Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Language schools always cream off their lucrative share on top of whatever the student pays to learn English. If you are a 'true professional', and well qualified teacher, then you are selling yourself short by working for these language schools, for that sort of salary. Until teachers begin to show these schools that they can't rip off teachers as they have been used to doing for years, then nothing will change. Language schools are basically parasites living off the labours of their teaching staff. I challenge you to prove me wrong! Ask your Language School principal what their personal qualifications are...TEFL and other. You will be amazed!

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm pleased that it won't happen. It leaves the market wide open for those who have got the initiative to find their own students.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Absolutely! So if you're not up to dealing with life's little problems yourself, get somebody to 'molly-coddle' and pamper you until you're mature enough to deal with them.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


A teacher who stays in the same 'cozy' place for too long becomes complacent, lazy, and starved of inspiration . And before you ask, I say that from a lifetime of teaching experience, in both public and private sectors. When I hear of a teacher who retires after being in one school for most of their career, my sympathies go to all the students who were starved of inspirational teaching, and creativity... by a teacher who either so lacked confidence in their own abilities that they were afraid to face new challenges from time to time, or was just too lazy to!

We all learn and develop as individuals and teachers by expanding our experiences, not by adopting insular practices, which virtually guarantee that our methods and ideas will never be challenged. Complacency is a well recognised trait amongst some teachers. So perhaps a little less smugness and an appreciation of an alternative opinion to you own may just be worth considering.

As a senior manager, when appointing staff I am far less likely to be impressed by a candidate who does not have a range of different experiences, gained in at least several different institutions.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


My, My! I do seem to have hit a raw nerve with 'teflcat' don't I. Your sarcastic comment in response to a perfectly valid statement speaks volumes. But what you now say contradicts what you said in your earlier post: that is it better to "stay in one place". Read both your own comments again...and try to decide what you actually believe.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


Of course it was a sarcastic dig! Foreigner4 took it for just what it was. For an English teacher you seem to have great difficulty in expressing yourself clearly and effectively.

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


I refer to my earlier comment... that you do have considerable difficulty in expressing yourself clearly and effectively. Although I may have paraphrased your comment for the sake of brevity...if what you stated was not a recommendation to "stay in one place", then I don't know what is. Do you not understand how in English we use logic and reasoning to deduce inference?

My recommendation to you would be...when in a hole, stop digging!

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]


You genuinely do not like to be challenged do you. How presumptuous and arrogant of you to assert that the duration of my membership of this site in some way restricts my right to contradict somebody who is talking utter nonsense. Perhaps you would prefer it if I deferred to your supposed 'seniority'. If you cannot enter into a debate, and take as good as you give...without making comments like "make enemies" then you are seriously intellectually challenged. God help your students!

Your private message to me: "BritGent. You make an awful lot of assumptions about me without having the slightest knowledge of my experience, qualifications or skills. You joined this forum yesterday but seem to be in a hurry to make enemies. I suggest you have a look at regular members' past posts so that you can get a better measure of who they are."

....could just as easily be said in the main thread. But realizing that you are making a fool of yourself, you seek to do it privately. If you really do not like people with strong views and opinions, then I what are you doing in teaching! You will not browbeat me my friend! Get used to it. Enemies like you I can cope with believe me!

Work / Salary for Teaching EFL in Krakow [120]

Oh my, you must have been waiting for that one with fingers at the ready on the keyboard, you got it in so fast. LOL So my learned friend....who was it? ( Here's your chance to shine! ) Incidentally....do you know how to spot a rhetorical question when you see one?

Work / Advice on Teaching English in Poland [709]

When people speak of accent, most of them think of it as something that 'other people' have. The truth is that we all have an accent to some degree or other, because an accent is simply the way we pronounce words. It is quite different however when it comes to regional variations; then you are talking about 'dialect', which refers to a combination of differences in accent, grammar and vocabulary. Depending on where you live in England for example, one type of baked bread could be called buns, cobs, baps or rolls or even muffins.

The most desirable accent for a teacher of English language, is undoubtedly a 'neutral' one. One which does not overtly identify itself as being of a particular social class or region. ( the terms Standard English and RP are far too often misused and associated with an exaggerated 'class' based model ).

I have worked with teachers from many parts of the world, and whilst their knowledge of English grammar may be impressive, their students are hindered in their acquisition of spoken English by exposure to, and therefore a role modelling of a strong regional accent or dialect. American, Australian, Afrikaans and German are perhaps some of the most obvious, but there are so many other nationalities too numerous to mention, who present similar problems.

A neutral accent is usually created by a combination of upbringing, geographical location, interaction with others, and an almost subconscious assimilation of elements which are most desirable for clarity, and a gradual discarding of those which are not. It is clearly the most effective model which ESL/EFL students should be exposed to in their English language studies, if they wish to speak English in its most internationally recognised and accepted form.