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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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 Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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Shake wrote:
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| .... the old-timers have realized that you have to branch out or leave Poland to earn a better living. |
which I think also goes to show that most people, even if they claim to enjoy teaching teenagers present perfect and trudging from company to company slinging through business english lessons, still deep down desire more money for less work and would rather have a different work arrangement, most especially when that person has a family. near everyone does not find the TEFL'er work schedule ideal....getting up early for morning lessons, getting home late from evening lessons, saturdays, private lessons thrown in here and there in an unpredictable fashion.......and would far rather have a salary, do the M-F gig, 8-4:30, holidays paid, vacations paid, sick days paid, the usual. People like Dragonpiwo are in a unique situation where they work far less than the usual 40/week, have tons of time off, and get paid handsomely but what he has in the ME is not really doable in RP. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:20 pm Post subject: erm |
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| In Krakow right now...lunch in Kazimierz for me and the missus was 140 PLN. I had zeberka, she had pierogi and we ordered 3 drinks total (Zywiec). Poland just ain't cheap. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| dynow wrote: |
| which I think also goes to show that most people, even if they claim to enjoy teaching teenagers present perfect and trudging from company to company slinging through business english lessons, still deep down desire more money for less work and would rather have a different work arrangement, most especially when that person has a family. near everyone does not find the TEFL'er work schedule ideal....getting up early for morning lessons, getting home late from evening lessons, saturdays, private lessons thrown in here and there in an unpredictable fashion.......and would far rather have a salary, do the M-F gig, 8-4:30, holidays paid, vacations paid, sick days paid, the usual. People like Dragonpiwo are in a unique situation where they work far less than the usual 40/week, have tons of time off, and get paid handsomely but what he has in the ME is not really doable in RP. |
Once you've been teaching a while and have more work and clients than you need, you can afford to pick and choose your hours, clients and locations.
For example, I had only 1 morning class a week last year in Warsaw because I don't like waking up early. I taught mostly teens and Cambridge exam classes because these are old hat for me and require little prep time. Money wasn't a problem.
So this idea that an experienced teacher has to trudge through the snow from 7am to 9pm teaching in Acme perogi company 20 miles out of town is a myth.
| dragonpiwo wrote: |
| In Krakow right now...lunch in Kazimierz for me and the missus was 140 PLN. I had zeberka, she had pierogi and we ordered 3 drinks total (Zywiec). Poland just ain't cheap. |
You must be hitting up the rip-you-off tourist-trap places. Why anyone would choose to pay so much for Polish food is beyond me. I mean, I could understand it for Thai or Indian but Polish food? You can get inexpensive, tasty Polish food for next to nothing (free from your in-laws).
I really like this place for reasonably priced Polish food in Krakow (tho their website music is annoying): http://www.kuchniaubabcimaliny.pl/nasze-restauracje.html (no, it's not a milk bar) |
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Janek
Joined: 25 Sep 2006
Posts: 79
Location: Krakow, Poland
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 7:53 am Post subject: Re: erm |
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xxx
Last edited by Janek on Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:05 am Post subject: erm |
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Got no idea what the place was called Janek. It was in a square in the middle of the ghetto next to a place with a Hebrew name. Just walked in off the street, nothing flash and didn't even leave a tip as the service was so poor and the zeberka like chewing old rope. On the bright side we managed to rent a nice little kawalerka for 200 a night on Kopernika. We came to see Bocelli, which we did last night. Our tickets were a wedding present but cost 750 PLN each. Krakow is actually a bit cheaper than Poznan with regard to restaurants. I love the place. It's a truly AWESOME place. Yes, there are cheaper restaurants than the one we went to but hey it had a nice ogrodek.
Branch out or leave. I think that's the best advice so far. Scottie seems to have caught the right balance and for what it's worth, I'd much rather live in Gdansk or Krakow than Poznan, which I think is an overpriced town. If it were in the Premiership, it would be like the current Man Utd team. |
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Infinite
Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 235
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="dynow"]
| scottie1113 wrote: |
I don't think anyone on here is arguing that Poland's not doable for an educated, experienced, successful, single guy. |
Table and ... here's the scissors...
While I sit here for... well, many moons now, and observe families and kids, many, many kids... having two of my own I see quite a share of kids, foreign and otherwise. I then come to this forum, as Master Shake said - due to my relapse... almost like passing a terrible bloody car crash, you just have to look.
