Job Discussion Forums

[EddieO]

I wanted to hear about experiences teaching in Slovakia. How did you like it? What was it like? Would you rcommend it? Just a basic overview on your thoughts about teaching there. Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks

[naturegirl321]

I heard that salaries aren't that high there. but I would like to live there, however, my husband has nixed that possibility.

[Sigma]

[guangho]

It is nice and the salaries are ok...for Slovakia.

[Arminius]

[guangho]

I don't live in Bratislava but if you are not provided with housing, anything under 20K/month will mean Ramens for eternity.

[artpunk31]

i think that the slovak people are really great. they are so genuine and extremely decent folk. sometimes the customer service at the local discount grocery stores isn't great, but if that's a country's greatest downfall, they're doing ok!

bratislava is small, so if you are considering moving to slovakia, be prepared for serious small town experiences. some things are really cheap, like certain foods, but clothing is outrageously expensive (especially at the fancy new mall).

i agree, that if you are being paid less than 20KK per month, you will be hard pressed to make a living. you'll need private students.

[soapdodger]

Slovakia is a strange little place. Geogaphically it is very beautiful, but if walking in the countryside isn't your bag, then there isn't a whole lot else on offer outside "big" cities ( average size of a Slovak city 80,000!!!) and even in the capital, all you will get in the way of culture / nightlife is a scaled down, Slovakised version of the real thing. Nice Slovaks are very nice indeed, but they are becoming increasingly rare as low salaries have drained off all the educated people to other countries like the Czech Republic and the UK, and the younger generation have taken on all the negative aspects of Western "culture".
Racism is rife: the average Slovak hates , in this order, gypsies, Hungarians ( a historical thing - about 30% of Slovakia was Hungarian for hundreds of years and there is still a large Hungarian speaking community spread across southern Slovakia) and Westerners ( because of jealousy of perceived wealth). Bureaucracy is endemic, tortuous and devious. Bang your head off a lump of concrete a few hundred times to get a feeling of what it's like to get the simplest thing done in a government office in Slovakia - put your head under the wheels of a supertruck to experience what it's like to do anything even remotely complicated. This is not because you are a foreigner, Slovaks experience this too.

Having said that nice Slovaks are very nice, other Slovaks are very much in the opposite direction. It is worth remembering that under Communism half the population was spying on and telling tales about the other half, and until recently 20% of the population were employed in some way in what could be loosely called "security". Being two-faced is deep in the Slovak psyche. It was the only country in Europe to voluntarily become a Nazi Protectorate during the second World War, then abruptly had a rather lukewarm "socialist" uprising when they noticed the Red Army coming over the hill.

EFL schools in Slovakia are by and large appalling in terms of quality, competence and general fitness for purpose. They mostly employ Slovak teachers because they are cheap, regardless of the fact they can hardly speak English better than their students. What can a native speaker get? Well, here's a comparison - in Vienna it is possible to pick up 45 Euro an hour, down the road in Slovakia it is more like 4 to 5. Yes there is the cost of living aspect, but even taking that into account, the main thing to remember about Slovakia is that you simply cannot save money. Other posters have mentioned private lessons. Outside Bratislava they are few and far between, and you really are not going to get much more than 6 or 7 Euro the hour. Try and charge much more than that and watch the already tiny market go pop. Another point to remember, like everywhere else in EFL, schools are going to give you hours right when private students want lessons.

Think it might be a great place to start a "quality" language school? Forget it. All the big contracts have long since been taken by Slovak schools who don't deserve them, by virtue of the common currency in Slovakia known as "contacts". Non-Slovaks will never ever break into that in any line of business and many have been broken trying.

In a nutshell, yes, Slovakia is nice if you like certain things. You can definitely have a good time there, but it's not a place that many stay long in, and it's worth taking some backup money with you when you go if you want anything like a reasonable standard of living.

[Sadebugo]

[cks]

Slovaks are my favorite of all the Europeans! They are so lovable. Bratislava is on the edge of an economy boom too! I read that Slovakia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but I still don't know details. I think it would be a great experience as well. I like the scenary, but I would move there for the people. I love them!

