Job Discussion Forums

[ricefigaro]

I'll be traveling to Moscow from Saint Petersburg in a couple of weeks and, being the bookophile that I am, was wondering about where I could load up on english books. So help me out muscovites: what are the good english bookstores?

[expatella_girl]

Although there are places, books in English are very hard to find here. Many Russian bookstores carry 19th century British novels (Bronte, Hardy etc.) because English language classes here use them. But current publications, especially non fiction, are very hard to come by.

Miserably, I can't remember the name of the store, but it has the biggest selection of English language books in Moscow. It's right downtown on Kuznetskt Most, just around the corner from the Kuznetsky Most Metro station. Across from the only vegetarian health food store in Moscow. Easy to find.

The other best bet is the Anglia. Bring money. It's on the next corner of the side street that runs by the downtown Marriott Hotel. They have current publications, non fiction--but hold on to your hat--it's gonna cost you about $1 per page. Yep, that's right. English language books are like gold in there. I go in and read sometimes but I can't afford to buy anything in there. Most English speakers here trade books around. Order from the internet and get family back home to send books.

I don't know anything about St. Pete, but I would actually assume it's a better place to get English books than Moscow because it's so close to the border and Scandanavia. Maybe I'm wrong.

[leroy]

As Expatella said -order from the internet. Amazon delivers to Russia at reasonable rates -you'll end up paying less for the books plus delivery than you would in somewhere like Anglia and the selection is obviously much much better than over here.

[sebastienupper]

I was wondering about this question myself.

Does that mean I should bring my own English books to Russia? If I want to use them in class? Or is using non-standard books a capital offence anyway?

What about English-Russian dictionaries? Do the Russian students have them/ have access to them? Do they ever have access to computers in your classes?

As you can see, I have no idea.

[expatella_girl]

YES! Any English language books you want--bring them now or forever regret it. Bring books you don't want, books you don't like, books you've been meaning to read for 10 year but never got around to. They will all be treasure in Russia. I miss English language print more than anything in this country. More than comfort food, more than TV, more than movies, even more than family. Bring books and more books.

Russian/English and English/Russian dictionaries are easy to find here. That's where easy stops.

Students would likely not have computer access in class. Of course there is internet here, but it's spotty, expensive, and DSL is less than common. Most internet is dial-up. There are a few cafes that have wifi.

[leroy]

I can only speak for Moscow but books connected with English Language training are widely available here as are dictionaries in every shape and size so you won't need to bring your own. In any case your employer should provide all books, both coursebooks and supplementary materials. If they don't you are working in the wrong place!

The larger schools have computer rooms where students can go and study either alone or during class time with the teacher. Thre are a fair few internet cafes dotted around the town. Most homes with internet access use ADSL lines -dial-up dying out. Unlimited access at a reasonable speed (262 Kps) is priced at an affordable $25 a month, though there are lots of different tarrifs to chose from.

If you're a big reader then do bring your own books for the first few weeks. If you're working in a school you will find most run an informal book exchange among teachers and as I said before, you can always top up your supply by ordering from Amazon or similar, though keep parcels under $60-70 value to avoid customs charges and have them sent to your work address rather than home, otherwise you'll have to go and pick it up yourself. As a teacher you can also join the British Council library for next to nothing (not only in Moscow but across Russia) where you will find resource material for your lessons and lots of books you might want to read too.

[bomberthomson]

I can only assume expatella_girl is pulling your leg ! Leroy is pretty much on the mark. There are a few places in Moscow that have a reasonable selection of books. They're generally not any more expensive that what you'd see back home. The Kuzneski Most bookshop has already been mentioned, and there's also the big Dom Knigi in Tverskaya which has quite a good selection of English books and a lot of teaching materials also.

Moscow is a big, international city - of course there are heaps of internet places, including the biggest internet joint in all of Europe in Okhotniy Ryaf shopping centre ! There are plenty of cafes with WiFi access too. ADSL is very common too.

[expatella_girl]

Uh, no Bom, I'm not pulling anyone's leg.

Decent, reasonably priced, recent English language publications are hard to find in Moscow. Non fiction English language books are like hens teeth here. If you like the Bronte sisters however, this is hog heaven.

The "Okhotniy Riaf" shopping center has ONE internet cafe (the other one went under last summer; nearly a year ago). Hardly an earth shattering count.

And yes, Moscow is an "international city." But sadly no, I maintain that internet here is sketchy and expensive and that DSL is not that common outside of commercial enterprises.

[leroy]

Don't most people who access the internet from home in Moscow have ADSL? Also there are lots of internet cafes here- Cafemax probably being the largest chain, though there are a fair few others too.

Expatella is correct in saying the selection of English reading material here is not the best -as I said, bring your own then order for delivery from outside Russia.

[BELS]

[BELS]

[quote="leroy"]As Expatella said -order from the internet. Amazon delivers to Russia at reasonable rates -you'll end up paying less for the books plus delivery than you would in somewhere like Anglia and the selection is obviously much much better than over here.[/quote]

I've heard that delivery to Russia is expensive and slow in Russia. But for what you say it sounds great. What website should I contact, German , British or American or does it matter? I used the British site at home.

[BELS]

[BELS]

There is also a good discount if you can convince them you are a teacher who will make regular purchases

[leroy]

Amazon delivery to Russia is not particularly expensive -it's probably cheaper than buying the same book here which has been imported to Russia and of course the selection is endless.

Delivery times are very quick -to Moscow itself. How long it sits in the cupboard at your local post office before they bother telling you it's there is another matter. I have all my Amazon purchases delivered to my workplace to avoid that problem.

As I said before, keep packages small (value no more than $70) and you won't have any problems with customs duty. Small parcels for personal use are fine but if you intend to import coursebooks this way, I think you will encounter problems.

I mainly use Amazon UK, though have used US too. I do buy books on there but mainly DVDs and it certainly makes my life over here a lot more bearable.

[BELS]