Job Discussion Forums

[dbvt]

Greetings, all. Semi-clueless American newbie here with a few questions specific to Poland. I'm looking into getting a CELTA or similar qualification this summer so I can teach overseas, and Poland is at the top of my wish list, as I am of Polish descent (though sadly know only about five words of the language - I'm sure you've heard this story before, my dad grew up in the '50s, his folks thought the kids should be "real Americans," blah blah).

I originally wanted to go abroad four years ago, but world events intervened. Now I'm wondering whether Poland is no longer an option for Americans due to its newly minted EU membership. I see from perusing the boards that a number of Americans just go over there and work without a visa, but I'm a little leery of doing that - I would prefer to apply to take a course at IH or similar so I'd perhaps have a bit of a network (and hopefully a less difficult time finding a job). I've got a BA in journalism and work as a newspaper copy editor, and I think that with the help of the CELTA, my skills would transfer well to the classroom.

The answers to this question seemed to vary in previous posts, so I thought I'd throw it out there again and see what people's thoughts are. Some of the past posts indicated it wasn't that difficult, but I'm wondering whether 2005, being the first full year of EU membership for Poland, will be a turning point, and jobs for non-EU folks will really dry up. (NOT that there is anything wrong with that - EU good, Iraq war bad, Bush moronic, please be nice to me. )

Many thanks in advance. If Poland is no longer a realistic option, I know Latin America still is (and I DO speak a little Spanish).