IH school Krakow

Hi, I'm chris, from Reading in England (where we have a sizeable Polish community). I am thinking of taking a career break later this year to undertake a CELTA course at the IH school in Krakow.

Is there anyone here who has studied or taught there?

Once qualified, what are the chances of being offered a job there, or elsewhere in Poland?

What's the latest on salaries in krakow and in smaller towns, and Whats the cost of renting an apartment compared to how much i could earn?

I could also teach medical and legal english, so is there any chance of doing private lessons for extra cash?

Thanks for your help.

chris

Haven't taught there myself, but I know it well. There should be an excellent chance of work, if not there, then somewhere just as good or better. It's very easy to find work around Poland - small and medium-sized towns usually have schools that are gasping for teachers, in Warsaw/Kraków they increasingly prefer people with experience, but you should still be able to find a job there.

I don't know much about the going rate in Kraków etc., but in Warsaw a 'virgin' teacher, fresh from CELTA should expect 3000pln upwards (net - at that wage level, and for new teachers, there may well be accommodation thrown in. IH often do that). IH are notoriously bad payers, but usually fix accommodation and give excellent in-house training and teacher development which appeals to some people.

If the school-owner is Polish, they may try and pay you 'on the black' without tax. Don't go for that - now Poland is in the EU, either you or they or both will be caught some day. The Polish tax office are getting increasingly tough on language schools, and can get back tax off you even after you've returned to the UK. Unfortunately.

Some people (usually in out of the way places) get about 2500pln plus cheap or free accommodation. It should be very possible to live on that, especially if you're not a high-roller and get some private lessons which are usually easy enough to find. There are people in bigger places getting not much more than that, though those who stay generally wise up after a while! Most teachers get plenty of offerss ofprivates, and language schools somewhere are usually recruiting.

Teaching medical/legal English is very specialised, and most law firms/doctors who need it tend to go to an established provider (not least because they would want an invoice, which a teacher working on the side can't give). But privates are easy to get. Remember the amount would vary depending on where you are.

Being in small-town Poland can be very rewarding, if you don't mind being a bit isolated. There are expat communities in big cities, but there's something special about spending a couple of semesters in the back of beyond. Kraków is awash with native-speaker teachers and people from all over the world chasing teaching work. This depresses the wages and makes really good work a bit harder to find. IH usually want people at their branches in South West Poland, and the franchise that runs them is quite well thought of. Not all IH franchises have the same good reputation.

You should check out the job forums on Dave's ESL cafe which has quite a bit of specific information. Remember, there are a heck of a lot of language schools and teachers, and the market is changing all the time, particularly with regard to wages in different places and the legality of including accommodation.

And by the way, whenever a teacher or ex-teacher mentions salary levels on an internet forum, there's usually somebody who says the amount they've mentioned is either way too high or way too low. Poland is a big market, lots of towns, schools, teachers, payment methods etc. I'm just speaking from my own experience.

International House is a total con and you should steer well clear of this organization. International House makes a lot of money by running English Language classes all taught by student teachers. This brings in lots of money for International House as students of English pay money for the privilege of these so called lessons and the English Language Student Teachers are also paying for the privilege. It is not good and I would not recommend either International House or a TESOL job in the first place. You can get a job teaching the English Language without any sort of training whatsoever. If you want to live in Poland and live on a hundred pounds a month so well be it but I think its just exploitation. Members of the Polish youth can be very rude in class too.

That is absolute rubbish. International House does run teacher training courses but those lessons are free to students.

However, International House are one of the worst paying schools in Poland (standard pay is about 2250zl or 1500zl if they pay for your apartment) and for that reason they should be avoided like the plague.

They certainly used to because once, a long time ago, I even went to London, to International House in London's Piccadilly for an interview. In those days they ran the Preparatory certificate, as it was called in those days of the Royal society of Arts. I think it has since amalgamated and is now called CELTA. I am certain that in my time International House ran TESOL courses and that if you got a grade B then you were classified as immediately employable by International House around the World.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm a bit worried about working at IH now! Would it still be good to do the CELTA course there, then look for work at another school elsewhere in Poland?
Does anyone know of any good, reputable schools elsewhere, say Gdansk...not fussy really, where i could do the course and work afterwards?

Thanks for your time.

chris.

None that I know of here in Gdansk. Bell offers CELTA courses in Warsaw during the summer. One thing about CELTA: it's a CELTA wherever you get it. We've got teachers at my school who have done the course in a lot of countries. Good luck.

If you check on availability on the internet you could book a place and do it overseas in Barcelona in Spain or even in Prague in the Czech Republic. You may find it a little cheaper that way too and have the bonus of experiencing life overseas at the same time. Who knows, you may even get offered a job by the course provider after the course ends.

Do the CELTA at IH (either Krakow or Wroclaw) and then look for work elsewhere. Gdansk has nowhere which offers the CELTA and isn't a particularly good place to work because one of the bigger schools (Bell) insists on paying terrible wages and that tends to affect the going rate for teachers.

The trouble is that being a teacher of English overseas is that you are expected to work when others (the students) are free so you have to work in the late afternoon and evening. A pretty crap job altogether if you ask me!

I am wondering how much they pay teachers per hour ?
Is it possible to teach a few hours a week instead of full time ?
Also how much do these language companies charge their clients per hour for Language training?
They can't expect teachers to teach more than 20 hours a week and provide quality teaching , can they?

Fairly close to b*gger all. The standard weekly load is 20 clock hours plus 1.5 hours of standby/cover teaching plus 1.5 hours of meetings. 23 hours a week = 92 hours a month, so it'll be 2150zl divided by 92 = 23zl/hour.

Yes it is but don't bother doing it for IH: you will earn far more at other schools.

Lots. Here in Warsaw a good language school will charge a company between 80zl and 100zl for a 45 minute lesson.

They're making too much money to care.

What are the opportunities in the Poznan & Zielona Gora areas?

does anyone know which schools in krakow are good and which ones to avoid, in terms of how they treat their staff, the pay, contracts etc?
cheers
katy

There are a few good schools in Krakow, but the pay is getting less and less. Most teachers i know earn around 1500pln - 2000pln. Because of the amount of Natives here who only want to work a few hours a week, schools can get away with paying peanuts. Considering the average rent for a 1 bedroom flat is around 1500, it can be hard going.