English qualifications to start Teaching English In Poland. Is degree of some sort needed?

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Aug 9, 08, 11:29 #1

I am considering possibly heading off to Poland in September to go in as a Native English speaking teacher. Now I have been told that for this I do not need to be fluent in Polish as the native speakers are more there to help correct grammar and teach the actual speaking as opposed to learning it all in books. However does anyone know off hand what sort of English qualifications I would need for this? Would speaking English for near enough my whole life and doing English in school be enough or would I need a degree of some sort?

Cheers

Wroclaw Boy	Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Aug 9, 08, 11:34 #2
Cardno85: Would speaking English for near enough my whole life and doing English in school be enough or would I need a degree of some sort? Would speaking English for near enough my whole life and DOING English in School be enough. Doing = learning You'll be just fine as a native speaker, and whilst your at it dont teach Americam English, PPP LLL ease.

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Aug 9, 08, 11:49 #3

A buddy of mine went on a scholarship from the Piłsudski Foundation to go teach English in Poznań some years back. Problem was, at least in the mid-90's, he learned only the bare mimimum of the language when he arrived there!! He confessed to having an awful time trying to make himself understood to younger beginners, even the better pupils. Furthermore, as Wrocław Boy implored, he was specifically asked to teach British Standard. He's Canadian, so therefore had no problem adapting, yet found the sheer prejudice against American English, even authors, staggering.

Sure hope things have changed a little-:)

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Aug 9, 08, 12:18 #4
Marek: Sure hope things have changed a little-:). Students learn British spelling and pronunciation. But of course they are made aware of American usage. The examination boards accept either British or American usage, but not both together. All text books, that I'm aware of, are based on British English.

MarekThreads: 4 Posts: 1,120 Joined: Feb 15, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 12:31 #5
I supposed then the sun has really never set on the British Empire -:) LOL The Brits lost the colonial battles to retain control over their old dominion, yet won the war by scoring imperial victory over American English. A fine kettle of fish 'n chips if I ever saw one!!!

Wroclaw Boy

Aug 9, 08, 12:45 #6

Marek:

I supposed then the sun has really never set on the British Empire -:) LOL
The Brits lost the colonial battles to retain control over their old dominion, yet won the war by scoring imperial victory over American English.

A fine kettle of fish 'n chips if I ever saw one!!!

The American / English language situation is a matter of English pride Marek and I thank you for your observations. The sun does now set on an empire and a legacy that once was. I only hope we helped to make the World a better place. Poland will have their time too.

Thanks again.

WB

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Aug 9, 08, 12:53 #7

It's quite simple really Marek, it's all to do with location.
I proofread English scientific publications for several Universities and Institutes, and they ask me to proofread in GB English, as we are part of the EU. Occasional I am asked to proofread the publication into US English, but that is more to do with the target reader e.g. an American scientific publisher.
I also work part-time as an English teacher and I never criticize US English as that would be utterly pompous of me to do so.
The important factor to bring to their attention is the differences between the two and in writing you should never mix them.

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Edited by: Marek Aug 9, 08, 12:57 #8

Please don't think me an ungrateful peasant from the former Colonies! The debt our mother tongue owes to the likes of nearly all of the great literati, from the Great Bard of the Avon onward, Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan, Hardy, Joseph Conrad (one of yours, sorry he-he LOL) staight through up to the Beatles and Andrew Lloyd Himself, demonstrate the gratitude English must bestow upon its 'betters'-:)

There is though, the matter of Dickenson, Dunbar, Walt Whitman, Wolfe, Dreiser, Williams, O'Neil, Faulkner and a 'few' others, no measely practictioners of the writer's craft. And NONE from the English Isles, I might add.

dnzThreads: 25 Posts: 804 Joined: Dec 2, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 13:02 #9
Yes please do not under any circumstances teach American English.

MarekThreads: 4 Posts: 1,120 Joined: Feb 15, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 13:05 #10
Actually, I should think that teaching both might not be an unreasonable compromise, how about you? Are you really going to sit there and tell us that British English is somehow genetically 'superior' to the American dialect? Tut-tut, now-:)-:))!!

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,238 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER ♂	Aug 9, 08, 13:24 #11
Marek: Actually, I should think that teaching both might not be an unreasonable compromise, how about you? I think you should use some referring quotes here Marek, because I for one am not in disagreement with you :)

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Aug 9, 08, 13:26 #12
Marek: Actually, I should think that teaching both might not be an unreasonable compromise, how about you? Are you really going to sit there and tell us that British English is somehow genetically 'superior' to the American dialect? We teach it. The Polish education authorities made the choice. Take your arguement to them.

dnzThreads: 25 Posts: 804 Joined: Dec 2, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 13:27 #13
Are you really going to sit there and tell us that British English is somehow genetically 'superior' to the American dialect? I do actually yes :D

Wroclaw Boy	Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Aug 9, 08, 13:36 #14
you mutha fukin gangsta biatch im gonna clip ur ass. And dont think i dont mean it sir!!

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Edited by: Marek Aug 9, 08, 13:38 #15

Oh, really DNZ?? So you're from the camp which says English is better than American, French is head and shoulders above Canadian-French, Austrian is inferior to German from Germany, European Portuguese has it by far over Brazilian etc.. ad nauseum, eh?

