Job Discussion Forums

[crazylikeafox]

Hello!

I am interested in teaching English is Romania. I was checking out potential programs but I was told that according to the agreement between the Romanian government and them, only American citizens can apply.

Does this sound right?

While I still got ur attention. Do you always have to apply through a program to teach English (the fees are crazy........ almost $3000 Canadian? I can't think why it's that expensive).

[crazylikeafox]

Oh yeah, I just realized....... it's eligibility........ typed too fast

[naturegirl321]

Don't do the worldteach programme, teachers tyciallly make 100 dollars, you're just linging their pockets.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=4855

Go there for links,

[Bebsi]

Hang on here, Crazy...fox, you want to PAY money to teach English? Jesus, most people doing it moan that they are not getting enough pay!

I live in Romania (my wife is Romanian), but work in KSA. I love Romania , and intend to settle here. In fact, I hope to set up an English Institute here as a long-term project. However, I would be the first to say that most English-teaching establishments here pay a pittance, and will utterly screw you. A well-known international chain here offered me a monthly salary that I would pick up in a few hours of overtime at my Saudi university. I treated their offer with the contempt it deserved.

If you want to see Romania, why not just come here on a trip? It is still pretty cheap by western European standards, and is an incredibly beautiful country. Instead of handing your money to some slave-driver, just go to a bar and buy some of the local beer or wine instead. A far better investment and (maybe I'm just being my hedonistic self here, but...) an infinitely more enjoyable experience.

[Mike_2003]

Hi,

You can make money in Romania, not a lot, but enough to get by and to save a little. However, you have to be very ambitious to make it and press for work, chase down your own contracts, act professionally and make local contacts. If you want a typical EFL job (paid accomm., flight money, fixed wage, etc) then you'll be disappointed. The only real options for this kind of work are the British Council or International House.

Good luck though, it's an interesting country. Let me know if you want any more info and I'll see what I can do.

Mike

[Bebsi]

[Bebsi]

In refernce to my previous posting, and in fairness to IH, I would add that in addition to the salary offered they DO provide accommodation. I would also add however, that their salary is still, IMO, utterly inadequate. In addition, I am given to believe that in certain cases they will pay an accom allowance in lieu, but that the figure offered is well below what you would need to actually get anything decent.

[Mike_2003]

Actually, I don't know anyone first hand who works for IH but I know they have a couple of native speakers on their books so I was assuming (being the mother...) that the pay was relatively comparable to the BC, who don't seem to pay badly if you have the experience. Perhaps they are just poverty tourists

By my calculations you'd need, as someone paying for everything him/herself, about 400 Euros a month to subsist in Romania: rent, phone, block fees, electricity and basic food. With a little more than that you can live quite well as nights out are cheap. Just a very rough guide.

I haven't had much trouble with being overcharged, Bebsi, even by taxi drivers. What sort of services were you referring to?

Mike

[Bebsi]

Euro 400 a month???????????????

Either it's a while since you've been here or else we just live in different worlds! While things like nights out are MUCH cheaper, 400 is rather pushing it . I would find subsistence here difficult on less than 1,000 a month. I think maybe you and I, Mike, have very different expectations. I am looking at it from the point of view of a westerner wishing to lead a comfortable, professional lifestyle, not a "typical EFL" type of existence, so perhaps my opinion isn't the best one here.

Over the counter services/purchases are generally OK, they don't single you out. I was thinking more like professional services, eg. estate agents, builders, certain medical professionals such as dentists (not all, by any means, I speak of a minority that one DOES have to look out for) and so on.

Then again, the average EFL teacher coming to Romania is hardly going to be dealing with estate agents! Maybe opinions other than mine should be consulted after all?

This is, all joking aside, one of the reasons I rarely post here in the Romania forum, and I generally stick with the Gulf. I have no connection with the Bucharest TEFL scene nor would want I to, in other than a self-employed capacity.

However, I will stand by the basic thrust of my original argument: no-one is going to get rich, or even live well by widely accepted (in western terms) "normal" standards while working as an employed teacher in Romania. I don't blame the employers by any means, it is just market forces prevailing.

[crazylikeafox]

400? Is Bucharest that expensive? Really? That's a thousand Canadian a month (even more). What do you do with a thousand euros a month? Wow!

