Some details about Teaching in Poland

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL !!!!!1111 :):):)

I heard a lot of Polish spoken when I was in Australia-I have travelled the world. True, I was a student in Moscow a long time ago so things do change-maybe my memory is too good and I tend to think back twenty years and think of it as if it was yesterday. I was also a student in Krakow as I attended Jagiellonski but true, even that was in 1985 and time does flie. I am not bitter about Poland. I used to have some good times there but a long time ago. I have grown out of these small European countries and prefer places like Australia-there is nothing for me in a small country with the strange country mentality. I like Sydney and the city lights. I could never live in a place like Czestochowa again-is'nt there a Polish expression 'tam gdzie psy dupa szczegaja?' But, no I am very happy. I have a lovely wife from Czestochowa and a son with whom I travel the world and that would not have been possible otherwise and I learnt so much Polish, 'O' level, A' level and post A level Polish and it all fell in to place after four years of russian at university so it gave me a third language under my belt but it was then time to move on...life is too short to wast it on a dump like Wroclaw!

Damn You! Now everyone knows ! I must report back to Herr Bush for instuctions you have won this round comrade but someone will take my place. we will not rest until Every Pole drives an S.U.V. McDonalds Uber Alles!


You really know how to hurt a guy.

And how very American to want a Higher status job simply so people will view you in a higher light instead of following your heart or wanting to help people. To me there is no higher status than helping someone towards a better life. Small european counties? do you mean area? as Poland has almost twice the population of Australia

No that is not true, most of the young are leaving Poland very quickly. When I said that I wanted a higher status job I just said that in response to you, an English speaking American in Poland who tells me that I do not qualify to work in your language school. In that case, as I am not good enough, I would work somewhere better and do a better job. After all, anyone can teach English in Poland. Being for instance a simulataneus interpretor-that takes real skill! As for why you have chosen to work in Poland-I have no idea, I imagine that a lot of westerners want work in Poland as it brings them in to closer contact with young Polish women looking for committment of some sort. I do not think that anybody does something for nothing in this world.

Michal I never said that you probably do I took offense to you saying most native speakers don't care about their jobs which is only partly true. I first came here for a change of pace I had never been to Europe and my family were all from Poland and I had a friend who owned a lanuage school. The women came later, now I'm married to a Polish women and have a Polish American baby. Believe it or not some people love Poland like TheKruk sure I hate it some days but mostly I love it. Especially my Polish in-laws really man its true. I agree translating is harder I just take offense also to your air of superiority and will continue to attack it as it is Thekruks nature thank god your not Bratwurst Boy I would love to fix his wagon.

I have taught in Poland for two years now and have heard the point raised regarding the cultural transmission aspect of language learning.

Now, it certainly seems unavoidable that some degree of 'hidden currciculum' must be transferred during classes - especially during advanced language classes when debate and discussion is used as a tool for language acquisition.

However, the truth is that these classes are private and actively sought out by students. So if they are inheriting any 'Western propaganda', it may well be because they actually desire it.

The point is that these new language abilities usually have financial benefits for the students and they are enabled to communicate with people from other cultures and to travel and work more freely.

If Poland is to enter the modern world, then it would be better that it left such sensitivity and xenophobia in the past where it belongs.

I don't believe expressing my opinions to be propaganda and all my students know my opinions are simply that. They often want to know my point of view and I theirs its great conversation and we share our knowledge of culture so I learn as much as they do perhaps its Central-European propaganda


Exactly and therefore I take my job very seriously

You have probably done it the right way around. As you went to Poland and started your life there and now have a family, it is easier to assimilate to the Polish way of life. We nearly or at least thought about it and even came to Poland once or twice but only after we had already started a family and were living in England. Property prices were cheap then too. When I go to Poland now I find it a dump though there obviously was a time, fifteen odd years ago, when I had an urge to go and do something different with my life. I suppose that I have somehow outgrown it all now though I have fond memories of Polish summers and the good strong cheap Polish beer, which I used to drink when I was younger. Sometimes when I think about it, I regret it all now but it is hard to know what to do in the long run. Maybe your 'Polish side' has good connections and can therefore make a real go of it-something which we sometimes lack here in England. My wife's family are all in Czestochowa and I have nobody close here which makes it difficult to babysit or when we have problems ect. Once your family starts to grow and they go to school and you age it is harder and harder to make the change wherever you may be. Had I stayed in Poland fifteen years ago I would speak Polish like a native now and maybe I would be doing something else, more interesting but it is not really worth reflecting on all those 'maybies' in life. Had I stayed in Poland I might well have been dead by now, you never know what might have been.

I think I have a better understanding of you now Michal I apologize for the insults sometimes my passion gets the best of me my comments stand but the name calling I am ashamed of.

