course payment (almost always in cash and more than likely pocketed by Westergaard) and the student no longer has any links with International TEFL Academy.
It’s a basic SWITCH AND BAIT.
Thank you SO MUCH for this website.
Finally the truth about Chris Westergaard and The Language House TEFL Prague will be out.
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I have a strong training and teaching background as a result of serving for over 37 years in United Kingdom Police Services, Kosovo and Bosnia Herzegovina being the most recent. I did the Language House TEFL in Prague and can truly state it is an excellent course run and managed by excellent tutors and staff. Quite frankly, the course is bloody hard work and I expect that the majority of these negative comments are from people who expected an easy ride and a month long holiday in Prague. The methodology used during the course was first rate and comparable with what I was used to from my training background. I had live students to practice upon, help with finding a job that is still there if I need it even though I completed my particular course about two years ago now. I didn’t see anyone getting better grades because they were ‘pretty girls’ and maybe Skip is crap at spelling and doesn’t notice his typo’s on his written note for pupils. If Chris has an eye for pretty girls, then that makes him a normal human being as far as I’m concerned, ‘cos I like them too! If you notice, none of the snide comments have been really related to the quality of the course (And trust me, it is the best on offer in Europe let alone Prague) just a bunch of personal attacks on people with nothing to support a claim that the course is not good. You apply for a job in any TEFL school in Prague clutching a Language House Certificate in your hand and 9 times out of 10 the job is yours due to the LH reputation for turning out good TEFL teachers. My first job was with the Czech Army, and I was put through some mega gymnastic hoops to get appointed, I know why I was succesful!
Finally, I don’t know anything about Chris and tax evasion but bear in mind, Chris runs a business, not a charity. Czech Laws are unbelievably complex and if there is something wrong then I would lay bets on it being an honest omission rather than any deliberate scam.
So to any prospective students of TLH Prague, go for it, dont expect a holiday but you will have an experience worh having and remember for the rest of your life. And finally, if you are a ‘pretty girl’ don’t worry Chris is harmless as long as you work hard in class. Oh one last thing! This complimentary review comes from an Englishman who firmly believes that Americans are the only people on earth who don’t know how to speak their own language properly, c’mon guys that must count for something 🙂
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James Axon wrote:
No, not really.
It’s rather simple actually.
Whenever you receive a payment you deduct 21% as DPH (called VAT in the UK or Sales Tax in the States).
It’s really as simple as that.
All reputable businesses do this. Besides, there’s no excuse for not knowing the law.
Chris hasn’t been doing this as he should have been and he has been reported to the authorities in the Czech Republic, who are currently looking into his company’s financial history. Of course, he could simply report less earnings than what he has actually received, but the irony is that over the years he has gone out of his way to let everyone know how many students he has had on every course and I also passed this information onto the Czech authorities.
He is running a scam.
Shame on you for justifying tax evasion and fraud! Coming from a former police officer too!
James Axon wrote:
I am honestly shocked at your statements here and will simply reply with 2 statements of my own and I’ll leave it up to you to work it out for yourself:
1. Skip is DIRECTOR OF STUDIES at The Language House TEFL Prague/TLH Prague.
2. Chris is the OWNER of The Language House TEFL Prague/TLH Prague.
James Axon wrote:
Actually, quite a few of the comments have been related to the content of the course 😉
Wow, it’s the “best [course] on offer in Europe” is it? 😀 Why not the world? The universe? The planet Xmoron (which incidentally is where I feel you wrote your ‘review’ on.)
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
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Looks like this site is getting a lot of hits 🙂
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The Language House TEFL Prague (TLH Prague) have a reputation of getting any negative reviews deleted by threatening the unfortunate teacher who made the review. It goes something like Chris Westergaard contacting the graduate through FB or phone and explaining that if the review isn’t deleted then all further Language House support stops with immediate effect, including placing the graduate teacher on their blacklist. PLEASE don’t study with this school!
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I took The Language House TEFL in Prague November 2014 course and immediately afterwards wrote a true assessment review of my experience. It wasn’t particularly negative, but definitely wasn’t particularly positive either. I also received a FaceBook message from Chris. At first he was very polite, asking why I hadn’t enjoyed the course so much, etc., but when I didn’t take down my review I began receiving phone calls from different Prague numbers and at all times of the day and night. In the end it was simply easier and less stress for me just to delete my review. And the phone calls stopped…
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As I feel that everything that needed to be said has been said and because I don’t want the value of the comments made so far being diluted in a sea of scroll text, I am now closing the comments function for this particular thread; meaning that the existing comments will remain, but no further comments will be added.
Please refer to the following section of the website for the better value for money alternatives to The Language House TEFL Prague/TLH Prague:
https://ischriswestergaardguiltyoftaxfraud.wordpress.com/the-best-internationally-recognised-tefltesol-course-options-in-prague-czech-republic/
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