Central European Teaching Program

Many reviewers explain how beautiful Budapest/Hungary is, but they do not explain the actual teaching experience. My review will cover my time teaching and living in Budapest through CETP. While I came through my experience relatively unscathed, I cannot in good conscience recommend this program. Here’s why:

CETP makes many promises but doesn’t keep them. Here are some problems:
• Outrageous program fees that no one seems to know where they go or what they apply to. I believe the fees are the program directors’ salaries (I wish they would admit it).
• I never saw a newsletter. There’s a Facebook page where people post questions.
• There are no regular social events.
• There is not much ongoing support from the directors. The HU Director sends out several emails in the school year primarily covering the beginning and returning aspects of the program.
• The only teacher training is the orientation at the beginning of your initial stay.
I believe your experience in Hungary hinges solely on the school your assigned to. My experience at my Budapest based school was mixed at best. When I started there in August 2022, there were many unhappy teachers there. My second day on the job was interesting as my Hungarian colleagues protested in downtown Budapest. It went from there. Teachers striking or protesting regularly until in late November six random teachers were fired. The emotional fallout from that was hard to watch. Then people began quitting. By the end of my first year, 75% of the English department was gone. The students I taught were mixed and traversed the spectrum. There were many good kids wanting to learn and open to English. They had good personalities and I enjoyed teaching them. Then there were students whose behavior was atrocious and disrespectful. They didn’t care about English, did not want to be in class, etc. The worst kids were the ones who paid me no attention and were utter aholes and c*nts.

I was the school’s whipping girl during my first year. While I did have some fantastic colleagues who were incredibly helpful and supportive (Tunde, Vicki, Lilla, Dot, and Susan) I was bullied by several other Hungarian colleagues to give A’s to all the students as that is what they are used to receiving. I was scheduled to substitute every day. I found out during my second year that our contracts dictate we are only supposed to teach 24 classes a week and substitute a specific amount per week. Management ignored that rule. The two other CETP teachers in my school did not substitute nearly as much as I did. When I spoke to the HU Director about it, I was told that this was Hungarian law and I had to do it.

My second year was when I saw management bully my Hungarian colleagues and punish the English department because of the protests from the previous year. It was sad and disheartening. The students were a little better, the atrocious and disrespectful behavior continued.

Some of my CETP colleagues’ experiences include the following:

• One colleague was offered a new job in another school and was promised more money than he was currently making in his school. He accepted the new position and transferred to the new school. After he arrived, the school explained to him that he wasn’t going to receive the promised salary. His new salary was reviewed by both his Hungarian colleagues and the HU Director. All of them agreed that the amount was “illegal”. Nothing happened.
• Another colleague was assaulted (hit and choked!) by a student at his school. He informed his principal, the HU Director, and one of the administrators. Nothing happened.
• Another colleague renewed her contract earlier this year. Two weeks before the end of the school year, her principal informed her she had to begin paying for her utilities because the contract dictates that if you have a second person that’s what you do. Her second person was her 12-year-old son. The HU Director went out to the school for a meeting between the principal and the teacher. After push back from the teacher, she was informed that this is Hungarian law. Nothing else happened.
• My CETP colleague and I encountered a salary dispute earlier this year. We sent an email to Mary asking for input on the situation. Mary simply deflected us by saying “You’re in good hands with the HU Director.”
• Too many colleagues explained to me that their students were not discussing or debating anything in class either. Nothing happened.

Do you see a pattern forming here?

My own experience has proven to me that this program is nothing more than a pay-for-placement scheme. You pay an exorbitant amount of money to be placed in a school. After you arrive at your school, you’re on your own. If you have a problem, you need to work it out with the school officials. You have to seriously fight for anything, and the school officials can turn on you.

My advice is to find a different program in Europe or Asia. My experience in Asia was more positive. The students there are dedicated, committed, and invested in learning. They want to be in class. If you are intent on living in Europe, and you want to take the chance on this program, it is cheaper (your rent and utilities are paid by the school district). Hungary is also centrally located enough that you can get around the EU by bus, train, or plane easily. Overall, I cannot recommend this program because the hit or miss aspect is too great. If you want to leave the program early, you’ll be forced to pay back the money the district paid out for your rent and utilities. I cannot put someone else through that experience, especially if you don’t know whether you’ll like it or not.

The experience I had with CETP was not the best.

While many things are dependent on placement, area, and which school you are in:
There is no support for teachers in the schools once we reach our destination, unlike so many other programs available in Europe/Hungary. This could be down to there being no actual CETP staff available for such a thing. It is run only with 3 people and "volunteers" who are teachers from previous years in the program who again – spend a majority of their time teaching their classes.
There are many things promised in relation to a contact teacher, however, I had no contact teacher after the first month and had to navigate most of the things myself.

The ($2,500) fee paid to CETP is supposed to cover your visa requirements and your placement. However, as visiting teachers, your visa is free! A benefit told to us during orientation is that if you stay on with the same school for another year, your accommodation is paid for that The fee you pay to stay on another year is around the amount of accommodation for the summer months. Also, your accommodation is paid for by your institution – not CETP. It also does not pay for your health coverage, this comes out of your monthly pay - whether you have your insurance card yet or not. There were no monthly emails from anyone in the program, a few occasional ones from Hajni.

