Work / Teaching English in Poland? I am American and I have the CELTA certification. [42]

How hard is it to get a job? What is the visa and/or work permit process for an American? When do schools hire? What is the pay rate?

Work / Teaching English in Poland? I am American and I have the CELTA certification. [42]

I don't want to start my own business in Poland, but I might want to teach at one of the language schools there. I taught English in Armenia (I'm part Armenian), but pay there (for pretty much any field) is very bad. I live in Chicago and the Poles here seem to speak English pretty well. (I don't just mean the ones who were born here - I mean the ones who moved from Poland to the US). I don't have much of an interest in teaching in Asian countries. I want to teach in Europe, but I'm from the US - so, obviously, not from an EU country. Poland seems like a good option. Also, I'm a lawyer and there are many Poles in Chicago, so perhaps living in Poland for a while and learning a little Polish will be useful for obtaining employment as a lawyer here.

Life / Do Poles have a problem understanding American English? [76]

Thanks. I'm from the Chicago area. We speak fast. I lived in Armenia for a while (I'm part Armenian). I had to speak English much slower there - even to the English teachers there. That's why I asked.

Life / Do Poles have a problem understanding American English? [76]

"it's the biggest Polish city in the world so what are you talking about?"

I think you mean something like Chicago is the city with the second largest number of Polish people in the world (or #1 outside of Poland). I think it might actually be number 3 now though.

I know that there is a very large Polish population in Chicago and most of them speak English very well. Many of them also speak Polish (obviously). They seem to be able to switch from speaking English to Polish without any problem. There are large groups of other ethnicities here who speak both English and their native languages, but they usually do not speak English very well.

I was just basically wondering if Poles in Poland find it easy to understand Americans when they speak English. It sounds like they do.