The qualifications for teachers in Poland?

No, teaching grammar is not playing second fiddle but I think that being a native speaker and being used to just teach conversation is. I have never been a teacher of English overseas so hence otherwise I have no experience of term and conditions.

Good posting by Harry. Explaining the duration form in Polish is an exercise in futility. I explained it concisely to an intermediate student IN ENGLISH and she picked it up really quickly. I saw her translations and they were as close as possible to expressing it, only because we really worked on it. U can express continuous time in Polish, e.g robiłem, I was doing as opposed to zrobiłem, I did. However, they only have 3 main tenses.

Is it not really a very boring job being a teacher of English in Poland? Every day the same old thing and the same old boring grammar over and over again. I know someone who went to Poland and worked for target in Warsaw. He was promised a flat and it turned out to be a settee in someone's living room! It is an unskilled job, which receives zero points on the Australian immigration lists. Not for me at all. I hope that my boy will get a skill and a new life 'down under', I think if he ever thought of working in Poland as an EFL teacher, I would lock him up in a small room for his own sanity!

It depends!! In Speed, I had the opportunity to do interesting conversations on all manner of things. The variety of themes and things that I teach now keeps the interest factor reasonably high. I think u'd be amazed at just how the TEFL industry has changed Michał. I get to teach Business English and teach CPE to certain groups. I also have a conversation group where we discuss the articles of the day. So, in conclusion, the diversity is very much in evidence. My job in Japan was more numbing given that we only worked from a handful of books and had little choice what lesson to do given the fact that the students had done them b4. There was VOICE there tho (convo room). If u want any further clarification as to how I c the TEFL world, please don't hesitate to ask.

That is exactly what I meant in my post. The question is how you get a student to that intermediate level before s/he has no English skills at all.

Generations of Poles have been taught English solely by Polish teachers. Little contact was possible with native speakers of English, and yet, those who really wanted to learn did achieve the goal.

In my English philology group there were only two persons (out of 51) who had any contact with live English to speak of. One was a daughter of some diplomat. Her English was great, she did well in general too. Another one was a girl who had a Canadian high school diploma. After 4 years in Canada her English was atrocious, and so were her general standings at the university.

The rest were people who had their 4 years of high school English (taught by Poles). Some took private classes (taught by Poles). Most subjects in the English philology department were taught in English (many by Americans and Brits), so obviously, we did have more than jus basic understanding of the language.

I was 15 when I first met full blooded Brits. They had no problem understanding me at all.. I had major problems understanding Scotts, and sometimes Englanders. Irish accent wasn’t too bad. Funny, but it follows a jig so it's easy to catch up with. :) All I had behind my belt was 2 years of after school classes (in grade 2 and 3) taught by a Polish person, and then taught myself from books and LPs (anyone remembers those?). I am aware of some grammatical errors I make, and I do bring a smile on my daughter's face when I apparently botch some of the words, but I like to think that I am a competent speaker of English.

Also, there are some background issues which may help (or not).
Why do some people learn the language? What level are they intending to attain? What general language skills do they already have? Do they speak any other foreign languages? Above all, are they motivated? Who are the teachers? Are they some of those “one year gig in Japan” types, or are they genuinely interested in teaching?

There is no escaping native speakers if one wants to reach levels (much) higher than buying a loaf of bread in London, but in my experience the first steps are best taken under the care of a person who speaks the learner’s native language.

Harry mentioned things such as teachers coming to class after a few drinks, or not having English skills themselves (but pronunciation, poor grammar etc). I’d say we could find plenty of such undesirable individuals also among native speakers of English. So for the purpose of this discussion, I think it would be best to speak of competent and dedicated teachers – whether they are native speakers or not.

The point about putting grammar into the context of the mother tongue is important, in particular if you are working with people who will need to switch between languages quickly (e.g. business people negotiating in English but not wanting to show their hand to the other side so conducting conversations between themselves in their mother tongue or people who regularly have to translate and/or proof read texts from their mother tongue to English).

To dismiss dual-teaching completely is a folly and in certain situations it works very well in my experience.

I taught pre-intermediate to advanced English to middle management and senior management in major Slovak companies.

You missed my point: I meant that it is usually the native speaker teachers who turn up drunk (I've never heard of a Polish teacher doing that).


Why does a need to switch between languages require the ability to think about English grammar in Polish? What kind of dumb-f*ck business person is going to assume that other people can't understand him when doing an important deal? How often do you teach translators and why does translating require the ability to think about English grammar in Polish?


In certain, very limited, situations it can work well. But most of the time it doesn't work well for the students or the teachers, of course it does work well for the schools and that's the whole point of it!

Wouldn't that then mean that given a choice, a teacher fluent in the student's native tongue would be a better choice for the beginners?

After all, once you reach the intermediate level, who needs a teacher at all if learning a language is really an individual effort.

Quite right: Polish-speaking teachers do tend to be better at teaching beginners. But native-speakers of English tend to be better at higher levels, so it kind of balances out.


