Advice on Teaching English in Poland

Hello, I'm an American living in Poznan and also looking for a teach position. Have you had any luck finding one and if so is there any websites you would recommend posting my information at? I don't have any teaching experience and I can't speak Polish but I'll be here for 15 months and need something to do to get out of the house.... I'm also having trouble finding English speaking friends to hang out with, are you close to Poznan??

Is your first name Guido, mrs buchwald? Just wondering :)

Haha no it's Jessica. I didn't know that Guido was a popular name :)

It's *very* rare for schools to actually advertise for teachers in Poznan - don't wait to see advertisements, you'll have to go out there armed with copies of your CV and convince your way into meeting the directors in person. If I'm right, you might not need to get a work permit if you're here based on marriage, so stress this when talking to potential directors as most will assume that you need a work permit. There's a *lot* of schools in Poznan, and it shouldn't be hard for you to get something.

What I'd personally recommend is going for one of the 'direct method' schools - they're a nice introduction to teaching, and they should be quite happy to take you on without any formal qualifications.

I'm in Poznan, so I can give you advice about teaching here :)

delphiandomine;

Thank you for the information, can you think of any schools close to Kings Cross/the Stadium that I should try first. It's hard for me to find these schools to go there and apply. I have never heard of the "direct method schools" do you know a website that has a listing of them with an address? I am currently working with public transportation (a first for me) but I'm figuring it out so it should be easy to get around. Also, I don't know what a CV is? Is that like a resume??

Thank you so much for your help!

Jessica

Try ang.pl. There is a list of many schools in Poland.

Hmm...I live in Rataje, so I'm not very familiar with that side of the city - my suggestion is to type 'jezyk szkola poznan' into google and go from there :) I know there's a few schools around Mickiewicza, but these aren't really 'close'.


I don't know of any, but basically, any school advertising Callan or any method that doesn't have coursebooks will be the direct method. The money isn't so good at these schools, but they involve *much* less preparation - in fact, you can pretty much get away with turning up 15 minutes before the class without actually having seen the material before.


Yep, CV/Resume, same thing :) In Poland, they'll also expect a cover letter (or motivation letter, as they call it here) and a photograph with the CV.

As for public transport - pick up a KomKarta and load it with a monthly pass - it makes life much, much easier as there's no hassle with validating tickets :)

I'm looking at some sort of certification course that I can take in Canada to teah english in Poland. I'm Polish-Canadian, fluent in both languages just a bit rusty at times when it comes to Polish grammar, born in Poland but have been in Canada for 20years. I just came back from Poland after getting married there , been there 3 times before and would love to move back there. Can anyone recommend a course that I can take in Canada that will be recognized/accepted in Poland.

Note: I have a 3yr canadian college diploma in business administration - HR, unfortunately not a degree

any advice??

Either the Cambridge CELTA (the best one to get) or the Trinity Cert. TESOL. Any school which will employ you without either of those two certificates will also employ you without any certification at all.

But why do you want to do the course in Canada? You can do the CELTA in three places in Poland and they're all a lot cheaper than Canada.

I was thinking about doing the course here in canada first in my spare time

how much does the course cost on average in Poland?

You might find a local college that offers the CELTA part-time in Canada but I've never heard of any that do.


From memory the ones at International House Krakow and International House Wroclaw are in the region of £700 (3,300zl) and the one at ELS Bell in Warsaw is about 5,000zl. It's important to note that all three centres award precisely the same qualification.

You may find it easier to get a job immediately after you get your CELTA if you do it in Poland. I know some schools will offer any upcoming vacancies to students that have passed thier CELTA at the same school. I also think a school in Poland would be able to give you much more advice on getting a job in Poland than one in Canada.

There was a school in Toronto that offered CELTA.

does anyone really care about teaching certificates in the private sector?

I am English and have family and friends in Poland as my grandfather was Polish.
I am thinking about trying to get a job teaching English as a native speaker in Torun.
I am due to take a TEFL exam in two months,
I trained as a counsellor in England and was a pro singer for years.
I have no experience or training as a teacher.
I have fallen in love with the town and would love to live and work there.
My friend in Poland has been teaching me Polish for a year via Skype.
My polish is not that good as I am quite a new student.
What are my chances ?

Just a thought, we had a Canadian working at the school where I work in Poland. He had taken some kind of correspondence course, however it turned out not to be as well recognised as he thought (it wasn't CELTA). The firm I work for are affiliated to an organisation called PASE (Polish Association for Standards in English). They did not recognise his certificate.

Whichever course you take, DO check it's international standing.

