Moving to Warsaw, teaching but hoping to deviate into business environment

Having taught in Thailand with my GF she had to move home and I am following her to Warsaw, a place called Piaczeno. I have a teaching job lined up for around 50zl an hour, though do hope that I might find something else after a while. My questions are:

1. How many hours at 50zl will be needed for decent standard of living ie; gym, drinks and dinner out once a week? Plus save a bit..

2. What sort of work is available in other industries for someone with v.little polish but native English. I have experience in property.
3. Any places you can recommend for leisure with GF, or classes/activites for non Polish speaker.
4. Would it be hard to find an English speaking driving instructor.
5. Any general tips for adjusting to Warsaw of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you can help and please ask anything. Moving in a week or two so would appreciate anything to settle nerves... :)

Pint for the best answers....

Cheers

1. Probably something like 150 a month, depends on how much tax you have to pay (and how much ZUS)

2. You might find a large estate agency that needs an English speaker but probably they'll make do with their own bi-lingual staff. Sometimes call centres have work but it isn't well paid. Warsaw probably has opportunities that I'm unaware of, but generally there's not much for a Brit sans certain IT skills

3. No idea but probably lots
4. See https://polishforums.com/life/driving-test-english-speaking-school-20101/
5. Get used to lots of traffic jams, and nicer trams than Wrocław's

Have fun!

Piaseczno is a nice neighborhood, but is is a major hassle to get from there to the city, and it takes a real lot of time. Traffic is absolutely horrible, and there is no way to get to the city by public transport without transferring. The commute will have a major impact on your lifestyle, especially if you have to teach both morning and evening classes, as you won't be able to go home for breaks. Those midday breaks will wear you down in no time. It's quite possible that you will have very little time to spend together with your girlfriend during the week. You might be leavig home at 6 am and returning at 11 pm. You're probably not going to make sufficient money teaching only evening or only daytime classes.

Assuming that you will be living with her parents (more on that below), you'll have to give them at least 1000 PLN for rent and board. Anything less would be an insult. You most certainly are not welcome to stay with them for free. That is an absurd idea.

If you plan on getting your own apartment together, you're looking at a minimum outlay of 2200 PLN a month for rent/utilities. Piaseczno is an expensive area of Warsaw.

Food away from home, recreation, gym and sundry expenses will set you back about 1000 PLN a month, without a car. Having a car won't be cheap.

That means you will have to bring in at least 3000 PLN a month to break even, and probably a little more. That's pretty close to the maximum you can expect to make as an English teacher.

Having a car in Warsaw is senseless as parking is horribly expensive.

Polish girls and "in-laws" are fine as long as you are bringing in plenty of cash, or at least enough cash to stay safely in the black. Once you dip into the red, the love withers and the hospitality dries up. They will feel no compunction in making it clear that you are no longer welcome.

Polish "mothers-in-law" are extremely skilled in making your life miserable when they are so inclined. Polish women are notoriously mercenary, and have little cash registers in their heads that keep a running tally at all times. They will know exactly to the penny where you stand. Don't disillusion yourself by thinking that your girlfriend and her mother are exceptions to the rule. The "foreign boy moves to Poland to be with Polish girlfriend" story rarely has a happy ending. VERY rarely.

Remember that you will get paid for only eight months a year, and that you will have to support yourself off of what you save during the other four months. You don't get paid for holidays, and there is precious little work available during the summer.

The only work available for non-Polish speaking English speakers in Warsaw is cold-call sales or low-level collections in a call center, which is a truly lousy job that pays very, very little (unless you have some kick-a$$ qualifications in IT).

As an English teacher in Warsaw, your lifestyle will be frugal, and savings will be scant. Don't disillusion yourself; this is not the path to riches or financial security. Forget about saving up substantial money. As I said, you're going to go through whatever you save up during the holidays and vacations, which will mostly be spent sitting at home.

Your time and energy would be far better spent on furthering your education and getting real qualifications and experience in your home country. Contrary to what you've been told, employers are little impressed by TEFL experience. Opportunities for you to improve your qualifications in Poland are essentially nonexistent.

Sorry to pi$$ on your campfire, but you should do some serious rethinking about your future and do something constructive to improve your future earnings potential and retirement income. Teaching English in Poland does nothing to further this goal.

