Thinking of moving to Germany to teach English? Don't do it for the money.

Teaching English was once an easy way to get started in a new country.

When the Berlin Wall came down 15 years ago, a world of opportunities opened up. With its low living costs and high demand for English language teaching (TEFL), Germany, and Berlin in particular, seemed the ideal place to go to make decent money while enjoying cheap beer and football. The German language was not usually a prerequisite, and teachers could earn up to 100 Deutschmarks (EUR50) an hour.

So what happened?

It’s safe to say that those days are gone. With the German economy slowly emerging from a protracted period of stagnation, many companies sliced their training budgets in the late ‘90s, including money put aside for English lessons. Suddenly it became a lot harder to find in-company work, either privately or through a language school.  In 2000, many qualified and experienced teachers found the work offers drying up.
In addition, the influx of native English speakers lured to Germany by talk of jobs galore led to increased competition for work. These days, someone new in town looking for a contract from a language school, which 90 percent of the time only offers freelance work, may find themselves waiting a while.

Many schools are also more aware of the CELTA or DELTA (the Cambridge certificate for diploma for English language teaching to adults) than they used to be, and tend to favour teachers with this qualification and who have previous experience. John Gauldie, 29, who moved to Berlin armed with a CELTA in 2002, found himself enduring prolonged applications and queues of interviewees before landing his first teaching job, which included teaching business English to various companies. “Having some background in business makes a big difference.”

The costs of teaching

As if finding a stable teaching position isn’t challenging enough, in 1999 the German pension authority (BfA) identified a long-dormant law from 1913, requiring almost all freelance teachers to contribute to the national pension scheme – a whopping 19.5 percent (after expenses but before tax) of their monthly earnings. Many teachers suddenly found they had to pay up to four years’ back payments (in some cases, teachers were sent bills for more than EUR 20,000) and many resorted to packing their bags.

As freelancers, teachers also need to buy private health insurance, which adds up to about 10-15 percent of their pay. Then comes standard tax (about 20 percent of their income provided they earn over EUR 7000 a year) and finally rent and food costs. A few teachers may dodge tax payments, but beware - the German government does fairly regular audits of language schools to find those working “under the table” (known as Schwarzarbeiter).

Is there an upside to all this?

It’s not all gloom and doom. Several schools in Cologne, for example, offer contracts and teachers who do find full-time positions work about 25 (teaching) hours a week and benefit from reduced health insurance costs, four weeks’ paid leave and reduced pension payments. Living costs, while increasing and not cheap in cities such as Munich, are still below those in the UK and the standard of living is high.
Andrew Frost, a teacher at the British Council teaching centre in Berlin, says there are also tentative signs that the economy may be beginning to turn the corner. “It isn’t unreasonable to assume that during the past few years a languages training backlog has built up. This could mean that there are better times ahead for English language teachers.”

But John Sydes, who has been teaching in Munich for over 20 years and has found himself running more and more specialised courses, is not so optimistic. “Training budgets will probably increase a bit after the recession, but they will not be as big as they were in the past.”

What’s the pay like these days?

Rates of pay vary enormously, from school to school and region to region. Adult education institutes tend to offer around EUR 20-5 for 45 minutes’ teaching, large language schools typically EUR 10-18, and company rates can be from EUR 25-40 or even higher. Note: these hourly rates do not include preparation time or travelling.
On a TEFL message board, “Hodd”, an experienced teacher working in Hamburg, was disgusted by some of the pay-rates she had been offered there. “I once popped into a Thailand language school for a chat. For business classes, they were offering teachers (qualified or not) 500 baht per 50 minutes, just over EUR 10. Some of you Germany school owners are paying exactly the same as a very average school in Thailand, where the cost of living is many, many times lower.”

If you are determined to live in Germany and teach, for whatever reason, the best way to find work is often to flick through the Yellow Pages (GelbeSeiten) and contact the language schools (Sprachenschulen) directly. These days, many have up-to-date websites with job listings and/or contact details. But don’t put all your chalk in one basket, so to speak. Working freelance for one company is not legal, and relying on one school for work can leave you very vulnerable indeed.

Useful links:

EFL teachers’ message board in Germany

www.tefl-germany.de

List of English Language Teaching Associations in Germany:

Berlin/Brandenburg
www.eltabb.com

Bonn/Cologne/Dusseldorf 
www.elta-rhine.de

Munich
www.melta.de

Frankfurt
www.eltaf.de

Stuttgart
www.eltas.de

Hamburg
www.helta.de

August 2004

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject: Germany, relocation, teaching English