Teaching English in Poland - better opportunities for an American?

Hey all. I'm an American who currently teaches English at a kindergarten in Moscow. I use the term 'kindergarten' loosely because it's more like a ****** daycare for rich people. Not entirely sure if I've picked the wrong career or if this school just sucks, but whatever the case, I'm looking for greener pastures.

I lived in Poland as a child and have always thought of going back. I've even toyed around with the idea that I might try becoming a citizen, although I'm not sure how feasible that is considering I'm not fluent in Polish (yet). It's also been awhile since I've been there, so I could definitely be jumping the gun on that one... For now, I just want to get back and see what happens. I've read a lot of bad about the TEFL scene in Poland, but I still want to hear from people who currently work there. What are some good schools to apply to? I'm not seeing a lot of job listings out there, and I'm trying to avoid places like York School of English and the rest of their ilk. I'm not opposed to working in smaller or rural areas either. I used to live in Czestochowa and am wondering if anyone's worked there before?

Your advice is appreciated!

@robyng

That ship sailed years ago. Americans have had a hard go of entering the English teaching field in Poland ever since Poland joined the EU. Teachers from the UK and Ireland do not need visas and work permits, and do not have to be hired on full-time work contracts. Few employers are now willing to jump through those hoops for an American nowadays. It's quite a hassle, and I don't blame them for not wanting to deal with it.

There are also plenty of Americans who already have permanent residence in Poland to cover whatever American-specific jobs arise. Permanent residents don't need work permits either.

Wages have largely stagnated over the last twelve years. They have not rebounded since the recession hit, and are not so appealing to young Americans anymore, as they have not kept pace with inflation. And cushy jobs go to those from the UK and Ireland or to Americans already on the ground long before you would ever hear of them.

The golden age is long past. Definitely for Americans. And not just in Poland, but just about anywhere in the EU.

If there are any "greener pastures" left, they are probably in Asia. But since I know nothing about that market, don't take that as a recommendation. My recommendation would be to forget about TEFL altogether, and school up for a real career with a real future.

Based upon with what I've kept up in the field, through colleagues presently teaching in Poland, France, Germany etc. DominicB is unfortunately right on point.

A youngish man from New York, of Polish descent and fluent in Polish, confessed to me of late that not only is he the SOLE Yank in the crowd where he's teaching (somewhere in the capital, but wouldn't disclose the name of the institution), but the sole native English speaker as well. If he's being truthful, there are zero Anglophones in the bunch, rather, fellow instructors from Vienna, Hamburg, Stockholm, a student intern TA (Teaching Ass't) from Paris and that's pretty much it.

The international mélange of Globish actually hurts his ears, so he texted:-)

That`s sad. I even heard Americans can`t travel to Europe right now.


Yes, I heard that native English speakers can immediately find a teaching job in China or Vietnam. But that was a few years ago so it could have changed.

to teach english in Poland in like a school or if you dont know people who will refularly go to you under the twble or pay you tax free you pretty much have to be a linguist they expect you to know **** like this by heart wnd actually be able to esplain it at the drop of a hat to polish people:

forum.english.best/t/has-occurred-vs-had-occurred/16850/4

They expect you to know English to teach English? Ridiculous!!!
ROFL

wtf r u on about? I know better english as I grew up in America than any of you Polish born peasants. What I was getting wt is they expect you to be a linguist and not just know English or ne able to explain basic things. thats what I meant. I mean stuff thwt pure red blooded Americans dont even know or think about. thats what I meant. I mean aruff even california college professors may not know or remember off heart. btw there is actually a profession called being a linguist and it is much more appealing and should in theory have better pay than freaking teaching english to morons in communistic style of memorization in Poland. most linguists are not going to do that as they are not liberal arts or teaching degrees.

Yes, but now they increasingly want ESL, TOEFL etc certificates. Still though, the pay is pretty damn good in places like China, S. Korea, etc. since you're getting like $50k USD a year to start but all your expenses are taken care of. Vietnam doesn't pay ****.

China imo is the best place to teach for a white American. They still have the old school hiring practices where if you're a good looking white guy or girl and speak native English you'll get the job a lot quicker than say a Nigerian with tons of certifications and degrees.

What I meant is they test you before hiring you if you are like a linguist if you can distinguish between some first or third conditionals or even know whwt such bullshit means off tje drop of your head like anyone but linguists would even remember that stuff or know it or care.

Really genius? Wow, you expanded my horizons LOL


Kids in Polish high school would tell you the difference between has occurred and had occurred. How did you expect to teach kids that know more than you do?

I really doubt it listen to any Polish person talke ven on professional news channels like youtubes poland in. Without your little books or teachers you cant even make basic sentences in English or be co orehensible to any American real american like me. you can know all of your little laws or differences but people in us dont care about thwt crap when they talk and fact is no one in real life in America talks like thwt textbook english they teach you or even says had moron. trust me your rules of linguistics are not the real world and judging by how bad polish people speak english at conferences or youtube news channels your outdated teachings dont work. you sound like russians really.

even the nazi dick diggler will tell you nobody in us uses that crap or talks like that or says I had went to the doctor or any of that crap being taught in Poland. I know practicallanguage or english something your books dont.

Well of course they're going to test you to see if you're qualified for the job, especially at a more respectable school... You can't just go into a place and say hey I'm a native speaker, hire me, without any background or certifications in teaching, English, etc.. And even if they were that desperate for a teacher that they'd consider hiring a native speaker without any teaching experience or English degrees, they'd want to know that you at least comprehend English grammar.

And conditionals have nothing to do with linguistics, that's a part of grammar. Linguists study things like sounds, language patterns, etc. and how they relate to history, society, etc. It's a lot more complex than conditionals or other grammar rules. The reason why they asked about conditionals is because English grammar a lot different than Polish.

