Job Discussion Forums

richard_1-1 · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

I'm so happy to be out of teaching! Took a career break from my real job in the UK for 2 years to try something new. All I can say is NEVER AGAIN! 2 years teaching is enough. There is nothing more dissatisfying than working for a language school teaching English. The first year was enjoyable, because it was a new experience. So.... Poland.... : Neurotic women, bad food (pizza and kebab are the national food) tasteless beer, chauvinistic men, catholic stranglehold, terrible drivers, corrupt Police, status anxiety, women of 35 living with mum and dad with their children in 40sq m flat, communist housing, icy pavements, tasteless pubs and clubs, corrupt through to the bone!! No, Poland isn't all bad I had a great time... But come on teaching sucks. Twisted Evil

simon_porter00 · Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland

Good bye, good riddance, don't let the door hit you on the way out mate.

Jack Walker · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 412

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya Ricky!

anospi · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:21 am Post subject:

What's a "real job"?

Jack Walker · Joined: 23 Oct 2008 Posts: 412

sharter · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 878 Location: All over the place

EFL is a lifestyle decision...it suits some not others.

It takes about 5 years before you become a fully competent teacher, so to make a call like that after 2 is a bit hasty in my opinion.

There are loads of bad language schools around but for those who don't bugger off, doors can and do open.

When I worked in Poland, I taught, proof-read, did recording work and had articles published. I worked hard but made a decent living. Things changed when my son came along and my then wife refused to work. I was financially up the creek.

So back to the real job which probably involves: endless commuting, staring out of the office window, worrying about how you're gonna pay your mortgage now that you've got negative equity,living in a country in social and economic meltdown, robbing Peter to pay Paul. No thanks.

Some jobs in EFL pay very well as does my current position.

maniak · Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 194

simon_porter00 · Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland

That's as maybe Smile

it's the fact that he conveniently all the good things in Poland and slated teaching after barely getting his feet wet that irked me.

richard_1-1 · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

Two years is "barely getting your feet wet" How long does it take Obi Wan?

richard_1-1 · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

"So back to the real job which probably involves: endless commuting, staring out of the office window, worrying about how you're gonna pay your mortgage now that you've got negative equity,living in a country in social and economic meltdown, robbing Peter to pay Paul. No thanks.

Some jobs in EFL pay very well as does my current position."

As for the real job which actually involves none of the above, and negative equity... No chance bought in 2000 sold in 2006 before I went teaching.

Social and economic meltdown... Hmm think that�s going on everywhere, we don't have the riots over here yet, as in Bulgaria, Ukraine and Greece.

As for slating teaching. Are you suggesting that you should work for longer than two years doing something you don't like in order to have the right to criticise it!?

Lastly, the negatives... I had a great time in Poland, but if you would care to counter any of the bad points I mentioned please do.

simon_porter00 · Joined: 09 Nov 2005 Posts: 505 Location: Warsaw, Poland

:Sighs:
I've been teaching 3 years so far and I meet new challenges everyday and set myself new challenges, as in any job I've done. Therefore, you've barely got your feet wet and the fact that you're slagging teaching and getting a negative response is hardly surprising is it? Rolling Eyes

In your OP you said you taught for 2 years and you didn't like it. You didn't say why, you didn't share your experiences, you didn't allow us to understand why. What you did do is rant about Poland in general and then finish off by criticizing my and many others livelihoods. Which is, once again, why you got a negative reaction.

How about this, tell us why teaching was such a bum deal, tell us why teaching in Poland was a bum deal (students are different the world over and Polish students are demanding) and then we can get some decent dialogue going Question

Master Shake · Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA

hrvatski · Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Posts: 270

For my own part I think a lot of people enter TEFL too lightly not actually thinking about the responsibility it involves and the effect on people's lives they can have. I particularly have no sympathy for the ones who cause students to suffer because they just 'wanted to have some fun abroad'.

Not that that's you Richard, just generalising.

dynow · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1080

Mike_2007 · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Teaching English abroad is frequently romanticised so it's no surpirse that a lot of people come out the other end feeling disappointed.

It's like all those stupid 'setting up in the sun' type programs where some middle-aged couple from the Midlands decides to buy and build their dream house on the coast, mingle with the locals ("We want them to feel we are just like they are") with the dream of sitting on a leafy terrace with a gin and tonic watching the sun setting over the mountains... Invariable they spend two years of bureacratic hell building the damn thing, grow to resent the locals, and get bored of sitting on the leafy terrace after five minutes and eff off inside to watch Eastenders, eat some imported food and bitch about the neighbours.

Teaching abroad falls into a similar category. I find that those teachers who I've met who had some other reason to move abroad, and for whom teaching was just a logical career change, tend to adapt better, have lower expectations both from the job and the country, and ultimately learn take the rough with the smooth.