Job Discussion Forums

Jeff Clev. · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 2 Location: SF Bay Area

I have been offered a position with ELS Bell in Bydgoszcz.

My impression is that they have a superior reputation for professional development and support.

This will be my first year of teaching after recently getting a CELTA. My primary goal at this point is to get a firm foundation in an environment that is conducive to the development of good teaching practices.

If any of you have experience at ELS Bell, in Bydgosczc or elsewhere, I'd appreciate your insights.

Also, if any of you have lived in Bydgoszcz, I'd be interested to hear about how you found your life there.

I also have an opportunity in Lviv, Ukraine. I know that Lviv is a larger, more historic city with a number of Universities, some of which historically were of academic prominence; thus it might be more interesting.

At the same time, Poland is said to be a more "dynamic" society right now. Certainly it is more prosperous.

I'd appreciate any insights! Thanks!

dtomchek · Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 135

Wel, I have been to Bydgosz many times and new someone who worked there. The city itself is not much to look at but it does have excellent connections to Torun and Gdansk. It is big enough to have bars and a acceptable nightlife.

I went to Lviv (Lwow in Polish) about 18 months ago. The city kind of reminded me of a beautiful woman who obviously has not showered/seen a dentist in some time. You can see the potential is there but, for right now....

Ukraine is obviously more on the "frontier" that Poland is right now. Buildings are a little dirtier, cars are a little older, and it is probably where Poland was 20 years ago. I hear IH there is a great outfit to work for.

Lviv would be more "adventerous" I would think while Bydgoscz would have more modern amentities that you might be use to. Languages are related closely enough so one would not be easier to learn than the other. Hope this helps!

Jeff Clev. · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 2 Location: SF Bay Area

Thanks for the input; I'm making my decision all the way from California, so it helps to hear from someone who's been both places.

dtomchek · Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 135

No problem! Let me know what you decide. That is not an easy choice. Then again, I am from San Diego and it was difficult to leave that place as well.

seaskyclay · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 32 Location: Vietnam

So, did you accept the job with ELS-Bell? I�m interviewing with this school tomorrow, so I�m curious about how things have gone for you and what helped you make your decision.

balrog · Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 23

The Bell set up is pretty good. the job will be challenging but rewarding. Bydgoszcz itself is a great place. Hope you make it there.

seaskyclay · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 32 Location: Vietnam

What do you know about Bydgoszcz? The job and the school sound great, but I�m a little reluctant because I don�t know much about the city. Any info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

balrog · Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 23

Bydgoszcz is a little gem of a place(about 450,000 people). plenty of great bars and cafes. A large park is about 15 minutes away by tram. Plenty of people there speak excellent English (which is deifintely a help when you are struggling with Polish).

Other cities like Torun and Gdansk are doable as a day trip.

There are also JDJ, EF and IH schools there. When I was there, the foreigner crowd was pretty friendly and most expats.
had a mixture of foreign and Polish friends.

Bydgoszcz isn't Warsaw so you might want brighter lights but I enjoyed my time there and most people I met did as well.

Good luck.

elblagski · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 24

Ludka Katorska owns Els bell Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Warsaw, Gdynia and maybe another one although i forget. She is the kind of person who is only interested in cash, the good hard stuff. I worked for bell gdansk in 99-2000. Not a happy experience. They do not pay tax for their techers (see my posting about paying tax) and I was basically fired because I asked about it too much. Other teachers did too, but it's funny how they shut up about it when offered a DoS or ADoS job.
Lots of paperwork and crap money. Oh by the way the conned me out of my overtime payment. I had the forsight to write down all my hours and went through them with the Dos. According to my calculation which involved simple addition which even a monkey could do it turned out that I was about 1000zl short. Needless to say i didn't get it. I also was conned by their accomodation guy DAREK who swindled me out of some cash to do with my flat.
By all means work for this school but expect the worst and don't forget to keep your mouth shut. This is the way Ludka prefers it.

Be careful

Elblagski

ATeacher · Joined: 27 Oct 2004 Posts: 8

elblagski, as much as I respect and like to read free opinions, I don't much like the way your presenting yours.

I know Bell, I know schools in Czech, and other countries. Your talking nonsense and I think you're doing it to try and 'get back' at someone. Plus, you've pasted that same reply before and didn't answer my comment to it then. Maybe you could answer it now?

As I said before, the tax system (in Bell or Poland) does not work as you are saying for native-speaker teachers.

I suppose you were in TEFL for a bit of cheap travel. All decent schools (as in good professional schools that care about teaching) have a lot of paperwork. That's the rules of the affiliated bodies.

By the way, working out overtime on most TEFL contracts is a complicated business. If you thought it was easy you were probably doing it wrong.

Just respect others and don't cloud peoples judgement. Experience a few other schools and places if you decide to stay in TEFL and then see if you think it was all so bad.

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

gregoryfromcali · Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:13 pm Post subject:

Isn't this post from a year ago?

Talk about bringing out the dead.

misslinz · Joined: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 6 Location: Ontario, Canada

If you did end up in Bydgoszcz, say hi to my aunt and uncle please! Laughing

elblagskich · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 27

I suppose you were in TEFL for a bit of cheap travel.

you suppose wrong. I went to Poland in '99 and am still there, happily married with a Karta Stalego Pobytu.

Enough of an answer?

cheeseandegg · Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 58

Bydgosz and the other named schools plus Szczecin are all owned by Ludka and what was said in the past post is correct even now. Ludka recently ordered school directors not to renew contracts for many teachers who took a stand against recent cuts in Szczecin and Warsaw. Bell are a good school but they are very penny pinching and consider teachers to be dispensable.