Job Discussion Forums

[Matthew]

Hello,

I Would like an honest reply to this question.
What is the chance of an a mid to late 50 year old couple teaching english in the Czech republic.??
One has EU passport, but one does not. Both never taught English but one has MA degree.

Any honest replies appreciated,

Thanks.

[sperling]

Hi Matthew -

I've never taught in the Czech Republic, but my thoughts are that you won't have any problems. More information can be found at:

http://www.eslcafe.com/jobinfo/europe/sefer.cgi?Czech:Republic

All the best,

Dave Sperling
Founder
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Dave's ESL Cafe
http://www.eslcafe.com

[Harry Swindells]

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[kvido]

Most of the teachers I know are living their second life here and are over 50. Stay out of Prague and you should have a good time here and find enough money to live off of.

Harry - what Central European countries are you talking about that are better than Czech? Do you mean Slovakia? Hungary? The Ukraine? - or did you mean Austria and East Germany?

I know, you were really hinting that Poland is better than the Czech Republic, but even that isn't accurate, as your impressions of the Czech Republic seem focused on Prague and its hordes foreigners. There are far fewer foreigners in the smaller cities and lots of work for both the qualified and unqualified teacher.

[scot47]

Kivido is right about Prague. It is so polluted that I would not go near there. The pollution in this case is the hordes of tourists who zap up prices and make the centre unbearable. Stay awy from Prague ! Go somewhere nice like Brno where you can buy Kvido a beer. (He probably needs it on that salary of his !)

[bnix]

First,Czech is officially going EU in 2004.You said one of you has an EU passport and the other doesn't. There may be time for the person that does not have one to "get in under the wire" before the EU becomes official.Incidentally,the Czech bureraucracy is already byzantine, even without the EU.You have to register with the alien police ,do a lot of other stuff...time consuming and it can be expensive.However,when I taught in Plzen,they let me teach while I was getting the paperwork done.If you do decide to work there,your employer should definitely help you with the paperwork,etc.

There is not much money in teaching in Czech(check out the Job Journal on Dave's under Czech Republic for comments on this...apparently a number of people agree with me on the salary..).However,Czech is a beautiful,fascinating country and if money is not your priority, it is an interesting place to teach and live...but definitely not long term.Prague...like Kvido and others will tell you....overrun with tourists.A beautiful city...but the tour groups get in the way and sometimes all you can see is a gaggle of tourists.Also, Prague is geared to tourists and is expensive...too expensive for the kind of wages most English teachers make.

Poland...this is Harry Swindell's favorite(I guess..at least he posts on it.)I taught in southeastern Poland,down by Kielce.There is more money in Poland....but avoid Warsaw.Do not live there.In my opinion,it is a dangerous,expensive dump.Much worse than Prague...which at least has a little charm...if you can see around all of the tourists.

I also taught in Lithuania...I liked it the best of the three....Vilnius, the capital,and Klaipeda,the port in western Lithuania, are beautiful.Unfortunately,not much money there,either.

If you are talking about Austria and Germany....that is a different category.They are both expensive and already EU.
In my opinion,a lot of non-EU teachers are going to start just writing off the EU countries as possibilities,except in special circumstances.It is usually difficult,if not impossible for non-EU people to teach in EU countries.I know,I know, there are exceptions....but they are not common.I am talking about teaching LEGALLY.

[Harry Swindells]

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[bnix]

Although I am not in Poland right now,I was there less than a year ago.Obviously,because of my feelings about Warsaw,I spend as little time as possible there....usually just passing through Warsawa Centralna when I need to make connections to some other part of Poland.If you like Warsaw that much...I am glad.You are welcome to it.In my opinion,it does not measure up favorably to other eastern and central European capitals.Vilnius,Tallinn and Riga,all in the Baltics, are much nicer,in my opinion.Budapest and Vienna are much nicer.Even Prague is nicer,even though it is overrun with tourists and is somewhat polluted.

In Poland,there are cities that I greatly prefer to Warsaw.Krakow is nice,but expensive.Personally,I even prefer cities like Kielce and Poznan to Warsaw.In my opinion,the nicest city in Poland is Wroclaw.

Of course, it is your business,if you like Warsawa that much.Personally,whenever I am in Poland,I will spend as little time as humanly possible there.Different strokes for different folks.

[Matthew]

Thanks everyone for replies about teaching for over 50 yr olds! Does anyone have any advice for getting reasonable jobs in Czech Rep?? What sort of salary is on offer and what are general conditions in Czech??

Replies appreciated

thanks

Matthew

[Matthew]

Hey guys I have another question.

I'm interested in the better places to woke in the Non EU countries of eastern europe. I guess they are all EU soon but at least not now.

Anyway I read that Czech is probably the best on this website but what about Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Baltic States, Romania etc.?? What are the general possibilites for over 50 yr olds there. I mean jobs with good conditions, reasonable pay etc. Places where its not too dangerous.

Any replies, comments, advice, names of good schools etc much apprecited!

Thanks!

Matthew

[scot47]

Forget Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova unless you go on some supported programme like Peace Corps, VSO, Fulbright or Soros. In these three countries you will not earn enough on a local salary to stay alive.

As I understand it Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland are better.

[Seeker of truth]

Can anyone share more recent experiences related to this thread?

[spiral78]

Salaries in most of the central European countries are enough to support yourself and travel a bit in the region, but not generally enough to send money home, pay outside debts, or travel much in Western Europe. Housing costs are relatively high. If you're going for the experience, you can probably find a nice situation. If you need to save money or pay off debt, it's likely to be difficult to impossible.
I think age is not a serious factor in hiring, generally speaking.
However, you should keep in mind that most teaching is done in corporations - so travel to your students is an important factor every day. It's realistic to imagine traveling almost as many hours as you teach. Don't imagine nice classes in one room in a central location - it can happen, but it's not the norm.
It's still possible to get positions without passports from an EU contry, but EU member nationals are preferred in many places. Certification is becoming a must in most cities (just to be a native speaker is no longer a ticket to teach - and good thing, too!), and experience is a definite plus.

Hmmm....hope that's got the basic update covered....other ideas?

[Hamett]

...actually, students often seem to complain about how young their teacher was.
I thought it was commonly understood that more mature teachers bring a wealth of experience into the classroom...

[Czenglish]

quite right. I don't think the problem here will be age, but rather total lack of teaching experience and/or teaching qualifications.