I'm from Canada. Becoming an English teacher in Poland

hi, i live in canada and this summer i am in warsaw and i love it
i have graduated from a english highschool in calgary and also graduated polish highschool.
i am fluent in polish and english.

i want to move here and i am wondering what do i have to do to become a english teacher in poland at a private language school because they make more money then one at a polish highschool teaching english.

i heard i need to complete a tefl course? i dont know what to do from here i have a highschool diploma and polish highschool diploma.

The most widely known out there is the CELTA course. Which is taught by the International House. The location I found to be the best at getting back with you and best in terms of price is the Wroclaw course.

ttcentre.ih.com.pl

That should help :) I didn't want to be one of those people who tell you to go to eslcafe. You came here for answers and you shall receive.

-Steve

I'm taking my CELTA at Bell schools in Warsaw in August. 4990 zl plus 1200 zl for a flat a utilities. I know that many schools require both CELTA and a university degree. You'll have to check this out yourself.

just do an internet search for Tefl or Celta in our area, i'm sure you will find a school that teachs it, very popular these days.

hehe, this is my plan as well :) and is probably the only chance I'll ever have of working in Poland, unless all their nurses leave the country, and the government responds by doubling their wages (i.e. no chance, I expect, lol)

The impression that I got was that these TESOL courses were a waste of time and money. To tell the truth it was interesting and I learnt something about English grammar but there is no legal requirement to complete a TESOL certificate before starting to look for work. Tesol or CELTA do not lead to QTS (qualified teacher status) and holding a university degree is by far the better option, especially if you want to travel further on such as South Korea, after gaining experience, where a degree is compulsory. In a Trinity or CELTA course you will be expected to complete the equivalent of six hours of monitored teaching but what is that? You will get more than that after your first real day of teaching in a classroom anyway. My course cost £520 but that was in 1999/2000 so probably costs much more now. The trouble is that schools will probably want experience of teaching in their methodology, i.e. the Callan Method and you would be expected to know the syllabus for First Certificate and maybe business English. These things will not be gleaned from a CELTA course, only the three P's.


Many years ago, I was in Poland in a place called Krasnik and local schools were even employing young Russian girls from the Ukraine to fill the huge gaps in the shortages. I would think that they would take any native speaker with open arms.

is it obligatory to have a teaching qualification if you have a degree and some experience? how easy is it to find a job.. is there a lot of competition and do you get paid by the hour or a fixed wage? Is it legal to just to put an ad in the local newspaper without going through a company?

As far as I am aware it is not obligatory to have anything at all. There is no such thing as an 'official' qualification to teach English.