[Sadebugo]

[newsygirl]

I just came back from living and working for a company called Valens in Slovakia. Valens is a new company looking to hire native English. My advice to anyone looking for a TESOL/ESL job in Slovakia is to avoid Valens at all cost. I was with Valens for 3 months and I was only given one months salary. They promise help to obtain visa, internet access, health insurance, lunch vouchers, and other stuff, but they turned out to be all empty promises. They tell you in their contract that you teach for 8 hours, 3 of those hours are prep-time, but when you actually begin to work for them, they break their contract by having you work 8 hours a day (sometimes more with no break) and have to do prep-time on your own time. After 3 months of working with them, I thought they would have my paper-work in order and I would have a temp-visa, but Valens failed to put in the paper work on time. They tried to convince me to stay in Slovakia illegally, but I was already in the country without proper working papers, plus being an American and of African heritage (two ethnics groups not easily favored in Slovakia), didn't put my mind at ease. Plus I didn't like how Valens was treating me and their constant excuses on why they were delaying my payment and other things promised to me, so I left.
The one time I did get paid by Valens, it was not enough to live off of. Thankfully I had a side job as an English teacher, that allowed me to afford Ramen noodles every night for dinner.
In 3 months I lost a lot of weight. Yeah, sure Slovakia is a cheap compared to Euro/Dollar standards, but when you earn a Slovak wage, stretching your Slovak currancy to afford your next meal is tight. Valens paid me arround 500 USD/CAD. So if you want to work in Slovakia, look for something that pays better than what I was making.
Save time and grief. Don't work for Valens. I tried to stick it out and hoped things would get better, but they never did.
Also, if you are a person of color, prepare for stares 24/7 and to see non-P.C. images about your race (i.e. I visited several cafes with questionable paintings of "black" people and seen "African" dolls depicted with rings in their noses and a bone in thier hair. I've seen the Discovery Channel many times, and not once have I ever seen an Afircan with a bone their hair). Happy Fourth of July to all you Americans!!!

[parrothead]

Gosh, Newsygirl, I'm sorry you had such a disappointing experience. I hope it doesn't put you off TEFL, but there are an awful lot of disreputable companies out there. One has to do a lot of research before jumping in, especially if you are an American teaching in Europe. Generally speaking, things like visas and work permits are hard to come by for U.S. citizens in the EU. It is a timely process for the employer and the employee. It is not easy to find legal work, so I would be wary of any school in Slovakia or elsewhere that offered me a job, but didn't provide a work visa before I actually started teaching. Is it possible that this school had no intention of going to all the work of making you legal?
As far as having African heritage or looking differently, Political Correctness isn't necessarily something that has been exported to the rest of the world. I'm not sure if it is necessarily a bad thing either. I get stared at and pointed at and talked about all the time in Japan. 99 percent of the time it is nothing malicious, just curiosity. I reckon it is something you will have to get used to if you intend on working in the TEFL field. Most of us are minorities in the countries we work. It's hard to laugh off ignorant misconceptions (like the bone in the hair), but if you go about it the right way you might just be able to change the way a lot of people think. For a lot of people you might be the first black person they have ever met. Let them learn about you!

[newsygirl]

Thanks Parrothead for the comment.
You are probably right about Valens. I discussed this issue with many individuals both here in America and to native Slovaks, and most people agreed that they had no intention on making me legal, just so they could further exploit me. Valens played a lot of games with me. I learned my lesson. I should have taken the advice of my friends and family and just have gone through the placement service with Oxford Seminars, but I was afraid that Oxford wouldn't find work for me in Europe (which was the reason why I took an ESOL course, so that I could travel around Europe). I'm open to doing TESOL again, but maybe in South Korea or Japan next time.
Yes, you are right. I'm sure most people didn't stare at me out of malice. I just wasn't use to it and felt insecure, because I wasn't sure if people were making a negative judgemnet about me. I've been to rural parts of the U.S.A. where they weren't us to seeing people of color. As soon as these people in the U.S. noticed that I saw them starring at me, they would quickly look away. I thought it would be the same in in Eastern Europe, but no. Even after I caught them starring at me they continued to look at me and make eye contact, but not say anything to me. It was like they were waiting for me to "perform" for them or something. I imagine your experience was the same in Japan.
TESOL is a great way to see the world and experience new cultures, however, working for a poor company can impact your entire stay in a negative way.

[johnnyappleseed]

They stare at you even if you are white, there's not the cultural taboo against staring that there is in most English speaking countries. After a few years, you stop noticing and start doing it yourself.