Work / Would previous experience be necessary to teach english in poznan [22]


Should be easy enough, Poznan is a big city with a lot of schools.


To be brutally honest, you won't find anything worthwhile in Poznan during the summer. Most schools effectively close down over the summer - they might have a few classes for those that really want to learn, but really, not much will happen. The best bet is to come in August - people are hiring then, ready to start the new year in September.


They usually do ask for that, but at the same time, a lot is placed upon being available and ready to work NOW, so to speak. To be honest though, a lot is about appearance and personality - I know teachers here who have got jobs by simply walking in with a CV and saying 'I want a job'.

But in all honesty, I would wait until you're here before looking for a job. You simply cannot get the 'feel' for the city over the internet. I live in Poznan, and it seems most people got their jobs by actually going and handing in CV's and talking to people. Of course, once you're established, you can look for work well in advance of the start date - but for a beginner, I'd recommend just hitting the ground after doing the CELTA. You don't even need the CELTA in all reality - although it does depend what kind of teaching job you want.

But...as I'm here, and teaching, feel free to ask any questions. What I know...

English Unlimited - Odd school. They're based in a big huge old building, yet I think they do most of the teaching elsewhere.
Top English School - I think this is a Callan school, though could be wrong?
Native English - I went past here a few weeks ago. They didn't appear to have much in the way of teaching facilities, but they apparently only use native teachers. Located in a slightly dodgy place, though.

Haven't heard of the others, though.

Law / Poland - Temporary Residence card - Karta pobytu - required documents [142]

Forget about anyone speaking English in this type of situation, it simply won't happen. Even if they can speak English, they more than likely won't - and I'm not so sure that I can blame them.

Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I've decided, I'm going to eat nothing but rolls and pies when I go back to Aberdeen next week, then come back and post on here and tell you alllll about it.

Me, cruel?

(seriously, I miss mince pies and Irn-Bru more than anything..)

Law / How do I verify a Polish company's existence? [240]

It's not going to be in Poland with 'Inc' in the name - it'll be somewhere else.

If you've got the website address, then use easywhois.com to see if you can find any details.

Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I'm going to call you out on this one. You cannot say with a straight face that they're better, surely? :D 3h30 from Jelenia Góra to Wrocław (all of 100km!) tells you all about the state of some of the lines here...

But cheaper, most definitely. Although since the fast trains got moved from Regional to Intercity, they appear to have scrapped the half price 2nd ticket - which is rubbish :(

The lack of stupidly cheap advance-purchase tickets annoys me as well, especially if you want to take anything more expensive than TLK :(

Life / If I could introduce something from my country into Poland, I would.... [175]


I can't even imagine drinking Stella again, to be honest.

Having said this, I do miss weak 4% pints. It's just no fun going to the pub, drinking three half litres and finding oneself rather inebriated...

Law / Poland residency permit / registration questions. [23]


This seems to be unfortunately true. I'm lucky, the boss of my school is 27 and thinks like a young person in respect to things - we're given complete freedom, the only 'rule' as such is that we have to justify what we do. He does sometimes question us as to what we're teaching - but it's more out of curiosity and interest in the person than any sort of interrogation session. Nicely, he always feeds back to us what people are saying about us - so we can tailor our approach for each class.

I actually handed in a CV to one Brit-ran school in Poznan. To say 'miserable git' would be an understatement - he was so unbelievably sour faced, even before he saw the CV. I was too stunned at his attitude to say much - but with an attitude like that, he'll be out of business before long.

The worst schools to me seem to be the ones ran by people who were teachers themselves, but who aren't native - particularly the ones where they're only running the school but aren't owning it. They seem to have a dreadful, money first approach to teaching - which seems to include lying to people as standard.

The lack of professionalism in many language schools astounds me though. One other example was a rather big school in Sw. Marcin in Poznan. I walked in, said 'hello' and got met with a stony faced receptionist. Do they not realise that I could be there to talk about getting lessons for a large company?

Law / How do I verify a Polish company's existence? [240]


This is what I'd like to know too - why on earth is there no way to access a company's financial records?

Law / Poland residency permit / registration questions. [23]


Almost a good guarantee then that they've been scamming the tax out of you. Just threaten them very bluntly - either they return the tax money to you, or you go to the government office to talk about it. If they've been pocketing the money (do you have a payslip at all?) for taxes - then they'll probably pay up to avoid the consequence of you telling all.


