Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


Most employers don't ever ask for them for ELT jobs in Poland, even for Young Learners work.

Food / Where can I get raw prawn and/or egg based noodles in Poland? [7]

There's a good fish shop at ul. Wiktorska 6 in Mokotow. They have decent seafood.The shop's called Switez. There is (or was) also a very good stall in the market on ul. Odynca, however I haven't been there for a while.


You can also pour through a colander providing the pan of boiling water is big enough to set them right away and you hold the colander at the right height.

News / Poland - Ukraine. Młodzież Wszechpolska against Ukrainians. [180]


Russia, of course.

Life / What's the best way to send money to people in Poland? Other than bank transfer, Western Union and Moneygram. [13]


A pyramid scheme rather like 'Transfer or 'Amway''. Anyone using that link gets a page saying in large letters "Bartosz Majewski invites" and this Majewski person gets something from it. The same page also says "first transfer free" which is another warning sign.

Better to use World First, who don't pay people for hooking in customers and also don't charge for transfers. They're also easy and quick to use, and offer a good conversion rate (and no, I don't get a penny for recommending them!)

Life / Studying in Poland and Life - the quality of education, general life and obstacles [6]


There are good ones and there are bad ones. Some of the best institutions that currently recruit students from Turkey (UKSW comes to mind) don't specialise in engineering.


That one's actually a very good course.


Not unusual in PL for several reasons.

UK, Ireland / Delivering homemade wine (75cl bottle) from UK to Poland - best option? [4]

Many/most couriers won't (no duty has been paid on the wine). Why not bring it with you? Still iffy, but cuts out the problem with couriers.

News / Polish embassy in Tel Aviv vandalized [15]


All of them?

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


No. The opposite even.


Yes. This is sadly true everywhere.


I think that I would too - it helps to have a stable income at the start - you can go fgreelance later if that suits. One way forward is to get hold of contact details (most are available online, in various searchable business directories) and email them your CV. Say you're planning on moving to PL and suggest a skype chat. Don't expect a response every time (school directors get more CVs than they've time to look at) however keep plugging on, and stress your young learner experience.

Work / Companies and pay for a Native English Teacher in Warsaw? [46]


No, although it helps obviously, since that's when most of the hiring is done - in fact it starts before then. If you come in the winter you will probably still get work, however it's be freelance bits & bobs at first, unless you strike it lucky and contact an employer just as one of their teachers leaves mid year or they get some extra work (which mid-year tends to be adult learners).

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


Quite big in Poland, though most young learner teachers in PL are local. If you work for a language school that runs scheduled classes it's very likely you'll get teenage kids. There is certainly also work teaching younger ones.

One interesting area is private primary and secondary schools in PL - it's a day job obviously, but relatively stable.

Work / Native English looking for a teaching job in Poland [135]


Certainly a professional however right now in Poland the market is flooded by people who aren't and that does affect the kind of work available.


The best work is in-company or in Higher Education usually. The worst is punting out stuff at a 'method' language school. Most falls somewhere in-between and in PL it really is a lottery to find something decent.


He's no longer here, however I can say that it's basically word-of-mouth. Do some in-company work and there's a chance people will tell friends/family/contacts that they have a great teacher. You do need to make materials and give over and above the norm. Or just be in the right place at the right time. As I say, it's often a lottery.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]

Yes thanks Atch!


And I think you said you do proofreading - which is almost all freelance, so you're well placed to advise. One poster here did it salaried for quite a while. That sounded quite good. The freedom of being freelance is always balanced by the quiet periods, so always pluses and minuses to weigh up and no two people's experience are identical.

I made the move from EFL into training management and then 'mainstrewam' academia. It's possible but hard, and youngsters (under-40s anyway) going into EFL are finding that the days of high salaries for native-speakers are over unless they're a. unusually lucky (us oldies have the last of the good jobs and are not giving them up anytime soon) or b. have a particular specialism and some non-ELT qualification.

