Best English teaching schools to work at - Hamburg

Hi there,

I'm currently working as a freelanced English teacher with a small kid's camp in Hamburg until Septemeber and will need to find another job afterwards. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a few good schools (freelance or salary is okay) they have worked with that would be good for me to apply to. My work permit is good until May 1, 2010.

Thanks a lot!
Scott

There's been a lot of critisism of Berlitz on this forum but I worked at Berlitz in Kiel for 5 years and had no problem with them. Having said that I've heard some pretty grim reports re the Hamburg branch. If you have some experience there are 100s of English schoold here, take your pick and good luck:-)

Wallstreet
City Sprachstudio
Colon Center
English Services
English 4 Kids
english institute
English Business school
EuroBiz
linguarama

There are tons of schools in Hamburg. I put some links up here but if you use google you can find way more. I'm not sure who is hiring but I've never heard of someone who couldn't find work.

Me either!

I wouldn't reccomend Eurobiz. A friend of mine has had problems getting paid.

Hi guys,

Moving to Hamburg soon:-) May I ask if there would be a chance for me in Berlitz or any other school (English) as i wish to teach English in Hamburg? I mean I have a very good command in English and had a three year studies in university with English as the medium of instruction.., and in fact am planning to take TEFL online, and in few months CELTA in Hamburg just to be equipped with the whole system of teaching this language. I also had some tutorial experiences (don´t know if that helps:-) ). But what bothers me the most is that, I am not an English native speaker. What I have read in Berlitz page is that they require that you must be a native speaker of the language you wish to teach... is that really so?

If so, may I hear anything from anybody on HOW, WHERE, and WHAT would be my chances as a non English native speaker to teach English in Hamburg..

Thanks guys..I appreciate any advise! :-)

A lot of the business English schools guarantee that their classes are taught by native speakers, and so would probably not take you - the customers would complain if they found out that you were not one. However, there are many schools, so you should, before moving to Hamburg and spending all that money on TEFL etc, phone round as many schools as you can, to find out who would be willing to take you on.

There are many factors which influence who the schools choose to hire. Being a native speaker is one of them but it's not written in stone. I've worked with two Germans, two Mexicans, and one Philippine who taught English successfully. They were, however, told to tell the customers, if asked, that they were indeed native speakers - just as I had been told to tell the customers that I was "certified". While your command of the language is a significant factor, there are other considerations such as charisma and work background that are weighed. It's a business and they want happy customers, when you can convince the hiring entity that you can effectively please a customer, you're chances of getting hired increase significantly. It's important to get face time with the school so they can get a gander at what they are potentially putting in front of the customer.