The point is, if they're going to hire an English speaker they're going to hire someone who actually speaks, writes, and more importantly knows how to teach proper English, not slang.

well according to her polish kids and people must be geniuses for knowing worthless bookworm english lol even american kids wouldnt know or be able to name offhand without looking it up on wikipedia or something and only maybe linguists would know. but hey this elitism is the reason why allegro tech is a joke 50 yrs behind amazon and why the latest cyberpunk game sucks lol despite being hyped as this great polish venture into gaming.

And even though they are all so lame they still don't want to hire your sorry as*. Tough :)


Obviously he didn't even look through textbook or he would have known kids are being taught stuff like that

That's because average American kids are stupid. It's not by accident that the US education system consistently ranks in 20th and 30th places every year, far below even Poland's. You have inner city high schools where literally everyone is performing at a 4th grade level.


and yet millions of people use allegro and CD Projekt is worth over a billion zloty so they're doing something right

Fortunately, you aren`t really American but Polish American. That`s a huge difference, that is why you certainly excelled at school.

I should hope not - the correct grammar is 'I had gone'. Unfortunately Americans do say 'I had went' as some standard American grammar is basically incorrect, probably as a result of old usages dating back to the 17th century from the original settlers.

@ Dirk Diggler, I'm always gobsmacked when I hear you actually talking sense. It's one of those rare occasions on which I find myself in agreement with you.

Lol nothing Poland produces is worth anything and they cant even pronounce or speak English properly there despite learning it 10 yrs what a joke of a country no wonder Americans call them stupid. have you even listened to the way they talk on TV or in conferences? it sounds like a child talking trying to learn English. so obviously their books or whatever they use to learn the language is a joke and probably based on old Germanic English or rules no one uses like ai said or even talks like that. so laugh at me all you want when it is you and your country that is a joke and it is known worldwide no one talks like that anymore like ur books teach you. its not slang but language simply changing itself overtime over the **** you teach over there.


no actually i was the one who made sense and you just proved it right there by agreeing with me. and they never say ihad went anyway you moron they say i went or I was at the doctor earlier. hence why just a moron and an elitist like these pollacks u love. name me one thing they produced or are known to produce outside of Poland worth anything?

again if their little books work so well why cant they speak it or pronounce words correctly if spending that time memorizing linguistic works so well for them? You dont even know how Americans talk BTW or u.s. English.

nobody learns from grammar rules, they dont work. Its been proven people only learn languages by actually conversating with the locals. plus grammar rules are constantly broken and its a waste of time trying to memorize them and the times they are broken. Only memorizing words like nouns or verbs is worth anything everything else should be just absorbed naturally over long periods of time actually speaking the language you moron. its the only way i and many others learned and those books they show you in Poland probably over 30 yrs old dont work.

" And even if they were that desperate for a teacher that they'd consider hiring a native speaker without any teaching experience or English degrees, they'd want to know that you at least comprehend English grammar."

actually no they want you to have it memorized by heart like a linguist you Nazi moron and not just comprehend it which anyone can do reading a freaking book moron or looking up Wikipedia having something memorized by heart which is what they want basically the entire English grammar rule structure of academia which doesn't teach anyone anything and comprehending it are i guess two diff things you have no idea about moron.

" and yet millions of people use allegro and CD Projekt is worth over a billion zloty so they're doing something right"

and now their stocks are crashing and those millions of people or investors you claim regret supporting a polish company lol what does it say about Poland when they can only produce one worldwide company on this scale that failed? maybe its the fact u.s. workers and people are much more productive due to them not being polish and having diversity and non whites or Asians and ppl of various ethnicities in game studios or producing things on a worldwide scale? or maybe its their ****** polish communism education system they are still so proud of based on memorization than actually learning anything?

And how many languages do you speak?
Your English is so sloppy it's barely coherent. How do you expect to be taken seriously when all you do is moan because you're still but* hurt that employers don't want to hire you. Get over it.

its just the truth. those books and grammar rules dont work its been proven in the first world by now thats not how people learn. thats all. and polish people cant speak proper English no matter how many yrs they try from those books. I don't want to be hired or work as an English teacher you are the one who suggested this. and my English is actually much better than any non u.s. or British born person in Poland, and any book learning Polish person no matter how many yrs they tried learning it.

and why would i be butt hurt working in Poland or Polish employers or polish way of thinking or their ****** pay and country when i dont even want to or have to work here? who the f wants to be in Poland when places like Berlin exist and the EU? plus even if i wonted to work in Poland or Polish companies since they are so far behind silicon valley and amazon i could just work for allegro tech. after all they are like 50 yrs behind and have no English translators even worth anything.

even if they did hire me or i would want that kind or job i would tell people to just throw out and burn all those polish to English Polish made language books or grammar rules books they have and actually listen to me. its the same thing real drug counselors do when taking on people in rehab they tell the. to throw away all that academia **** and listen in an AA meeting because you cant become sober from a book or from someone who has not lived there or been there (like me in America most of my love) telling you how it should be or how the language is supposed to be when correct.

Plus, with all those marketing companies in Warsaw and in Poland constantly marketing companies producing all the linkedin job ads why not just do that why the hell would anyone want to become a linguist or have old English grammar memorized by heart when all you have to do is join one of those polish marketing companies and produce text in English for copy or translate or do easy google ads? or just work online doing website writing copy writing for non Polish companies that dont pay in zlotys lol. I dont even want to or have to work doing anything full time nor have any work right now, as i got family in u.s. and savings. but if i had to id just do that.

or why learn and memorize all that crap and stupid rules no one uses when i could make more money fixing or editing college students English essays or papers or work tax free under the table in fixing or creating resumes for people who want to get out of this god forsaken country and apply like in the us or England for jobs using a well written resume?