It requires individual effort but it is not solely an individual effort: learners need to practise and that's impossible to do by yourself!

Hello all!

I was talking with my Angel about all this last night. The only way I can think to be near her is to move to Poland. She thinks I would be a great teacher.

Im glad that you mentioned business communications. My back ground is business, mostly sales, marketing and computers not teaching. I do have a degree in business. My idea after getting certified is to concentrate on teaching business English. Is this a good avenue to persue?

Questions
What skills are nessesary to be a good teacher in Poland?
What holes are there education wise in the cert process?
Once I have my cert and my passport, what are the next steps?

You do not require any certificate to teach English in Poland. There is not 'official' certificate that is recognized anywhere. It is not obligatory.

I honestly can't dispute that because I never had intermediate to advanced teachers of English language who were native speakers. I was taught by Poles. See this website (elc.uni.wroc.pl) sponsored by British Council. They also deal with advanced English (for university profs and such) and Cambridge certifications. I think only one of the teachers is a native Brit. The director of the organization (Marian Zamorski) was my teacher.


To me real life was practice. Indeed there were people around but they were no teachers per se. Just full immersion.

If things haven't changed, then yes, very much so.

This is true, but.... it does help open a few more doors, and will look better on your CV.

I need the frame work to know what to do.

The skill which most schools really want is reliability. They need to know that you will turn up to classes on time, every time, sober and not hung-over, ready to teach and apparantly prepared for the class. They need to know that you will not annoy the students


Not sure what you mean by that. Can you explain?


Go to the city where you want to live. Write your CV up, print out 50 copies, put on an ironed shirt and a tie, go round all the schools in the city and drop off your CV, answer the phone when it rings, pick the best offers and work for those schools.


Yes, but if you don't have a CELTA or Trinity Cert TESOL, you won't even get an interview at the better schools because PASE and EAQUALS both require that certification as a minimum for all teachers.

Loads of native speakers teach here with nothing but that ability...the 'professional' English teachers like to get their pants in a wad about certificates and all but as long as you are intelligent and know your language you can do the job. It does not require a Master's degree to teach at the level most Poles need/want to learn.

You will find the full-time English teachers are a very closed and jealous bunch....they hate freelancers as they take business away from them and irritates them that they spent so much time and money getting certificates and degrees then you earn the same or more than they do.

Again what is important is being able to speak properly, clearly and to be able to explain things to people in a way they can understand...meaning if the first way doesn't work come up with another...flexibility is key as people learn in different ways.

Also beware of all the schools as they will make promises about visas/pay/schedules and will always break those promises. Go freelance and you have control and earn more.

Go to website of International House Krakow, International House Wroclaw and ELS Bell Warsaw, fill in the forms there, get a place on a CELTA course, do the course, get a job.

Not really rocket science.


Does being able to get drunk and fall over mean that you can teach biology, physics and chemistry? Being able to do something well is not the same as knowing how to teach it (or even knowing it well enough to teach it). Teaching EFL in Poland does not require a Master’s but it does require some training. If you doubt that fact, just say to the students before your first lesson “I’ve never taught before and have absolutely no training at all. You have all paid for this, haven’t you?”


Rubbish. Or at least it is here in Warsaw. There’s plenty of work for everybody!

I manage fine and my students are happy...so do my friends and their students are happy as well....I did start with no training at all except a command of my native language...worked great!

Simply taking a course doesn't mean you will know how or be able to teach either...and the drunk comment is not at all connected logically with what I said...it was just an attempt to dramatize your point.

There IS plenty of work but the people who have chosen to try and make a career out of a job get a bit offended when I make the same or more than them and didn't bother to fluff it up to do so.

My students say the "school teachers" focus too much on didactic nonsense and not enough on practical usage...they don't care about your degree...just your ability...and the two are not mutually exclusive.

So without any training at all you were able to explain the difference between past simple and present perfect simple and teach your students when to use which of the two?

Yeah, right, sure you were. Just like you were able to instinctively explain the six types of conditionals and which grammatical structures were used in each.

If you haven't learned at least a little about how to teach and how English works, there's no way you will pass a CELTA. As you'd know if you'd ever taken a CELTA.

I am dependable and I don't drink.

Am I the best at grammer and structure, No. However, I have time to review. My strengths lay in oral communication, creativity and diverse knowledge.

Ahahaha Harry my boy...do you think thats the best way to teach English? To start out bombarding them with complex grammar rules? Man you did drink the Kool-Aid brother...I don't need the CELTA...that's my whole point. Too many students can recite rules out the whazoo but they cannot COMMUNICATE in the language...imagine that.

I am intelligent enough to do research and learn the technicalities that need to be taught. You do not need a CELTA course to know/learn English grammar. I KNOW how English works because I am an educated native speaker of the language...did YOU need a special class to teach you how to speak after all those years of school? Well...somebody had to ride the short bus...think of all those short bus drivers who would be out of jobs if not...

