Bratislava, Slovakia: MOST Important Things to Know
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
- Neil is from Ireland but lives in Bratislava, Slovakia. He talks to ExpatsEverywhere about living and working there. He mentions that the location is amazing due to its proximity to other famous cities, the cost of living is low so it's very affordable, the city it safe, and there are job opportunities for English teachers. Be sure to check out what Neil has to say about these topics along with the health care, things to do for fun, if you need to know the language, and more.
Neil owns MADE International where his team teaches Music, Art, Drama, and English. Visit his website here: madeinternational.net/
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CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION to the video-Most schools, especially universities, are owned by the state, though since the 1990s there are also church-owned and private schools. Public schools of higher education are the basic case. They are established by law. The vast majority of schools of higher education is of this type. They are financed by the government and possible business activities. Private institutions of higher education are established and financed by non-government institutions, but approved by the Ministry of Education. This type of school is still quite rare.
I'm an English teacher in Slovakia but I don't live in Bratislava, I live in a tiny town about 90 minutes away from Bratislava. I only pay 190 for rent (for a big house with a garden) so I still have about 950 euros per month, which is MORE than enough to live a comfortable life in Slovakia. As long as I don't go crazy on any big nights out in Vienna (or did, before the lockdown) I can easily save 500 euros a month. That's pretty damn good for Europe! And I only work 4 days a week so I can have long weekends away if I get bored of small town life 😁
Great stuff, Phil. Thanks for the input. How long have you been there? - Josh & Kalie
You still in a lockdown now?
@@jonathanclayton3918 One year later but nope! All good 🤣
Can you share which town? I am looking into a teaching job and want to have some savings. Thanks!
Is a teaching degree required to teach English or is a tefl certificate enough? I am reading that some places require the degree and some do not if you have experience . Also being certified in Business English gives more opportunity I read. Your thoughts please?
Excellent commentary. INSIGHTFUL. RELEVANT
Throughly enjoyed all of your helpful information. Thanks, Ted
3:10 I'm sorry but that's incorrect. Slovakia is a catholic country (statistically) but our schools are state owned which means they have nothing to do with the church unless you go to a school that's actually called Church School (Cirkevná Škola) but there's not many of them. Out of 8 schools in my home town only one was specified as a religious school the rest were just public schools and in some towns we don't have any church schools.
You will have religious and non religious kids in all state (public) schools.
I went to a state (public) school and we had a mix of Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Orthodox, Jehovah Witnesses, Protestants, Atheists, non religious kids. People don't really care about religion to be honest so you don't have to be religious to attend or work in a public school.
We had 1 class (45 minutes) of Religious Education per week but if you aren't religious you just don't go there or you have something instead. It's usually last class of the day so some kids simply go home earlier.
We usually went out to a park to play and then home...that was our "religious education"😅.
We actually don't take religion that seriously in Slovakia.
Thanks for all the commentary here, Vladimir. We tried to amend a few things our interviewee said in the comment section, but thank you for weighing in, in such depth. We appreciate it.
Can I please ask you some questions about moving into Slovakia? I thought of moving there with my family. Is it possible for me to get a working visa and my family a tourist visa, then when I get employed, can my parents get a joining a family visa so they'd stay with me as long as possible?
He explained almost all of my questions. Thanks!
Great! Happy to hear that. Thank you.
Nice idea ❤
3:13 NO... even tho there is a lot of church administrated schools there are also state run schools ... as well as private ones
Great tips man! I fell in love with Bratislava when I visited the city some years ago and I have intentions to go back. Just beautiful, best place in the world.
You should! Thanks for sharing, Uldrod.
Love you man😀
Wuttttt
The cost of living is fairly low, but still high compared to typical wages. Either work for yourself ( freelance ) and work bloody hard, or make sure you've got an online business, dealing with your home country.
Very good point and we've found that locals tend to know how to cope better with cost of living than foreigners do...for whatever reason/various reasons.
I like it
Cool. Good stuff
I'll look you up I'm there in 3 weeks. Over London. Petrazelka too
wanted to do my eurasmus year in a german speaking country(to practice), would there be decent acess to german language as the city borders austria?
Prajem krasni den pozdravujem zo slovenska z liptova
Thanks for the warm greetings! We appreciate the view and comment. 🙏
I'm pretty sure you can get jobs in shared service centers of corporations (e.g.IBM but there is more) and in customer support of Slovak international eshops (Muziker, Dedoles, Eyerim).
