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English native speaker without a teaching experience moved to Poland and got a job


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sebster  Jan 31, 12, 10:14    #1
i have just recently moved to poland and have been offered a native speaking job, i have no teaching experience but am very eager to learn, does anyone have any advice on what to do to be a success?
Chris1977Threads: 1
Posts: 7
Joined: Jan 31, 12 ♂ 		 Jan 31, 12, 10:25    #2
Teaching where?

With no qualifications or experience is it in a Callen or Direct method school? (if it is RUN) or are you teaching conversational classes?

To be a success in ESL teaching you need the two things we can't help you with and that's personality and confidence. Everything else will come with experience.

In order to really help you, you need to give more details. What type of school? what age group? will you be using a course book?, will you be responsible for creating your own resources? will the DoS create a curriculum for you to follow, will you be required to create lesson plans ect, the more details you give us the better the advise you will receive.
PushbikeThreads: 3
Posts: 65
Joined: Feb 15, 12 ♂ 		 Feb 15, 12, 17:27    #3
I would recommend enrolling on a Celta course. I have previously worked in schools in england but the Celta teaches you how to teach to adults and teaching English is not easy. Remember the teacher is only meant to talk for 10-30% of a lesson.
unique_username  Feb 15, 12, 19:18    #4
A native English speaker would know that there would be no "a" before "teaching experience"

&

would know that the correct flow of words are "native English speaker" as there would not be such a thing as "native speaker"

&

would not write such a poor title with poor tense use. Saying "got a job" when you haven't got one? Perhaps "getting" would be a better choice.

Something does not add up here.
milkyThreads: 10
Posts: 1,229
Joined: Oct 26, 09 ♀ 		 Feb 15, 12, 22:38    #5
Pushbike:
teacher is only meant to talk for 10-30% of a lesson.

Is this a myth..?? In reality would it not be closer to 40%.
delphiandomineThreads: 42
Posts: 9,954
Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended] 		Edited by: delphiandomine  Feb 15, 12, 22:44    #6
milky:
Is this a myth..??


I was always taught 1/3rd teacher, 2/3rds students.

Whether it's good or not, I don't know...
TanyaColeThreads: 1
Posts: 14
Joined: Feb 11, 12 ♀ 		 Feb 15, 12, 23:12    #7
A native English speaker would know that there would be no "a" before "teaching experience"

Don't be so pedantic, he was probably trying to shorten the title and forgot to proof read :)
noreenbThreads: 4
Posts: 1,082
Joined: Apr 22, 09  Pictures: 3 ♀ 		 Feb 16, 12, 10:00    #8
Wooow, just good luck with your new job!!!
harryashiThreads: 2
Posts: 16
Joined: Mar 1, 12 ♂ 		 Mar 1, 12, 06:54    #9
Lucky for this guy for sure! I'm moving to Lublin in April from Canada and I'm hoping to find work helping people with conversational english. My ideal situation would be to find a summer hockey camp to work at. So if anyone here's of one please let me know.
Zman  Mar 1, 12, 07:11    #10
summer hockey camp in Lublin..... LOL, I am not saying you won't find it (I just do not know much about it) but this juxtaposition (summer/hockey/Lublin) made me laugh so hard, that I can barely contain myself :-)
harryashiThreads: 2
Posts: 16
Joined: Mar 1, 12 ♂ 		 Mar 1, 12, 07:20    #11
I know right? My fiance said the same thing. I'm so used to playing hockey for 12 months a year I think I'm going to go through hockey withdrawal. Going to stay positive and hope I will be able to find some ice time.
Oh yeah, and teach some English along the way.
milkyThreads: 10
Posts: 1,229
Joined: Oct 26, 09 ♀ 		 Mar 1, 12, 11:56    #12
harryashi:
Going to stay positive

easier done in Canada, Lublin is ok but!! welllllll below average, by European standards. Some good hockey on the play-station though.
delphiandomineThreads: 42
Posts: 9,954
Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended] 		 Mar 1, 12, 14:19    #13
harryashi:
Oh yeah, and teach some English along the way.


If you think that you can step off the plane and "teech Englisuch', you're going to get a nasty shock in today's Poland.
harryashiThreads: 2
Posts: 16
Joined: Mar 1, 12 ♂ 		 Mar 1, 12, 16:27    #14
By no way do I think it is going to be an easy ride to just go teach. My fiance who is born and raised in Lublin really wants me to try. She thinks because of my passion for hockey and sports that I would be a "fun" person to help with english. I'm just trying to keep busy and take in Poland while I'm there. I do have a friend that used to work with tree planting BC that has moved to Warsaw years ago that said he would steer me in the right direction.

