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Zorba · Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 19

Hi all.

I am thinking about re-locating to Czech Republic or Slovakia this autumn. The idea of the tourist trap of Prague puts me off a bit, and I would like to seriously study Czech while I am there, so I am wondering if anyone could share any positive experiences about working in Brno or other cities in these two countries.

I have CELTA + 1 year's experience with IH, but I don't necessarily want to stay with IH.

Specifically, does anyone have experience of the Akademia Vzdelavania http://www.aveducation.sk/ network in Slovakia?

Any comments appreciated.

Zorbochka

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

You might consider Ceske Budejovice. It's fairly large, on a main train line, has a decent expat population but not too much, and much lighter tourism than the showpiece cities/towns.....surrounding countryside is quite nice, too, close to Sumava mountains, and in good areas for cycling and hiking. I don't know of any specific school leads there, but I'm sure you could google up a couple, if you're interested.

zewd · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 42 Location: Lynchburg, VA, USA

I lived in Ceske Budejovice. There are about 30 schools there, not all of them hire native speakers. I worked for 2 schools during my stay- Horizonty and Lingo. Lingo was great- fair employers, good coworkers, etc. Horizonty was absolutely horrible- poor resources, unfair treatment, obnoxious boss who doesn't keep promises. I met a few Czech teachers who had also been screwed by him, so I know it's not just my opinion that he's evil. Stay away! If you want contact info for any of the schools in CB, feel free to drop me a PM (i'm rarely on here, but maybe I'll see it!)

petr · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 1

A nice city is Hradec Kralov� (or nearby Pardubice) with historical old town and apart from big tourism, about 100.000 inhabitants, 100 km away from Prague, with many schools, university. I can recommend Ceske Budejovice as well, it is about the same size as HK.

Chris Westergaard · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 215 Location: Prague

There are great cities in the Czech Republic to teach at. Liberec is one and is supposed to be excellent.

johnchina · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 816

When I first went to Czechoslovakia (as it then was), I worked in small towns (up to 25000 people). If you want to immerse yourself, this can be really fun. However, it can be stressful as you don't have the support network of other expats. If you want a further list of suggestions for going down this route, let me know. The small cities recommended by other people on this posting all have their charms.

gabes65 · Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 15

I lived in Brno for four months last summer and loved it. It has much of what Praha has to offer, minus the obnoxious tourists. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and there are loads of biking and hiking trails nearby.

I hung out with some expats who taught at the Park school, and had no complaints. I got my TEFL cert at the Boland school and it seemed pretty decent, too.

Zorba · Joined: 21 Nov 2004 Posts: 19

Just to say a quick thank you to everybody who has responded to this thread. As circumstances currently stand, it looks like I'll actually be returning to the UK next year. However if I do decide to go to Czech Republic I'll certainly follow up your recommendations.

Bye!

Zorbochka Very Happy