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Posts by mullerriceman  

Joined: 5 Aug 2009 / Male ♂
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mullerriceman   
4 Feb 2010
Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

I've posted this on another thread, but seeing as it's directly related towards teaching, I've created a new website which should help you out if you're after general advice about how to find a teaching job in Poland.

teachingenglishinpoland .com

I would welcome any feedback, good or bad about the website. I created it as on the other forum that I frequently post on about teaching in Poland a lot of the same questions get asked over and over, so i though a one-stop shop might be useful.
mullerriceman   
8 Feb 2010
Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

And it's been mentioned on the website that you don't "need" qualifications. However, through my own personal experience having worked with many students, companies and schools once they find out a teacher has no qualifications it doesn't end well.

It would be naive to think that no-one has been successful without qualifications. If would also be even more naive to think that most schools will hire you without one.

Thanks for taking the time to read the website though :)
mullerriceman   
8 Feb 2010
Work / Salary of a paramedic in Poland [22]

Just did a first aid course with the red cross and I asked them about ambulances in Poland (having a previously very dim view of them as nothing more then people carriers) and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that ambulances (in Warsaw at least, don't know about the rest of Poland) are apparently state of the art and expected to get anywhere in Warsaw within 5/6 minutes.

Still I find it a bit strange that each ambulance can only carry one person (so they said). I'm sure in the UK (and USA as well?) you can take 2 per ambulance?
mullerriceman   
8 Feb 2010
Work / Any good website for an English native looking for a job in Poland? [9]

granted, I got a bit carried away with that and shall re-word accordingly.

All information regarding the paperwork is borrowed from another site (with permission) and was believed to be up-to-date. I shall also see if this is correct.

As regards border runs, no-one wants to admit it, nor should they be allowed, but they are still viable and still do work on the Ukraine border. I know this because I know 4 Americans who have done it since the beginning of the year.

The website was written on the basis of experience and my fellow colleagues experiences as well. I shall check out the information as I've said above and thanks for the feedback :)
mullerriceman   
23 Nov 2010
Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

Hello All,
In an attempt to make life a little easier for teachers to find work either students directly or in the near future with schools I've created another website - ZnajdeJezyk.pl - (and I beg the mods indulgence once more) which will go someway to doing this.

ZnajdeJezyk.pl hopefully goes someway to address the problems and holes that normal koreptycje websites have. The website aims to give the teacher and student more control over their chances to find each other. I'd appreciate it if people could have a loo at it and suggest feedback as I'm continually ironing out little bugs and will make changes to the functionality of the site in the near future.
mullerriceman   
23 Aug 2012
Law / Investing in Warsaw's business! Your insights! [12]

She isn't breaking any law per se, as no such law i.e. statutory provision exists to prevent this.

However, being a practising member of law (notariusz, radca prawna etc) she will belong to some kind of chambers or other organisation which will have a professional code of ethics. This code of ethics (good luck finding that btw) is notorious for being strict, archaic and unforgiving and can include the prevention from advertising on the internet in any form of which this would be an example even though there is no 'advertising' as we know it.

For example, I work for a law firm in Poland which has both radca prawna and adwokat. One of these professions (can't remember which one) can have a heavily diluted internet presence (through internal chamber rules) the other cannot. Therefore the chamber of those that cannot, regularly phone or contact them to ask the company to remove the website/change it suitably so they aren't seen etc.
mullerriceman   
23 Aug 2012
Law / Clocking cars and importation to Poland [47]

Or you could find a car in Poland with only one owner and a full service history. They are out there. Then you won't have to go through the pain in the ass hassle (depending on where you go - in Warsaw it was terrible, in Ożarów Maż it was wonderfully easy) of doing all the paperwork, having the costs involved, dealing with the difficulties if you don't have the exact documentation that they require etc etc. I've bought used cars in Poland which have been exported - all paperwork dealt with, cars I've imported myself, all with no problems or 'clocking' or any other nonsense.

Do what everyone with a brain does - take the car to an authorised service centre - costs from 100-200zł and they'll tell you whether it's a pig or not.
mullerriceman   
27 Aug 2012
Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

I've always found castorama / leroy merlin / bricoman a breeze to deal with when handing back stuff. No questions asked, no 3rd degree, just your money back.

Auchan however are the biggest bunch of cowboy bastards on this planet. If you buy any electronic goods, they won't give you your money back unless it's been to service 2/3 times. I bought a digital TV decoder, which didn't work, took it back within 24 hours and was introduced to the sign in customer services (upstairs in the shopping centre) which is about 300 metres away from the main entrance to the shop that no refunds are given on electrical goods.
mullerriceman   
27 Aug 2012
Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

Why do people bother with this? Give them a chance to fix it - if they can't - take them straight to the e-sąd. Don't mess around - go straight for the kill.

That's the most annoying thing about the whole affair - they didn't fix it. They just offered me a new one after 2 weeks - this one had a different problem and has been returned. There's no sense in repairing cheap Chinese tat and they know it, but they'll string you along as they are allowed to do. Will get to find out this week (hopefully) what the deal is and will threaten them with the e-sąd should they use any further delaying tactics.

