Advice on Teaching English in Poland

I would like to study in Poland. Is it tips?

What do you wish to study, first of all? Perhaps for the Polish language, the Jagiełłoń University in Kraków has a renowned program for foreigners. Other than that, even Poles who are not from there tell me that the Catholic University of Lublin is the best university in Poland, academically speaking. And then of course, there's the world-famous Academy of Arts & Sciences (Akademia Nauki i Sztuki) in Warsaw:-) Take your pick from several of the finest institutions of higher learning in Europe!

Going to jump in here after being out of it for awhile. Back in Warsaw again. I found last year that NOT knowing Polish was a plus and almost requested. To many times students and teachers fell back on Polish when hitting tough spots. I also believe Native Speakers are best for the intermediate and up students who want correction and conversation. I am pretty blunt in that I am not doing grammar lessons.

And just a shout out to anyone looking to come to Poland as a native speaker from US. Appears there is still a demand for the natives. But be prepared... do a course or have some experience. Have a bit of money saved as can take a couple of months to finally see the pln coming in. When you get to Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, etc get out and meet people you will soon find other teachers and companies. Create profile on Nativespeakers.pl and put adds on gumtree.pl. Sell yourself. Being clean, showing up on time for interviews and being interesting are pretty good selling points. Know you rates... 50pln for 45 min or 90-120 for 90 etc. A hard working native speaker can earn quiet a lot more than the average Polish worker. Lastly have a bit of tough skin when it comes to students liking your lessons or not. You can not please everyone.

Best time of year to look for work late Aug to early Oct and then end of Jan to early February. Also don't let the schools screw you on work permit and residence. Can be done in 6 weeks - big catch is need for add to be placed for 2 weeks showing they looked for a Pole to fill the job. Consider using a 3rd party like expatcenter.pl to help guide you through the process if your employer wont.

Lastly have fun with it. I have met a lot of ex teachers who are burnt out. I was at the end of 9 months.

I am sure there are people with other views or opinion.

Bang on, Lonman!

I'm a seasoned college ESL-instructor and I've heard from most of my intermediate students, not only from Poland, that they wish they had had a native English teacher when they first started learning the language:-) Many bemoan the lack of quality control in their countries regarding English instruction at all levels, complaining upon being corrected habitually in class that they sometimes had to correct their teacher whose English was usually poor to allright, rarely top notch.

Whilst I do not dwell on correction, stressing overall fluency over sheer accuracy, I find the two go hand in hand. When one skill has been mastered, normally the other falls easily into place so that it seems entirely natural.

Merged: Teaching English in Poland

I have a degree and worked for many years in software sales. I decided to move to Europe and want to teach English but have found it difficult to find work in Berlin. I have a TEFL certification but my only background professionally is in the IT sales arena. My desire is to work with children but the rules are too strict in Germany. Is this any different in Poland? Are there any cities where I might find more work in Poland with my limited teaching experience? I am also American so I may need advice about getting a permit in Poland. Thanks in advance for any feedback about teaching in Poland.

I think you should come to Poland. Poland is one of the eastern countries where is a big lack of qualified teachers, native speakers etc.

The first step right away after coming to Poland is getting a temporary residence card, which allowed you to stay for 5 year long time :)
If you want to develop yourself in this way which was described above, Poland waits with open arms :)

The best cities for living in Poland, and where you will get a good job immediately, are Warsaw and Cracow, maybe Poznan, Wroclaw. but in the first row you should pick one of these two first :)

Want some more infor? write PM :)

Yuo'd be better off with a CELTA, some school won't hire you with a TEFL, but you'll still be able to find work, especially in smaller cities/towns, but I fear the English teaching ship has sailed for the most part in Europe, if you want to make money the best places are in Asia.

You'll earn enough to live here, but you won't be able to save up much.

Anyway, I won't rain on your parade, Poland is a nice place.....when it gets warmers :P, but there are loads of threads about the subject on the forum already so just have a search of them and you'll find some solid advice.

Best of luck.

Thanks. I could not sent a PM since I have not posted another message yet. I have heard that Krakow is expensive and just as competitive as Berlin. I will probably move to Warsaw since there is at least one American school present.

Warsaw will be more expensive than Krakow...
Make sure you line up some interviews before you make the move.
Really, you don't want to be unemployed in the most expensive city in Poland do you?
Why not try a smaller town to start with?
Less competition and lower costs of living... just a thought...

