Job Discussion Forums

elliot_spencer · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 495

does anyone have any info on this school? How about current info on Tallinn? Salary seems low at 600E .

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Estonia is an interesting place but life in Talinn is not that cheap.I know nothing about this firm but suggest you try others as 600 euros will not go far!

jm2505 · Joined: 20 Jun 2009 Posts: 35

Could posts please be put in the Europe section.

Estonia is not part of Russia. Nor is it a CIS country.

It is in Europe and the EU

Anyone thinking of working here needs to appreciate that before they arrive, if only to avoid upsetting the students

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Especially under present circumstances,many Estonians are very concerned about what their eastern neighbour is doing!

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

Be careful, guys. Many of the students here are Russians (they are 25% of the population overall and they make up over a third of Tallinn) and one has to be careful what you say to or around them if you want to have them as students. For example, in my language school, Russian students make up 2/3rds to 3/4ers of the total client base.

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Of all the Baltic States,Estonia is probably the most sensitive about the historical aspects of their problems with Russia etc?
I met tourists from there in Cyprus this summer,some who were Estonian and also Russian due to them being born there after 1945 and others who were ethnic Estonians.....they nearly came to blows with each other after I criticised Putins regime, with two very distinct 'camps' forming immediately and these were middle-aged to elderly adults who had previously all seemed very amicable!So I would definitely not advise anyone to open this 'can of worms' among Estonian students!!

maruss · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1145 Location: Cyprus

Of all the Baltic States,Estonia is probably the most sensitive about the historical aspects of their problems with Russia etc?
I met tourists from there in Cyprus this summer,some who were Estonian and also Russian due to them being born there after 1945 and others who were ethnic Estonians.....they nearly came to blows with each other after I criticised Putins regime, with two very distinct 'camps' forming immediately and these were middle-aged to elderly adults who had previously all seemed very amicable!So I would definitely not advise anyone to open this 'can of worms' among Estonian students!!

jonniboy · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:16 am Post subject:

I'd suggest searching these forums for ILS. I haven't heard of them in years. They used to have a branch here in Riga, which didn't have that good a reputation and closed 6 or 7 years ago.

600 is WAY too low for Tallinn.

The advice about avoiding political issues is a sound one. There's nothing to be gained by discussing Russia, Putin, Ukraine, language issues etc. Just move the conversations swiftly on to another topic.

Interesting what GF says about the client base of his school. In my experience in Riga (which is almost equal in terms of Latvians/Russians) certain schools seem to be more favoured by each nationality. For example, here, IH and Pygmalion would be 80-85% Russian, whereas New Horizons and Skrivanek would be 80-85% Latvian. This never seems to be a deliberate policy (would be counter-productive, not to mention illegal, for a school to pigeonhole itself that way) but the management, staff and ex-students seem to tilt prospective students a certain way.

currentaffairs · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 828

I was thinking about living in Tallinn permanently but gave up after 5 months. I liked the place but rents and living costs were too high in comparison to wages. 600 euros is nothing and 1000 euros would still be a low but manageable salary for Tallinn.. Interesting place, though. My students were easy to teach, too.

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

We have a language inspectorate here that has the power to force companies to fire employees whose Estonian language skills are not up to a certain level (which varies by type of job). My business partner is a local Russian who is highly qualified to teach Estonian. Most Russians would rather be taught by another Russian than by an Estonian, even for the local language. The inspections result in a lot of business for us. I take the students who need English for the state exams and IELTS. Business has been very good so far.