Thanks for your input.
@@ExpatsEverywhere Possible he's there for a longer time. Slovakia is developing fast.
Thanks for calling our capital a village :)) that was a bit rude.. I think it is pretty far from even from the term "town". Other than that it was quite a nice description of the situation here. Considering when it was recorded of course 👍
Eastern Slovakian here ... salary around 800€.
Incaso meaning - Gas,Eletricity,Internet,Water etc... around 300-350€
Food : 100-150€
You are left with 400-350€ but still if you have car you need to pay for gas, also if you need things like clothing or just some accessories this is usually around another -100-150€
You don't save much here sadly.
Thanks for sharing, Peter.
I have a quick question, do you think 1500 euros a month would be enough living in Bratislava?
@@DeryantonioSimbolon That really depends on conditions and where you will live. Bratislava is not cheap specially if you are going to live directly in old part of town then you can expect to pay 800 euros a month for flat that have two rooms and trust me that prices can change a lot depending on location.
Food and other things it gone up and specially if you come to Bratislava as foreigner you will need to spend more so i would say 1500 about right but still you will have to count money and think about what to buy on your salary month.
@@DeryantonioSimbolon Thing is that if there is a chance i would give it a try for a few days at first to check out local prices better if you know somebody that is directly form there which sadly i don't and ask things. It's not easy specially now after covid.
@@thechosenone729 Thank you for your reply, bro
I got a job offer in an International school in the city center and the school could only pay me 1500 euro (after tax) a month. I am a bit worried whether 1500 euros would be enough or not cuz I have no experience at all of living in Europe. Thanks btw
Is it difficult to get on in Bratislava if you have multiple allergies to nuts,fish and seafood,certain fruits,wheat ,etc?
You might be cooking at home a lot.
I am Slovak, live in the UK for years and as a family wanted live decent life, live in decent accommodation is not any difference in the UK recently to be honest. After we pay all and we pay rent not for best accommodation and we cant really afford go often out here in the UK we maybe got left similar than in Slovakia to be honest. I dont live there now its truth I dont know lots of facts but when I got there I feel ppl are more honest, friendly and more enjoy life. Of course its up to everyone different circumstances but in our case I dont think comparing life in the UK or Slovak is at the moment so different as in the UK you pay a lot for services,rent etc and isnt easy find job with contract than before. Of course is lovely country too with many benefits to live but to be honest what he talked in video isnt entirely true as I know some ppl from Slovakia in small city and earn more than he say. My husband is from italy and say there aren't best conditions regarding employment either or salary if you dont know someone who gives you good job which is everywhere similar so to be honest I am bit disappointed with his video as lots of information were incorrect like about schools. He probably got used to more money but in many countries average ppl who got normal jobs with average salary have to budgeting. These days isnt too much differences and I lived in Slovakia, then for years in the UK, a bit in Italy and got information from my Italian husband too.
Automotive industries are open to english speakers
Thanks, Roland. Are you an expat in Slovakia or do you work in the automotive industry?
😍💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Thanks.
Any info on a good hotel and retirement? Able to own property? bars?
Hi Super Subscriber! Let's see. Are youo asking if there are good hotels there in Bratislava to stay in or invest in? Are you asking if Bratislava is good for retirement or about how to invest in a retirement fund while there?
Yes, foreigners can buy property in Slovakia but there are some exceptions like for agriculture for example.
What would you like to know about bars exactly?
I'm from Slovakia if you need some info feel free to contact me. I live in the UK now but still thinking about buying a property to retire in Slovakia where I was born.
You can buy a property as a foreigner. Lots of hotels especially in mountainous sell their apartments so you can buy it (that's something I am thinking about doing). You can buy it and rent it out (they can do it for you) or live there permanently or just keep it as a holiday home or combination of both.
Can I use UAE driving license in slovakia. Plz rply
It's advisable to also get an International Driver's License.
04:04 Let me correct you about one part. You can get a job in a big corporation like Amazon, IBM, Johnsson Controls, etc... by only speaking English. You don't have to speak Slovak. Also you earn much more than 500 euros. He gave you many incorrect informations throughout the whole video.
Hi Radka! Do you have more information about this?
Salary automotif sir..?
Good report I have to say. I use to live in London for 10 years and came back. I am from Petrzalka as well and have to correct you 16:55 100k minimum + out of city visitors workers up to 150k unregistered from other cities working here. However, I am curious what street you are located on? Just for fun.