BTW, if you've used e-sąd a kind of an "idiots 101" on how to do it would be good or basic FAQS i.e. does it cost you any money, can you 'settle out of court'? etc etc
mullerriceman   
4 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

My thoughts on some of the things discussed so far:

Current jobs being advertised can be found through: teachingenglishinpoland.com/jobs.html

Basic advice for newbies: teachingenglishinpoland.com/qanda.html

Do you need a CELTA/Trinity TESOL? Yes. If you want to work in a reputable school, get decent money etc etc. Look at it this way: if you had a school, wanted to keep your clients, would you send them someone who hasn't had any industry specific training?

Does the CELTA teach you grammar? No, but the methodology of the course means that you have to be prepared for the lesson and any related to topic eventualities. i.e. if you're lesson prepping a present continuous lesson, then it makes sense to make sure you know about it before hand firstly using the book's examples or a book such as "Teaching Tenses" which is excellent. So the CELTA (it could be argued) indirectly teaches you some grammar. Certainly, when I did my CELTA in Reading, UK, there was a grammar element introduced.

Do you need Polish to explain English grammar? No, categorically not. Having worked at the BC for x years, if I had been seen teaching English grammar using Polish, well, my observation report wouldn't have been too kind. (I'm an advocate of using limited Polish in the classroom btw as it does have it's uses).
mullerriceman   
5 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

It's just people like myself who don't want to spend £850 unless we know we'd like the job.

I can't understand what the problem is here.
You know that to get a decent job you need to a (fairly significant) outlay of cash, but the risk is you won't know it you like it or not. Wouldn't it then be best to mitigate the risk by doing research / observations / voluntary work in this field before the outlay of cash to get an idea if you like it or not?

If I want to buy a car, I would do my research - professional reviews, user reviews, test drives etc etc, that way I'd have a much better idea of if I'd like it or not.

If of course you haven't given yourself the time, then you should do everything possible to talk to people or organise observations in the time remaining. This couldn't have been a decision you made in 5 seconds over breakfast.
mullerriceman   
5 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

In my 6 years or so experience of Polish students, if you're there to teach (paid or otherwise) and you do a rubbish job, Polish students won't try to rationalise this in the "(s)he's doing this for free, so I won't complain" manner, but in the "I want to learn English and this teacher is shit" manner. They'll give you a hard time either way.

With the exception of one year in Krakow, the rest of the time I've worked in Warsaw for language schools until I went my own way. In both locations, due to the apparent abundance of native speaker/teachers and Polish teachers (who as well as 5 years Philology they are still shelling out thousands to do the CELTA) the application process went something like this:

DOS "so you'd like to work here?"
Teacher "yes, I have an abundance of experience, a degree and want to do my bit to help others"
DOS "do you have a CELTA?"
teacher "no, but..."
DOS "do you have TESOL?"
teacher "no, but..."
DOS "Good-bye"

When teachers have worked for me, if they don't have a CELTA they don't get the job (unless they have QTS in their own country) and I completely understand that.

If a language school hires someone without the appropriate teaching qualifications what they are saying is "I don't care about my clients as I'll charge them full-whack anyway - they'll be happy to have a native anyhow, and I'll take advantage of the native by paying him/her peanuts."

You have to ask yourself, do you really want to work for a school with this attitude in a big city? In a small town, OK fine, but a big city?
mullerriceman   
7 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

In my experience and as Harry has pointed out (still owe you a beer by the way from Dave's esl cafe yonks ago) trained teachers don't get 'pissy' and it's certainly not a territory thing as when students start working with untrained teachers they can spot it straight away and understandably don't want to part with their hard earned when they feel they are getting taught by a mug (sorry for the generalisation btw, but in my experience this turns out to be true). We get 'pissy' when an untrained teacher tries to tell us how to teach/tell us how easy it is which is understandable - if a newbie teacher comes from the UK/America/wherever and says to me (as they have done):

"this teaching is great, I turn up, chat about stuff for an hour and they pay me 60zł" then on the face of what they've said I would get annoyed because the teacher is clearly not a teacher and some poor Polish sod is wasting his/her money.

Other lines which will get a rise are:
"We don't do grammar, they know it all anyhow"
"There's no need to prep, I just talk about their day" etc etc

The issue here is the typical Polish student.
The typical Polish student is:
hard-working
can see through bullshit / spot a mug
not fantastically rich
ambitious

If the student thinks that you fit the bill as a teacher (s)he sticks with you as Polish students tend to be loyal (and through word of mouth find you other students). If they don't, they don't hang around.

There are qualified teachers who are rubbish an unqualified teachers who are good but the issue that remains for people who come to Poland without a CELTA to teach is that reality suggests:

1) no decent school will allow you to teach their students.
2) hoping to rely on private students is totally misguided as it takes time/contacts in place to give you that network of privates
This is why the message should always be "get your qualifications before you come to Poland - more than likely CELTA - and you won't have problems". Poland has an abundance of qualified native speakers in all major towns as well as better and better Polish natives who, even after 5 years of Philology are paying money to get a CELTA.