You are exactly the kind of teacher I am speaking of...a little too pretentious for your own good.

You'll do just fine. Get a CELTA done and then start taking you CV to schools: a job is a certainty.


I think that a teacher who does know anything about grammar has no business charging students money for ‘teaching’ them. Run ‘conversation classes’ but don’t pretend to be a teacher unless all your students know you have no qualifications at all.


You might think that you don’t need the CELTA but ask students “Would you like a qualified teacher or a teacher with no qualifications at all?” and see what they say


So explain the difference between present perfect simple and past simple. Right now.


Apparently not educated enough to know how many dots are used in an ellipsis.


Excellent to see you sinking to the level of personal abuse, nothing better shows that a poster has not only lost the argument and knows that they have lost it too.


Firstly, I’m not a teacher, which does kind of blow a hole in your otherwise excellent character sketch of me. Secondly, if it is pretentious to think that people should know how to do something before they charge other people money to do that thing, I must indeed be pretentious.

On the plus side, seeing how you, boy, are neither intelligent nor educated enough to work out how to be your paperwork in order here, with a bit of luck you won’t be polluting Warsaw for much longer. At least then you can do something to improve the average quality of EFL teaching in Poland: leave Poland. Bye bye boy!

Lowfunk,

If you can speak without sounding like a fool you can get a job here without that silly paper. I had offer after offer from schools just based on the fact I am a native speaker.

Harry sweet Harry,

Oooh an ellipsis with two dots the world is ending and that is definitive proof of my intelligence...are you high?

You are angry because you know I am right. You are feeling the reality that you wasted a lot of time and effort making something way more complicated than it needs to be. The students I know care more about results and ability than a piece of paper. Paper does not make one an educator.

"Explain the difference RIGHT NOW!" What are you...12? Double dog daring me and such? Haha...you are funny old chap.

As for your pathetic attempt at an insult I know full well how to get my paperwork sorted I just don't want to jump through the hoops and hoped there was a better way...that makes me neither unintelligent nor uneducated Harry my boy.

I would also like to know how you with a clean conscience can berate me for personal abuse and then engage in it yourself?

You are pretentious because you think it is necessary to have a pretentious piece of paper in order to be a good educator...it is simply not and you can rant all you want about it it changes nothing. Tattoo that certificate on your chest since it means so much to you...anyone with the cash can get it however so you may not be the only one with such creative ink.

I don't blame you however...I would be upset too if someone was making as much as me doing the same thing and didn't jump through all the hoops I did. Kind of makes you feel a bit underappreciated eh?

Cheers mate!

i have noticed over the years that people with CELTAs frequently view all other qualifications as secondary - is this a view you hold or do you see equal merit in other certifications, TCL and TIs cert TESOL as the 2 other market leaders for example


its apparent that the CELTA is not needed to find teaching work in poland although arguably it might get you the 'better' job. do you see any merit in 'lesser' certifications - perhaps a weekend or online course - as an advisable starting point for people considering teaching english?

Bubba I think any course will certainly add to your knowledge at least a little...whether you can translate that into teaching ability depends entirely on the person. I am not bashing the CELTA course...only the attitude it's graduates tend to display. They normally (like Harry) tend to come off a bit smug and superior and think their certificate makes them teachers...reminds me of Scientology ;) Harry's reaction here has proven the sniping nature of English teachers I mentioned before. They are very territorial and pretentious normally.

I teach privately and make more than any school here would pay unless you were a director in some university program.

It truly is all about the individual, their proficiency in communicating in English and their ability to present that info in a way the various types of learners can understand.

If they can understand my Motor City mid-west speaking I should do fine. Speaking has never been an issue. I do ok as long as i don't rush and remember to breath.

What about getting the TESOL and some experience then taking the CELTA once I have some experience.

How much can you make teaching privately?

I think you folks are arguing for nothing. There are many pathways to enlightenment.

Surely both are one of the same thing. Both courses are a one month intensive course. I have never heard of someone doing both courses as it is just repetition. Rather like doing G.C.S.E. English through Manchester Board just then to do the whole thing again through London University. To me, it is idiotic to do the same course twice. My friend did CELTA and worked freelance in Warsaw as a teacher of English. His dream was to find his 'pani' and settle down in Poland and even buy a house. He found his 'pani' and they even came to England on holiday before it was decided that she was going back to Poland on her own and that was to be the end of their relationship. A big shame. Now he travels around england fixing cash desks. Quite a nice girl, who could even understand my polish!

TESOl and CELTA are two different qualifications. sure, ostensibly there are many similarities but they represent two different approaches to teaching english

No, they are very much the same thing. Both are courses to teacher people to teach English in private schools. As far as I know, each requires six hours of observed teaching practice in the classroom with observation of teachers too. Grammar is the same and even the lesson planning is the same PPP-presentation, practice performance? Same old thing however you look at it.