Are you teaching English in Poland?

Yeah but I think it should only be used as an introduction to English, which it is very good at doing and should be left and moved on to something else after stage 7.

Stage 10, 11 and 12 are just a joke and I refused to teach them and turned the lesson into a more spontaneous conversation lesson, which went down very well after months of callan.

I've known some real characters that taught it well and didn't get bored after a year. It's a good entry school and is very direct. It will boost ur confidence in front of people.

I enjoyed my return to traditional teaching through Profi. On to Empik next, a new challenge. Britam will be fun.

Do you still enjoy teaching Seanus? Because after eight years of it so tired of it now, and coming in at 8pm at night I was finding I missed my daughter and didn't see her awake for days at a stretch. That's why I gave up in the evenings and only teach in the mornings now.

I just talked to the Profi school in Poznan.

As a rule all the schools I have talked to seem excited. I have not had much response back though.

Teaching can be laborious, it just depends on the mood. I have been teaching for 6 years now so I'm not far behind u. Any method can be the same. NOVA in Japan got tedious fast but teaching was secondary. Being in Japan was the buzz.

Here, it's my GF who is keeping the motivation levels high. I'm still teaching fine but without the passion that I once had.

Dear Seanus

For the record, you didn't help to write Avalon. If you had, we would remember! Speed school in Gliwice (and their branches in Opole, Wroclaw, Tychy, Bielsko-Biawa, and soon Krakow and Katowice) uses the Avalon method, written at Avalon school in London.

As far as Avalon London is concerned, a degree is of little importance. It's teaching ability that counts. But each of our overseas partners sets its own rules for recruitment.

Hope that clears up the confusion.
Andrew Day, Principal, Avalon School of English, London

hmmm, what are the odds that some guy from a london method school would be on this board reading this thread and responding to it? hmmm what's the connection?

I'm gonna take mr. day's appearance and denial as confirmation that seanus probably did unwittingly contribute to this guy's repackaged (and watered down) version of callan.

I'd advise any would be teachers against working for speed callan/avalon schools or profi schools. there's a lot of shady book keeping done with those organizations.

I tend to agree, although I did check his name out link but that doesn't prove anything really.

Maybe someone said something, after all there are many English teachers that come to these forums, you never know......and being a guest and a one-off post it makes you think.

Andrew, I heard quite a lot of negative feedback regarding a recent training session in Warsaw, especially the use of inappropriate anecdotes.

Your new Director of Marketing might like to address that

Topic not really attached on merging: Are you teaching Scots in Poland?

What kind of accents do your students emerge with?

Aye wee laddie. We'll they be walking away with broad Scottish drawl tinged with a mighty fine sahf London twang. To be sure to be sure begorrah de noo. Innit

Jeezus, you watched too many Lassie films when you was a kid

Aye. And cried in every one

I leave for Wroclaw on the 25th. Has anyone taken the CELTA class there? What can I expect? Is there anything I can prepare for?

A lot of people say it's an intensive course. Some people can't hack it. Don't plan on an overly active social life for a month

ezinearticles.com/?12-Helpful-Tips-to-Pass-the-CELTA-or-TEFL-Teaching-Preparation-Course&id=206334

12 tips to pass the CELTA

The instructor gave a few reasons for people not passing.

1. to much partying
2. not passing 3 of 4 written assignments

I was told most people get a Pass.
1 or 2 get a Pass B
and rarely someone will get a Pass A
usually 1 person fails.

I guess that does not count people who drop out.

Any other hints?

I got a tefl certificate and i teach callan....for 3 years now yawn lol
I give private lesson of conversation which i ask 60pln an hours.
the "callan schools" offer me between 30 and 40pln.
I teach in Koscian, Srem and Czempin.

I used to teach in companies but since the world market is quite bad i lost all my classes.

callan question "Which would you rather lose an arm or a leg?"

I heard through the grapevine that a meeting was convened to drive down the wages for teachers but, thankfully, the participants didn't go in for it. Other salaries go up so so does ZUS. I'll be damned if I get a pay cut, I accepted a low enough rate as it is.