Thanks for the comment, Daniel. We're not sure exactly what street. He didn't say.
I lived in slovakia for 6 years and I worked normal jobs like restaurant kitchen work :) you face a 450 euro payslip but you can rent a room for as low as 120-170 euros in Petrezalka and I did live ok with that later worked for a call center for 2 years and my salary increased to 900 a month but true without slovak language skills you wont get a job in this country like in any country outside of the place where English or german is spoken .
Thanks for the input Christian! How long has it been since you were there? Would you be interested in doing an interview?
@@ExpatsEverywhere it's now 1year and 7 month and I'm going back . Because that county works best for me . I speak Slovak and so it's easy to find work for me
@@christianoconnor842 Brilliant. If you’d like to continue to conversation about Slovakia, we loved to hear from you. Drop us an email at ExpatsEverywhere@gmail.com
@@ExpatsEverywhere sure later after work
Do you think 1500 euro a month would be enough for a single person living in Bratislava ??
This guy is supposed to be a teacher, but there is a big lack of knowledge and truth in his statements about Slovakia, primary based on his opinion neither the facts. Very disappointing.
How about vegetable/fruit picker how much is minimum wage?
€580/month national minimum wage in Slovakia. We don't know anyone in agriculture to ask about fruit and veggie pickers. Sorry.
623 € is minimal for 2021 by law.
@@marekstalmasek2569 Thanks for the update!
The minimum wage is 500, average wage in bratislava is 1500 euros
ITs actually 620€ minimum.Which IS not terrible bad if you own an apartment and your whole bills are 150€a month.It sucks if you have to pay morgige 500 a month.😁
Not really 😀 but it pretty much funny how he see salaries and prices in Slovakia. Looks like we have everything for free 😂
1500 e where have you been working ? Thats not normal in many jobs average is 500 - 620, but if you know where they pay like that i would like to hear that....
Can I afford to live in Slovakia if my monthly pension is $1,000 a month?
Yes, especially in smaller towns where rent should be cheaper.
Hi I want to work Slovakia can u guide me please
When they send their people..
.
I have honestly never heard so much BS as during the first five minutes of this video (did to make it past 5 minutes)
Seriously, is this a joke or what? Average salary in 2019 was 19 000€ a year (1250 a month), not “500€ a month”. Most schools are state run. Catholic or any religion sponsored schools exists, but are nowhere close to majority. And that car industry accounts for 60% of Slovak GDP? Slovakia produces most cars per capita in the world, but still the car industry is 12% of GDP. There are thousands of foreigners working in complex job positions. Many multinational corporations and IT companies such as IBM, Dell, HPE, ATT, Amazon, etc do have their major office centers here. So stating that all foreigners have no other chance than to teach is a huge BS.
All these information can be checked online in matter of seconds. The fact that the person you did interview did not bother to prepare or that the channel itself did not bother to do very basic fact-checking is bringing your credibility to subzero. God help those who watched the entire video.
Who cares about average salary? That says absolutely nothing about the life of an average Joe. Minimum wage in 2019 was 520 € gross pay, therefore around 430 € net pay. An average person with a college degree very often got a net pay around 700 € in 2019.
I am from Slovakia (born in former Czechoslovakia) and moved to USA 30 years ago. Now I want to move back to my homeland. Slovakia is 30 years ahead of USA. America is being left behind thanks to backwards thinking religious conservative nutjobs. You are right, people are more standoffish, but they are more sincere. They are not fake at all. I love my Slovakia!
Nice city but people are.. Naahhh not the best. I know first hand since I'm working there more than 10 years managing
Thanks for the comment. We agree though that things like great cities or people are a subjective thing.
We love Singapore and others hate it. We love Singaporeans and others don't. We also really enjoy Portugal and some people have come on the channel to slag the country off. We think the Portuguese are the nicest of any place we've lived but we know people will disagree.
@FabioTegon: Are you searching for videos about Slovakia and post the same comment everywhere? This is the
3rd comment from you under video about Slovakia I have seen in past 24h. Maybe they are not the problem, maybe you are.
@@Phobos_Nyx this comment we left about Slovakia was a week ago. What are you talking about?
@@ExpatsEverywhere I'm not talking about you, it was ment for Fabio. This is not the first same comment under video I saw from him. He puts it everywhere and I don't think it's fair towards Slovak people.
@@Phobos_Nyx Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying. Have a great day!