Job Discussion Forums

[Vanya]

Hey All-
I am looking to teach English in Prague sometime in the next year and was wondering about any good programs there. I have heard of ITC so any experiences with that school would be great. I also would love any information on simply living there--expenses, traveling, people.
Thank you!
Chris

[denise]

I went through ITC's program and spent two years in Prague. I was happy with the program and absolutely enchanted with the city.

ITC isn't one of the "name brand" certificates (i.e., it's not CELTA), but it is rigorous and well-organized, and it includes several hours of practice teaching. While on the course, you can start looking around at the various language schools. During our third week, ITC invited several schools to come recruit us, and many of us had interviews lined up for the fourth week. I was interviewed and offered jobs at a couple of schools before the course had finished.

Although I haven't been there in a while, I can't imagine that the economic situation has changed too much. You will earn a livable salary, especially if you end up at a school that provides or subsidizes your housing. While you will not earn enough to travel extensively through Europe (or at least not through Western Europe) or go on lavish spending sprees, you should always have enough to go out to a pub, club, show, museum, etc. You should also easily be able to afford travel within the country--and there are MANY other cities, villages, etc. that are well worth a trip.

The city is gorgeous. A bit overrun with tourists, especially in the summer months, but they never stopped me from strolling through the streets.

If you've got any specific questions, please PM me.

d

[denise]

Ooops--one more fairly important thing: Do you have an EU passport? If not, it may be difficult to find legal work.

If you check out the CZ forum, you should see a few threads debating the new EU restrictions and if/how much they will affect non-EU citizens.

d

[whhels22]

I also went to ITC Prague. Good experiance and a lot of hard work. Everyone was friendly trainers great, but there are a lot of temptations in Prague to distract you from your studies. Although it doesn't prepare you for everthing it gives you a solid foundation. If you want to teach it's a means to an end. However I would reccomend this school to anyone. One thing. As stated earlier it is not one of the brand name certificates however pretty much the same. But I still think having a brand name certificate looks better to some employeers from my experiance. As for working in Prague the and new EU countries as an American I wouldn't be to worried. Every school has told me "poland, Lithuania, and friends in Czech Republic" that the process is still the same for hiring Americans, it is not any more difficult. It is just much easier and less hassel to hire someone from the EU.

[spiral78]

It's a bit tougher than it was in the past to land good jobs in Prague, for two reasons: there are a lot of teacher training schools in the city (so, lots of newly-certified teachers hitting the streets monthly-though of course not all opt to remain in Prague, many do) and the schools are beginning to "prefer" those with EU passports in anticipation of easier paperwork regulations.
That said, for the presentable, reliable, determined candidate, there should be open doors.
The upshot is that it's best to be sure you will be able to support yourself for some time period (like at least 60 days) after your course is finished, come equipped with your professional attire, and be prepared to spend some time and effort in contacting schools.

[anthyp]

I did the ITC program in Barcelona this October, then headed over to Prague, after being assured of the incredible ease of finding work there!

I ended up crashing their job fair and hooking up with a group of teachers from the program. We spent a month or so slobbing around Prague, ostensibly looking for work, but really just drinking and hanging out at Nebe.

Regarding the program in Prague, I can't say from first - hand experience, but supposedly there were twice as many teachers as in the one in Barcelona. Also, a lot of the teachers had issues with housing, including a group who got stuck in a high - rise in Zizkov they affectionately termed, "The Ghetto."

Anyway, the people from the course I met were nice enough. They seemed to enjoy their trainers, for the most part.

As for the city, well, Prague is quite lovely, it's true, and, even if you don't find work in Prague, there are lots of opportunities outside the capital. It's not cheap, overall, but you can still get smazeny syr in Vaclavske Namesti for 25 Kc! And beer for 17 - 25 Kc, depending on how close you are to the center of the city.

And as we all know, Czech beer rules!

[spiral78]

You know, if you scroll down on the job discussion forum, there's a whole forum devoted to the Czech Republic. You're likely to get more balanced info there, if only because there are many posts on the topic.
Also, check out the Job Information Journal, Europe, Czech Republic.