How utterly dodgy. But again, probably a good reason to use the contract as an excuse too - if they don't play ball with your tax money, then remind them gently that you can inform the relevant labour authorities too about their work practices.


Not the whole world, but many schools are definitely built on funny practices. I'm not even sure why - the money is so much that they don't have to be dodgy, yet it still goes on.

Law / Poland residency permit / registration questions. [23]


Aha, this is the common misconception. It used to be 90 days on a stamp (or a wave of the passport if you're EU) - but now, it's any 90 days in 180 days throughout the *whole* Schengen area. Therefore, border runs are now pointless.

Obviously, if you're EU, then it's no issue because there's no systematic record kept of entries/exits outside of stamps in passports. But non-EU have had a torrid time since Schengen because of the 90/180 rule.

Incidentally, did you get a stamp from Poland at all when you went to Ukraine?


Just goes to show how utterly redundant and pointless the system is - I can understand having a registered address, as it's actually a great idea having one official address with the State. But to make it so tedious and irritating to actually do so just means people won't bother.


Good question. They more than likely pocketed it - which is more than enough reason to demand proof that they actually paid it. If they're not forthcoming with it, just remind them that you can happily show the taxman your contract.

Law / Poland residency permit / registration questions. [23]

Okay, this might not be entirely accurate as the rules seem to change daily, but..here goes.

1) Yup. The owners of the place must give permission for you to reside there, and depending on the local authority, they might demand that all the owners turn up IN PERSON (yes, I don't understand this at all).

2) Yup, again. The concept of registration is that the goverment has an address to contact you at - to serve official papers/etc. This can be any address you want - it doesn't have to be the place where you reside.

3) No idea about the penalty, but it might not be the smartest move to move house and not have access to the old address. There's probably no way of checking, and once the new registration process comes in (that's been promised by Tusk, and was supposed to be implemented at the start of the year!) - but generally speaking, you want to make sure that you can collect mail from that address.

4) Yup - no problem. Again, it doesn't really matter where you're registered. Many people are actually registered at a different address to the place where they live - for example, students will live elsewhere, yet might be registered at an address in their hometown 500km away. The refusal for landlords to let people get registered is one big reason why the system needs reformed - it's a ridiculous situation.

It should be noted that as EU, there is next to no way of checking if you're complying with the rules or not. Many ports of entry to Schengen don't bother scanning passports, nor are stamps given to EU passport holders - so while the law might be that you should be registered within x time - there's really no way of checking. Non-EU is different though, as they'll have visa issues.

However - and you probably know this already. Not being registered means that you can't pay taxes or in fact do anything official with the state. This, again isn't a big deal if you're EU because you can just claim to be visiting - but I wouldn't risk it if I was non-EU. The possibility of getting deported from the Schengen area isn't insignificant, and I've heard stories about Americans falling foul of the 90 day rule - and subsequently getting banned from the entire area.

UK, Ireland / UK Sky TV in Poland [39]

No reason why it won't work - just that you'll need a big enough dish to get all the channels. Depending on the part of Poland you're moving to, you might need as large as a 2m dish - but certainly, your existing Sky minidish won't be good enough for all the UK channels.

The other thing is that you have to maintain a UK billing address and billing account - so if you're doing that, then it's a doddle :)

News / What Poland can't do right [113]

Woo, let's tear most of £ódz down!

(I really, really hate that city...)

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


You've been banned from driving in the UK, so using any sort of licence would be an offence. Of course, there's no way for them to really enforce it (unless you end up getting nicked for a serious offence and then the disqualification is uncovered) - but if you were to be found out, it would be the same as driving without a licence.


Nothing wrong with caution and prudence though, which is why it's nonsense.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

The problem, as I see it, is that a good teacher doesn't make a good manager. And equally so, a good manager doesn't always understand what teaching is about. There's one school in Poznań which has a very good Callan teacher as a director, ex state school teacher, brilliant English, etc - but she's a dreadful director. She's brash, rude and has no issues with lying to paying customers just to get them to come back - literally to the point where people are being deluded into believing that they're better than they actually are.