I do have a back up planning of building skateparks. I'm try to do something new during my 9 month stay in Poland.
JonnyMThreads: 16
Posts: 4,487
Joined: Mar 9, 11 ♂ 		 Mar 1, 12, 16:35    #15
delphiandomine:
hat you can step off the plane and "teech Englisuch', you're going to get a nasty shock in today's Poland.

+1

There are always crap schools that employ people who don't know how to teach and pay peanuts, but at the moment the market is changing so such places have an ever greater supply of fresh meat. And the number of learners enrolling in such places is falling.
Lyzko  Mar 1, 12, 16:57    #16
I too must concur with Delphadomine! The "teaching" (using the term loosely) of English wordwide has turned into one of the biggest rackets ever and appears to be getting even worse in terms of joke pay, low standards and essentially zero quality control over staff, charged with instructing others in the English language and culture. I'll say again, having observed a number of such schools, I've often wondered during and after the visit; who are the "students" and who are their "teachers":-)

Not a complete cynic though, I'm certainly not discouraging the ESL route to a career, only to be ultra careful where one applies and to stick only with the top reputable institutions and/or universities.
ukpolskaThreads: 51
Posts: 2,238
Joined: Oct 23, 06  Gold Member MEMBER ♂ 		Edited by: Moderator  Mar 1, 12, 21:56    #17
milky:
Lublin is ok but!! welllllll below average, by European standards. Some good hockey on the play-station though.

Rubbish, I lived there for five years and now live in 50klms away in Pulawy and it is hardly a backwards place.
What do you class as "European standards"?

You will stand a easier chance of finding a job in Lublin than you will in Warsaw or other places come to that,
With 200,000 students at University you shouldn't have any issues finding conversation work charging between 40 and 50zl per hour.

Come to think of it there is a summer camp here in Pulawy that employs native English teachers.
scottie1113Threads: 11
Posts: 873
Joined: Mar 13, 07 ♂ 		 Mar 1, 12, 23:58    #18
harryashi:
I'm try to do something new


Go for your backup plan, which will fail. Don't teach English with that grammar. Good luck. You'll need it in both ventures.

Off topic. I hate amateurs who masquerade as English teachers but it makes it easier for professionals who actually know how to teach.


quote=harryashi]fiance[/quote]

Is your fiance a man or a woman? if it's the latter, it's fiancee.

Lyzko:
I'll say again, having observed a number of such schools, I've often wondered during and after the visit; who are the "students" and who are their "teachers":-)


Come to my classes. You won't wonder any more.
Lyzko  Mar 2, 12, 01:42    #19
Aye aye. Scottie!
dtaylor5632Threads: 49
Posts: 4,459
Joined: May 2, 09  Pictures: 3 ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 02:01    #20
Or move away from the whole "teaching English" thing and create a decent living and life for yourself within Poland.
harryashiThreads: 2
Posts: 16
Joined: Mar 1, 12 ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 03:57    #21
Holy Crap scottie1113! You are one huge bag of negativity. Didn't know I needed to have my posts edited, this is just a forum for expats isn't it? Sounds like your not having a very good time over there. I don't know why you think my back up plan would fail. You have no idea what I've lined up. By the sounds of it you sure don't sound like a fun, positive person to learn from that is for for. What school is it that you teach at Scott?

Maybe grab a ray of sunshine there peanut so you don't have be such a Debbie Downer. Someone quick! Give this guy a hug!

PS. let me know if any of your students that want to have some conversational English.
ukpolskaThreads: 51
Posts: 2,238
Joined: Oct 23, 06  Gold Member MEMBER ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 09:24    #22
scottie1113:
Off topic. I hate amateurs who masquerade as English teachers but it makes it easier for professionals who actually know how to teach.

wow, talk about being stuck up your own backside and just a typical example of an 'English teacher' in Poland slating everyone else off with their self-importance.
Why anyone would want to go into English teaching is beyond me as it is poorly paid, long unsocial hours - crap job to be honest.
It is okay as a stop gap until you find something better, but as Dave says if you have the drive and the motivation there are much better jobs than teaching to do which allow you a far better life than living in 50 metre square flat in Gdansk.
jasondmzkThreads: 31
Posts: 503
Joined: Jun 1, 11  Pictures: 3 ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 09:33    #23
scottie1113:
Is your fiance a man or a woman? if it's the latter, it's fiancee.

Your pedantry traduces your argument.
scottie1113:
Off topic.
Fragmented sentence.
scottie1113:
if it's the latter, it's fiancee.
Incorrect punctuation, lack of quotation.
scottie1113:
Come to my classes. You won't wonder any more.
Split clause.

Glass houses, buddy.
scottie1113Threads: 11
Posts: 873
Joined: Mar 13, 07 ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 14:39    #24
harryashi:
PS. let me know if any of your students that want to have some conversational English.