For many schools it might not be a problem, but some better ones might be more choosy.


Agreed. I did my CELTA in Warsaw alongside a girl who'd been guaranteed a job in a Bell school if and when she passed her CELTA (also at the Bell school).

Hi everyone!
My name is Ben, I’m from India. I’m Graduate in English honors. Part of an exchange program, I worked in Lublin, Poland for 4 months as an English teacher. I also have another 6 months experience as a teacher. Right now I’m in India. I’m planning to go back in Poland. My question is how will I get a job as teacher? How will I find an employer TO ARRANGE ME A VISA? Please shot me some ideas…

To be brutally honest, you don't have much hope in Poland. There is a mindset among many Poles that an Indian teacher just doesn't have the right accent or way of speaking - and while you might have got on fine with an exchange programme, it's a different story with paid employment.

It's also incredibly unlikely that any school will go to the effort of sponsoring your visa - they can get Brits/Irish/Australians/Americans without needing to sponsor a visa and they have the benefit of seeing them in person first - you don't have that luxury, I'm afraid.

It's simply not worth the hassle for schools - English speakers aren't difficult to find here, and customers wouldn't be too happy with someone that they percieved to be inferior.

Thanks for your advice.

I have another question. Part of an exchange program I will be getting another chance in November to come there in Poland. Again, I will work as an English teacher. This time it will be for 1 year.

After completing 1 year my visa will be expired so I’m thinking of finding another job as an English teacher, luckily if I get, I will extend my visa. So will it be easy for me to find a job there after having 2 years of experience? I prefer working in private School.

Thanks.

i'm going out on a limb and gonna guess that Poland is either a) a candidate country for you to immigrate to and bring your family to or b) you got a thing for Polish girls...

Is this paid employment, or is this academic?


No. You'll still have the problem of trying to get a visa - you'll be competing against native speakers (and indeed, Polish nationals) who don't require the school to sponsor their visa. This is where the crucial difference is - it's just not worth the hassle or the time for the school to sponsor your visa.

There's also the issue that as an Indian national, you'll have to be flawless - and I can see that you're making several mistakes in your written English. You really will have to be exceptional for a school to take a chance on you - or you'll have to work incredibly cheap.

To be honest, I don't think most Polish people think of Indian people as suitable teachers of English.

On the other hand, if you speak Hindi you might be able to find a job at a university (use google to get addresses and send out your cv to every university possible). There's been an increase in interest in Indian culture (esp thru bollywood movies).

At the very least, marketing yourself as able to teach two languages couldn't hurt and could give you an edge.

Hi guys,

I am an Irish girl with a degree in Human Resources and many years experience in this area. I have just moved to Krakow and am hoping to do the CELTA qualification in International house. (just need to register, check dates etc). What is the likelihood of me getting a job , teaching job from this as I will need get some sort of return on my investment in this course.

I am very interested in teaching English so it is something I would love to do, but as mentioned, not sure if i can afford to do the course and then get no job from it.

Any advice anyone?

Almost everyone rolls that dice, debbie. I had no guarantee of employment after doing my CELTA in April-May 2004. You just have to keep your ear to the ground and eke out some possibilities. It's becoming an ever more competitive environment and it's sometimes good to enter into a guaranteed employment arrangement, if such an option exists in Kraków. I know it exists in Prague where you do your CELTA through an established institution and then you get a job with them if you are deemed to be up to the task.

Your chances of getting a job in Poland are about 99.998%. However, Krakow is another story.

I have been to Poland twice now and I am quite infatuated with the country. I have a ticket for January and there are CELTA courses shortly after that. Is there any chance of finding a job teaching English in February?

Some schools employ mid-term, yes. It would likely be Callan but it's a start.

If you're coming back to Poznan (you are, right? Chris misses you...) - then yes, it should be definitely possible to pick up something mid-term. Even if it's Callan for half a year, it's not such a bad job as it'll get you used to teaching without being thrown in at the deep end. And at least as where Poznan is concerned - you can actually end up better off teaching Callan than traditionally due to the lack of preparation needed.

We'll all help you out if you're here, too :)

Do you still teach Callan, delph? How many years now?

Sort of, sort of not - it's probably best described as Callan combined with traditional teaching to supplement it. 2nd year now, though it's definitely the last!

But I've done some maths (and asked around) and I'm getting paid just a little bit under what they're paying in traditional schools - so if you count in lesson preparation and marking time, I'm actually better off teaching this way in terms of actual money.

(and, to be fair, I'm a lousy grammar teacher and don't particularly want to teach traditionally!)