Din't you say you were Canadian? There's a place in Doha called CNAQ which recruits only within Canada - I gather it's a good place to work, and the high salary they offer (6 figures in dollars) could give a very nice cushion that would allow you quite a bit of flexibility in choosing what (and when) to do next. I don't think theyt require a masters, but do like solid 'serious' experience.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Definitely yes. Most translators are part-time or freelance, unless they're salaried staff at a translation agency (rarer and rarer nowadays). There's plenty of wotk out there, and as myself and another person mentioned, networking skills are important, as is specialising. Think about indexing - I have a relative who works at home making indexes for non-fiction books. It's quite specialised, (and she has a science degree and an EFL qualification) however she indexes everything from politicians' biographies through history books right through to textbooks. The kind of thing that is hard to get into, however once you've done it, more work comes. It subsidises her real passion, writing and performing folk-tales.


Absolutely not.


This is normal, and the more strings in your bow, the more options that you have. A good, solid course in teaching adults (inclcuding curriculum development - this is important) can stand you in good stead for the future. Expoerience in teaching Academic English is useful, since being able to pop off and do a pre-sessional course every now and again is a way some people top up their bank account so they can have freedom to do the things they like the rest of the time.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Feel free.


Your guess would be wrong.

And of course, you're still focusing on academic texts (and no, it doesn't "happen to be the only work that pays decent money"). The overwhelming bulk of the actual work translators do (in real life rather than your wild imagination, that is) isn't academic texts, isn't anything to do with 'STEM' disciplines, and isn't for publication.


One day I'll quote in full that nutty PM you sent...

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]

I can think of quite a few people in PL who've moved to doing that from ELT - in a couple of cases I know they're people who weren't great teachers, however in other cases people who were fine in the classroom have chosen to do that, due to being able to work from home (and being tired of ELT), and sometimes because they have steady contracts which pay more reliably than teaching.


Indeed, though at least I'm (usually) very nice. And the real thing...

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Some of us want only that. Unfortunately internet deindividuation on the part of some so often becomes a factor here.

It doesn't matter how many years you've done something for, there's always a guy who gets the wrong end of the stick, is convinced they know better and wants to argue.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Over the years - a few hundred times.


I specialised in financial, legal and technical. Interesting that the examples you give are both academic disciplines - a tiny minority of the specialised texts that a translator negotiates.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Yes they do - it happens thousands of times a day. Professional translators know very well how to negotiate a text.


I was just about to say that to you, albeit in a more articulate and less 'slangy' way. Running an unsuccessful 'conversation club' out in the provinces doesn't make you an expert on translations (or frankly on much). Some of us know what we're talking about and have worked with translators (and done technical translations) for decades.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


I don't define that, and nor do you.


In which case, it isn't an accurate translation at all. You're confusing terms.

A professional translator knows what to do and how to do it; it's part of the translation process.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


In any field, good copy and accurate copy are the same thing.


A professional knows what they are doing.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


A professional translator knows how to get round this, how to clarify meaning and how to deliver good copy. This is a normal part of the translation process. When translating a technical manual, translators encounter various issues - and manage the situation.

The overwhelming majority of documents that a translator sees (including technical ones) are general enough to be translated by anybodyr

Food / Vegetarian/Vegan restaurants in Warsaw [18]

Ask on that facebook page you posted a link to. I'd have a look myself, however I don't use social media.

Food / Vegetarian/Vegan restaurants in Warsaw [18]

Yes, that group. They meet at different places each time.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


This is very true. With the internet, translations are sometimes offered in a sort of Dutch Auction, people underbidding each other on online platforms until the amount is a bad joke. The better paid work needs a good set of contacts, face to face networking, word of mouth and a reputation. Sometimes, I used to do technical, legal and financial translations in PL - which I only got because of existing professional relationships with the clients. To have to hustle (when so many others are doing the same thing) does not sound enjoyable.


They most certainly do.


