Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

The answer for any newbie is simple, you can get straight into language schools without a TEFL if you are a native speaker.
The two tricks are 1) look at local towns around your area, don't focus on the cities.
2) Hunt out Callan, Direct method and or Avalon schools.

Now before all the die hard purists jump down my throat about Direct method vs. traditional method etc etc
Remember the aim of the exercise is to help advise newbies on how to land a job and learn on the job.

In short the Direct Method means repeat, repeat, repeat. It is also known as the Callan method (rather out dated) or Avalon method.
Teacher stands with class of up to 10 students and basically drums in knowledge to the befuddled student.

Example of lesson.

Teacher: Hello

Student: er..eum. Hallo!

Teacher: MY NAME IS JOHN (lots of smiling from teacher and waving of hands)

Student: er..eu.Hallo?

Teacher: NO No..... MY (points to self) NAAAME IS JOOOHN (stretching the vowels, stress on the is)

Student: OH..ah...Miiii (points to self) neeeeme izzz JUUUNE......

Teacher: NO No ah **** it... Ok....start again. Hello. (smiles wearily)

Student: Mi neeem izz June....my neem iz Juuune...

And so on for 45 mins.....

It is very easy to do a monkey can teach this method of English. It will give the newbie classroom face time which is the first hurdle for any would be teacher.

You will soon discover whether you are capable of teaching and teaching well, the essence is the ability to communicate clearly and to motivate the student, you cannot study for them.

If after spending a year or so 'teaching' the Direct method you decide you like teaching and want to continue, THEN invest in a CELTA taught by a reputable provider, research them well. Once you have spent your hard earned cash on a cert. you will find yourself more qualified but not qualified enough for the BIG league EFL market.

So you can now crack on with both the traditional method and the direct method.

45 to 50 zl per hour is a reasonable rate to charge, perhaps as an unqualified beginner 30zl an hour.
Many schools operate from 4pm to 8.30pm full-time is usually 20 per week Monday to Friday and often 4 hours Saturday morning.
So if you clear 24 hrs* 30zl an hour that is 720zl a week, 2880zl a month up to 4,800zl a month before tax depending on your rate and the fluctuation in hours.

Busier schools often do in-company training and private morning 1 to 1 classes, these can bolster your income.
The usual problems are to do with how you are registered by your employer for tax purposes and residency etc.
The duration of a contract is usually 9 months, the number of ******* holidays, Saints Days, general bloody days off which result in pay free gaps, the fickle nature of students not turning up this will always affect you take home pay.

Remember Rule No.1

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Here are some examples of blurbs found online advertising TEFL courses in Poland.

The International TEFL Training Institue teacher training center in *********** is a leading ESL school in the region, which uses the Avalon Direct English method, as well as more traditional methods. The school is located in the center of the town, just 100 meters from the main square and very close to local pubs, the bus station and the suburban train station. The building contains classrooms, a main office and a small lounge. It employs 7 qualified teachers, including a native-speaker of British nationality. Our students are mainly local non-English-speaking students, and we use them for the trainees' teaching practice. The students are extremely enthusiastic, and come to classes regularly. They are ideal students for a TEFL teacher-training course. It is worth mentioning that the director of the school holds a master degree in English translation and is at course participant's service all the time. There is indeed a staff member available at all times during the TESOL teacher training course.

All sounds plausible and reasonable so far.....

As someone once put it, Poland is a microcosm of Europe--a land of dramatic contrasts: historic cities, sleepy villages, Old World traditions, as well as New World comforts and conveniences. You can gaze at majestic, snow-covered mountains one day and bask on sunny Baltic beaches the next. You can sleep in a classic historic palace or castle and dance the night away in a swinging nightclub. Poland has it all.

Our TEFL center in ********* is in the north of Poland, in the Pomorskie or Pomeranian(as known in English) province. The town, home to 47,000 people, is in a valley nestled between the Reda and Leba rivers, surrounded by picturesque forested hills. It's a paradise for all who love nature. From here, it's a twenty-minute train ride to the coastal towns and cities of Gdynia, Gdansk, or Sopot - all located along the Baltic Sea, featuring beautiful sandy beaches that invite one to sunbathe and relax.

