Nightglade: But are they exploring all avenues, e.g. Gumtree, dropping CV's into language schools, sticking obnoxious papers over university campus message boards, etc?
Some secrets are best kept among friends ;) Interestingly, there seems to be more and more demand for native speakers to teach small children. Insanity, but good for those who can.
Nightglade: The demand for Natives seems to be quite high at the moment in regards to private lessons, but from what I've experienced schools are not prospering, at least in Poznań. One director was telling me about how the proposed changes to education taxing posed a big risk to their finances.
Yep - if they do bring in VAT on education, then the vast majority of schools will close. There's just no way people will be willing to pay an extra 23% on the cost of classes - and although it will force them to declare their income properly (you'd be surprised how much tax fiddling goes on...), it'll just push more and more students towards teachers that can provide them with small groups without the taxman knowing anything. In a sense, this is good news for teachers who are motivated to actually do something.
Nightglade: I think it's quite possible to make a living from private lessons but it will be extremely tiring. At first I was quite nervous regarding group lessons, but I found that in fact it was far more relaxed, particularly as you tend to ask a question you expect a short answer for and the class ends up waffling to each other for about 15 minutes.
Yeah, I always found the best way was to have a mix of groups and private classes - the groups are less stressful (and it's much easier to kill time), but the private classes are independent of anyone else, especially witches. Not naming names, of course...
Nightglade: Ah I've heard of that one too, but frankly, listening to moaning passengers all day would drive me into a deep depression. I was referring to the phone service. They have a call centre for German and English clients.
Me too, I can't imagine spending 8 hours on the phone listening to people whine and complain because they booked the flight for the wrong day because their dog barked at their child or some such rubbish.
hythorn: so these guys who keep rolling up not speaking a word of Polish and expecting to get work are just wasting their time
Pretty much - although - if you turn up in a smallish town (let's say 20,000-50,000) - you'll get your hand bitten off. A tale of two markets, so to speak.
But turning up in a place like Krakow with no papers, no experience and expecting people to offer you work just isn't going to happen. Krakow and Wroclaw are full of them, Poznan has more and more people willing to work for peanuts, the list goes on. Mind you - if you have something to offer (like significant real world experience) - you can still earn decent money.
hythorn: the only thing that your average Brit has over a Pole is their ability to speak English like a native
You know, I'm meeting more and more Poles who even speak like natives. For instance - I met a girl at our Thursday language meetings who is 19 - and already speaks with a very posh English accent and has no problems with talking to Brits with different accents. Why bother with a native when you can hire someone like that for half the price?
I keep saying it on here - you can make a very good living, but e-mailing CV's to language schools simply isn't going to cut it in the vast majority of cities.
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