Mechanical design engineer, no Polish, will company like GE hire me?

Why? I'd imagine the cost of living is much higher in the UK.

in Warsaw at least I can tell you that so many English speaking expats are trying to make an easy buck doing proofreading on the side that there is not a whole lot of business available.

Try telling that to the course instructor after you fail because you assumed that teaching English is easy. Virtually anyone who has successfully passed the CELTA will tell you the same story - for a month, it was balls to the wall with pressure and stress. A friend of mine told me how one girl cracked after 2 weeks and quit the course in tears. Other people fail because they assume that weekends are drinking time and not studying time.

Perhaps you might want to consider the part where you have to actually get the business? Getting qualifications is one thing, but getting the work (and reputation) is a much harder job. Then there's the fact that you have to be completely familiar with the subject matter - anyone trying to 'blag it' will be found out pretty quickly.

As I understand it, a dictionary and thesaursus will only get you so far.

Where on earth did I say that I thought teaching English was easy and how on earth do you know what I would find difficult?? What do you know about me??

You will find that Harry seems to think teaching English is easy albeit compared to proofreading. I wouldn't say either are rocket science but I apologise if this offends you!

I think you missed my point.

I wouldn't even bother with the courses, because without a long list of clients you have already worked for, it's a difficult market to break into.

Let take a normal 300 page txt, how long do you think it would take, scanning every word, every punctuation, making sure the technical parts are spot on, checking that the grammar is fit and proper, and on and on.
Then you will be made to work within very small time scales, miss a deadline and kiss your ass goodbye. Another point is that larger firms will employ 2-3 different proofreaders, and from time to time the others will check on your work, another potential slip up.
Unlike teaching, which for me at least is the easiest thing in the world.

Calling Harry a condescending **** because of telling you bluntly that the CELTA is difficult for practically everyone was pretty offensive, I'd say.

What was your point? You replied with prices to the point that Harry made that proofreading is a difficult business to get into - which it is! Qualifications mean nothing in that particular game - though it might help, you still have to deliver the goods.

From everything I've heard, it's all about building up a reputation for being fast, reliable and accurate - but building that reputation from scratch is much easier said than done. I know at least personally, I'd take a personal recommendation over membership of some made-in-a-bedroom Society.

I can't imagine the English proofreading market is *that* big in Poland - and word spreads quickly!

300 words wouldn't take very long at all.

restaurant manager

300 page txt. PAGE.

All I can say is good luck to you. My only advice would be not to take the course.
Qualifications aren't the big thing in Teaching or proofreading, it's all about rep.
To have the big contracts you need to be able to walk before you run. I'm not saying this course isn't a great thing, I just have never heard of such a thing...and I do have relevant experience to back up what I say.
I am a team leader at Electrolux, creating and updating all their product manuals. Through that I have established contracts with some of the major international companies in Krakow. But that didn't come easy, for me to get them I've had to work damn hard teaching English for 5-6 years...with that came the rep, and after I never needed to apply for any job again.

So to cap up what i'm trying to say, start off teaching, get to know the language you use everyday, learn why we say somethings and not others in a certain way. And, if you are really enthusiastic about this, get in touch with me and I might be able to help you out starting. And that my friend is something worth thinking about.