Well, I am interested in whether there are jobs out there I can look for if I just get up and go.

Okay, my situation is a bit special. I am born and raised in Bucharest. I have the citizenship, language (whatever is left of my Bucharest accent in another story) and 4-bedroom apartment (paid for ages ago so I guess I would just have to pay for the maintenance).

Can you guys give me a rough break-down of costs (groceries, electricity)?

[crazylikeafox]

Oh! I forgot!

I know I'm not gonna make any money by teaching there (the ESL money is in Asia and Middle East). I will have cash saved up.

I want to live again in Bucharest and this would be a good opportunity, seeing how I have ESL experience (in Asia).

Do you guys think that it would be a problem if I'm a native Romanian (so technically not a native English speaker)?

[Mike_2003]

Hi,

Bebsi: Perhaps you do have different expectations, I have no idea of your lifestyle choices, but 400 Euro a month pays my bills. Of course, I spend much more than that, but that's the cost of the 'basics'. I'll break them down for you:

Rent: 170 Euro
Admin/Block fees/heating (average over the last year): 20 Euro
Electric: 10 Euro
Phone: 30 Euro (incl. internet and a couple of calls to the UK)
Cable TV: 5 Euro
Internet (dial-up card): 5 Euro
RATB travel card: 8.50 Euro
Basic groceries: 30 Euro/week
Mobile bill: 12 Euro

TOTAL: 380.50 EURO (and you certainly could get by on less!)

So, that's what I need to survive, to subsist. I live in a nice area, quiet neighbours, good transport connections, could walk to the centre of town when not feeling too lazy. On top of that I regularly go out for a few beers with mates (night out, 5/6 beers = 7 Euro), eat out once or twice a week (decent meal for two with drinks= 30 Euro, cheap meal = 10 Euro), go to the cinema (2 Euro), occasionally the theatre in season (4 Euro), buy books and CDs as and when, and can save for luxuries if I like.

As for professional services I've never had a problem. I have had to go to the doctors on a couple of occassionals. Once I had to have an eye check and get a perscription and that cost me 3 Euro, another time I had an ear infection, which I had checked out for a 'tip' of about 2 Euro. I know a lot of people who are lawyers, dentists, and in other professions, but this is how Romania works...it's about who you know - that's how the locals survive, through contacts, and that's the system you have to adapt to. If you restrict yourself to the kinds of companies that are set up to fleece the expats, then, unsurprisingly, you're going to get fleeced!!!

Crazylikeafox: I think you being a Romanian speaker would be an advantage. Lots of Romanians believe that it's impossible to learn a foreign language unless you are taught in Romanian so you might have an edge there. However, you might end up getting paid the same as a Romanian citizen, which certainly would NOT be to your advantage. Anyway, jobs are rare, and private work doesn't pay much. You have to teach the international corporations to make any real money and there's not so many of those at the moment.

Take care,
Mike

[dmb]

Mike, how does Romania compare with Turkey? which is easier to live in? Which is better financially?

[Mike_2003]

Hi DMB,

I wrote a post comparing the two a while back, in reply to our Ghost's comparison. (Is he still haunting the Turkey board?). It's somewhere on the Romania forum.

Turkey has many MANY more work opportunities; lots of schools and lots of people willing to pay decent money for privates. I'm probably not the best person to give a direct comparison as I lived entirely off of private lessons in Turkey and work for a training company here in Romania (rather than a school). I guess financially, taking into account things are generally cheaper here, I'm living to about the same standard. You get more for your rent money in Turkey though. If you compared working for a school in both countries, however, Turkey would surely come out on top.

The main advantage I have here is that I work 'normal' hours - i.e. no weekends and evenings. Also I often have free weeks so rarely feel overworked. In Turkey I had to give up most evenings and weekends to make decent money from the private lessons. As a result I have a much better social life here.

In some respects Romania is easier to live in, more 'western' and you don't stick out so much or get stared at or harrassed. Turks are much friendlier though; I still get e-mails from my old students in Turkey even after a year. Having said that, I have more friends here, but mainly because because I can get out and about more due to a better schedule.

Regards,
Mike

[Bebsi]