Job Discussion Forums

CrayCraw · Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 3

I'm an American with degree that would like to teach English in Europe. Specific locations I'm looking into include Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Belgium. I currently am not certified, but I am tentatively planning to take a CELTA certification course. However, I have heard that it's good to get certified in the general area that you plan to teach, so I have yet to sign up for a class.

So my basic question is this: Once I become CELTA certified where in Europe would I be able to get a job?

If it's not possible to get a job in Europe with these qualifications, I was thinking it might be useful to first teach for a year or so in Asia. Would this experience be a reasonably significant asset when it comes to finding a job in Europe?

rogan · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Posts: 416 Location: at home, in France

Scroll down the and look for details - this question is asked and answered at least once a week.

Briefly non EU nationals have various degrees of difficulty getting a work permit in EU member countries.

Eastern Europe tends to be easier - the 10 new EU countries have a 'run-in' time to start applying all EU social, financial and employment regulations.

Non EU countries in Eastern Europe are easier for non EU nationals.

Try Turkey, with any luck they will never be admitted into the EU (personal bias there, sorry!)

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject:

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

The EU is far from a 'christian club'. Although originally it was a developed, industrialised western european one. Each wave of expansion subsequent to the inclusion of most of scandanivia and the UK has tended to bring in less industrialised nations with lower per capita GDPs than that of the existing 'core' EU. Whilst this brings political benefits to all it also resulted in an economic 'redistribution as development funds etc that would otherwise have gone to depressed regions within the west European 'core' went east instead.

Turkey is both huge and relatively poor as well as being deemed not to be as close a social and cultural 'fit' with the current member nations as previous applcants have been. Whilst some of the opposition to Turkey's joining the EU in the near future is due to anti-Islamic rascism much is related to economic mattyers and to Turkey's divergence from accepted EU positions on such matters as its treatment of its Kurdish minority and its human rights record in general.

On the other hand Turkey is hugely important to Nato and in this case nobody gave a flying figleaf about its HR record when it comes to its ability to provide the US with a nice big forward base bordering on Iran and Iraq.