Job Discussion Forums

[Blasphemer]

Hi!

I've been reading this board for many months now hoping for someone with a similar story to appear... I guess I'll have to be that special someone.

Here it is...

My wife and I are both CELTA certified and are moving to Warsaw at the beginning of next year.

We are both native speakers and we also have two kids.

I hold a Polish passport, my wife and kids however are US citizens.

I'm looking for an honest opinion.

With me being bilingual (native level in both cases) and my wife being a native speaker of English what are our options? Can I assume that we can make a decent living?

The decision has been made, we have some prospects of steady gigs... I am simply looking for an opinion... I'm sure you understand the anxiety that we are now experiencing.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Richfilth]

The question was asked recently about how much would be needed to maintain a family of four comfortably in Poland. Admittedly, it factored in a house with a mortgage of 4500PLN monthly and two cars, which meant an income of 10,000PLN monthly, after tax, was needed.

In Warsaw, you might need one car, but certainly not two, and you can rent a sizeable apartment for less than 4500PLN, so I'm going to suggest 8000PLN would pay for all your bills, food, clothes, daycare and schooling.

If both you and your wife are working in EFL, there is absolutely no justification to be taking home less than 4000PLN a month each; if you do, you're underselling yourself and undercutting the rest of us. 8000PLN a month is easy enough teaching business classes, and a certain someone on here has set himself a target of 12,000PLN a month. There money is definitely out there if you're prepared to work for it.

Having said this, like any family relocation, you may need a sizeable chunk of your own cash first to get you started, but your bigger headache in the long run will be the bureaucracy, not the cash.

[Harry from NWE]

If you are actually native level in both English and Polish, you should investigate post-grad qualifications in translation and interpreting. A good translator can easily take home 15,000zl a month. A good interpreter will make more.

[dynow]

i second the translator/interpreter direction. you'll earn way more.

again, this is assuming you are perfectly fluent in both languages. do you remember to use all your owi's and ego's?

i think the first question I would ask you, blasphemer, is what you would like regarding quality of life.

how big of an apt. do you want?

also, if you have 2 children, this question goes out to our Warsaw people......how much does it cost to rent say a 100 sq. meter apt. in Warsaw???

i honestly have no idea, but a friend of mine is living about a 5 minute walk from the Rynek here in Wroclaw, and he pays 1700zl. per month for a 37 sq. ft. apartment. if you and your wife are going to rely on public transportation, you will have to be in the city center.

for a nice apt. to comfortably accomodate 4 people in Warsaw, in the city center, would it be wrong to guess it will cost 3,000zl. or more?

[Blasphemer]

[Blasphemer]

[Blasphemer]

[citizen X]

[Richfilth]

[Harry from NWE]

[Blasphemer]

[Blasphemer]