My school operates purely on student satisfaction, thankfully. We're expected to bend, twist and do whatever it takes to make them happy - which is good, because it encourages creativity and keeping them occupied for the entire time. Of course, people are a bit odd and like being bullied into perfect pronouncation (which I don't understand! I'd go mad if someone was correcting my Polish constantly...) - but the deal is that the overall aim is to keep them happy and keep them coming back, because it's what pays our wages.


I'm sure you're right, too. There are exceptions, but as far as I can tell, all the schools in prominent places (like on Plac Wolnosci in Poznan) seem to run as factories. There's even one school here that has glass walls in the classrooms, so you can be observed constantly - which really isn't good for someone's ability to let a lesson flow.


It's such a basic thing that it surprises me that more people don't understand it. One interesting example is that some schools insist on their teachers being well dressed - despite the fact that people don't want to be confronted by someone wearing a suit after a long day working.

Work / Poland Work Permit / Study Visa Processing Times [191]


No need for a visa for EU citizens these days for Ukraine, they lifted the requirements a couple of years back.

Crossing can be tedious though, I hear.

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]

Yup, there's a golden rule in management - praise in public, criticise in private. It might be acceptable in a company like Microsoft to yell and scream at people underneath you - but I bet even Microsoft doesn't do that kind of thing in front of paying clients.

Not listening to the client is probably a sure fire bet that the client won't be back in a hurry - but jeez, the mind boggles - how could anyone be so stupid as to not listen to the person that's actually paying for the lessons?

Out of interest, do you have a degree on top of the CELTA?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


Yeah, it does. Thankfully, my school is very relaxed about many of the Callan 'rules' - and we all have our own methods of actually running a class. For instance, I use flashcards to show them the Polish word, because it's the most effective way to make them understand the word without me having to make a pathetic attempt at pronouncing it - and it's better than having them with their heads stuck in the books.

But we're encouraged to make it fun - if that means completely deviating from the normal questions, so be it. I'm actually encouraged to use my natural language - so sticking to the 'script' isn't really that important.


That's dreadful! I can observe anyone in my school whenever I want - I don't even have to ask my boss, I just ask the teacher in question if I can sit in their class to gain new ideas. Out of curiosity, what's the background of the manager in question? If he/she was a teacher in a state school, I can completely understand her attitude as they make dreadful managers.

If the client was happy to end the lesson a few minutes early and didn't have a problem, then they really should use their common sense. As for shouting, it's just a sign of immaturity - a good director should never have to shout, at least, I've never heard my boss shout at anyone - even when there was a massive row over a certain translation.

Do you ever let lessons overrun intentionally, just to give them a bit more?

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


That's the way it should be, I feel. I'm lucky that my school strongly believes in letting teachers put their own style on things - even with the Callan classes. So, naturally, I prefer to listen to people than to talk - with the right group, I've found that Callan is actually quite good for getting people to talk about obscure things that they wouldn't normally talk about, especially when you do things like question the president of a company on issues like why there isn't any flowers outside the building :) It does seem to work quite nicely, though only with bright people and subject to all the usual disclaimers about Callan.


Jesus, ready-made plans? I would probably kill myself if I had to teach such things. Some of my best ideas have actually came as a result of being thrown into a class at the last minute and having to think on my feet - but the thought of teaching to a ready plan fills me with all sorts of fear.

Food / What's your favorite Polish beer? [870]

Freeq is bloody dreadful, don't go near it...the lime one was particularly upsetting as it was so crap :(

That Gingers beer is absolutely lethal though, to anyone from the UK, it just tastes like ginger beer from a can. It'd be far, far, far too easy to drink yourself to death on that stuff :/

Life / 3 reasons why you hate Poland. [1049]


I relentlessly picked on such a student last week. I'd had enough of his complete inability to revise anything betweeen classes, his complete lack of ability to even answer easy questions without thinking and most of all, the fact that he keeps turning up looking like he's stoned out of his skull.

Making him pronounce everything perfectly was a suitable cure for the saturday morning blues, I tell you ;)

Life / Reasons for moving to Poland [291]


Much to my benefit today, actually.

