Life / Awkward Polish dinner party conversations with 'patriots' ... [25]

This really is the best thing to do. It works very well with people of above average intelligence who can grasp the point right away.

Food / Polish culinary dislikes [83]


There are two main kinds, depending on the amount of alcohol. Yours sounds a bit like a Nalewka I make. The kind that's a cordial is often diluted with sugar syrop.

Food / Kutia with millet instead of wheat or rice [9]

I've seen something like kutia made with kasza jeczmienna, by someone from Ukraine - a little unusual but nice.

Life / Which Polish product you can easily do without? [51]

dagenhamdave

This is very true - the Polish diet must be among the most salt-laden in the world.

Also Maggi seems very popular here - someone once told me it's slightly addictive.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

A lot of expatriates paid high taxes for years before moving abroad. And presumably one day return with more skills and experience.

There probably won't be any big change in May - the conservatives would need a swing bigger than any since the war to get a majority of 1.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


This is veryuseful to know. :-)

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

delphiandomine

A lot of the people working here aren't keeping up their NI payments at home (300 plus quid a year, I think) so can't use EHIC card, nor do EU nationals need it as a condition of staying here. I can't think of anyone who has had to provide proof of healthcare if they're an EU national. Most teachers have to pay privately, and if they need an English speaking doctor, the cost can be quite high.

I agree with you to a point on the umowa o dzielo issue. But remember, if a school paid teachers on umowa o pracy, with full ZUS etc, the overheads would eat all of their profit. A few years ago, I worked as a manager for a large school who did that, and despite a huge client list that most schools would kill for, they went bust after two years.


This is very true. A lot of people teaching here in Warsaw have a house or flat back in the UK which gives some income, or are well enough qualified and experienced to see it as a long-term career. The Krakow market is affected by the town being a tourist centre with a large transient foreign population.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Trevek

You are right. In fact, I can't think of any school in Warsaw that pays native speakers less than that. A friend (who's arguably not a native speaker and has no work permit) is twenty-something, has no teaching experience or qualifications is getting 50 per 60 mins for Callan teaching.

For a native with a four-week CELTA and limited experience, it should start at 45zl per 45 min. With the DELTA it should start at 65.


Remember most teachers are paid on umowa o dzielo without National Insurance, and that most of the Warsaw in-company teachers are not 'newbies'. A school sending people without experience to a big company could get away with that even five years ago, but less and less so today. HR departments have plenty of schools to choose from. Some very large international companies have Europe-wide policies on this, as I found to my cost not long ago.

Though I agree that PL is a great place for a 'traveller teacher' doing Callan or something for a year. It seems to me though, that these are becoming more and more a rare species in Warsaw.

UK, Ireland / UK Sky TV in Poland [39]

Avalon

This is right.

There is a post elsewhere on this forum which explains how to get British TV through the internet. It gives three options, the hardest of which works.

Worth mentioning that the two more convenient options no longer work due to being a legal grey area and being spread around on forums like this. There is also an option called FilmOn (google it) which sometimes works well and sometimes doesn't.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


It was a few years ago when Poland was a 'fresh' destination.

Now (in Warsaw at any rate) the market has settled, PL is at the top end of being a middle income country, the students/clients expect something different and the mean age is probably over 30. Corporate clients are more and more asking schools for the CVs of the teachers they send. Quite a few people here in their fifties and even sixties now. It isn't quite on the level of France and Italy, but there are plenty of people teaching EFL as a career.

The 'good local wage' concept is fine where there are palm trees and excitement; now Poland is a different sort of market.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Remember that's the average wage. Including road sweepers, supermarket checkout staff etc. People flippping burgers at McDs would expect to make something like that. Not an expat.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Lublin sounds interesting, and a place to stay that's waiting for you makes it exponentially more attractive. Most teachers in and around Lublin aren't natives, so you'd be at an advantage in the job market, and private lessons would be easier to get. Plus the fact that Lublin is a relatively cheap (and nice) city.

One problem is that in bigger cities like Warsaw, many teachers (usually the more experienced ones) work for several schools and have their own corporate clients plus private lessons - this often works out better financially, but you need to actually get there and build something up over time. For very sound reasons, a lot of schools (including most of the in-company ones) hire people who are here already, and on a lesson by lesson basis. This has been a developing trend for a few years now.

International House aren't wonderful payers, but the South West Poland franchise is well thought of and do hire from outside PL - plus their teacher development and training is respected.

edit

Some (especially Polish-owned) schools have scary clauses in the contracts about not leaving mid-term or working for rivals etc. These clauses mean very little, and should not stop someone getting a job at such a school then looking right away for other work. It is much easier to pick up lessons once you are here than at a distance.

The market is interesting now. Some schools are in a parlous state, especially those who rely on open groups rather than in-company lessons, or who do corporate training but rely on a couple of very big contracts. The schools who hire, tend to hire sporadically and for smaller in-company clients.

The work is there, but it's easier to find once you're here. Krakow has a lot of foreigners whose presence lowers wages and makes it harder to get work - schools will often choose a cheap teacher over a good one. Lublin sounds an excellent bet.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Not in a big city in PL. Or for an experienced professional teacher, who prepares lessons, understands learners needs, marks homework and expects to make a living. 3000 was the going rate in Warsaw ten years ago at a school who were not good payers.


Expensive tastes are one thing, living like a student when you're heading for middle age is another kettle of fish.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Have a look at the adverts on tefl.com, and most importantly, think about somewhere other than Krakow. Because of the type of place it is, there's a glut of foreigners, mostly young, chasing the same work.

