Job Discussion Forums

[chuckMC]

Master Shake, don't delude yourself. Most polish people see English teaching as a "small job." Its not a real job in the Poles' eyes. Shake, ask anyone about their opinion of ESL teaching and they WILL say that its either a dead end, slacker, student, backpacker, traveler, easy, boring...job! Its a crying shame that ESL teaching is looked down in Poland and elsewhere. Because its a wonderful opportunity to exchange cultures and open people to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, people have forgotten that original spirit. Too many teachers enter ESL to escape problems back home and don't care to share their culture with the natives. Too many schools nowadays employ these questionable teachers and pay them woeful ESL wages to simply increase their bottom line. I wished there were some sort of regulatory international ESL organization that could regulate the ESL industry by weeding out the questionable teachers and schools, thus restoring creditably and respect for the ESL industry

[nomad soul]

[scottie1113]

You base all this on your experience after eight months in a small town? Thanks for sharing. In my humble opinion, your observations fall well short of the mark, at least in my experience. But I'm just one small voice in the crowd.

I've done voice-overs, proofreading, skype lessons for companies too far to travel to and I have more requests for private lessons than my schedule can handle. I've never advertised. These have all come from referrals and personal contacts and they didn't happen after my first eight months here.

You might think about that before you enlighten us about teaching in Poland.

[sparks]

I think the problem here is that someone forgot that just because he experienced something and has a certain view, it doesn't necessarily make it the golden truth

[Master Shake]

[dragonpiwo]

I think the op is bang on with a lot of what he's said. So try and pull that experience card on me. I moved to Poland in 96 and have a house and son there.

[delphian-domine]

[dragonpiwo]

Stop blowing smoke up your own blowholes. No-one disputes the fact that Poland is a lovely place for nature etc but every bloke is here/there for a woman. It's one of the cruddier TEFL destinations and horribly paid. 90% of the employment is in language schools, which are dire. Polish management leaves loads to be desired. Outside Warsaw, there isn't some jobs glut. there are tonnes of teachers all over competing for the privates. If you go self-employed, you'll be paying 1500/month just in zus after 2 years, let alone tax and rent.

It's a place where people often get stuck big time and delude themselves that they are doing OK.

Getting uber qualified will help you not a jot.

[chuckMC]

For some reason I feel like the opinions from most of these posters are out of touch with reality. I don't know what world you guys come from. For the ordinary person, ESL is not a long term career because its difficult to settle down, raise a family, and return to your home country with a salable skill. First of all, do you guys ever think about settling down back home? Will you stay overseas ALL your life? Most people dream of living overseas, but they ultimately yearn to be with their people and make real Western money. Living overseas all your life is not a tenable situation for most ordinary people. Also, ESL teaching, is not really transferable back home. A CELTA, or a DELTA, will not be honored by the home country.

In regards to teaching ESL in Poland, it is nice to work there for 1 or 2 years but anymore is absolutely nuts. I'm sorry, Poland is an okay country if you are a young person looking for an European experience or a Retiree looking for a cheap location in Europe. But it is a HORRIBLE place for raising a family, advancing your career, and making real money. Polish people are shocked and suspicious when they meet someone from the rich West working in Poland. They ask themselves if that person is a loser back home or is crazy. The money here is crap. I make 4000 PLN a month, which is a good income here, and I still feel poor. Prices for consumer goods are crazy high. The life here is tough. Why someone would want to live here for long term is beyond me!!

[chuckMC]

I mean, come on...there is a reason why so many Poles are running away from Poland; its a loser country. It offers little professional opportunities, crap wages, and a crazy bureaucratic system. Guys, stop deluding yourselves, Poland is an average country at best. It has an interesting history, good food, nice women, cheap beer, nice cities, good party life. But overall its a loser country with a lot of losers in the game of global economics. These losers (people who earn crap incomes by international standards) are often racists, bigots, xenophobes, homophones, super-religious, backwards, etc.. Unfortunately, Poland has more of these crappy people than the Western countries. By the way, this is what every Polish person will tell you! I feel like there is some sort of weird idealism on the forum.:/

[delphian-domine]

[dragonpiwo]

Delph you must be winding him up. Me and a certain journalist you know have talked about this over beery evenings and neither of us knows how people get by long-term. Most TEFL teachers are 1 payday away from real shyte, but it's predominantly a middle class profession and many have mum and dad to fall back on when it comes to their weddings, deposits etc etc.

I don't think the op is far off the mark at all. The vast majority of jobs there are rubbish. Getting really well-qualified doesn't help in the earnings stakes. You earn more by getting 1 or 2 lucky corporate clients and by working more hours.

My wife and I have talked about what Poles think of TEFLers and she reckons they have an awful rep in Poland these days. No-one takes them seriously except themselves. You got a good job Delph but I'd wager it was potluck like all my good ones there were.

No-one gets into this rigmarole for the dosh. Most of us did it years ago because we wanted to travel and party and get hot girls. I remember yawning through workshops as a newbie looking at my watch thinking 'ace I'm getting out of here once Rod, Jane and Freddy have stopped miming the Present Continuous looking like real asses'.

Getting older life changes. You want it to be easier not harder. There are just much better places with happier folk where you'll get treated and paid like a professional, whatever line of work you are in. On my current salary I could pay for a house in 1 year. Thank F I'm no longer working there.

[nomad soul]

[PC Parrot]

Is no-one else amused by this?

[dragonpiwo]

She's probably miming the PPC as we speak.

PC- the op is right about a lot of what he says. I've never made more than 7,500/ month net there and for that I was teaching 6 if not 7 days a week. I loathed the free flat in Warsaw even though it was luxurious. The last bit of work I did there, which was a part time job, ended up with me having to hire a lawyer. No matter what 3 or 4 people say here, the vast majority of teachers in Poland are in a parlous financial situation. Furthermore, professional class Poles don't regard them well. They've had years of scruffy 'Business English Teachers' turning up looking rough or not knowing how to work the projector. Poles are demanding students and most teachers there would struggle to answer their questions accurately for much of the time. So NS teachers are relegated to being bit part actors (the Polish teacher does the grammar), conversation teachers and YL nannies, running all over town being everyone's bitch. Surviving that for years must give one a false sense of achievement.

Personally, I like the old KISS maxim. For me, keeping it simple meant working elsewhere. I miss half a dozen people but it's a truly a shitty place in which to work whether you are an expat or Polish. At some point you have to get real. My biggest nark there is the quality of what you get for what you pay. The Polish mentality is all about sales and not service. Once you figure that out it explains almost everything. It applies to the schools as much as it does to the shabby hotels and pop-up restaurants.