Figure you're at least partly kidding, so I won't pursue it. -:) I mean, sure, the Oxford accent of the Gielguds, Evans, Oliviers and so forth is so much more pleasing to the ear than the squawking jumble and whining twang heard throughout much of the States. But for every Yankee Doodle dumbel, for every rube from Rhode Island, there are quite a few cultivated speakers/users of the spoken American language who would take considerable umbrage at being thought less than worthy of propagating their language abroad.

Wroclaw Boy	Edited by: Wroclaw Boy Aug 9, 08, 14:05 #16
I feel sorry for countries that are forced to adopt the language of a colonial super power. To all you frogs out there haa fookin haaaaaaaaaaaa.

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Aug 9, 08, 14:26 #17

I was actually using English as in the class not the language. So I stand by the fact that I did English in school.

But that's good to know. Plus I will be teaching in UK English. Not because I think American English is inferior, rather that I have been brought up and educated in UK English and so that is the language I speak.

Is there lots of specialised language schools or is it best actually going to schools and asking there?

dnzThreads: 25 Posts: 804 Joined: Dec 2, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 15:28 #18
I don't do it as such I joke about it and my american colleagues do the same with me. BTW A lift is lift and not an elevator, Its a tap and not a faucet,

Wroclaw Boy	Aug 9, 08, 15:48 #19
dnz: A lift is lift and not an elevator, No it is actually an elevator, lift is slang. Another English teacher in Poland

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Aug 9, 08, 16:23 #20

I am sorry to have to agree with the English members here. American "English" is hard to accept. My partner teaches English and sometimes I overhear her lessons and I cringe, because, I know that she is teaching from books that are Anglo/American, but, as much as we find the Polish language hard to learn, English is more difficult for the Polish to learn.
If an American teaches "English" in Poland, then, the students are going to find this useless when they apply for jobs in the UK. Oral will be understood, wriiten will not be accepted.

sausageThreads: 25 Posts: 1,053 Joined: Sep 21, 07 ♂	Edited by: sausage Aug 9, 08, 16:25 #21
Avalon: Oral will be understood, wriiten will not be accepted Surely you exaggerate... The differences between American English and the Queen's English can be summed up in a couple of pages?

AvalonThreads: 3 Posts: 812 Joined: Sep 11, 07 ♂	Aug 9, 08, 16:28 #22
Not if you are have to deal in legal or civil terms. wording becomes very important, especially if you are relying on a translator to help you.

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Aug 9, 08, 17:59 #23

"I have been brought up and educated in UK English...."

Cardno 85, if that is the case, then I trust/hope/pray that it was due to a mere slip of the keyboard that you write "Is there... rather than 'Are there.." lots of specialised language schools......? If one of our Polish forum members made such a mistake, I could understand, but a native speaker?

Or is this simply Glaswegian slang in which you've been 'brought up and educated"??
Inquiring minds want to know!!-:)-:) LOL

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Aug 9, 08, 18:35 #24

if somebody is going to the trouble of learning a language, as a teacher the least you can do is teach them language that will be of greatest use to them. in europe this is largely british english. in many other parts of the world it is american.

but when all is said and done, and the arguments of superioity have been exhausted, the english that is spoken most widely around the world is english as a foreign language, with all the nuances that come with it

miranda	Aug 9, 08, 18:39 #25
BubbaWoo: but when all is said and done, and the arguments of superioity have been exhausted, the english that is spoken most widely around the world is english as a foreign language, with all the nuances that come with it finally comment with a common sense

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Aug 9, 08, 18:54 #26

Marek:

Cardno 85, if that is the case, then I trust/hope/pray that it was due to a mere slip of the keyboard that you write "Is there... rather than 'Are there.." lots of specialised language schools......? If one of our Polish forum members made such a mistake, I could understand, but a native speaker?

Or is this simply Glaswegian slang in which you've been 'brought up and educated"??
Inquiring minds want to know!!-:)-:) LOL

I realise what I type on here will be more along the lines of slang as it is how I speak in everyday conversation and, as such, forms what I type on a forum. I know how to read, write and speak in proper English if I have to (legal letters, speaking competitions, debates, etc). However, in general everyday conversation I speak in my West End Glasgow twang.

MarekThreads: 4 Posts: 1,120 Joined: Feb 15, 07 ♂	Aug 11, 08, 09:17 #27
'I speak in my West End Glasgow twang.......' .......don't knock it, mate! Sean Connery and a number of others have become multi-millionaires because of, rather than inspite of, it-:)-:)-:)!!!!LOL Never heard anybody complaining a fiddler's fart either about Michael 'Micklethwaite' Caine (to you!!)' Cockney slang.

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Aug 12, 08, 10:17 #28

I teach English. I'm an American so of course I don't sound like I'm British, and my students like that since they see so many American films. I know the difference between British and American English. My course books come from the UK so I point out the differences when I find them, though there really aren't that many.

English is spoken in a lot of countries around the world and it's all a little different, but in the end it's still English, and none of them is better than another. But recognizing that British English is more common in Europe, I teach that.

byronicThreads: 3 Posts: 33 Joined: Jul 16, 08 ♂	Sep 4, 08, 13:22 #29
Thread attached on merging: i want to teach english in Poland my Polish girlfriend and i plan to move to poland some day, i'd like to teach english there as i believe native english speakers are sought after, but does anyone know what qualifications i would need, either to teach in a school or teach privately? p.s im currently learning Polish also.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Sep 4, 08, 15:08 #30
The CELTA is a good start, it is internationally recognised. They usually ask for a Bachelors degree too.

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