Job Discussion Forums

[eloisewl]

Hi has anyone had any experience working with them or heard anything about Speed School of English in Poland?

[simon_porter00]

if you use the search option, look for 'speed' and choose to look in just the Polish forum you'll find loads of information there. The fact that you're not telling us where the speed school is doesn't help either. The search function seems to suggest there are speed schools all over Poland.

I'm not being bitchy, just saying the answer to your question lies at your fingertips.

[eloisewl]

I already did that and the page kept freezing so I decided to post a topic to try and get some *useful* replies.

The school website is http://english.myspeed.pl/ and operates in seven different cities and because I don't know where I would be based I just wanted to get a general view.

[simon_porter00]

Wow, I�m so sorry for not being *useful*. I�ll tell you what, in an attempt to redeem myself and be *useful* I shall do the work that your far from *useful* internet connection is able to do:

*useful* information from threads that concern Speed schools
They�re a Callan school
They pay about 2800zł per month (July 2003)
*useful* thread found here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=3533&highlight=speed

Further *useful* information
If you work for a Speed school you�re basically a tape recorder. Although it�s surprising how many employees suddenly created an account and posted a robust defense of the school after this comment.
*useful* thread found here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=1210&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=speed+school+english&start=0

This was backed up in a further thread here, saying that Callan may be detrimental to you career as a teacher. Some people thought not:
*useful* thread found here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=72156&highlight=speed

Another *useful* piece of information to bear in mind is that nothing has been written about any Speed schools for the last year, so this information of course should be read with caution.

It would have been *useful* to have mentioned in the original OP that you had tried to search for the information.

[hrvatski]

They treat you fine and management are generally not arseholes, you could do better pay wise but since you're doing Callan then you save on prep time. It won't make you unemployable but you will have to convince your next employer you can teach the communicative method. You will have a sore voice modelling the sentences and you may get a headache due to the unrelenting nature of the method. You could do worse, for example SpeakUp.

[steviok85]

Simon,
Your attitude has been inspected and deemed shocking.

Cheers
S.K.C

[simon_porter00]

Perhaps I overreacted, but when asking somebody for help I at least try to mention the fact that I did some work myself. The OP didn't, and then highlighted the *usefulness* of my response as being far from it.

Perhaps, I'm just too tired right now and read too much into the message. In any case I apologise to whoever may have found my post that of some curmudgeonly old git.

Anyway, there are more important things to get your knickers in a twist about.

Merry Christmas to all,
Ho ho ho.

[eloisewl]

Thanks for the *useful* info.

[Master Shake]

[simon_porter00]

Just done

[twilightsummers]

In case the OP is still looking for *useful* info, and considering that I currently work at a Speed School, I will be happy to provide some. The long and short of it is this: I work at their school in Gliwice, and I'm quite happy.

To begin with, the school has switched entirely from the Callan method to Avalon Direct (not including kid's classes and Talkman classes [for students who are advanced enough to have phased out of the Avalon books], which are taught using the communicative method). Avalon is similar to Callan, but the questions are entirely updated and more human (according to teachers who used to teach Callan here), in addition to other changes.

A previous poster referenced another post that suggested one sounds like a tape recorder during lessons. My response to this is to both agree and disagree. The first half (or slightly more) of the lesson consists of doing review questions that cover vocabulary and grammar that the students have already studied. It's possible to sound like a recording if you just read the questions and request answers. We are encouraged, however, to inject a little humor into our lessons by switching up or improvising non-essential parts of the questions (i.e. not the structure or vocab that the students are meant to be practicing). I don't really like changing the questions, so I'll often ask follow-up questions that aren't in the book in order to get a laugh and create rapport with my students.

The second half of the lesson consists of teaching new material (vocab and grammar), which is left entirely up to the teacher as to how to present it. That being said, we don't use communicative methods to do that; we basically explain it in a teacher-centered fashion, using gestures and the whiteboard, making sure to check for comprehension before continuing with the lesson. It sounds dry, but it can be as fun as you care to make it. (As an aside, I've never lost my voice once, though I was concerned about it before I started.) There are also exercises to do with the students in order to practice pronunciation and reading, as well as back-of-book exercises that vary from multiple choice to fill-in-the-blank to short answer. Spelling tests and dictations are done, too. Each lesson lasts 80 minutes, and sometimes it feels like there's not enough time to get everything done, but there is enough variety to keep it interesting.

The main factor in whether or not you and the students enjoy the lesson is down to chemistry. Most of our groups have excellent chemistry with each other (i.e. lots of laughing, positive attitudes, real desire to learn), and when the teacher comes into that environment with his/her own positive attitude, it can make for a wonderful class that is no hardship to teach and really fun. On the other hand, we have a couple groups with such dull attitudes that are incredibly boring to teach. I dread those, but they're few. Most of the classes we have are really pretty good and some are outstanding.

I also teach some kids' classes, and I like the change of pace (although I'm not a fan of teaching kids, in general). I get to be creative with them and follow a typical communicative syllabus. Our DOS and Youth Coordinator are really committed to working with kids, so having that support helped me to get past my issues with teaching the little ones.

Our school is run well, and we're always paid on time and never scrambling for hours. The secretaries are exceptionally helpful and really friendly. The vibe at our school is consistently positive, and I genuinely like every single person I work with. That has, literally, never happened to me before. Perhaps it's because the entire staff is young and dynamic, really funny, and we all just click. We hang out outside of school, as well. I can't say everything is perfect (I don't exactly love getting up for early morning lessons 3 times a week [on average], for example), but it is a solid good job. I have taught EFL in Prague (where I got my CELTA), Seoul, and France. This school is the best of the three, by far.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. Hope my info was of some use to somebody!