You are joking, aren't you?
pipThreads: 11
Posts: 1,293
Joined: Jul 4, 11 ♀ 		 Mar 2, 12, 15:02    #25
harryashi:
Holy Crap scottie1113! You are one huge bag of negativity. Didn't know I needed to have my posts edited, this is just a forum for expats isn't it? Sounds like your not having a very good time over there. I don't know why you think my back up plan would fail. You have no idea what I've lined up. By the sounds of it you sure don't sound like a fun, positive person to learn from that is for for. What school is it that you teach at Scott?

Maybe grab a ray of sunshine there peanut so you don't have be such a Debbie Downer. Someone quick! Give this guy a hug!

PS. let me know if any of your students that want to have some conversational English.


I get you- perhaps because we are from the same part of the world. I don't know about teaching without experience, it is possible but luck is also a factor. Lublin is not as hip as lets say, Wraclaw, Warsaw or Tri city- but it is still nice.
As for hockey- In my experience in Warsaw- there is only one ice rink and everybody has to fight for ice time- I don't know how Lublin is. I think a hockey school in the summer is a good idea- but again, the ice availability is a huge issue. Perhaps you could do something different like endurance for hockey camp. Something like a jogging/biking/roller blading and of course hockey skills but off ice.
The hockey here has just no comparison to in Canada. My best friends son in Vancouver goes through rigorous training often two times per day- but when we had our kids in hockey here- we were lucky to get ice time twice a week then it was doing drills around pylons.
What is getting popular here is the down hill biking and enduro. Like the whole crank works scene- except for the tragedy of men wearing spandex outfits in bright colours- that I don't get....anyway--my oldest trains for down hill biking. We usually go to crank works every year and my husband and oldest bike whistler (without spandex of course)....anyway- this might be something for you- my kid belongs to a club that trains off season by running and spinning classes and if the weather is good they bike. If you are here in the summer, perhaps a bike club might work for you too.
ukpolskaThreads: 51
Posts: 2,238
Joined: Oct 23, 06  Gold Member MEMBER ♂ 		 Mar 2, 12, 15:13    #26
Actually Lublin does have a Ice Hockey team http://lht.s-system.net/ if you cannot read Polish - then read it in the Chrome browser with translate on.
delphiandomineThreads: 42
Posts: 9,954
Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended] 		 Mar 3, 12, 14:28    #27
harryashi:
She thinks because of my passion for hockey and sports that I would be a "fun" person to help with english.


Polish people aren't looking for "fun" people, they're looking for serious people who won't mess around.

harryashi:
I do have a back up planning of building skateparks. I'm try to do something new during my 9 month stay in Poland.


You can't build anything in Poland in 9 months.

harryashi:
PS. let me know if any of your students that want to have some conversational English.


I'll give it three months before you have no "fiance" and you're on a plane back home.
pipThreads: 11
Posts: 1,293
Joined: Jul 4, 11 ♀ 		 Mar 3, 12, 15:44    #28
delphiandomine:
harryashi: She thinks because of my passion for hockey and sports that I would be a "fun" person to help with english.

Polish people aren't looking for "fun" people, they're looking for serious people who won't mess around.

they are looking for both for their kids- fun but responsible and the fact that he is Canadian will be a huge bonus for many in Poland.----and cheap

harryashi: I do have a back up planning of building skateparks. I'm try to do something new during my 9 month stay in Poland.

You can't build anything in Poland in 9 months.


you are right there- usually the gmina comes along to eff everything up.---physically it can be done---if there was no red tape.
ukpolskaThreads: 51
Posts: 2,238
Joined: Oct 23, 06  Gold Member MEMBER ♂ 		 Mar 3, 12, 16:08    #29
pip:
You can't build anything in Poland in 9 months.

I built my four bedroom house in seven months - less than that if you take away the landscaping.

pip:
I'll give it three months before you have no "fiance" and you're on a plane back home.

That's a bit hard mate, you could have left the personal stuff out...
delphiandomineThreads: 42
Posts: 9,954
Joined: Nov 25, 08 ♂ [Suspended] 		 Mar 3, 12, 16:21    #30
ukpolska:
I built my four bedroom house in seven months - less than that if you take away the landscaping.


I can only assume you had a "take no prisoners" approach to the building - hats off :)

But - was that 7 months including all the permissions/etc needed, or just 7 months in terms of actually building the thing?

ukpolska:
That's a bit hard mate, you could have left the personal stuff out...


It was me, not pip ;)

And yes, it was harsh, but - I've seen it happen time and time again. A guy moves here, he expects a fun, easy life - only to realise that it's anything but. They can't adapt (they think that their way of things will work here) and end up leaving after endless rows with their girlfriend about the way things are.

pip:
they are looking for both for their kids- fun but responsible and the fact that he is Canadian will be a huge bonus for many in Poland.----and cheap


That assumes, of course, that he has the temperment for children.

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