Job Discussion Forums

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

Hi I'm moven to Poland in the next year. I have been teaching in gz China fo the last 3.5 years teaching all levels. I'm just wondering what city is good for a newbe, what type of sallery should i ask for, If they have english kindergarden there, and whats the best beer there :p.

philyyy · Joined: 29 May 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Wroclaw

What do you want from a city?

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

well i'm looking for a job that suplies an appartment. where i can live comfortably and have somewhat decent job securaty. I have ead the posts here and realize that there is the odd school or two there that messes with money or something. I'm used to that though from china. take the worst story on the poland list times it by at least 20 and thats what i have delt with every 8 monthes or so. I'm just wondering what would be a nice city to start out with for safty and thing i'm not looking for a massive wage just one where i can live well and put a little away.

p.s. also what is the polacy towards anamals there. I have a dog and a cat and i will be happy to get them out of here. So i don't have to wory about them getting eaten.(funny story)

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

oh but brain dog is not my dog.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Newbie, but you've been teaching 3 years?
Kindergarten? No.
Please get rid of the brain dog. He's too big for the forum
Are you a native speaker?
Your spelling is non-native.....(I'm being kind).

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

why are you picking (on) Poland?

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

What i mean is I am newbe to how things are done in poland. I am from canada ont. I am a native english speaker i just type too fast sometimes. As well i have taught kinder garden to university. I do prefer kindergarden more. sory for the brain do pic i removed it.

Anyway I put up this subject to get some advice about poland. not to have my typing examined. So please if you have a useful coment for a newcommer to Poland please post it.

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

I chose Poland because i love the sinplicity, the culture, and the lanscape. I am a massive hiker. For some reason I has lways been a goal of mine to go there. I am just looking for a nice laid back place to start out.

Sgt Bilko · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 136 Location: POLAND

If you want safety and apartment and a low salary, try IH Bielsko - they've got a kindergarten and lots of younger learners. There's a pay scale so there's not much room for negotiation on salary. Also, it's on the edge of the mountains for the hiking. However, as you'll see elsewhere, wages aren't its strong point. Presumably you've got a CELTA/TESOL as well as experience - if not, forget IH and the other chains.

Lots of views on the best beer. They all taste the same to me - Tyskie, Zywiec, Lech - all lagers. Some say Warka strong but be careful of that one...

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

but on various boards i have seen warning not to deal with IH.

Sgt Bilko · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 136 Location: POLAND

Very true but I think that's 100% salary related. They are very comfortable - sort of like a package holiday - get met at the airport/station, taken to your flat, probably the other teachers/DoS will organise some sort of evening social event. You get the training which some appreciate and others don't and, if you're planning on giving more than a year to Poland, you take all the experience and training and knowledge you've gained in the first year and start earning decent money elsewhere in the second.

I guess it depends on how independent you want to be.

People love dogs over here - shame they don't have pooper scoopers though - any patch of public grass is a minefield (if you get my drift)

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

It's the same way over in china. But instead of dogs it's CHILDREN!!!

dan_m · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 18

I'm all for a good school and all but I'm not stupid. I want a job that pays at least the average pay. I don't want to go take a job blindly and then find out that across the city someone else working the same job is making double or worse. This happens in China and it makes the teacher look like a putz. I am new when it comes to Poland but i am not an amature when it comes to pay.

Khrystene · Joined: 17 Apr 2004 Posts: 271 Location: WAW, PL/SYD, AU

You have to understand.

Living and working in Poland, you often come across these 'Native Speakers' whose English is under par, so if we see someone writing on a English Teachers forum in the way you did, with god awful spelling mistakes etc, we automatically ask about their pedigree.

Personally, I think it's quite important to make a good first impression. Don't think that this site, or the internet is any different. Schools often cruised the net for potential teachers. [I recently received an offer in Bydgoszcz via an ad I placed on the net for Tutoring.]

You have to understand, many of us have been teaching a while, and take pride in out language skills. So don't be suprised the next time you enter a forum and write like that and get a slap on the wrist.

Grrrmachine · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 265 Location: Warsaw, Poland

Dan, working in Poland is like getting a job anywhere - 98% of all employers will try and employ you for the minimum price they can (the other 2% just wanting to avoid the hassle of recruiting every year by actually making a decent offer to start with.)

As has been covered MANY times before (a little searching helps) wages vary in Poland based on the city, your skills, and the type of teaching you're doing. Whilst kindergarten teaching is very lucrative for the school owners, I have no idea what they pay the teacher; I doubt it's as much as regular classroom teaching though. Most owners won't be convinced of the worth of paying a native speaker 50zl an hour, when a 19 year old undergraduate can teach 6year olds to fingerpaint and sing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" for half that.

The schools that hold your hand in terms of finding you an apartment will also be the ones who pay you the lowest - they know you're feeling vulnerable, after all. A bit of nous is all that's required.

If you want laid-back and you're a hiker, I'd suggest the southern cities. Wroclaw, Krakow (if there are any jobs there) and the surrounding cities. I even saw a ProfiLingua in Gliwice this weekend, who hardly refuse anyone, it seems. Warsaw, with around 350 schools and agencies, can be far more dynamic (read: pushy) in terms of what your DoS will ask you to do.

Khrystene has a point too: if you're asking for advice from a group of language professionals, it's courteous to try and use the language correctly so that we know we're not wasting our time (search for "all posts by: paulmanser")