People with more experience of translation do exactly that. Negotiate the text professionally, giving output in the right register and in the right format. It's what translators do. Remember too, that specialised texts take many many forms (something translators are used to) - for some reason you've chosen academic papers, a tiny fraction of the work that translators actually do.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]

The OP I think will do very well in Poland. She knows something of the country, has a balanced idea of both the Polishness she knew from family and the fact that there are other kinds to find in PL, she seems thoughtful about the work and study there (and realistic too) and she sounds very positive - something which really does make a difference.


Who at least was a serious thinker. One of the best trainers I ever hired, at a petrochemicals company, had two Master's degrees on Marxist thought, one grom East Berlin and the other from Moscow. He was an ex-RCP man, very sound.


No contracting company I've come across has any 'political orientation'. Most people working for them, if they're educated, tend firmly towards being progressive individuals.


Indeed, ones that form over many years and in many environments.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


More importantly, you need contacts and networking skills.


This is something that people pick up as they go along. A skilled translator researches.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Most people, even teachers and trainers, don't preach politics at work. Those who do are usually seen badly. I've come across this before in the Middle East. One guy used to go on all the time about some writer called Ayn Rand that most of us had never heard of. He was fired.


Most educated people do, however they, as I told you, tend not to talk politics at work.


That, would depend on their politics. Most of the military contracts over there are just dealing with cadets, and those better jobs teaching Military English - well, countries of all ideologies have armies, and round the world you can find quite a spread of oipinion among military officers and those who work with them.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


Yes. I once hired a guy who lasted precisely 2 lessons doing 1-1 BusEng with the Marketing Director of a large company. He insisted that the Director was absolutely wrong on every level and he knew this because he'd been an army officer 5 years before. When I told him the lessons were stopping his immediate (and oddly rapid) words were "if you don't pay me I'll keep the books". Weird. And there was the one that posts right-wing nationalistic stuff here sometimes (you know who I mean) that used to bother women at clients' offices and didn't really respect the word "no". That was a low point.

Plus there was the one that drank half a bottle of vodka every morning and who was allegedly on the run from something extremely serious. I often wondered what happened to him so I googled him a while ago and it turns out he's dead.

And the older gentleman that used to hang around Warsaw in a sort of fake semi uniform, with a label sewn on giving an air force rank. As far as I know (and I'd seen his CV) this was entirely fake.


Either it's the wrong 'girls' (how old are they anyway to be girls not women), or he's in the wrong country, or he's just a creep. Or all of those.


Usually they expect QTS however in language teaching there are some (rare) ways round that, even in the state system. State schools in PL don't pay at all well and the work is hard, however it's easier to pick up work in private schools - most of them aren't that good, however they do hire.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


That will be interesting, and as I say, prepare for surprises. It's sometimes not very accurate to talk about Polish culture, better to say Polish cultures. I wish you well, and think you're open enough to have preconceptions challenged.


That might be quite good (though it's ruthlessly competitive. The wise translators have contacts directly with clients rather than agencies. Just an idea - ypu mentioned you're from Canada - could you teach French? A lot less competition, and there is demand for this in PL. Including in Kato.


Excellent - I think you'll survive well there ;-)

I'm out of PL right now, however when I'm back, I go to Kato occasionally for something either with my other half or with friends. If you're there in the next academic year it could be great to meet for a coffee.

Work / Polish Canadian ESL job/student advice [78]


No worries, t doesn't come across as rude at all - in fact it comes across as honest, open and nice.

I think you have great goals - whether Katowice is going to be the easiest place for that is hard to say. The university there is very good and there are some great people in that city - one of those places where you can generally find what you want to find, be who you want to be.

My main point, is that Poland as a whole is probably more materialistic than you are used to (that's how I found it when I moved to PL from UK years ago) and travelling to a 7am lesson on an industrial estate outside Kato on a cold Tuesday morning in February isn't for everyone ;-)

The money thing - you sound a bit like me - not money-minded and focused on the more important things in life (though a healthy bank balance does help). I'd add that in Poland, money can become an issue; it's a society where most people have too little and where some have too much. You mention yoga etc - I expect you'll handle things ok - just be prepared in Poland to deal with extremes, both in life and in people!