Teaching English In the Czech Republic

I am writing this review about 4 months into the program.
I chose this program because I saw it as a good way to try teaching as a profession in a country that I know. I have lived in the Czech Republic before, nearly twenty years ago, and the country was a different place then. I was looking to possibly change my career, and I wanted to give teaching a try before I committed to an expensive Master’s Degree in the US.
The program offered opportunities to teach outside of Prague, which for me seemed ideal as I don’t really care to live in large cities.
CIEE provided good support to pair me with a school about 40 km away from Prague in a small town. They helped with the really irritating, bureaucratic process of getting a work visa, but you will still have to do quite a bit on your own to secure the visa. I suggest doing as much as you can (such as getting Apostille stamps, translations, etc) sooner than later so you don’t have to do everything at once.
The school I work for provided housing for me, which really helped ease the burden of having to find a place, which I saw could be difficult and stressful for some of the other participants who chose to live in Prague. Prague’s housing market is tight, and you really have to be there to secure something.
I enjoy the school where I work. It can be difficult job at times, and can be frustrating, but it can also highly rewarding. I work with children from 4-15 years old, and I also teach some of the staff. I definitely have my favorite ages to work with, and I hope to narrow that scope a bit after the holidays.
I have a bit of an advantage over most of the participants as I speak Czech fairly well and I can talk with my colleagues and I can have regular conversations in Czech. It’s a difficult language and if you live in Prague, there is a good chance you won’t learn much unless you really put some effort into it. If you live in a small town, like where I’m at, there’s a good chance few people will speak English.

Pros:
* CIEE helps land you work and a visa. It is something that is difficult to do unless you are in the country looking for work. The process can take a long time, and since American citizens can only be in the Schengen countries for only 90 days, it can be difficult to secure work AND a visa alone.
* If you don’t know Czech, you’ll have someone on hand to help you navigate the culture and the language.
* Prague’s a cool city with lots to do. You’ll be pretty close, if not directly in Prague. (See: What I would have done differently)
* If you like nightlife, art, history, beer and meat, potatoes, and dogs you’ll proabably have a good time.
* If you like cycling, especially off-road, this country has awesome bike riding. There’s nothing quite like a warm day pedaling through the woods seeing castles, ruins and rivers and eating fruit off trees along the way.
* Prague is super central to many destinations and an easy hub to get around Europe.
* Public transportation is pretty decent, though it can be late often.

Cons:
* If you don’t live in Prague you can be pretty isolated, and it can get expensive to travel back and forth. Depending on where you are, the last bus or train home might leave at 10 pm which means either you have to wait until 4.30 am for the next bus, stay with friends, rent a room, or go home early. If I want to go visit people in Prague, I have to take the bus for 50-60 minutes, then I have to take the metro or tram 20-30 minutes, so going only for a couple hours doesn’t seem worth it after a while.

* The language is difficult. Don’t expect to learn it super fast, but give it a shot— it’s fun.

* You don’t get much money unless you tutor on the side, and if you live in Prague your budget may be tight. If you want to travel, bring some extra money. Also have money to get you through mid-October when you get your first paycheck.

What I would have done differently:

* THIS IS THE BIG ONE:
Even though I don’t like living in big cities, I would have chosen to live in Prague and commuted to work. I know a couple participants who are doing this. It helps for having a social life. There is nearly NOTHING to do in my town of 5000 people. It’s a depressed old mining town, and very hard to meet people when there is little to do. I spend a lot of time riding my bike. If I want to do something simple, like have coffee with a friend, I have to travel to Prague (3 hours round trip, including in city transport— often more when having to wait).
And I have it relatively well. There are a couple people who don’t have good connections to Prague and have to travel 1.5-2 hours just to get to Prague then have to travel more.

* I would have brought a laptop.

* I would have a few more English language tools. The school I work in doesn’t have very extensive resources.