The Old Town of Gdansk is rich in history and beautiful architecture. Gdansk, as the senior city of the tri-city team, boasts all the amenities of a modern European metropolis. Gdynia is equally well equipped, with cinemas, restaurants, libraries, etc. Sopot is the posh party town of Poland, where the rich and famous come to let down their hair. It's a fantastic, lively, vibrant, busy city with many places to entertain.

Gosh it all sounds sooo fantastic I'm going to upsticks and head out to this marvellous place and get my TEFL...........

Right this is a classic example of cowboy TEFL industry. For those people who know the Tri-city area and surrounding towns you will be able to tell that the description of Poland and Tri-city is viewed through rose tinted glasses.

Secondly and this is perhaps the most important fact that I discovered in the ESL world.
1) You can find work without TEFL
2) You don't have to have a teaching qualification to teach TEFL !!!!!!!!!!!! what I hear you cry! YUP let me repeat that there are many schools that offer TEFL certs. However, those teaching them are often not really qualified to do so. There are many schools, like Bell, International School, British Council schools that DO have qualified professionals capable of training teachers. However, there are also HUGE amounts of fly by night cowboy operations that will provide TEFL training and certification through an "accredited" TEFL providers BUT many of these TEFL providers are as mickey mouse as the schools they cooperate with.

Finally I hear you cry how do you know this, where is your proof?

Answer simple, I wrote the two blurbs above which are currently flying around the internet AND I was the native speaker mentioned in the first part.

Needless to say, I no longer work at this school, in fact I'm in a completely different industry now and move between the UK and Poland.

The funniest thing is there are variations of these texts flying around the internet, which have been edited and/or rewritten but some smart ass for their TEFL offer.

IT IS A COWBOY BUSINESS.

Life / DUI first time in Poland [13]

Seriously though the court system is not the same as the UK or USA. And there is a zero tolerance on DUI. Probably a fine and points.

Life / Men in Poland in the forest? Just men? [133]

Maybe there were cottaging or dogging. Or maybe they were just out enjoying nature and some booze.

Life / DUI first time in Poland [13]

well it's a good thing you are talking about someone else, because I heard they have restored the Death Penalty for DUI.

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Saddle up, strap in and prepare yourself for the space cowboy world of EFL, TEFL, CELTA,DELTA,ESL,NFL, MNM,BBC,NHL, ********.
Awash with bottom feeders, losers, drifters, addicts, bipolar depressives, likely lads, skeezer, geezers, muppets, naves, nonces, thieves, and fools and those are just the DoS. Never has an industry been so polluted, HAVING SAID THAT if you can rise above the constant crap which will exist in ALL language schools you can make a decent wage and IF you are good, qualified and experienced and singleminded you can earn good money, eventually....possibly....

Rule No.1) The language school owners will try and **** you over at some point.
Rule No.2) Make sure you have a safety cushion of at least £3000 sterling, god forbid you get fired.
Rule No.3) Learn the language, learn Polish this will earn you some respect. Remember you are new and starting from scratch.
Rule No.4) Have a plan B and an exit plan if it all goes Pete Tong you have an out.
Rule No.5) remember Rule No.1

UK, Ireland / Polonization of Britain - Tipping Point Confirmed in 2011 Census [97]


If you stack shelves in Sainsburys you earn around £250 net a week. So therefore, £250 is going to be more than if you claimed benefits.
No a low paid insecure job, is not OK when you have a family but it is what it is and millions upon millions of people have to live with, Utopia it is not.

The argument that will be thrown back at me will be, actually, it is better to be unemployed claim all the benefits possible, rather than work in an insecure job low paid job.

Well it is not. The truth is people in the West have become LAZY.... we expect life to be handed to us on a plate.

UK, Ireland / Polonization of Britain - Tipping Point Confirmed in 2011 Census [97]

@WroclawBoy, if you want and need to work in the UK there are jobs, period.
So your comment is irrelevant.