Thread attached on merging:
Teaching in Poland

I'm seriously considering moving to Poland to teaching English and have made a substantial amount of enquiries regarding the qualifications needed in order to do this. I'm told all I need is a TEFL and that it would take only two days to complete. I have been assured that this two day course and the fact that English is my native language would suffice even though I have never taught before and I cant speak Polish. Surely this would be too easy?.... Can it be that all I need to do is to attend a two day course in order to be a qualified teacher of English in a foreign country?... surely there is more to it than that. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

If you are only going to do a 2 day course don't bother, save your money because they're pretty crap. Do a CELTA or a Trinity, which will take a month to do. There's no point wasting your money on a 2 day course, you might as well go the whole hog and do the longer course or save your money and learn as you go. Expect to be paid a bit less than qualified experienced teachers though.

On these 2 day courses you learn some things about classroom management which can be nice if you have no confidence but most of it is just common sense. The important part is to know what you're teaching and to have good knowledge of the English language which you won't learn in 2 days I'm afraid to say.

Good luck to you.

Teaching in Poland is a broad church. There are so many methods and books out there. You have to be prepared to move with the market.

SITA, for instance. "lol' is about the only appropriate phrase for that!

As teachers we aren't the ones who know best when it comes to what methods we use. We can advise but ultimately its the student who decides. If the method they choose turns out good or bad for them, then it is an on going educational process. At the end of the day (i fecking hate that saying btw) its our jobs to pass on info to whoever we teach. Whether one method is better or not is hardly the matter. BUT as teachers we should be able to cover all those bases.

Or bizzarely in some schools, the students don't decide but the director. I've heard some amazing stories here about school directors who stubbornly refuse to give students what they want and instead insist on THE METHOD. Fine if it's just one or two people from a class of 10 - but if an entire class is asking for a change and it gets refused, something is very very wrong with the school.

Madness.

At least personally, I think teachers should be able to have a go at whatever the students want. There's no 'correct' way to teach - and this is in fact my one big bone of contention with CELTA and the like.

That's a good point, but they as all businessmen are looking at it maybe from a money making way. As in their school only has one teaching method so sod it, if anyone comes in here we have to sell this method. Something I never understood was why schools stick to a single method teaching approach. Ok i understand that it could take training to get a teacher to move from method to another, but with enough practice and help, it can be easily done.

I'm not convinced it even works from a money making point of view - people see through "methods" quickly and boredom sinks in. At least from the Callan/Avalon/whatever method point of view, they all suffer from the same problem in that it's plain boring after a year. I can't figure out why directors would rather have a class full of bored people who can't quit because they've emotionally invested into it than to change things round.


I think most teachers are more than capable to be honest - okay, I couldn't cope if my school moved onto a heavy grammar-based approach, but anything else, I could probably give a bloody good shot.

I guess the complete lack of trust that most directors have for their teachers is part of the problem.

Maybe it's a cultural thing though.

Im quite defensive about callan cos i believe if a student is learning from book 1 or a complete beginner then this is a helpful method. The amount of vocab they learn in such a short period of time is a good thing. BUT and a big but at that, is the fact this method is outdated and boring after book 2. After that they should move to direct or traditional methods. Something the teachers can use a bit of creativity with.


Most teachers are, but im coming from the point of view in Krakow, where there are so many school and they will hire any native.

Saying that I strongly do believe that before any teacher takes their first lessons, the school should train them properly. Not this observation ****, but slowly start to include the new teacher into lessons.

On another note, i remember my first ever lesson. 5-6 years ago I got the job just by walking through the door. They threw me right in the deep end. No training, no help, just take this lesson now. 5 mins into the lesson I walked out telling myself "feck this ****". But still im here ;)

You won't catch me arguing with you there. Callan (or anything similar) gives them a hell of an ego boost in the beginning stages and helps to see if they're actually capable of learning full stop. A decent school should encourage creativity with it too.


Hmm...I've never thought of it that way, but thank you for that - it's a brilliant idea!

I remeber I was thrown in at the deep end and was quite honestly useless :/

I will continue this convo tomorrow, as my cousin has now made me quite tipsy. Plus I will speak to you about your relocation plans. Superb idea, I done the same thing a few years ago. But had no time to keep it going though it was quite successful. I'll PM u.

I feel the same about the CELTA course. The interpersonal element is far more important in teaching. I've taught a range of styles and the CELTA was just an expensive foot-in-the-door type qualification.

As for Callan, I agree up until the 5th stage. Stages 5 and 6 are useful from a grammatical perspective and the student should gain from successful completion of those stages. The first 4 stages are all about rythm.

The training is piecemeal oftentimes, Davey. I took part in forming a realistic timetable, allocating more time to things which teachers should see as more of a priority. The worst was the OJT in Japan, 3 days of dumb foreigners teaching me how to teach the NOVA method. Truth be told, teaching was just a means to an end there. I picked up the tenses and learned to be comfortable in front of groups (VOICE/convo classes). The maximum NOVA group was only 4 people.

Contrasting that experience with Poland, my Callan training back in Sep 2004 was actually fairly thorough. The sessions were led by an Irishman and an American woman, both FB friends of mine to this day. They covered all the bases very well.

Observations are just a relatively pointless formality. Rather ironically, I wasn't happy about their sporadic nature. If you want to get close to forming a true picture of a teacher, you need to observe more than once in a while. Otherwise, false impressions are created.