What should that last fact highlight to a newbie? A native Pole who spent 5 years learning English to a level of detail of which they never would want to or wish to STILL has to get a CELTA to be ahead of the game and get a job.

If you speak well and are sociable you can teach privately without playing the school games. Don't be discouraged by those trying to carve out their domain and keep you out

Herein lies the problem to our attitude to non-qual teachers. You seem to have a sensible head on your shoulders and I've no reason to doubt you are an effective teacher, which you probably are. But the phraseology of what you said above is dangerously misleading. A qualified teacher would never say "if you speak well and are sociable you can teach privately without school games" because, unintentionally, you've demeaned all the training and education we've had in a single sentence. What that sentence means to me (as someone with years of experience) and other teachers is "chat, be a nice guy for an hour, earn some cash". You don't mean that, but that's how it comes across to us and everyone else. If you said "If you can understand your student's needs and interact with them and use your experience to help them develop their language skills" which is probably what you meant it suddenly sounds a lot better.

(I haven't got, nor ever hope to get a DELTA btw. God knows how a DELTA qualified teacher would phrase the above.)

I'm not trying to bust your balls, I'm just trying to make you see it from our side.

As regards students, there are thousands - I can't think of anyone who marks out his/her plot.
mullerriceman   
7 Sep 2012
Work / English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed? [123]

Not really. Most Polish teachers of English work at state (rarely private) schools in the morning and run private tuition later on.

Don't know where you are Pawian, in Warsaw I'd say 80% of the teachers in private schools are Polish (logically they have to be - well over 300 schools in Warsaw and all have a few teachers to many and there simply aren't that many natives) and of that total a significant number have done/were doing their CELTA. All of my Polish colleagues had done the CELTA, few had even done the DELTA. The Poles that work for the BC all have CELTA (obviously), 5 years Phil., most have DELTA and some are CELTA/CELTYL trainers.

In Warsaw, the hourly pay from a school for a Polish native ranges from 25zł -50zł p/h. Why would any of those teachers want to work for a state school when they can earn as much as a state school teacher in half the time?

I don't believe for a second the indignation is really about "what's best for the student".

You're absolutely right, tbh, I couldn't give a monkeys as regards someone else's student unless I knew them. It's for the teachers who think they know what their talking about when they're clearly speaking bollocks.

It is job regardless of qualifications and nobody is doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

In some cases yes, in some cases it's a vocation. Most of the time it's to pay the mortgage but that doesn't mean that they don't care and at least try to make it worth the student's while.
mullerriceman   
8 Sep 2012
Law / Rights of the Foreign consumer in Poland [5]

The concept of legal jurisdiction would apply here - what European court is going to get involved in something like this, especially when they have no idea about Polish law?

The contract that you have with the Polish entity should state under which jurisdiction the contract is to be litigated (should the need arise) and may appoint the appropriate court for doing so. If this is not written in the contract then it gets more complicated and open to legal interpretation as regards where companies are 'seated', where they do most of their business and even the nationality of the employees.

However, it is perfectly ordinary, should it be stated in the contract, for an issue to go to Polish court but be settled under the rules of a different jurisdiction. The Polish courts would then have to (through the foreign ministry/other ministries) get a legal opinion from a so-called legal expert from the country whose jurisdiction is being used. The court case, would, as you would expect, take even longer than normal and all Polish judges hate this (particularly when dealing with a common-law based system ie.g. UK & USA) but nevertheless, should the contract dictate which jurisdiction should be used in the case that any civil disputes arise, the Polish court/judges have no choice. The same naturally applies in other member states if someone should a contract say Polish jurisdiction is to be followed.
mullerriceman   
8 Sep 2012
Law / Rights of a consumer when dealing with faulty goods in Poland? [65]

OK, bought a DVB-T decoder, worked perfectly, got 50+ channels, just the remote didn't work so gave it back and got my money back from Bricoman no questions asked.

Bought one from Auchan and it picked up 1 channel. Took it back to service but they won't give you your money back, but send it to service. A month later I got a new decoder, same model. This one gets 21 channels but resets itself whenever it likes. Took it back, got sent to service. A month later, got it back with a comment saying "works fine, tested for 4 hours, must be a problem with the aerial". Took it back, guess what? Same problem. Am taking it back today, will try to speak to the manager.

And of course will threaten them with the e-sąd as a last resort.

Will let you know how I get on.
mullerriceman   
9 Nov 2012
Law / What kombi/estate car to buy in Poland? [7]

Usual dilemma, have to buy a kombi/estate for a growing family and I do not want to buy a bus like thing as I already have an opel meriva and would like something that drives like a car.

Only looking at Polish registered vehicles as I can't be arsed with the rigmarole of importing paperwork - done it once already.

Budgeting about 15k for this, so should I buy:
1) a BMW/Audi effort from 1999-2003
2) a newer model (but ultimately French/Italian) from 2005-2007
3) a bog standard workhorse - mondeo estate / octavia estate which can be fixed anywhere and relatively cheaply?

What do you think?