Job Discussion Forums

[Christina0924]

I'm not sure where to go now. I've read great things about both Poland and CZ. I want to take the CELTA and have applied in Prague, but now reading about Poland, I'm confused.....I have never been to either places let alone to Europe. I guess I could finish my CELTA in Prague and then find a job in Poland.

I have my bachelors in Elementary Education and want to teach English. Do i even need to get a CELTA certification??

Suggestions????

[Michael Gaylord]

Czech Rep. or Poland?

Funny, I think I was going through the same deliberation a year ago as you are now.
What decided my fate in coming to Poland were:
- Polish schools seemed to be more receptive and eager to interview/hire me (maybe because there are just more of them, and there seems to be more demand for Eng.teachers in Poland)
- Prague has a rep. for (now) being expensive and overly-saturated with English teachers
- in Poland it's easy to teach private students in addition to your reg. school teaching job (although it may be equally as easy in Czech.)
- there is a lot of geographical diversity and sights to see within Poland- if you're into that, and travelling within the nation is reltvely. cheap
- the language is "learnable"; from what I've heard Czech is slightly more difficult to learn
- the Czech Republic hockey team but us (CANADA) in the semi-finals of the 98 Olympics, and since then I have held a grudge against them...

Hope this helps.
Mike

[Michael Gaylord]

Christina,

Whoops, forgot one thing: about the CELTA course: I have a university degree (BA) and TESOL course from Canada, and didn't need the CELTA course to get SOME interviews (and a "full-time" job, which I have now in Poland).

However, the CELTA might help ALOT, especially now. Even 1 1/2 years ago, when I started applying to come here, approx. 1/2 of the employers specifically requested completion of the CELTA before even considering a prospective teacher for an interview.

Good luck.

Mike

[gregoryfromcali]

I too went through this. I landed in Prague and although it was beautiful is wasn't anyplace I would ever want to live. I'm from San Fransisco so I tend to be a little picky about my cities.

Then when I came to Cracow I loved everything about it. I've now been here for two years.

By the way I've heard that the pay is lower in Czech. Which I have to admit would make things tough as the best part of teaching English in Europe is being able to travel during the breaks.

Gregory

[XXX]

Poland!!!! Better money for one thing and if you want to see Prague, go and do it.