Job Discussion Forums

[Jack Walker]

[hrvatski]

I have a British passport and with a bit of luck could obtain Swedish citizenship after 5 years But I definitely don't expect any work connected with ESL since the demand is negligible. Living in Oslo for a year, not once did I see a private school of English and I imagine it's much the same in Sweden.

I do wonder where the English of Poles is headed. I personally see demand here decreasing as English-knowing parents bring up English-knowing children.

[Jack Walker]

[hrvatski]

Yeah I expect a few language schools not to make it to the next academic year.

Archibald in Warsaw has a good model it seems with small classes and a fairly massive offer. Practically no native speakers though, which I find a bit strange, since the course price is pretty up there.

When the majority of Matura students start finishing high school at CAE level, then that's the time to start worrying, because not too many Poles carry on with courses after that I've noticed. So it's in language schools' best interests that the public Polish school system stays archaic and ineffective in teaching languages.

[Jack Walker]

I hear some of the big players like Empik are on thin ice right now.

It's mainly their own fault for not adapting to student's needs and not changing with the times.

To attract top quality native speakers,they are going to need to open their wallets as well.

[Richfilth]

I was under the impression the Empik schools were still doing quite well, what with them being owned by the largest language business in Poland (Language Systems Poland, which also owns Speak Up.)

I suppose there's two ways for the ESL career to go in Poland; the optimistic view would be that the lack of natives from outside the EU would force wages up as employers get more competitive. Of course, that means more money for the unqualified bullsh!tting backpacker style teacher too, but if it helps us professionals, then thumbs up to that.

The pessimistic view would be that the increasing number of Poles returning from overseas, and the difficulty for others to work abroad in this current economic climate, would mean a drop in demand for language services and the closure of the mass-market schools and small-town private language centres.

Either way, I think it will be a LONG time (20-30 years) before the state school language sector is good enough for Poles not to need private language schools at all, like Scandinavia; especially now National Service for Matura failures has been scrapped.

[Jack Walker]

I don't work at Empik, but my mate has been working there for about 10 years now.

He told me recently that his schedule is greatly reduced this year and that Empik is set to close a dozen or so schools around Poland.

He's a pretty reliable and honest Polish chap, and I was a bit suprised as I also thought they were doing well.

I heard that Speak-up and Empik were all under the same ownership.Speak-Up looks to be doing ok, but I think it will always be a fringe player as its tuition costs are quite high and its teaching methods are a bit controversial.

I work with quite a few disgruntled, former Speak-Up students.

[Harry from NWE]

[dynow]

I gotta say, this has been one of the best threads ever on Dave's Poland forum, at least as long as I've been on here.

It's like 500 questions answered all at once, like a one stop shop for others looking to go to Poland, or possibly leave it.

I wish I would have had a thread like this to look at when I had been in the states planning to come here. It wouldn't have stopped me, my mind was made up, and I certainly don't regret coming out here, but this thread in several ways must be helping out many people with their questions, and giving them a good "real feel" for Poland.

Really a great thread ranging from "do dupy z polska!" to "Jade do Polski!"

I'm gonna go buy myself a zapiekanka and wash it down with a Tyskie

Wesolych Swiat!

[Blasphemer]

[quote="dynow"]


Just to give you some idea about NC; which ranks right smack in the middle at the 25th place when it comes to the cost of living in the US.

Now I live in NJ where over 79% of people according to the latest polls are not making it even though the pay is substantially higher than in most other states.

I hope this will give you a subjective reference point.

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary/by_Years_Experience

"North Carolina was ranked 31st in the nation for beginning teacher salaries, at $31, 478"

source - A union of Professionals - "Teacher Salary Survey"

"Rentals [NC] range from $400 for one-bedroom apartments up to $3,000 for really snazzy three-bedroom apartments (but don't worry�the average cost is $725)"

Source - rent.com


Average car insurance $720 annual cost

Source - DMV

"In 2008, employer health insurance premiums increased by 5.0 percent � two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,700. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,700"

Source - The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Employee Health Benefits: 2008 Annual Survey. September 2008.

