Job Discussion Forums

[kedzoe]

Hi everyone, I'm an American college student who will be graduating this May with a B.A in English. I am expecting a scholarship to study Polish at Jagiellonian University (October-June 2014-2015), there is a language learning center for foreigners there. I have some experience with the Polish language and I'm continually getting better. My main purpose is to learn Polish to as great a degree as possible and of course there is no better way than living in Poland.

From May-October I would like to live in Poland, and I suppose my only option in order to sustain myself would be to teach English. I have done a little reading, and I see that a CELTA is necessary. Is there any difference in a CELTA earned in Poland or the US? Also, is it possible to do part-time while being a student - not literally, but work-wise, is it advisable? Is CELTA itself enough (without teaching experience)? Will my B.A in English mean anything at all? Also, I'm a native English speaker.

Also, do you think those months in Poland would be adequate to raise from about a B1 level to a B2/C1 level? The Jagiellonian course is 2 semesters which would cover B1-2 or C1-C2 and I'd like to maximize the effectiveness of my learning and start at C1 if possible.

Basically, I'd like to receive any and all advice on my options. What would you do in my position?

[spiral78]

May-October is a HORRENDOUS time to look for paid work. Most contracts are Sept - June. July/August is for holiday time.

You are very unlikely to make more money than perhaps enough to buy a beer or two in this time period, particularly without contacts and local connections.

[ecocks]

You have some challenges.

If you get a CELTA (makes no difference where) then you are potentially employable as a teacher by a school. Some (myself included) feel you can get a job with a TEFL as well.

However, you need to consider the variables.

* Can you teach?
* Krakow is widely considered saturated but certainly has plenty of teachers.
* You might build up some work while you do your coursework but you will be competing against the regular, FT teachers for the scarce summer students.
* Like almost any job, experience is a plus, you are short on that.
* You don't necessarily need to stay in Krakow if the Univ is not in session.
* There are camps but, again the jobs are few and far between and barely pay anything more than room and board for inexperienced teachers who are more like volunteers.

If you want to learn a language, immersion is a powerful tool so decide what your real objective and possible resource are. If learning Polish is your goal then go for it but don't expect to make normal wages during that period. If you can afford a CELTA or TEFL (credible ones of 100+ hours in a classroom with student contact) then it's a possibility. Also, you may like it well enough to stick around a couple of more years and get your Polish a bit higher while working on other languages, who knows?

[kedzoe]

Insofar as teaching, I'm not totally sure. I have done one on one tutoring in English grammar for pay in the past and I didn't find it particularly challenging, although I was working people who spoke English fluently already. Of course a classroom is a whole different story, but I'm guessing that while doing CELTA or TEFL I will realize my capabilities.

I am not limiting myself to exclusively Krakow, I would in fact like to experience a city like Gdansk or Wroclaw prior to going to school in Krakow. I noticed Gdansk is your location, how are the prospects there?

My real need is to sustain life while living in Poland, not to make any money or build a career. When you say make normal wages, do you mean I would make less than the cost of living?

Out of curiosity, I'd like to know career-wise, what can someone with a Master's or Ph.D in English expect to make in Poland? Is it possible to get a University job? I have considered living in Poland on a more permanent basis in the future.

[simon_porter00]

Re: working in summer generally - the months you're coming over are not good months(May to June - end of semester; June - July - summer school, very few places around to newbies if any; July - August - holiday months). The best pickings you would hope to get (if you are not connected in Poland) would be my stomping ground in Warsaw and even then pickings are very slim.

Re: your experience. Polish students are difficult and challenging students. They can sniff out a joker in about 5 minutes and your knowledge of grammar in Poland has to hit a steep learning curve.

Re: your degree. For you, you could use it to help your students. For a school it's worthless i'm afraid. A contributor to this board majored in English writing style or some such degree and he got a CELTA to get a job (as does everyone who wants to teach in Poland).

Re: university work. Somewhere on this board, probably page 5 of some topic which deviated from it's OP on page 1, there's an argument between DD and Dynow (probably) about the working the Uni route. In short, the general consensus is: you'll never find a greater English language snob other than in a Uni, the jobs are notoriously difficult to come by, the money is crap and the private market (at least in the beginning) is much much more lucrative.

Re: learning Polish. I did a year-long UJ course in 2004/5. How much Polish you want to learn is down to you. I spent most of it in the pub. There were others who studied hard and improved. Moving from B2 - C1 is a big big jump and to get froim C1 - C2, unless you're a robot, takes a good while longer and probable immersion. Of course, there are exceptions - a friend of mine got to C2 in two years from scratch, but he shunned any English contact for this time (yes, he's a bit of a weirdo).

[dragonpiwo]

I worked at a Polish uni and the money wasn't cruddy....but the contract later changed. When I worked at UAM, the basic hours pay was low but I did lots of extra classes and that made it quite ok at the time....I also got free digs in the akademik. We also earned more when Cambridge testing time came along and at uni people come in and ask you for privates.

PM Ecocks as he seems to have done well for himself. Personally, doing 40 hours of privates a week makes me shudder though.

[scot47]

Achieving fluency in Polish is an admirable aim but I wonder how many have got there ?