So, I come here and read this thread and Simon [whom I've had the pleasure of meeting couple of times years ago while working for the same institution and I can vouch for his professionalism and sincerity] posts about the silliness of some of its permanent residents, here they pop their weary heads out of the dust cloud of the strange bubble that they'd built for themselves. You can ABSOLUTELY make a comfortable living for yourself ANYWHERE in the world even with a family of four while teaching English. There are hundreds of teachers in Poland who are extremely successful. There are tens of thousands of them on this planet. Yet only those, who failed miserably and those, such as myself who like to indulge in this self torture of actually replying to their musings come and comment on this forum.
Your short lived experience in this country is in no way reflective of the many people's lives who come here to teach from all corners of this planet. I live in a small town and there are SEVEN Native Speakers in my area. NONE of them on this forum. Something to think about. |
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Infinite
Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 235
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| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| dynow wrote: |
SP wrote:
If you want money, you don't go to Poland. If you want weather, you don't go to Poland. If you want great food, easy 2nd language to learn, great public transport, you yet again don't choose Poland. Poland is specific, and for that, this forum remains relevant. |
Define money for us please. Is it enough to buy a house, run a business, travel, work under 30hrs per week and have time for your family? Or is it a yacht with a private beach in Bahamas?
Define good weather. I hate the beach and Florida is hell for me.
Define great food. De gustibus non est disputandum.
I don't own a car, because I find Polish public transportation to be excellent. I'm actually going to break this cycle of non-driving this year only because I'm finally ready for that summer "National Lampoons EU vacation" type trek. Compare this public transportation to the one back in the US... haha, laughable.
Co do języka, wszystkiego da się nauczyć. Trzeba tylko chcieć a nie siedzieć i pierdzielić głupoty na forach internetowych o tym jak to ciężko przeżyc na wypłacie biednego nauczyciela zarabiającego w jeden tydzień tyle co przeciętny polak w miesiąc.
EVERY country is specific... I could go on, but I'm pretty sure most people on this forum are tired of the bickering and we all have a pretty good idea of what your experience here was like. One can only hope that you learned from it and now that you're back state side, you're not relieving the absolute fiscal nightmare that your life was prior of your move to Poland. |
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ieltsteacher102
Joined: 24 Jun 2014
Posts: 37
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| Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:19 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| You can ABSOLUTELY make a comfortable living for yourself ANYWHERE in the world even with a family of four while teaching English. |
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stonethecrow
Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Posts: 43
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| Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:36 am Post subject: Re: and... |
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| dragonpiwo wrote: |
I'd also add that living on 3.5K paying rent is an awfully frugal lifestyle decision. Our bills are 2K a month before food and cigarettes. They would be the same if I were single. A single person arriving here will get a shock for a year or two.
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As I said a few months back, that hasn't been my experience at all.
No shock at all for me. To contrast, I was earning 15k in a small Northern town the UK and paying no rent...
I would imagine (please correct me if I'm wrong) that this is an example of one of the same old opinions that the OP mentioned. |
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dynow
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 1080
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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The questions were one by one, I guess I'll answer them one by one.
Infinite wrote:
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| Define money for us please. Is it enough to buy a house, run a business, travel, work under 30hrs per week and have time for your family? Or is it a yacht with a private beach in Bahamas? |
Buy a house? To just "buy a house" presents no basis for comparison. I'm not following.
Define "business". What are we talking about?
Travel where? In what? Sleep where?
You're making incredibly general statements that say very little. I don't know where you're going with any of it.
| Quote: |
| Define good weather. |
I'll tell you what, if you take a general poll asking people what kind of weather they would rather wake up to in the morning, chances are, it won't be representative of Polish weather. You hate the beach? Good for you, but there's a reason why people who work all year long take their vacation.....at the beach. They can choose anywhere......they choose a beach. You're the exception, not the rule.
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Define great food. |
Go to any major city in Europe, Canada, the US, the UK, and the restaurants you see are Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Indian, steak houses, Irish pubs, etc.....Polish? Fat chance. There's a reason for that. Food in the end is subjective but let's not pretend that Polish food....well....is what it is.
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I find Polish public transportation to be excellent.
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Compared to where?
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| Co do języka, wszystkiego da się nauczyć. Trzeba tylko chcieć a nie siedzieć i pierdzielić głupoty na forach internetowych o tym jak to ciężko przeżyc na wypłacie biednego nauczyciela zarabiającego w jeden tydzień tyle co przeciętny polak w miesiąc. |
What....in the world....does this have to do with anything? We're comparing languages and nobody is saying Polish is impossible to learn. Jogging isn't too difficult for most people, but let's not compare a 5K to a marathon. The point is, that simple sentence you just wrote wouldn't have all the grammar mistakes in it if you had settled in another country years ago that uses a language absent of the madness of cases among other challenges Polish presents (yeah, contrary to what you may think, my Polish is pretty solid but thanks for involuntarily bolstering my point) Plop the average anglo in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France, and they will learn the language considerably faster without having to guess which of the 17 forms of the number "2" to use or in your case, struggling with kim/czym.