I was getting the bus to the school with two of my fellow teachers - but as one of my friends had got there way before me and the other one, she ended up with some dour businessman-type sitting next to her. Of course, we get there and start talking in English about all sorts of nonsense (which probably really did sound like nonsense to him). After about five minutes, he clearly had enough and got up and sat elsewhere, which was nice :)

Although my pet hate is when people on buses here will try and sit next to you on one of those slightly-too-big-for-one-person seats. I'm developing new ways of irritating them as we speak, grrrr!

Law / How will the Zloty be against the British Pound over the next 6-12 Months [45]

I think it's stabilised somewhat at the 4.5ish level now - even with the interest rate cuts throughout the world, the Złoty just isn't being trusted at all by investors at the minute. It's perhaps foolish as the banking sector seems to be holding up fine here - but it's hard to tell.

It's funny, when I came here, it going below 4 seemed like a matter of time, but now...who knows?

Language / The Plural of Zloty? [46]

I asked a bunch of fluent English speaking Poles their opinion on this, and...

Two said 'zloties' - however, one says zloty in ordinary speech
One said 'zloties, but now I say it, it sounds wrong' - and agreed that zloty sounds much better
One definitively said 'Zloty, there's no plural in English'

So there's no hard and fast rule - I use one zloty, many zloty personally...but.

Law / How will the Zloty be against the British Pound over the next 6-12 Months [45]

It's anyone's guess. One bank failure in Poland and the Złoty will suffer - as despite the now huge difference in interest rates between Poland and the UK, people still aren't putting money into PLN. I noticed some banks are now offering deals which pay 11% here - so they're clearly getting desperate for cash.

I think the likelihood is that it'll remain somewhere between 4-5PLN-1 pound, but exactly where is a good question. It's also possible that the PLN may weaken against the Pound if the flow of money being exchanged starts to dry up - but I don't think it'll ever go above 5 to the Pound again.

I certainly wouldn't place any bets on the Pound-Zloty relationship in the coming year.

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


Look at the pass rates - are you seriously telling me that only 40-50% of people are fit to drive at the time they take their test? The wide variation in pass rates (up to 60% in some places, as low as 35% in others) also tells you that something isn't quite right with the system. I actually think it's somewhat of an insult to the majority of driving instructors, as they're simply preparing people to drive the DSA way for a test, rather than for driving in reality.


Since when? There's no requirement for a driver to do anything but drive on single carriageway roads - and certainly no requirement for them to drive at night, in heavy rain, etc. It's perfectly possible for someone to start learning at the beginning of summer, only drive in the sunshine and on single carriageway roads, and never have to experience heavy traffic at 70mph in the rain. How on earth can they be 'fit to drive' if they never have?


Who defines competent? I know someone who was failed for 'hesitating too much' - surely it's better she waits until she knows it is safe? I can understand if she wasn't getting up to speed - but the fail came from waiting for a couple of minutes at a stupidly busy roundabout where the only option was to either throw the car forward or wait.

And no, I've never sat the test in the UK - never needed to. But I can drive fairly well, and I'm supposedly at 'test standard' - but I can tell you that I don't think I am. For a start, I'm a poor night driver, and I'm not completely confident at 70mph on the dual carriageway. For those reasons alone, why on earth should I be able to pass a test and drive big powerful cars?

The UK system is just a lottery, really.

Law / Polish EU Drivers Licence - can I get one the easy way (by paying for it)? [185]


Which is dreadful, because the driving required to pass the test (particularly in the UK) bears little relevance to safe everyday driving. The other part that makes it so ridiculous is that the DSA's examiners quite clearly have a motive not to pass everyone - if they do, then there's a need for less examiners and thus redundancy. I don't believe for one second that there's any real consistency with the system.

I only wish for the EU to move towards a system of comprehensive driver training rather than a 'one test' solution - how can it be logical that a driver in the UK can apply for a provisional, then pass a test without being able to drive in a wide range of conditions?

The Polish system seems to be great in the respect that you're required to be fully trained before sitting a test - but in my opinion, it would make far more sense to remove the test and simply require a driver to be proficient in all aspects of operating a car. This could be indepdendently checked on a spot check basis - maybe 5% of all new licences would be expected to demonstrate that they are fully in charge of a car in a variety of surrounding before being allowed to drive. Not an exam, but rather a simple trial drive to ensure that they can handle it.