UK, Ireland / Polonization of Britain - Tipping Point Confirmed in 2011 Census [97]


i know my friends.

Secondly the reference to benefits is for the UK only.

UK, Ireland / Polonization of Britain - Tipping Point Confirmed in 2011 Census [97]


That is debatable..... All Polish Youth.......

The Poles I associate with in the UK are all very much integrated, all work non of them have ever claimed benefits.
You have to be a f*cking loser to sign on and get benefits. I think we should ape the USA and give people a year on benefits and then onto food stamps.

Life / Polish vs British vs American - Clash of cultures [390]

People eat Flaki, that certainly doesn't look edible to me.

UK, Ireland / Polonization of Britain - Tipping Point Confirmed in 2011 Census [97]

Well lets see what happens now the restrictions on Bulgaria and Romania have been lifted. Will there be the same mass influx?
The UK needs immigration, we have an ageing population who are living ever longer and at the same time the native English are simply not reproducing quickly enough.

Where are the young workers? The Polish influx have been mostly young people they have found work because there is work there, simple. They have also helped by producing kids, which is exactly what the UK needs, youth.

UK, Ireland / I'm from a small town in the UK and I think Poland is a nation of criminals [37]

alexnye
One would suppose the area you live in has a high number of Polish immigrants, hence the court figures.
If you worked in South London, those of Afro-caribean descent would figure highly in you court cases, should you live in Birmingham, large numbers of Asian would be found within the court system. etc.....

The three non national groups that are most heavily represented in the UK prison system, are Jamaicans, Irish and Poles. There are roughly 11,500 foreign prisoners in the UK prison system, of which 156 different nationalities are represented. Of that number roughly half are either Jamican, Irish or Polish. So therefore there are no more than 2000 or 3000 Poles incarcerated in the UK. That is hardly a huge number given how many Polish immigrants there are in the UK.

Travel / How expensive is it to live in Poland in one week? [28]


Coffee????

"God save us from these idiots"....

Quite.

I have unashamedly lifted these stats from another website. What do people think regarding the accuracy of the data in relation to their own personal experience of living costs.

Restaurants [Edit] mean
Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 20.00 zł 15.00 25.00
Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 80.00 zł 60.00 110.00
Combo Meal at McDonalds or Similar 16.00 zł 15.00 18.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) 6.00 zł 3.00 8.00
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 6.00 zł 4.50 8.00
Cappuccino (regular) 7.00 zł 5.00 8.00
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) 3.00 zł 2.00 5.00
Water (0.33 liter bottle) 2.08 zł 1.65 4.00

Markets [Edit] mean
Milk (regular), 1 liter 2.50 zł 2.05 3.00
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) 2.50 zł 2.00 3.00
Rice (1kg) 3.00 zł 2.00 4.00
Eggs (12) 6.00 zł 5.00 8.00
Local Cheese (1kg) 20.58 zł 18.00 25.00
Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) 16.00 zł 15.00 17.00
Apples (1kg) 3.00 zł 2.60 4.00
Oranges (1kg) 4.94 zł 4.00 5.00
Tomato (1kg) 5.00 zł 4.00 5.00
Potato (1kg) 1.50 zł 1.00 2.00
Lettuce (1 head) 2.78 zł 2.00 3.00
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 2.00 zł 1.70 2.10
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 20.00 zł 15.00 25.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 3.00 zł 2.50 3.00
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) 4.00 zł 3.00 5.00
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) 12.00 zł 11.00 12.60

Transportation [Edit] mean
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 2.90 zł 2.50 3.20
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 90.00 zł 80.00 97.00
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 6.00 zł 5.00 7.00
Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) 2.40 zł 2.00 3.00
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 30.00 zł 25.00 40.00
Gasoline (1 liter) 5.67 zł 5.40 5.87
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 65,000.00 zł 59,490.00 70,000.00