To raise a child [in NC] that would be born today through age 18, if you had a medium standard of living, $269,000 over that time period. If you had a lower standard of living, it's estimated to be $196,000; higher standard of living, $393,000. Now, this is for one child. If you do have multiple children, then the numbers, you wouldn't necessarily multiply by two or three because there are some economies of scale of raising more children, some things need to be shared. But clearly, these are large numbers, and I think that's one of the reasons why raising children today is so challenging."

Source - NCSU.edu

Pay in NC is about 6% below the national average while health care is about 8% higher, groceries 2% higher, transportation 3% higher. You are saving 21% on housing however.

Source - payscale.com

"These days, however, with housing costs devouring about 70% of an individual's gross income, keeping a roof over one's head may be the most we can do... never mind owning the house! Being employed, does not offer the same security to families that it did during our grandparent's era. The cost of living is not compatible with surging home prices; health care; property taxes; insurance; education... and, on and on, and on.After you have paid the excessive amount of income required in order to live in your own house there is not much left over for necessities (let alone life's little luxuries)!Housing crosses the threshold of being un-affordable when you are spending 30% or more of your "before tax-income;" yet almost 40% of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage are living that reality. And, over 7 million households are spending 50% of their gross monthly income on covering their home loan, and basics, like utilities.It would appear that the strain of owning your own home is inevitable."

source - cost of living by state .com


"Poll officials noted how a national poll conducted by the Pew Research Center last fall found 40 percent of Americans felt they were falling behind, with 44 percent keeping pace and 12 percent getting ahead."

source - AP


Now NJ... mine and yours stomping grounds paints a very different picture.

"New Jersey is one of the most expensive states in the nation, with an overall cost of living 32% above the national average, and housing a whopping 73% above the average. The state's nearness to Manhattan, with all the employment and entertainment opportunities it provides, is one of the main reasons for the high cost of living. Statewide, average prices for apartment rentals are about $800. One study found that New Jersey is the most expensive place in the nation to rent two-bedroom apartments"

Source - rent.com

I will just add that $800/month for rent is pretty much unheard of anywhere near the metro area.

[Jack Walker]

It is a hell of a thread and Wesolych Swiat to all of you.

[Blasphemer]

[Jack Walker]

[dynow]

Blasphemer, although I appreciate the research you have done, I am more than aware of the costs of living in NC, as I have already said several times in the past. All the data you have provided, I am well aware of.

Honestly.

But the $800 for an apartment in NJ........not unless you want to live in a complete dirt hole. That figure is way off the mark, which should force you to question the other numbers you have listed and the sources from which they came from.

Some of the numbers though are in fact true.

$725 in NC will get you a beautiful 100 sq. meter apt., 2 bedrooms, maybe a garage or at least your own parking spot free of charge, pool, fitness center, etc. You can't get that for double that much money in NJ, and the salary averages are not double in NJ vs. NC.

Again, there are no numbers you could surprise me with regarding NJ vs. NC, or even Poland for that matter.........after all, I live in Poland.

[dynow]

Cost of living in Poland, for Dynow, in 2009 looks something like this:

assuming a gross of 4200zl a month:

19% tax = 800zl

ZUS which goes up to the full amount this year = 850zl

Pay my accountant = 150zl

I live with my girlfriend, so half the mortgage = 900zl

Even before i eat anything, 2700zl off the top. After factoring in food (and i never eat out), maybe a few beers a week, it comes out to around 3300zl a month.

this leaves me with 900zl.

3300zl a month, CASH, simply to pay my bills and feed myself.

So for two people, living just like I do, having to fork out 6600zl a month, simply to pay their bills...........and they would have no chance........ever, of buying a house.

and we haven't even talked about kids or vehicles or possibly a yearly small vacation yet.

i just don't understand how anybody does it out here long term unless they're really banking some bucks.