Most don't have a CELTA, never mind a grade B or much experience, and this should make you very employable. There's work in Warsaw, but PL is the kind of place where you often need to get a foot in the door and then move on from there.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

convex

Mine make life hell if it isn't Whiskas. For two pussies that's about 400 a month!

And when my doggie was still alive, he could really eat.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Think about it. Electricity for a decent sized flat, metered water, heating, internet, phone bill, cable, a cleaner if wanted, entertaining guests sometimes. Saving for a good holiday, taking a few weekend breaks, being able to fly back to UK from time to time.

It all takes a chunk out of wages. Beyond a certain stage in life it can't be nice to have to make sacrifices if you want to get a cab home.


Exactly. And if you have an older car, don't forget the repair costs. And insurance etc. And when your computer dies, is it worth living on cat food for three months to buy a new one?

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Having a social life is wasting cash? If I wanted to make a vow of poverty, I'd join a monastery. Though, for the record, I go out a couple of times a week, including weekends. And don't want to be worrying if I can afford a round of drinks, or waiting in sub-zero temperatures for a night bus.


I want as much as life can offer. I'm not married, but live with someone, who earns quite well too. What's the point of studying in your twenties, developing skills in your thirties and running a business or carrying on a profession later if you have to live on subsistence wages?

A lot of the people in PL who get 2500zl are in double income families, have inherited a flat or have a low mortgage, have subsidised healthcare and travel, and are still looking for more money because it isn't enough to live well.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Very very hard to live well on that.

A doctor's appointment and a couple of prescriptions. Saving for a holiday somewhere nice plus a few weekends away, a taxi home after an evening out, some good clothes, the theatre or opera every now and again, a meal in a restaurant that doesn't have plastic plates, smoking a pack of decent cigarettes a day (300zl). A decent bottle of wine, perhaps a gym membership, saving a little for a rainy day (not to mention that there isn't much work for teachers in the summer).

On 430 pounds a month?


My name's on the website, I'm registered as the owner and KRS is now searchable online.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


I have a website. That would reveal my name and address, which on an internet forum would be a very bad idea.


You yourself just said:



Of course not. I never ask who else somebody works for, but a 45 min lesson unit with me starts at 50zl. Most get more. Most teachers do a lot of lessons, and some also do proofreading, translation etc.


Prices aren't so different - Krakow is a big tourist centre and prices reflect that.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


I've never discussed this here.


I live in Poland and own a language school.


Never. Usually about six weeks in advance, by WizzAir, Warsaw to either Doncaster or Liverpool. With one suitcase and a piece of hand luggage.


The onus is more on them, to explain how, after 1000 rent and bills (for a room, not a flat) they can eat well, clothe themselves, have a social life, keep some money back for flights and for the holiday season, and presumably save a bit on a hundred pounds a week.


Ask any teacher in Warsaw.


I have no idea what you mean.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


I was getting that plus extras ten years ago, for Target in Warsaw. And they weren't at all good payers.

And Poland was a lot cheaper then, Marlboro 4.50zl, beer 6zl, monthly travel 50zl, food and clothes much much cheaper.

It can't be comfortable living on what's left from 3000 after rent and bills.


A return flight between 400 and 800 gross, a very very cheap evening out from 50zl, a good evening out from 150zl. A weeks shop at the supermarket about 150zl plus, a monthly travelcard 86zl, an English language novel between 30 and 70zl.

I pay newly qualified teachers from 50 per 45 min, and someone with a year's experience would expect more. Unqualified Poles doing korepetycja to teenagers expect 50 for 60 min.

It seems there really is an oversupply in Krakow if schools are getting away with that.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

dtaylor5632

By living like students presumably. That's ok for a twenty year-old, but not much fun for anyone older. Of course a lot of them have part-time jobs and other income.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

dtaylor5632

I'd try Warsaw in that case. Even with a cheap room in Krakow, it can't be easy to live on that sort of money. Especially if you want to fly home from time to time, take holidays, eat out etc.

Tychy sounds a better bet, but could be quite isolated.

As for Turkey, it can be fine, and there's plenty of work, but some of the schools there have shocking reputations - worth checking the gray list if it's still going.

In PL, it's usually a much better deal if the school is foreign owned, and infinitely worse at Polish-owned schools, which are more and more the norm.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

At that level of wage there should be accommodation provided. Schools were paying 3000 for someone fresh from a TEFL course over ten years ago. And prices have gone up a hell of a lot since then.

If I were you, I'd look around for a better offer.

Life / Reliable Weather Service In Poland? [25]

For Warsaw, BBC weather seems to be more accurate than local forecasts.

Food / Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish? [120]


Indeed. Little wooly lambs look cute, but I could eat one now.


Closer to pork, in my (limited - only did it once knowingly) experience, though a smoker tastes just like smoked meat.

Food / Why is it that some Polish people refuse to eat anything that is not Polish? [120]


Though they taste so nice.

Food / Where to buy Sloe Gin in Warsaw? [9]

There's a place in Arkadia that has tarniowka.

Otherwise the Ballantynes shop at the top of ul. Krucza might have sloe gin.

Food / Pierogi Dough [30]

polkamaniac

True but remember to freeze them separately on a tray, or they'll defrost as one giant blob.

Love / Polish blonde and a British pensioner. No fool like an old fool, or is it love. [57]


But if it's the other way round, they call it gerontophilia.