Which cities would you suggest? I have heard the competition is bad in most cities. Unfortunately I have spent months trying to find work in Berlin. I do not want to encounter the same situation. Thanks for the feedback.

Krakow is awash with 'natives'
And because of that the pay is pretty bad.
Look at smaller cities, Gdynia (beside Gdansk), Wrocław, Katowice (and the cities around it...I think there are 8 or 9)
Rzeszow
Poznan

You should be looking at smaller places, less competition for jobs and less competition means more money for you.
I live in Katowice and know that schools around here are always looking for teachers, however.....how to put this.....well, it ain't no Paris.

Kato has a bad image, but once you know the places to go it's fine.
And it's only a 45-60min drive from Krakow........oh one more thing, Poland's public transport is brutal, don't move here without a driver's license...I did and the first year was a struggle.

I am not looking for Paris. I lived there for a year and it's not a great place. My preference is to live where I can get around without a car. I am planning to stay in Europe for a few more months and then assess whether I should take advantage of the market in Asia.

My goal is to be able to settle somewhere and spend my time teaching as well as making pastries. Perhaps making money from both ventures. Thanks for the suggestions.

If you want to work in a major city, be prepared to set yourself up as a freelancer and to cobble your schedule together with part time work from several sources. Only very well qualified teachers, which you're not, can expect to find full time work at good schools in the major cities. Indeed, I'd even go so far as to say that you should be weary of any big city school that offers you a full time position. (The most competitive cities in Poland for a native speaker EFL teacher looking for work are Kraków, Warszawa, Poznań, and Wrocław.) That said, most of the best schools in Poland seem to be in the smaller cities anyway, and you can certainly find full time work in some of those schools. Look at cities with a population in the range of 50 000 to 250 000; that's where you're likely to find the best opportunities. If you're motivated and organised, you can do well as a freelancer in a major city right out of the gate, but it's both more demanding and higher risk.

You know yourself and what risks you're willing to incur better than I do, obviously, but I would suggest you focus on finding full-time work with a reputable school in a small city for now, and if you decide you want to live in a major city, formulate a long-term plan (say 2-5 years) to take you there after you've had time to build your CV, cement your legal status, get comfortable with the system, etc.

Ah, yea I know smoebody doing somethign similar, but you'll need to be careful.
Health and safety is a very grey area and you may get into trouble if ever investigated.....but y'know it's Poland, so it's nothing that a bribe can't sort out usually ;)

As you are currently in Berlin, and smaller cities are recommended, maybe such cities like Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski or Zielona Góra are good to start with?

Not big but not so small, close to Berlin... just saying

I do not have plans to sell anything in the near future. My intention is to continue to be able to make things in my own kitchen.

My talent needs much more development before I try to market it anywhere.

I would start here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Poland

Find some cities and towns that look interesting to you in the aforementioned 50 000 to 250 000 (ish) population range.

Then I would start going through sites like these:

eslbase.com/schools/poland
oxfordseminars.com/esl-schools-directory/europe/poland
eslfocus.com/directory2.php?categories_id=1&countries_id=170
essayforum.com (for academic research in English)

International House used to have a pretty extensive international school directory, but it seems to be down for maintenance. But it'd be worth checking back to see if they get it going again (under "resources"; I didn't provide a direct link because it looks out of date).

myteachinghouse.com

Some time spent with Google can probably yield some more similar lists, too.

Start your own list of schools in the cities and towns that most appealed to you. Look for schools that are represented in multiple such directories, have been in operation for at least 5-8 years (some of the best schools go back more than twenty), and have professional looking websites. Then do some research into the schools on your list at Dave's and just with Google. Bear in mind that this is the internet, so expect to see responses skewed more negatively than you would otherwise (people blog about bad experiences, but not when things go according to plan), but if you're finding multiple independent negative experiences (and, "the boss is an ********" doesn't count), cross the school off your list. If you find little feedback one way or the other on a school that's been around a while, that's generally a good sign in and of itself.

Now mail your CV to the schools on your list. Don't use email; use quality stationary and send it by post. Email is fine to follow-up, but not for the initial correspondence. You don't need to travel to all the schools you want to apply for--they're used to hiring from abroad and they really don't expect you to (just the fact that you're physically present in nearby Germany will give you a leg up over many of your competitors)--but if you're someone who makes excellent first impressions and there's a school that you're especially keen on, it's not a bad idea to give them your CV in person.

