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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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A place for the newbie teacher to spend a year or two - maybe.
Long-term career choice - no
I am not sure that "career" collocates with "EFL" anywhere now !
If you cannot have a reasonable life, save for retirement and support dependants, why are you there ? |
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sparks
Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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[quote
A place for the newbie teacher to spend a year or two - maybe.
Long-term career choice - no[/quote]
Sage advice from the guy who admits to never having worked in Poland and who hasn't been here in...what...40 years?
You can live in Poland, you can save in Poland, you can have a family in Poland, you just can't do it on any old job which pays 30 zl/hr. or whatever crap offer is out there. Just like, um, the rest of the world. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:10 pm Post subject: er |
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Except some of the world pays 8 to 10 k a month in real money. |
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simon_porter00
Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2015 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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Where?
Come on, tell us where.
Picture the scene, you want to start a career in a safe place (read into that not the ME, east Ukraine or anywhere else it's likely to kick off), where do you go?
China?
Europe?
Africa?
All markets, now - for a number of reasons, pay less then the so-called glory days which quite frankly weren't enjoyed by most of us as we were all still in nappies. A few dinosaurs talking about the good old times should not be taken as a representative view of what the tefl market should be like as, guess what, the world's moved on.
A newbie, starting his career, doesn't get paid much and has to share a room? My god, what a SHOCK. Someone thinking about moving with his family into a new country where there's high competition can't earn the golden life on day 1? What a SHOCK.
I've got a friend, qualified as an architect, starting her career on 3k net. An architect, 3k. If that's the rate for a highly skilled professional it should be seen as amazing that Joe Blow from the UK can get 4k in his first month. Trainee solicitors in krakow have to work for FREE and earn a living wage doing an evening job.
Poland is a tough market for everybody - get used to it.
Yes you can earn good money
Yes you can save
Yes you can raise a family
But to expect this in any country off the bat is madness. You need to put in the years (2/3) to get into a position, have some kind of clue, make some contacts and you'll do well. I think you can say the same for any job in any damn country couldn't you?
It's also a universal truth that someone who wants to waste thier life in the boozer drinking away any money and watching tv on his/her time off will see the time fly past, get bitter and constantly bitch about others' success because they were too bone idle to do anything.
I am not an exception to the rule, a 'lucky' one who made it becuase of his wife, or any other 'success stereotype' that is used to justify people who do well in Poland. I came to Poland green, worked the schools, started my company, found clients, found opportunities as a result and hey presto. Can anyone do this? Of course they can.
Here's a business opp for people who are hunting for money - go to town, find 30 restaurants that have their menu in English, spot the mistakes, bad syntax etc offer to correct it for 50zl. 50zl x 30 = 1500zl and 30+ contacts for future business. Who will do it? Probably no-one. Why? Can't be bothered, footy on the box, something on netflix etc
It's REALLY not difficult to find work, trust me.
And now apologies, the post was written on a phone so it's probably full of typos. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:32 am Post subject: where? |
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Where?
UAE.
Weather's lovely here today. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:30 am Post subject: |
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Last visited Polska Ludowa in 1968. I have not visited the North Pole recently either, but I know it's cold there.
My judgement is still that it is not a practical idea to work there long-term as an EFL teacher. the same applies to most countries in Europe - East and West. |
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simon_porter00
Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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Ah, so you know what might be helpful? Have a signature that says:
Please read my post safe in the knowledge that my first-hand info is nearly 50 years out of date and that therefore everything i say is heresay or otherwise largely unsubstantiated clap-trap.
Yes, i think that would allow a reader to be informed appropriately.
Dragonpiwo:
UAE eh? Ok.
Would a newly qualified celta teacher get a job in the UAE?
How much would they earn?
Is there a possibility they could ripped off?
Can they, taking the above into account, keep a family?
Please bear in mind that your situation (years of experience as a teacher, years of experience in the ME, the fact that you have contacts and ultimately your salary) shouldn't affect the answers to the situation a newbie would face. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:49 pm Post subject: erm |
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Simon, I don't have a problem with anything you have said. However, I don't think most people know how hard it is to start off in Poland. I also think that the situation outside Warsaw is a lot darker. On top of that, people don't quite realise that it is pricey these days unless you live like a Trappist monk.
My attitude has always been: Start in Poland, go and earn some money and return. Know plenty of people who are doing or have done exactly that. I don't tell newbies to come to the Middle East as no-one would hire them.
Those who have stayed are mostly walking a thin line of solvency and working pretty darn hard and that's including the people who have opened schools or who work as translators too. Getting older, that'll get harder.
Like you, I have a wife, house, kid there and I like the country. I just think the EFL industry there is largely horrendous for a number of reasons, one of which is money. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:57 pm Post subject: to sum up |
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So, to sum up your sagely wisdom for newbies to Poland:
1. Start off teaching in Poland (but it's really hard).
2. If you really like living in Poland, don't bother getting better qualifications, or specializing, or moving to Warsaw where there's more work. Instead, leave Poland and go to work in a hot, intolerant, sexist, socially repressed, middle eastern country: you can earn more money there.
3. After spending 10-20 years in said middle eastern country, return to Poland and buy a flat. Flit between the ME and Poland, but don't work in Poland because tefl Poland is crap.
Anything I left out? |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:54 pm Post subject: what a drama queen |
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My advice would be to go get some experience there, go away for a while to earn some dosh and get some more experience then go back and buy a flat. Living there with no kredyt is much easier-simples.
You earn more in Poland by working more hours and or making some good contacts re in-company classes.
Getting the DELTA will let you be a DOS and you'll earn a bit more but not much.
Where in Poland have you lived Shake? Warsaw is largely a dump. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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I've lived in Warsaw and Gdansk.
Warsaw a dump? Not really. It may not boast the historic old town of other Polish cities: the old town in Warsaw is mostly a tourist trap. But the center is clean, safe and modern-looking. Only a few isolated areas are run down. And then there's Praga across the river, which has actually been enjoying a revival lately.
Warsaw, like a lot of capital cities, often gets a bad rap that it doesn't really deserve, IMO. |
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delphian-domine
Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 674
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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Right, I can officially say that the lack of work in this town is a myth.
I've been searching high, low and everywhere for a native speaker able to teach kids (or heck, even one that merely likes them) - and I've hit a brick wall. I don't want to hire someone from the UK on the basis of a Skype interview, but that looks like the only way.
And to think that this is a 12 month contract with all holidays paid and stable hours... |
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ecocks
Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 899 Location: Gdansk, Poland
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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delphian-domine wrote: |
Right, I can officially say that the lack of work in this town is a myth.
I've been searching high, low and everywhere for a native speaker able to teach kids (or heck, even one that merely likes them) - and I've hit a brick wall. I don't want to hire someone from the UK on the basis of a Skype interview, but that looks like the only way.
And to think that this is a 12 month contract with all holidays paid and stable hours... |
Sigh...I like 'em but kids aren't on my checklist.
It's a tougher world now than a couple of years ago. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:24 pm Post subject: DD |
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Blokes don't want to teach kids Delph. It's not why they came to Poland . And BTW-your wife's way out of your league. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 4:43 am Post subject: oh |
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And did you get a degree in the end? |
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