Groups cancelling on you is another ballache.

I'm not going to work for any lower then I do. My owner has been good and bad. He keeps making more so I want more.

Well, it doesn't work that way unfortunately. They find ways of justifying those profit margins and keeping it for themselves. Look at trends, teachers actually lost money whereas average incomes went up.

Inflation rose and we suffered.

Mar 18, 10, 23:54 - Thread attached on merging:
Teaching English

I am an American Student and I want to come to Poland to teach English, does anyone know anything about this?

I hope yOu aren't an AA.

Get qualified before you start taking people's money for lessons.

Otherwise you'll:

a) struggle to do it well - do you understand absolute basic heuristics like PPP or TBSL? What's the difference between stative and dynamic verbs? What are the rules for mixed conditionals?

b) be disappointing to people who are paying for a teacher rather than a student
c) earn very little - certainly no more that $1000 and probably MUCH less
d) work at the bottom end of the market and be at the mercy of the dodgiest and nastiest Polish employers
e) undercut and undermine people who do it as a profession

Check out ESL cafe - they have a good Poland section.

Learn English grammar while you are at it. I know you can use it, but can you explain it to students?

Also, find out a little about British grammar/spelling/vocab, as many potential students might have been taught BritEng.

I remember a rather bemused American teacher, who was teaching students for Cambridge exams, asking, "Do you british REALLY have a difference between the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous?"

Yeah, of course we do. I always teach that, with the present perfect simple, we think about action completed to date and the experience under our belts, e.g I've been a teacher for 8 years. In such an example, we think about the accumulated exp of being a teacher. With the pres perf cont we think more about the continuous time aspect, e.g I've been teaching for 8 years (and I'm still teaching). You are still teaching in the simple tense but there is less emphasis on it.

It depends on the verb you use really. Think about that and you will see what I mean.

And it's worth saying - teach to your strengths, not your weaknesses. There's little to no point taking a job where you have to teach beginners if you don't have patience, or likewise, no point taking a job where you have to teach Business English if you don't religiously read about the subject. I teach Business English part time, and I have to put in a solid session of reading every single day - if I don't know what's going on, then I can't teach it effectively. And with it, I need to know the differences between American and British terminology.

I'd also drop any idea of doing this if you're doing this just for "girls n beer" - too many people are chasing the same thing. Turning up at work with a hangover just isn't the done thing - and missing classes because you're still drunk is asking to be sacked.

And for the love of God, comply with immigration regulations.

Geez, you'd be a hit in Aberdeen City Council, delph ;) ;)

Seriously though, don't brush up too much on Business English. I did a degree in Management (joint undergrad with Law) and I rue the fact that I taught Mickey Mouse stuff. Business pros need tailor-made lessons. Should you get contracts with them, customise your lessons to their requirements and just make out that you covered the haphazard crap that some books demand.

Delph is right to say that you need a grounding, it's the same in MMA, chess or whatever else you care to mention. However, don't waste their money. Be a conscious teacher, be true to the teaching process and wheel out good lessons that can benefit your learners. Never forget who pays your way :)

Bah, ACC wouldn't hire me, they'd just get me in as an extremely overpriced consultant ;)

I was actually reading the other day about how much money is wasted in the UK through councils making highly paid people redundant - only to hire the same people back as consultants!


I actually found a fantastic book - Business English Handbook (advanced) by Paul Emmerson, published by Macmillian. It's an absolutely spot on, brilliant book - I'd go so far and say that it was equal to Murphy in terms of being definitive.

But of course - if you turn up to teach some high powered, demanding Business guy, only to be caught with your lack of knowledge of English grammar, you can forget it.

True enough. Interpersonal compatibility is often as important as what you know, though. Some students of mine I could have strangled and I even told one that if he didn't improve his attitude, he could look for another teacher. I don't do time wasters.

Some people here are too eazy-oazy. There is often an extreme between the bumblers and the stressheads. There is a happy medium, though :)

Oh, a caveat for would-be teachers. Check your contracts with a fine-toothed comb. If you do 45-min and 60-min classes like I do, make sure and get a different rate for both.