Utilities (Monthly) [Edit] mean
Basic (Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment 400.00 zł 283.33 573.75
1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) 0.30 zł 0.29 0.40
Internet (6 Mbps, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 59.00 zł 45.00 69.00

Sports And Leisure [Edit] mean
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 120.00 zł 100.00 150.00
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 40.00 zł 25.00 50.00
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 20.00 zł 18.00 25.00

Clothing And Shoes [Edit] mean
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 259.50 zł 200.00 300.00
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 150.00 zł 100.00 200.00
1 Pair of Nike Shoes 260.00 zł 240.00 300.00
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes 300.00 zł 220.00 350.00

Rent Per Month [Edit] mean
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 1,500.00 zł 1,100.00 1,800.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 1,100.00 zł 800.00 1,300.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 2,500.00 zł 1,800.00 3,300.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 2,000.00 zł 1,500.00 2,500.00

Buy Apartment Price [Edit] mean
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre 8,000.00 zł 5,300.00 10,000.00
Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 5,000.00 zł 4,000.00 6,500.00

Salaries And Financing [Edit] mean
Median Monthly Disposable Salary (After Tax) 2,500.00 zł 2,000.00 3,200.00
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentanges (%), Yearly 6.00 5.00 7.00
These data are based on 12117 entries in the past 18 months from 817 different contributors.

Last update : January, 2013

News / Don't go to Poland ... because you could end up coming back in a coffin [313]

sorry extend not extent.... doh

Life / A new Poland's war - the poor vs the rich [81]


hahahahahhahahhaahahahah Intelligent women hahahahahhahahahahahaha

Wow Pawian, quite the comedian i see.

A New War the poor vs the rich..... er that is a New thing?

Work / Salary and cost of living information - Krakow [257]

13000 zl a month will be more than enough to live comfortably.

Love / It is more fun to have sex in Polish than in English. Discuss. [27]

I prefer it when the b*tch shuts up and keeps blowing, plus pillow talk, I prefer in a language I don't understand that way she can blather on and it doesn't stop me sleepin....

And what is this 'Sensual', i thought that was a make of Shampoo?

News / Don't go to Poland ... because you could end up coming back in a coffin [313]

The thing about this far right hool bollocks is this, exactly how many non-white people actually live in Poland and the Ukraine......answer not very many, in fact proportionately naff all.

Let me educated y'all a little. During the late 1990's and 2000's, the British government set up a honeytrap, this was Combat 18, a neo-nazi terror organization, which impart blossomed from the BNP's security detail. As Mi5 hoped, C18 attracted the more violent and extreme Neo-Nazis within the UK. Just as Mi5 had planned, so that they could keep an eye on this lot, also as planned C18 linked itself with the loyalist movement in Northern Ireland, thus allowing Mi5 better access to the loyalist elements it had not already infiltrated. The so called ideologue behind C18 is a man known as David Myatt, who is an agent provocateur ( google him, completely bizarre fellow).

Anyway what has this got to do with Poland, I hear you mumble.... well C18 in the UK imploded as planned, however, its model, it's insignia it's pseudo-socio-political message spread across the Europe far right music scene, which by the way is very much a UK/US generated subcultre, thus the Skinhead across Europe modelled themselves on ENGLISH NEO-NAZI's........

And finally..... both Poland and the Ukraine got proper f*cked by communism, therefore the chance of young people being Neo-communist in Eastern European is slim, far more appealing to the young is to swing the pendulum the other way to the extreme right.

For these people the far right provides them with a sense of self through patriotism, in an uncertain world when you can't define who and what you are it is easier to define 'the other' negatively, thus reflecting on you positively.

e.g (by the way what i am writing is about mentality not my own opinions)

Blackman stupid and lazy therefore whiteman hardworking and clever.
Jewish man dishonest therefore whiteman honest.

It is easier to define what you are not, than what you are.

So to extent this logic.
The BBC (Aunty) says Polish football supporters are racist therefore British supporters are not.

Life / Which services is Poland still waiting for? [218]

A MacDonald's drive thru is a Disservice to the community.

