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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 11:22 am Post subject: Just so he knows.... |
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Vocab: They have a lot of problems with prepositional collocations and false friends (words that are similar to English words in Polish but have different meanings)
Grammar: The Present Perfect
Pronunciation: The 2 'th' sounds and long and short vowels |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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Congratulations, dp! You're hired.
I just hope you never teach a specialist course on Living Frugally. |
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delphian-domine
Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 674
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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To the OP - now do you see what you're up against?
I'm willing to bet that dragonpiwo took longer to type up the answers than it took him to think of the answers - now, imagine you have to try and find a job against someone like that.
I know, I know, you'll say "ok, so I can teach kids" - but (and this is my major problem with a lot of the British Council training materials right now) - Polish kids aren't like Asian kids. The parents are different, the kids are brought up differently - and there's so much competition in the sector that businesses can't afford to keep you around if you aren't delivering. |
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sparks
Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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It can be a bit cut-throat, I've seen loads of teachers lose classes because students have complained or decided they like someone better. You do need to deliver, if you can you will have more classes than you can handle. There is, however, a large group of mediocre teachers here getting by. If you can rise above a bit, you should be fine. |
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Sgt Bilko
Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 136 Location: POLAND
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:17 am Post subject: |
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Looking on the bright side, if you go for an interview with IH it'll probably go something like:
Have you got the CELTA?
Have you had any experience?
Yes? Really? When can you start? Maybe you'd fancy being Senior Teacher. |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:05 pm Post subject: lol |
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"Where do you want to work?"
"Wroclaw."
"Ummm. We have no vacancies there. However, have you heard of Bydgoszcz? It's the Venice of Poland. If you sign up for 2 years, we'll pay for your DELTA and you might even become a DOS. Getting a DELTA with IH will open doors for you all over the place. 1,700 is a superb local salary. You won't pay any tax either as we pay you through Glenrex in the UK"
"Is that legal?"
"Totally."
"Where do I sign up?" |
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Oztobeyond
Joined: 04 Aug 2015 Posts: 53 Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:33 am Post subject: |
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Haha wow. I thought my CV looked quite good for someone at my stage of a teaching career.
Ok that's fine I'll let it go. Maybe sometime in the future I'll reconsider. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:59 am Post subject: |
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Don't let these old guys get you down, Oztobeyond. If you want to teach in Poland, contact as many schools as you can. If they offer you a job, do your homework before accepting it and taking the plunge. If you send your CV to 20 schools in Warsaw and get no love, then maybe put the lid on that endeavor.
You're well qualified for a 'new' teacher. It's just that Wroclaw isn't an easy place to find a decent job these days. |
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Oztobeyond
Joined: 04 Aug 2015 Posts: 53 Location: Sydney, Australia
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 8:51 am Post subject: |
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Master Shake wrote: |
Don't let these old guys get you down, Oztobeyond. If you want to teach in Poland, contact as many schools as you can. If they offer you a job, do your homework before accepting it and taking the plunge. If you send your CV to 20 schools in Warsaw and get no love, then maybe put the lid on that endeavor.
You're well qualified for a 'new' teacher. It's just that Wroclaw isn't an easy place to find a decent job these days. |
Okay, let's see what happens ... |
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dragonpiwo
Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 1650 Location: Berlin
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:48 pm Post subject: erm |
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You'll struggle to make a living in Poland outside Warsaw for sure. If you want to spend a few years on the bread line then by all means.
My aunt lives in Warsaw, as did I and it ain't cheap. |
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sparks
Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 632
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, it ain't that bad. You can get a fairly decent apartment in or near the center for 2000 zl. if you look a bit, throw in a couple hundred more and you can get something even better. 500-600 bucks to live in the center of a large city in America?--Ha. Maybe in Texas I just bought a half-liter of Jim Beam at Piotr and Pawel for... 42 zl. --11 bucks--cheaper than in America. |
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Master Shake
Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 1202 Location: Colorado, USA
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, and unlike most American cities, Warsaw actually has good, inexpensive public transportation. This cuts way down on the time you waste stuck in traffic and the money you spend running a car.
Warsaw is also safer than an your average Western city of equivalent size. |
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Infinite
Joined: 05 Jan 2013 Posts: 235
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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Man, it's not so bad. Wifey and I raised two kids on a teacher's salary here. Is it easy? No, but you don't have kids.
Do schools look for experience and papers etc? Sure. Do you need them in order to make good money and land some courses? Absolutely not.
I'm done teaching, I "did my time" in the EFL industry in Poland and it opened up a world of opportunities... it ain't half as bad as these guys here make it out to be. Especially for a single guy. |
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oipivo
Joined: 02 Jan 2012 Posts: 163 Location: Poland
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 1:29 pm Post subject: |
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The pompousness on here is mind boggling. You're an amazing teacher that can get any position because you can quickly point out some common grammar mistakes that Poles make and if you can't you have no business teaching here? Come on now, any teacher could pick that up within a few lessons.
Wroclaw has more teaching opportunities than me or my few teaching friends can keep up with. I get at LEAST six out of the blue private offers per month that I have to turn down because I'm far too busy. There is PLENTY of work here.
The ONLY valid argument for you to not come is legality. Australia doesn't have the flexibility that other countries have in terms of the 90 day rule and starting a business as far as I know (I could be wrong about that, someone correct me if I am). It's exceptionally rare for a language school to give a full work contract to any teacher, especially without being here. That's not to say that it's impossible, but it would be very difficult.
Anyway, don't let these guys fool you about your qualifications. I have no clue why they think you need a master's degree and a DELTA to get a well paying job. Every teaching gig I've had in Poland has paid at least 60zl. It's easy to get that amount and you easily could. Are you going to be rich? No. Are you going to live comfortably? Absolutely. The teachers here seem to have been here way too long and have no idea how comfortable a place Poland is for EFL. |
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Infinite
Joined: 05 Jan 2013 Posts: 235
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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oipivo wrote: |
The pompousness on here is mind boggling. You're an amazing teacher that can get any position because you can quickly point out some common grammar mistakes that Poles make and if you can't you have no business teaching here? Come on now, any teacher could pick that up within a few lessons.
Wroclaw has more teaching opportunities than me or my few teaching friends can keep up with. I get at LEAST six out of the blue private offers per month that I have to turn down because I'm far too busy. There is PLENTY of work here.
The ONLY valid argument for you to not come is legality. Australia doesn't have the flexibility that other countries have in terms of the 90 day rule and starting a business as far as I know (I could be wrong about that, someone correct me if I am). It's exceptionally rare for a language school to give a full work contract to any teacher, especially without being here. That's not to say that it's impossible, but it would be very difficult.
Anyway, don't let these guys fool you about your qualifications. I have no clue why they think you need a master's degree and a DELTA to get a well paying job. Every teaching gig I've had in Poland has paid at least 60zl. It's easy to get that amount and you easily could. Are you going to be rich? No. Are you going to live comfortably? Absolutely. The teachers here seem to have been here way too long and have no idea how comfortable a place Poland is for EFL. |
I like you - we should hang out!
I agree 100%. Also, my last two years of teaching I made 80zl/h and it was a normal pay. Nobody batted an eye when I said that I won't work for less. 60zl per h is the absolute bare minimum. Think of it as minimum wage for EFL teachers. If you can't get more than that you must really be either a bad teacher or you're super gullible. There's ton of work in all Polish cities. I still get emails from at least 6 schools, that's almost 2 years after I finished teaching, with offers. Don't sell yourself cheap, act like a professional and do your job... you'll be fine. |
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