Job Discussion Forums

zeke0606 · Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 8:14 pm Post subject: what?

Velocipedaler -

I must apologize for that last comment. I was angry and lashed out at all the things you so eloquently stated about expat979.
And thank you for such a gentle reminder about my own manners.

I can say that it is for all the reasons about that one expat (and more than likely an American) that you stated that I remain in Russia.

Thank you again.

zeke

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

While I am grateful for your kind comments about my contributions, I would add the following. While I endeavour to be accurate and well-informed - and try to keep out of topics whereof I know nothing - I have occasionally been ill-tempered and argumentative. My point is, ok, we've vented some spleen here, but please forgive and forget, as there are plenty of other things to argue about in future..

Velocipedaler · Joined: 23 Jun 2009 Posts: 45 Location: Earth

tpacapt · Joined: 01 Aug 2010 Posts: 10

I currently work for Language Link. Overall, I've enjoyed the experience and found the other teachers great, and the administration relatively good and responsive as well - though from what I've heard from other teachers, that varies considerably depending on your location.

The pay is good by Russian standards (i.e. I get paid more than my Russian friend who's a surgeon), but it's certainly more 'live and travel a bit' pay than save a lot. If you get private students, you can increase that (I don't have any private students). I get paid about 1200 dollars a month plus a (shared) flat. The also pay for airfare and the visa. Of that, I save about 300 dollars a month, though I go out a lot less than other teachers.

I teach in a suburb, so I actually have a lot of teenage classes. Some of the levels are very mixed though - i.e. they often group approximately by age rather than actual level. If you teach in a city, you probably would mostly have adults, and may have to travel around the city teaching in companies.

It's almost entirely afternoon and evening classes (i.e. most of my courses fall in between 3 pm and 10 pm). I teach 30 academic hours (45 minutes here) a week.

In summary, I'd say if you're looking to make money, or for a really interesting/invigorating teaching experience, this is not the place to come. If you're looking to experience Russia/date Russian women/etc. and have a job that's not too irritating, it's fine.

One added note, if you're looking at Language Link specifically, aiming for one of the Moscow suburbs might be your best bet to get a majority of youth classes. Make sure you're actually living in the suburb though, not just commuting to it from the city.