Advice on Teaching English in Poland

Thank you Harry.

Happy to help temp. You might want to note that you'll need a CELTA to go with your British passport (unless you want to work in the really dire schools).

Yes. I have BA Eng (hons.) CELTA, Dip. and IELTS Examiner status (current) but I don't think I'll teach there. Something else perhaps.

You're dangerously close to being over-qualified there anyway!


Any thoughts in particular? You'll need a good command of Polish for most jobs out here.

ha! I couldn't work when I'm not respected. Not sure...I might open a shop? Importing?

You might want to think about doing a bit of teaching but business English only. Those 7.30 to 9 am classes are a great way of getting up and out in the morning but still leave you with the rest of the day to use as you see fit. Plus, in Warsaw at least, working 7.30 until 9 everyday will pay your rent.

thanks for the tip! nice idea

Harry this person we are talking about is a he that is laurie.123 so given the small expereinces I have and thank you to that one person who degraded my self worth. Do you think I have a rats ass in hell.

What kind of degree do you have? Bachelor or master? You may struggle depending on the degree type or rank and the duration of your studies. Also, experience from overseas is very much welcome, that is your big advantage now but, your experience does not match your qualification on paper, it that it? If that is the case, then you may struggle, better first try calling agencies and places of work and also try applying online from where you are to get an idea of what your chances are, otherwise if you come first to Poland and then look for work you may find that you wasted your time and money. Also, you may be welcomed but at the same time some people may not welcome you with open arms as unemployment in Poland jumped to 30% and people will be angry to find out that on top of it all a foreigner gets a job instead of native Polish, so better consider these issues first.

Lot of talk about Warsaw v small town. TEFL v CELTA or noting at all but a degree. This is what I wrote on another thread and will share here again. As is my gospel truth from my experiences the last 18 months. Right now I turn down work every week both private and from schools (business English mostly) desperate for Native Speakers.

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.

All those comments about small towns forget it unless you like complete cultural immersion and being lonely a lot. Yes the south around Katowice is always looking for people but quality of life well is lower. If you are new stick with the big cities there are hundresa of schools, social life, and you will be able to get by on your English.

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.

u mean the..er.. intellectual rigour might be too much? or what?

Hello employer, my name is laurie and I would like to clear up one important factor, that is I am a he and not a she, haha but seriously. My moving to Poland is not a permanent one and my qualifications are varied. However to cut through the ambiguity on this forum perhaps we can get in touch through other means.

Thank you for reading my message to you employer

Hello Employer still waiting for your email, I appreciate your candor in outsourcing experience over academic, although I appreciate the comments of my peers that having a degree is a necessity in certain places. So for my temporary stay in Poland I am hoping my experience in the classroom, coupled with my certificate in teachers assistant will help me cross over the line. Also I hope my being a male will not effect the out come of my gaining employment.

She's obviously disatisfied with her job as a teacher's aid in Australia, almost certainly because of the low pay

First of all DominicB she is a he, and I am not disatisfied with my current job. My reasons for travelling to Poland are my own, you are cynical and you are arrogant to think my reasons are for money. How do you know what my motives are.

Hi Allyseale, there is also an American school in Gdynia (Mały Kack, Orłowo) which is where I'm hoping to apply. Maybe we'll see each other at the job interview ;)

Anybody know anything about the English school 'Speak Up' in Poland ?

Wot do you want to know? A subsidary of Empik - not as well thought of in the bis.

Why is that?

Fairly rubbish pay.
Extremely dubious methodology.
Another of those 'the best every way of learning English!' systems.

Probably the most damning thing about the place is the way that they bill students: the classes are paid for on a monthly basis but they offer generous discounts for signing up for six months or a year. Clearly they have had problems with students signing up for a year and then dropping out and refusing to pay on the basis that they do not use the services; so instead the multi-month packages are structured as loan agreements where the student pays for all the lessons at once with a loan that they have taken out with another company and thus have a credit agreement with that company.

I read in gw that empikmis trying to sell that business for 300m zloty so its a big business for them. I guess you can only build something that size by having a mechanical approach to your teachers and customers.

Interesting, which school is one of the better ones around?

Depends which city you're in.

Warsaw, Krakow?

Sounds like just one more English-certificate "diploma" mill to me:-)

Merged: Want to work in Poland with family

I spent 18 months in Poland. I lived in Krakow, Wroclaw and Bydgoszcz. I fell in love with the country, culture and language. I live back in the USA now and I have a family (3 kids and a husband). I want to move back to Poland and make a living there. I am finishing my MA in Teaching and will be a trained English teacher (with teaching credential) and TESOL certification. I have experience teaching English as a foreign language, but I am wondering if there is a market for native English speaking teachers in the school systems. I speak Polish, but I need to improve a little before I go back. I would prefer to work at a public school full-time and take on students for private lessons. Am I dreaming to think that I can support my family doing this? My husband is perfectly capable of working, but has no 2nd language background and will be extremely limited in his choices of work.

I want to do this so much, but I know I need to approach this wisely.

Public school teachers in Poland make extremely little money. As a foreigner, it is far to little to support yourself, never mind a family. Even as a native English speaker, you will still be making to little to justify working in a public school. The only way to do that would be as a volunteer project while living off of your own savings.

In fact, there is no way you could earn enough teaching anywhere in Poland to support yourself, your husband and three kids.That just ain't gonna happen, no way, no how. Sorry, but if you're looking at this from a financial angle, it's a recipe for disaster.

So you would go in at the lowest level of the teaching profession, alongside new graduates (assuming that you can get your qualifications past nostrification and accepted by the school). That means you will be taking home a little over 2,000zl per month. To put that in perspective for you, a liveable three-room flat (i.e. one small room for whichever of your two kids are the same sex, a tiny room for the other kid, and a living/dining room which becomes a bedroom for you and your husband) in Warsaw will set you back at least 2,500zl per month. After five or six years in the profession you might be able to get that salary up to a level where it actually pays your rent.


Private students can pay well but they are not something which one can rely on, only treat the money from them as 'extra cash'. You need a regular, solid gig to make sure that the bills and rent are paid in full and on time: a state school will not pay you enough to do that.


Yes. Simple as that.


There is very little work out here for people who have no marketable skill. From the sounds of it your husband would be limited to call centre work, which is soul-crushing and pays even less than being a state school teacher. Your combined net income would be maybe 3,500zl per month and that is low by Polish standards, especially for a family with three kids.


What are you planning to do about their schooling? Polish schools are run in the Polish language and provide very little language help to kids who do not speak Polish. You would in essence be setting your kids' education back by a couple of years (i.e. instead of being ready to go to college at 18, they'd be ready at the age of 20). Do you really want to waste two years of their lives? Yes there are schools run in English, but the fees of those for even one kid would be far beyond your reach.

Personally I'd suggest that you stay in the US until your kids have flown the nest and then look at moving to Poland.

From talking to teachers in the public system, there is to be a drastic dip in the school age population in 2017. One girl I know that works in a gymnasium says that currently there are 3 classes for every year at her school, but in 2017, there will be 1 class for of first year students. Teachers are already fearing for their own jobs as their will be lay offs. Not the best climate to arrive in to start a new life with 3 kids.

Since they are owned by Empik (at least someone said above) do you think Empik is shady as well?

Shady? Maybe yes, maybe no. Known and heavily criticised for sharp employment practices? Definitely yes.

I'm a EU citizen (Dutch) with a teaching degree (BA) and TEFL certificate. What are my changes in Poland for a full time teaching position anywhere?