Job Discussion Forums

[tttompatz]

[MsDooLittle]

If teachers only work for language schools in Europe, its hard to make enouch money to save.

BUT if a teacher is able to set themselves up as a private business and has the spark of energy to find students/clients, approach companies and do in-house corporate teaching (not difficult) then there IS money to be made. Good teachers do well, word-of-mouth is all the marketing you need.

I was able to save enough (thanks to well-known pharmaceutical company or two), enjoyed my work, had interesting and varied students, a good standard of living with lots of travel, and am now taking a year off to do an MA with the savings.

With perserverance, energy, imagination, entrepreneurialism... it can be done.

[sharter]

I'd be pissed off if I saved less than a couple pf grand GBP a month. And Pierogi man...are you seriously suggesting that 2,000 quid in a modern European capital is anything like enough? I know Poland, my son is Polish and I worked there for ages and lived there. I know what you have to do to make that 8,000 Zl/month cos I did it. How much free time do you have? ?How many trams do you have to catch to privates? Working those hours, why not just work in an a bank? Then you've got the dour Poles to deal with. The BC is the only decent gig in Poland.

[cwgirl]

Thank you for the replies. I did re-read your post tttompatz, and you had stated that people should look outside of the EU.

It seems that the certificate is just the beginning of a job search. I am planning on heading to Paris (along with a few other thousand new ESL teachers), and was looking for tips on how to make this work. The cost of living is high, the pay is low. But as one poster in another reply has mentioned, it can be done with a little perseverance. I only hope my savings don't run out before my perseverance!

Thanks.

[PierogiMonster]

Sharter,

It's true that I don't have a lot of free time, but then I always figure that teachers get to relax during the long, unpaid, holidays, not in the working week. It doesn't do much for your social life but we all know what most teaching timetables are like.

Maybe it's because I'm a single man with no kids in tow that I can save well on what I earn. And, with a centrally-located flat and five years' good reputation, the students (mostly) come to me - minimal trammage.

As to working in a bank, I'd rather top myself This way, i get to choose which of the (sometimes very) dour Poles I get to spend time with. Mind you, like i said, even though the good times are rollin', I've had enough of the place: long, cold winters and long, grey faces are not a pleasant combination! Blue skies and warm water here I come!

[sharter]

Don't take it as a dig....it was just a comment on earning that dosh. I'm 40, I was in Poland in December and I just can't hack that weather any more. Loads of EFL old hands are bailing out of Poland now. Going out has become a lot more expensive. Every male I know went to Poland to chase tail (or those who stayed there). A really rude, miserable lot the Poles...stingy too. I'll never forget those anal female kieruwniks...so up 'emselves....and all those pointless workshops with IH in 96. We were paid the princely sum of 900 Zl a month back then, with a free shoebox in a crack ghetto. Oh...efl Poland. Did the BC university studium thing there, wrote for a magazine and ended up tutoring 1 tycoon. What a clusterfeck! 1,500 GBP to buy 1 square metre of an old tenement building...no thanks. Might get my son a flat there though. That way he'll get a way from the ex, who's on a broomstick somewhere near Poznan as we speak. Temperamental or what?

[artemisia]

Perhaps all those who went to Poland to '"chase tail" got a little bit a shock when confronted with the reality of feisty Polish women? That's what it sounds like to me. Actually I didn't know Poles had a similar reputation to the Germans. I'd always heard they were funny and quite warm. I haven't met or taught huge numbers but I liked the ones I had contact with. I guess it's always going to be different to be based in the actual country. In the public domain, I often found Germans could come across as rude, cold, curt but not in the private one or the classroom.

As a poor country, I'd have assumed housing would not be likely to be attractive in Poland - probably much the same as all the old communist bloc countries with those rows and rows of identical, grim looking apartments. I saw that in East Berlin; despite development the old DDR is still apparent.
I suppose many who take on jobs they consider don't pay well or offer much, often do so because there's some other trade off such as weather and beaches (Spain and Italy). Or they love the culture, language and lifestyle for which not a huge amount of money is needed for them to enjoy. There's certainly no point staying somewhere long-term if you resent the conditions and despise the culture. Better people cut their losses and get out, especially before putting down any roots.

[PierogiMonster]

No problem, Sharter.

As they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Painting with a broad brush and making sweeping stereotypes, I always say that the archtypal Polish lovely with all her grace and style represents one (charming) aspect of femininity, while the possessiveness and jealousy that sometimes goes with it represents the other (unwelcome) extreme. I suppose I'll get hammered for being a sexist pig, but just an admittedly broad-brush observation - obviously individuals are individuals and perhaps a female EFLer could say something in response about Polish guys (or English guys like me, for that matter!)...

And it's been my general experience that Poles as a whole are friendly enough in the classroom but darn hard to connect with socially outside of it.

[smithrn1983]

[Perilla]

This thread has wobbled a bit off track. To recap: In Europe, as a few posters are keen to remind us, it is possible in some parts (heavy accent on some), given hard work, energy, imagination, perseverance and entrepreneurialism (tks Ms Doolittle) - and a dash of luck - to make a reasonable living.

However, for the vast majority - lets call them the footsoldiers of TEFL, those in private language schools in cities and towns scattered across Europe - it is a way of life (temporary for most), not a way of making money. And let's not be mean - it's often an enjoyable way of living, certainly for a while - a big improvement on unemployment, barwork or temping back home. And then, after a few years or less depending on how much fun you're having, how old you are or what ambitions you have, there are some big choices to make. And quite a few never make those choices.

[artemisia]

Don't know about the "some posters" [them] / "us" division. I don't think any poster on this thread pushed Europe as an easy, straightforward place to be as a TEFLer. I think the crunch for many comes if/when you decide you want to go 'home' and sometimes that decision is a result of getting fed up with struggling - if you are. For others it's time to be back with family & friends and possibly yes, find a new direction or try and pick up from wherever you left off.

[Perilla]

[oilmart2]

Piegrimonster: you earn �2000 a month in Krakow? wow, how much do you get per lesson then if most Poles are on 3500Zl a month? A lot of peeps in england can't even earn �2k/month you know.

[PierogiMonster]

oilmart2,
I quoted an average 8000 to 9000 zeds per full working month.

My average charge is 60zl nett (for both schools and privates). So ...

Monthly avg 8500/60zl = 141 60-minute sessions per month.

141/4.25 (4.25 working weeks in a full working month) = 33.3.

So, on average, I have around 33 hours' contact time, plus preparation. With half my work being privates, that's not too much preparation. However, I regard myself as a great teacher, I work hard and could just about switch to only taking privates now, there are so many enquiries.

According to Polish official statistics, the average Pole makes around 3500zl, depending on region. But, Poles being Poles, there's a lot of other money that doesn't go through the books. Most of my students are either self-employed, white collar professionals or ambitious/rich students. They're paying for their future and they know it.

I took on a young entrepreneur as a new private student recently (3 hours per week). I had no problem charging him my usual rate plus exactly the same for travelling time. He never flinched: and nor should he: he'd just returned from shopping in Harrods, London, where he'd bought a silver cutlery set for 8000GBP.

The money's there if you're ready to get it.

P.S. www.nativespeaker.com.pl is a goldmine.

Any more messages and let's take this to the Polish forum.

J.

[Perilla]