Appreciate the response, i understand the "polish girl english guy" thing but 4 years together should help, and we have a flat already in piaceszno (should of mentioned). Doesn't seem much hope of a decent job in anything else but Im gooona give it a go and see. I'm fully prepared for the worst and leaving wont be hard if needed. Thanks for the rundown on costs, I didn't expect to save much or anything but hope to have a fulfilling enough lifestyle, though as you said the teaching is time consuming.#

Hope to repost positively in a month or so though a lot of the other posts don't give me much faith.

There are many Brit/Polish couples in Wars which have survived long term the above is complete bolox. As for Piaczeno the area is a mixture of single dwellings and flats, it will depend on which part of Piaczeno you will be based. Personally I do not like Piaczeno at all as it has no soul. As for places to eat out and socialise there are plenty in the south side of the city and closer to town in Mokotow, so you will be spoiled for choice, although there is a lack of good asian cuisine. Once you arrive in town post on this forum and there are a few chaps from Warsaw on PF which are normally helpful to freshers.

Sounds a bit like Partynice, although some of the apartments in 'nice are surprisingly good quality from what I've heard.


Perhaps, but I certainly recognise the mother-in-law stuff. Maybe the people I know just had bad luck, but it strikes some resonance I can tell you that much...

Agree on that point. But even more of a problem is poor access to the city center. I used to live in Skierniewice, and could get to Rotunda a lot faster than my friend from Piaseczno could. If I could get back all the hours I spent waiting for him on that corner...


How many of those involve young, unqualified, poorly earning British slackers who can't make a go of it on the Polish job market? I've known heaps of British and Irish guys who moved here for their girlfriends only to move back shortly afterwards because of their limited earning potential. Usually because their girlfriends lost interest in them. All of the successful couples I know involve good earning professionals. Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław are fun cities to live in if you have cash to burn. Otherwise, they can be more depressing than Wałbrzych, Radom or Sosnowiec.


Oh, the stories I can tell would chill your blood. Once the cash runs dry, the "kły i szpony" are unsheathed, and the hysterics start. Financial security is the highest need in the hierarchy for Polish women, and that need is far more powerful than love could ever be. Anything that represents the slightest threat on that front comes under immediate, merciless and relentless artillery fire, and the arms they have at their disposal are jaw-droppingly intimidating. Their aim is also uncannily accurate. They can castrate a fruit fly at a range of fifty kilometers.

50 zl per hour is actually not that bad for a teaching job, I believe. If you work many hours, you should be able to live comfortably in Warsaw, However, I'm not familiar with the live in Warsaw, so I cannot recommend anything there,


Please share some of your stories, I would be interested in hearing them. I only heard very good stories, but I also only know young unmarried couples, since I live in a student city.

If it's a "lesson hour", meaning a 45 minute unit, it's about the going rate for in-company lessons in Warsaw.

Gooner,the polish guys do not see it that way as long as your girlfriend is not married she is fair game to Polish men, the fact she is with a foreigner makes her more appealing.Fact.

Warsaw is a little like LDN late eighties the place is full of yuppies everyone has got all the gear and no idea. Everybody you meet wants to tell you how massive they are.

I actually thought that the average hourly wage in Poland and Warsaw was much lower.

But I'm also living in a differant country then Poland, so I'm not an expert on the average Polish salary.

Polish women are tough, no doubt about it. English men must be mere putty in their hands. Unsuspecting for sure. Poor buggers.

The average wage in Poland is about 3,800zl per month. In Warsaw it's more like 4,700. However, those are mean averages, the one in Warsaw is particularly skewed by people who earn >20k a month.

Remember that's what expat teachers get, and even then they tend to work freelance - the average wage slave gets a far lower hourly rate. Though they do however work 7 or 8 hour days. As a language trainer, you will probably work between 3 and 5 hours a day (some dream of having 3 hours daily!) without paid holidays etc.

I understand life in Poland is hard, many foreigners usually find teaching jobs. I'm hoping to find something else when I live there.


I think that is a bit too harsh to the Polish women. I have seen Polish women with Indian, Turkish and Armenian boysfriends, and that is not countries I would connect with money.

Not hard for everybody, judging by the brand spanking new cars all around. I've seen more new upmarket cars here than I ever saw in Hampstead, London. Those who have made money here, or who have generous credit facilities to borrow, seem to be very comfortable indeed. Of course, they could be all fur coat and no socks, but there is a heck of a lot of them in that boat if that's the case. Frankly, I often wonder if Britons back home realise just how prosperous many Poles in Poland seem to be. Those who have done well don't seem to be a minority either, as I count the shiny motors coming past me at the bus stop here. I'm not so much envious as amazed (but also somewhat envious of course).