Repeat the above process until you've lined up at least three or four interviews.

When you speak to them, make sure you find out what teaching method they use: communicative, Callan, or Avalon. You can politely decline the instant any school tells you they use the Avalon Direct method; communicative is the best, but Callan is serviceable. Find out how many teachers they employ and how long they've been working there; their ability to retain their staff is a big indicator of how they'll be to work for. Also find out what the management structure is; do they have a director of studies? If so, how long has he/she been with the school? You'll also need to discuss what kind of outside contracting they do--many language schools also have contracts with the big local employers--and get the details on what sort of travel and offsite teaching you'll be responsible for. When you talk compensation, make sure you find out all of the details--gross vs. net pay, guaranteed minimum hours, how much working time you'll lose to holidays (you're not likely to find paid holidays), additional benefits and additional expenses (e.g. are you going to have to pay for your permits or do they?), etc.

Hi. The Silisea region of Poland would be a good place to start, from my experience. It is not saturated with native speakers, as larger cities tend to be. Can't comment on how strict the rules are, as I imagine these vary from school to school. Hope you find something(:

There are some adverts for jobs in Poland on tefl.com at the moment. None of them great.

I wouldn't recommend relying on job advertisements when looking for work in Poland. Most desirable positions don't get advertised on tefl.com, Dave's, etc. at all, and there's enough turnover within the profession that you really never know when a school might get an opening. Just identify and contact desirable schools; don't worry about whether or not they're "hiring" at the time.

I never really advertised for staff - word of mouth mostly found people. In smaller towns though, they often have to.

Not the ones you'd actually want to work for. Not that I'm saying you should avoid a school just because they've advertised or anything--that'd obviously be an overreaction--but even in small cities, most of the top schools seem to be able to recruit successfully without advertising positions online. But the point is that I really just wouldn't pay much attention to online job boards for TEFL positions; you're much better off finding schools you'd want to work for and then pursuing whether they've got a position rather than finding schools that have an advertised position and then pursuing whether you'd want to work for them.

Some people are gluttons for punishment. Or just fancy small town life. I tend to agree with you re adverts - as far as Poland is concerned anyway, other countries are different. If people really have to work for private language schools, it's better to know one and speak to the owner. Then again, one has to get into Poland in the first place to make the contacts. A CV out of the blue from the OP wouldn't impress any of us.

That's really just not true, again especially in smaller cities. Of all the teachers I know, only one was physically present in Poland prior to getting a job.


An impressive CV by post on which you follow up by email and/or phone seems sufficient to 'impress most of you'. Visiting the school, meeting the administration, and handing them your CV personally can certainly be a positive thing obviously, but it's in no way necessary. I can say with supreme confidence that the procedure I proscribed for the OP is an effective one given how many people I know who got here using just such a process, myself included. Most people, especially in the not yet saturated markets, are realistic about the fact that, when you're hiring people who by definition must be citizens of another country, you're likely to be hiring them remotely.

You'll find that very few, and none of the decent places, recruit from outside PL.

Remember that language school owners get stacks of CVs in our email. Most of them 'impressive'. The key is to have a personal contact. That or do a very good trial lesson. And there are plenty of English speakers living here already.

The market here in Poland, by the way, is truly saturated. There are plenty of private language schools in Warsaw now and Krakow is stuffed with native speakers all chasing the same work. The OP's best bet is to look at somewhere in the backwoods.

Again, that depends very heavily upon where you are in Poland. Some cities are very saturated and can take their pick of numerous qualified local applicants, but once you get into many of the smaller cities, your assertion just simply isn't true.

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

That ain't true and you know it.


Again, that's an untruth.
Outside, Krakow & Warsaw there's a 'shortage' of native-speakers for school.

I'd bet if I was bothered I could get in touch with some school in places like Rzeszow, Katowice, Wroclaw, Lublin, Lodz and have a job lined up within a few hours.

And I wouldn't really call them backwaters..then again people living in Warsaw think the sun shine out their holes. Warsaw ain't all that cool, sure it's not even the proper capital.


Post of the Day right here folks, can you make this a sticky mods? And attach it to the top of every "teaching in Poland" thread from now on?

They're looking for many teachers in Warsaw, but really need a CELTA and they would love it if you have IT experience - I could land you 10 hours of work 2mow if you had the CELTA.

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.