Job Discussion Forums

[0lawrenz0]

Hi everyone! I'm planning to come to Hamburg in August, primarily to train martial arts with my instructor, who lives there. I want to work as a freelance english teacher. I've got an A-Grade CELTA and a BA degree, and some experience of teaching General English at a local language school. I've been reading about the situation for this kind of work in germany and it looks pretty grim! I was wondering if anyone could give me advice relating to my particular situation:

20 year old Native Speaker, UK national
BA Degree
CELTA
Some teaching experience
Basic german
Wants enough money to pay his rent and food and to have two or three free evenings
Will stay in Hamburg maximum 1 year

Some questions in particular:

1. What are my chances of being able to find secure work (20 hours or less per week)
2. How much does an average weeks groceries cost
3. Do I need a work or residence permit, or will my passport suffice
4. As a freelancer, can I work legally with a UK (AXA) health insurance?? I am not worried about my health; I am very rarely ill and my only real worry would be being involved in a serious accident.

As it stands my plan is to keep my taxable income low enough (by deductiong expenses) to avoid most of the tax, and just pay the 19.5% mandatory pension contribution. I have seen rooms to let for around 150-200 euros- I'm sure they will be low quality but I'm not particularly bothered about that sort of thing as long as I can sleep and eat there.

I would appreciate any advice you might have or details of your own experiences. As I previously mentioned, my reasons for coming are very specific: I am not expecting to make a lot of money, but to practice martial arts with my master, who lives there, and develop myself as a teacher.

Thanks very much,

Danny

[puhutes]

Hi Danny,
No idea about the laws from UK citizens or Hamburg... I just thought I would reply to wish you luck and let you know that you should be able to work and make enough without starving. I am from Canada and have been in Germany now for almost a year. I barely work 12 hours a week and earn around 1000� a month with very little work. If you can find a room for 200 or 300�, you should be fine. Maybe even think of getting into a WG (wohngemeinschaft) with other people. This will make living expenses even cheaper. Try and find private language schools or the Volkshoch schule in the city and try to get your apartment in the city too so you won't need a car. Maybe the other people can tell you more about if you need insurance (BTW, I lived here 1 year with travel insurance), and about UK, and Hamburg!
LG Jennifer
PS... no one cared about my certifications (TESOL, School, etc.)

[Hod]

Hamburg�s on the pricey side, and you will struggle. On the other hand, it's a big city and there should be a lot of work.

UK citizens need no visas, etc, to live and work anywhere in the EU.

Don't know about AXA, but check with them if you're covered in Germany. Again, you're an EU citizen, so you won't ever be asked to show any proof of health insurance. You could legally work in Germany with no insurance at all, but it'd be a bad idea.

There's also a third party insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung) most Germans have in case they get sued for any number of things.

Although I am now a respectable member of the German community and sort of pay tax, I was once a teacher in Germany for two years. In that time I paid diddly squat in tax or compulsory pension. Puhutes�s 1000 euros a month won't stretch far at all if you're going to be up front and pay all your taxes. No forget that, you�d probably starve.

You�re only gonna be there a year. Don�t even register your address at the Meldestelle. You�ll be fine and tax free.

[puhutes]

Yeah... i am currently not working too much! The 1000euro is with me living somewhere for free But making only 1000euro also means I make under the amount needing to pay taxes;) I think it is something like 14.000euro a year and less pay no taxes. Sweet deal!

[Hod]

Okey dokey. Living rent free, not having to pay deposits and probably no bills. You're possibly the most unrepresentative person in the whole of Germany to advise whether or not someone without a sponsor in Hamburg will starve to death.
Hamburg is Germany's second biggest city, and there's very little unemployment. It is one of Germany's most expensive cities for accommodation, and demand for rented apartments is huge.
About six years back, I walked out of a Hamburg teaching job after two days. I only intended to stay for six months and quickly worked out that, even after working 20+ hours a week, after paying rents and deposits, etc, I could never have broken even.
It�s great that people come on here with advice, but I think it should come from realistic sources.

[Sansibar1]

@puhutes

Where did you hear this?! 14000!!!

You are only granted 7664 Euros tax free. Everything after that must be taxed. You can make it up to about 12000 Euros tax free, but that's only including your travel expenses and other things like studying part time.

I am quite sure about this.

[puhutes]

[puhutes]

[Hod]

[SF21]

Yep. I didn't have the patience nor the bank account (in USD, mind you) to stick around and build up my hours in Munich. Sure, I could've worked at multi-national chain schools, but pride told me to stick with private schools. :-0

To the OP,

Everything I've read recommends that you have at least 2-3 months savings to live on in Germany, which I can vouch for. And Hamburg is right behind Munich in cost of living, and is a lot more ground to cover. I'd recommend subletting a room or apartment first to see if you like it there. You don't want to get locked into a lease and then change your mind. "Kaution" (deposit) is a pain in Germany, with landlords allowed to charge what equals up to 3x the amount rent for it. Now, if you can live rent-free like Puhutes, then you've won more than half the battle.

As for the CELTA, mine was looked at, but they cared more about how I reacted to situational teaching questions posed in the interview, which the CELTA helped me convey, and corporate business experience. But make sure you emphasize that you got a Pass A (good job, btw).

Also, most of the teachers I met in Germany were in their 30's and above. They seem to take their craft more seriously than, say, new grads who flee to Asia just to pay off student loans. So I'm not sure you only being 20 will be a knock against you, particularly if you'd be teaching in-company --- general English --- to established and older business professionals. You might need to sign on with a chain school to get things rolling quickly. Some pay crap, some pay just below what private schools do.

Good luck.