For what it's worth, just how long have you been in Poland?
As far as not owning a car, I mean.....hell if you don't need one, don't buy one. I don't really have an opinion. I didn't have one in Poland either.
If you dig Poland, all the power to you man. Nobody's arguing you can't like Poland or be successful there. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013
Posts: 1650
Location: Berlin
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:07 pm Post subject: erm |
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I can tell you now as I'm meeting schools, agents and consultants on a daily basis that the money and contract fiddling going on is Hellenic in design. If you have a good gig in Poland, hold on to it with both hands and the best of luck to you.
There's a lot of interest in private work but running all over the place ain't for me. The secret, as others have said, is to get blocks in-company. I'm turning work down until I get the right balance. |
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Louisdf
Joined: 05 Feb 2013
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:29 pm Post subject: Re: erm |
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| dragonpiwo wrote: |
I can tell you now as I'm meeting schools, agents and consultants on a daily basis that the money and contract fiddling going on is Hellenic in design. If you have a good gig in Poland, hold on to it with both hands and the best of luck to you.
There's a lot of interest in private work but running all over the place ain't for me. The secret, as others have said, is to get blocks in-company. I'm turning work down until I get the right balance. |
Yes now in many companies only people in senior postions or who use English every day are offered classes. People who have graduated recently but with little experience are expected to know English well (B2+) already or be prepared to pay for classes out of their own pocket. For 25 year olds earning around 3000zl net, spending 500zl on a few hours of company classes is a big expense (especially when they are ill/have too much work but still have to pay). |
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Infinite
Joined: 05 Jan 2013
Posts: 235
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| Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| dynow wrote: |
| The point is, that simple sentence you just wrote wouldn't have all the grammar mistakes in it |
I'd like you to point them out to me please. Either way, it's simple, because it seems like it's the only thing that you'd get.
Możemy prowadzić dyskurs na wiele tematów, mam jednak wrażenie że w twoim, niesamowicie specyficznym przypadku, wyszlibyśmy na tak zwane manowce.
As someone has pointed out in of the latest threads, there's a great reason why this particular forum is and has been absolutely dead for so many years now. I'm back to the idle observation mode, hoping that one day this forum might take a better turn.
p.s. I've been here long enough to know that 90% of your musings are absolute rubbish. |
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PierogiMonster
Joined: 17 Jun 2010
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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It's a commonly-held belief that the only visitors and, especially, posters to Dave's are pissed-off, moaning teachers. There is some, but only some, truth to this. Hence this thread, started by someone who's done a lot for the average Polish Tefler over the years.
But my experience is perhaps not atypical. I first found this site ten years ago at the start of my TEFL career (as 'JPM'). I gained a lot of useful info and a few contacts from it. However, as time went on my confidence, experience and knowledge grew and I therefore checked in less often.
So an update from a one-time semi-regular: seven years in Krakow and a stint in Thailand finally saw me take the CELTA a few years ago. And after a year with BC Cairo I'm now with the same outfit in Madrid, having passed the DELTA.
I never really put down any roots in Poland, although I'm glad I went: I learned the language and had some great experiences over the years. But, as someone said earlier in this thread, most people end up seeking the sun and a good beach, given the choice.
I was never much of a skiier.
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006
Posts: 1202
Location: Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 2:14 am Post subject: |
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| PierogiMonster wrote: |
| It's a commonly-held belief that the only visitors and, especially, posters to Dave's are pissed-off, moaning teachers. There is some, but only some, truth to this. Hence this thread, started by someone who's done a lot for the average Polish Tefler over the years. |
Yes, the same 10 people must post upwards of 80% of the posts on this site. And most of them of them generally post comments which are not positive and encouraging about teaching English in Poland.
I've been posting on this forum since 2006 when I first came to Poland. I do remember 'the good ol days' when the tone was more positive and upbeat, and it was much more about giving honest, specific, useful, relevant advice to teachers rather than bemoaning low wages, Polish food/weather etc.. Dynow's advice, in particular, was really helpful to me.
But I do think this forum still is quite a helpful place for teachers new to Poland. If you post a question about a school or ask for advice about getting set up in Poland, people do help you. I remember one recent case where several of us advised people to avoid the Academy of New York school in Warsaw. One teacher stubbornly defended the school because she had gotten a job there. Now she's singing a different tune and realizes taking our advice would have saved her a lot of trouble.
The problem is, there just aren't many people seeking advice about teaching in Poland on this forum these days. So all the negativity stands out more. |
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