Real Estate / Poland's apartment prices continue to fall [1844]

Correct me if I am wrong haven't UK house prices declined the last quarter?
market realignment, plus the Euro is wobbly and the zloty really weak at the moment.

News / Don't go to Poland ... because you could end up coming back in a coffin [313]

Well it is a good thing there is no racism in English football. We are lucky the the Chelsea Headhunters never existed, nor the fact that many of the more extreme Headhunters were involved in Neo-nazi organizations like Combat 18. We in England are lucky we don't have the EDL or the BNP, or Blood & Honour........

We in this perfect small and pleasant land are lucky we don't endure mindless postcode fuelled teenage mayhem, stabbings nor shootings. Thank God we haven't had repeated cases of men of Asian decent involved in grooming and raping young teenage white women.

Nasty evil Polish nazi's...... I mean it is not like they have suffered repeat invasions and massacres of their own people over the last 100 years. Why should they fear foreigns, harmless Germans or Russians.

A gentleman by the name of Francis Fanon (those of you wot is like edukated might no dis geezer) stated racism is ' the fear of the other'.

So to conclude don't go to Poland because, should you wander into the wrong part of town you might get beaten up, it will be much safer travelling on the underground and by bus during the UK Olympics because if we have any terrorist problems we have installed missile salvos around London to rocket the f*ck out of them.

Love / Concerns about Polish Family / Child Support Law [68]

When a Blow up doll gets old, she'll just be another old windbag.

History / Effects of Living under Communism in Poland [58]

On a superficial level, Poland despite busily rebuilding still retains lots of ugly grey blocky architecture. The centers of many towns especially those with old and historic building are in desperate need of up keep, terribly sad. I can understand why the Polish love their landscape so much and being outside and enjoying nature.

News / WikiLeaks Reveals Tense Foreign Relations Amongst Poland. [22]


Quite. It is called a False flag operation.

Feedback / Polishforums on Facebook [60]

NEVER. POLISHFORUMS.COM MUST REMAIN AN AUTONOMOUS ENTITY.

Polonia / The Netherlands: run-down districts happy with Polish immigrants [59]


I agree, in my opinion many European and Scandinavian countries have greatly benefitted from the Polish immigration, I did not meet one young Polish person in the Uk who didn't work hard, pay tax and contribute to society. The irony was that many of the Poles I met in London where doing manual laboring, waitressing, security and lower paid work, whilst possessing language skills and university degrees. The difficulty for many Poles was that they weren't confident enough to go for the better paid professions, this is changing now.

A good example, a friend of ours who had a first from Gdansk Polytechnic in Physics, he moved to London and spent 4 years as a painter and decorator. Eventually a friend of his suggested he applied for a job on a Survey ship. So I sat down with him and wrote his CV, highlighting his academic achievements, he got the job. Now he spends 2 months on and 2 months of at sea surveying and mapping the ocean floor, he earns around 60,000 Euro a year.

So what is the point, the point is that Polish people outside of Poland are hard workers, they just often under value themselves.

I would like to say that in my experience the Polish work ethic displayed by expatriate Poles is not mirrored in their homeland.

It isn't hard to explain.
If you stay in Poland and work as a branch bank manager maybe you can earn 5000zl a month.

Whilst if you work as a builder in the UK you can earn 10000zl a month

So obviously the incentive to work hard is much stronger abroad than it is at home.

News / Polish Foreign Ministry 'prepared' for new Wikileaks material [100]

I'm beginning to like Mr.Assange.

News / Polish Foreign Ministry 'prepared' for new Wikileaks material [100]


..perhaps the rope!


Don't you believe it....

News / Polish Foreign Ministry 'prepared' for new Wikileaks material [100]


Listen polish forum is monitored to some degree internally or externally. Just like facebook and other social sites. I remember being shown around the offices of a household name search engine's HQ in a European city and they had an office set aside within the company for a government security agency. (wow, that was vague.)

it isn't just about information but rather disinformation and gathering information. Smoke and mirrors, folks, smoke and mirrors...