Job Discussion Forums

[Geetus]

After a while of EFLing in Japan and then Thailand, I set my sights on Prague, in keeping with the whole EFL-in-the-East theme

In Japan I had worked for an outfit named 'Shane' then freelanced through Thailand. Before coming to Prague, I researched different schools via teacher feedback on different forums, for which the name 'Caledonian School' came up with some good reports, as well as offering the convenience of an interview and possible job offer before arriving in the country.

Prague was generally an ok place to work. One thing that was different to home was the cold and often indifferent attitude of people in public. This changed once you got to know some Czechs privately, as in the ESL classroom or private residence. It may have been the effects of an endless grey winter, but there was a definate no-smile thing going on at times. Although I'm told memories of communism caused a similar thing to happen in Vietnam...

Onto the ESL environment; in-company language lessons are very popular in Prague. In one respect, it is nice to catch a warm friendly tram around the streets of the Old Town to visit your next set of students at their workplace, but when you are trying to save time and whizzing off in three separate directions 40 minutes each way 4-5 times a day on a cold underground metro,,, quite tiresome.

Speaking of the Old Town (Stary Mesto) - be wary of scams. As a rule of thumb - if a stranger DOES smile at you in Prague, particularly in the Old Town centre - beware. You are either being, or about to be - ripped off. This includes all goods or services - food & beer prices, postcards, trinkets & other kitch. Use the A,B,C - accept nothing to be true, believe nobody, check everything!

Dirge over. The rest of Czech life is very nice. Beautiful countryside, charming folk who cherish family and nature, and truly enjoyable expat EFL company who are in Czech for a taste of bohemian lifestyle, not a money grab like many EFLs in Japan..

[ITTP]

Hello Geetus.

At first I thought you had written in the wrong forum and was going to PM you to let you know, but then read on and saw the mention of the Czech Republic.

I agree with you that Shane is one of the better schools in Japan to teach for, definitely in terms of the social aspect and how their teachers tend to mix well and socialize together outside of class time.

I also agree with you that the Caledonian School are a reputable school.

However, I definitely wouldn't always recommend applying for jobs from overseas as a general rule and I'm sure this theme has been discussed before on this forum.

I was interested in your mention of Czech students and the 'no smile' thing.

It's common for foreigners (especially Westerners), to sometimes take the no smile thing as rudeness or damn right moodiness

It's true that it isn't always fun having an English lesson at silly o'clock in the morning but the no smile thing is often due to shyness and I've found in my years here in the CZ that when people seem to be giving off signs of disproval that it really boils down to the fact that they are perhaps nervous or shy of speaking with foreigners.
A lot of times too, the person may be embarrassed because they may think that their English skills are inadequate and think that this may make them appear silly.

It's always possible to get your Czech students yapping away and smiling, no matter how early it is or how much of a cold and wet miserable day it is outside.