Teacher training – the only training I received was at the start during orientation. For orientation, you are housed in a Hostel environment which is still open and serving other guests. This may or may not be conducive to your first experience in Hungary. The outings during Orientation were performed by the volunteers mentioned above, and the survival Hungarian lessons were not long enough to actually help. I would start studying Hungarian before you leave for orientation.

While CETP did get me to Hungary to teach, I would look into other programs where there is more transparency of behind the scenes, where there is an actual HR department, more staff, and where you can feel supported and able to grow as you go out to teach. You won't find that here.

My grandfather was born in Zemplénagárd so I've always had a great deal of interest in travelling to Hungary and to learn about my roots. Out of the three countries that I've taught English in my experience in Hungary has definitely been my favorite one. The staff at CETP are very kind and understanding. Hajni, who is the country program director is always available to help and very efficient at it is well! Her help has been greatly appreciated by many, myself included! I If you ever need help with a problem, have a doubt or a question she's only ever a short phone call awaz :) I love CETP and highly recommend it!

For starters, CETP misleads you about where your $2500 application fee goes.
This is part of what is stated in the "Program Details" page of their website,
"WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE TEN-MONTH PLACEMENT FEE, your fee goes toward":
"Full health insurance through host country" - this is incorrect. You pay your own health insurance via deductions from your teaching salary.

"Social events and teacher training classes" - the only teacher training class I got was during orientation, which for me was just a review of strategies I already use as an experienced teacher. Social events?? I think I learned about 2 (by reading the CETP Facebook page) for the entire ten months

"Monthly teachers’ newsletter" - I never saw one.

"Ongoing support from Director in the host country, and from Program Director in US" - I would have to give this one a no. I rarely heard from the Hungarian director, either by email or by phone, although when I needed her for a medical situation I had, she drove me to two of the appointments and we had delightful conversations. I had a specific question about paid time off for holidays/vacation that I emailed Mary (the U.S. Director) about and she didn't think we got any - although at the end of the year I got paid for 12 days of time off I hadn't used during the school year.

In terms of your placement - your experience will depend almost entirely on your contact teacher (the person or persons at your school who help you when you have problems with your apartment or if you need some support at your school). Although my contact teacher told me often that she had been "doing this" for 10 years, she was rarely helpful and actually said to me twice when I needed help, "That is not my job." She took several entire weeks off from school to take her own holidays, (blaming it on her bad knee - but she actually told me for one of those weeks that she was going to Israel), but never let me or the other CETP teacher at my school know. The school was dysfunctional from the top - the headmistress never acknowledged my presence (even when we passed in the hallways, she averted her eyes). I expected to make friends with the teachers like I had when I taught in Honduras and Guatemala, but only one teacher ever invited me to go out with her.

When you read other reviews - BEWARE!! I notice most teachers talk about how wonderful the country is (it IS wonderful) but rarely mention the actual teaching situation. I talked to about 10 teachers during the year and they ALL said the same thing...the behavior of the students is atrocious and disrespectful. I understand that during the first few weeks they might be testing your endurance and your patience, but until the last day of school, my students talked constantly, used English cuss words to get my attention, fought with each other and were often bullies to other students. It is hard to create your own culture (what you will tolerate or not tolerate in the class) because you and the students move classrooms every day and there is the general chaos that comes with taking your students to different rooms each day that aren't really theirs (or yours). In my school, there were no immediate consequences for bad behavior - the student got a black mark in their exercise book, and if, at the end of the year, their "homeroom" teacher decided they had enough black marks, their grade might reflect it. These black marks did nothing to change their behavior and of course, their grades didn't suffer, and they knew it.
My advice - take the $2500 you would have spent on the application and go to Hungary for 2 or 3 months! Hostels, food, trains and bus travel are cheap.

The CETP program is an excellent route for people who are interested in living abroad. It is such a convenient way to live and work in Europe as they offer great support to American teachers all year round. It was my dream to live and work in Europe for many years but without any financial support besides my own, it seemed impossible to make such a life change. Finally, I found CETP. They were so patient and accommodating during the registration process, and they ensured that I had an apartment secured before I arrived to Hungary. They even let me bring my cat! Which was actually the most important thing for me. The program also made my arrival as stress free as possible. I was picked up at the airport by very kind CETP reps and taken to a nice hostel in Budapest. I arrived late in the afternoon and the village I was placed in was a long drive, so I stayed at a hostel for the night which CETP paid for. The hostel was very clean, the staff were so nice and accommodating, and my cat was also welcomed. We had a very comfortable private room. The next morning, another CETP rep, Lali, picked me up and drove me to my new home in Nyírpazony, about 2 hours away from Budapest. He was also very nice and we had a nice conversation during the long drive. He showed me my new apartment, introduced me to everyone at the school, and made sure I had everything I needed. A teacher at my school was assigned as my contact person and she took care of all my visa and health insurance paperwork, and also helped me with anything else I needed (like apartment related repairs and communication with the school headmaster). Such a transition couldn’t have been any easier thanks to the support of CETP. Now I’m living my dream and traveling all over Europe. I feel so secure to know that I have the support of so many kind people from my school, my new neighborhood, and most of all, the CETP community.