Job Discussion Forums

[yu91]

Hi all,

I accepted a job to teach English in one of Moscow's satellite towns. The salary is 60,000 rubles a month, roughly (1,700 dollars/1,300 euros) and they gave me a flat.

My teaching hours include 40 academic hours a week (1 academic hour = 40 minutes) which translates to around 25 actual hours of teaching per week.

With no TEFL and no prior experience, I thought the offer was pretty good, because I didn't see many other schools offering anything near 60,000 rubles a month.

However I met a guy in Park Gorky who has been teaching english here for 4 years, and he said I was being ripped off, that if you do private lessons you can be making 60,000 rubles in a week, and that he charged his clients 100 dollars per hour as a starting rate. Sometimes he would lower it, but that's the starting rate, and that's what most other teachers charge for private lessons.

So I am just curious whether anyone can tell me the typical salaries in Moscow for first time ESL teachers at language schools are, and what they think of my offer.

I've already accepted the job and all I can say is the workload is intense to say the least, I feel like I am drowning in lesson plans.

[maruss]

Someone else was offered this a few weeks ago and after reading the advice on this site he wisely rejected it!Too many hours for a start and evil bosses!

[maruss]

If so, you can can scroll down the index page and read the postings about it:be sure that firms there know what the going rate is for hiring teachers and if they are paying more than average,which they are in this case, they will make sure that you earn every rouble they pay you!Also read carefully the observations others made about their teaching methods etc.....
While it IS possible to make 60.000 R. per week and charge $100 for one lesson in Moscow this is for the domain of elite teachers who have years of experience,connections and recommendations etc......those guys and gals have usually worked damn hard to get to that level and deserve every penny they make!Rome wasn't built in a day.....

[yu91]

Thanks for the reply maruss!

So 60,000 rubles a month and a flat is above average in Moscow? What would be the average rate then for a first time esl teacher?

To be honest I had my first week of classes and with no experience I was doing pretty miserably in most of them, awkward silences when I tried to get students to talk, lesson plan that ended early and still had half an hour to teach with no material, forgetting students names etc.

It's pretty overwhelming. I'm assuming the CELTA/TEFL prepares you for this. They hired me without one so I am hoping they give me some leeway.

What has been your experience with struggling new teachers? Do new esl teachers who aren't cut for the job get dismissed early, or is the visa process too much effort for the school to find a new teacher?

The school itself has been very supportive, the teachers are nice, and there are other native teachers around so its not just Russians. But the workload this first week killed me (40 teaching hours). What would be the typical amount of hours most schools give their native teachers? (I understand that each school is different but hearing from others helps put my contact in perspective).

[Sashadroogie]

First up, guys in Gorky Park are not always to be trusted, even if they've been here for four years. 60k rubles a week isn't likely to be true every week, and few of us have enough available time for that many privates, with commitments to visa sponsors etc. 100$ for an hour sounds dodgy too, but can be true. Over the short term only, though. Few students, even rich types, will continue to pay that beyond a month or so, no matter how great the lessons.

As for your job, 40 academic hours is tough on anyone. Burnout a strong possibility. Perhaps you need to talk to your DoS about lesson planning? See if you can get advice on how to speed this up for you. In any case, you are in at the deep end, and need to learn how to swim ASAP. Can be done, but is harder without academic support.

Best of luck!

[GotoRussia]

Hello. I worked in Russia earlier this year. What I have found in the expat groups are 3 categories.

1st are the fresh young college grads who come looking for adventure and don't care where they work. They go with one of the well-known chain schools, most of which have poor reputations for exploiting teachers.

60k for 1 month on a full schedule 40 hours/week is like minimum wage.
I don't know if that includes your flat or not and if they pay for your flights and visa. I adamantly refuse such offers. You might as well stay home.

2nd are the local schools which don't advertise here and are more word of mouth. They offer better conditions, from 100k-150k for a full schedule, usually with some housing and travel support. But harder to land these.

3rd is the private family route. This is what I did. I worked for a very wealthy family as a full time tutor. All expenses paid. My own flat, all travel (taxis to and from the home). However this can be the most demanding job. They expect constant interaction and you must balance the parents' needs for learning vs the children's needs.

Suffice to say the salary is great. 200-300k per month. I was able to save over 90% of my pay. All meals are covered except for the ones you eat on your own and when you go out of course.

There are plenty of opportunities in the golden city of Moscow but you need skills, panache and a bit of good fortune.

[maruss]

categories 2 and 3 are of course the best but 2 is very hard to get unless you are already on the spot and happen to have the right contacts etc......for 3 you need to be very thick skinned!If you are employed by Russians there is often an invisible line concerning how close you are allowed to get to them personally and whether they value and respect you as a person or just what you do to earn your salary??But some of these people have mega-money and are quite prepared to spend it when they think they are getting what they want so this can be the road to making your Russia experience pay-off!
Not forgetting those in category 1 either.....no matter how much we warn people there always seems to be a supply of new cannon fodder!

[GotoRussia]

hey maruss, there does seem to be an interesting dynamic between those rich Russian families and the tutors they hire.

I was treated well most of the time, no issues with pay or housing. But they did seem to have unusual requests at times, which I will keep to myself for privacy sake. When you are that rich perhaps you are used to getting what you want.

You really can't be teaching a child for 8 hours a day. Most of that time is just simple conversation. And of course they need time for themselves and to relax. But if the parents are paying they want you to be with them constantly.

I think 4 hours is a good compromise yet parents don't get it.

[teacher X]

[Sashadroogie]

Yip. Sell your soul to Mammon, or filthy rich New Russians. But no room for complaining on that level of recompense : )

[GotoRussia]

Luckily for me the parents were "normal", only rather demanding.

I should say the mom was, the dad worked alot and when he was home he didn't want to see me, so I'd go upstairs while he was with the kids.

and they had both sets of grandparents visit often which helped.

Realistically they would do one proper sit down lesson a day and the rest was playing Xbox or watching TV and movies in English.

No right to complain about salary, although after a while the money was secondary. It's still a job.

As a guy I didn't have to deal with weird situations a girl may. I have heard of nanny stories where the husband was acting inappropriately.

[maruss]

Back in 2005/6 I had a small group of such kids on a Friday evening at the office of the firm I was working for and the three academic hours were a torture with me mostly standing up and trying to keep the boys from fighting with each other or upsetting the girls!One of the girls,around 10 years old,was one of the daughters of the guy who managed the various 'businesses' which were situated in the other parts of the building that was owned by a member of the Duma whose daughter he had been previously married to.The girl in my class lived out at Zhukovka and was brought to and from the lessons by a driver,accompanied by two security goons!I had been warned by the director of the firm I worked for that these kids were VIP'S and therefore on no account should I upset them or give them any reason to complain to their parents about me etc....
Anyway after the second weeks lesson, this particular girl,who wore expensive clothes which she boasted she had bought in Paris with her mother,told me that her mother wanted to meet her new teacher and therefore I was expected to accompany her home,despite it being already 9 p.m. and miles from where I lived!One of the security men confirmed this and assured me that the driver would take me home afterwards so therefore there was no problem!
Needless to say their house was a typical example of new-Russian decadence and excess which I found almost repulsive,even more so when the young girl proudly introduced me to her personal nanny who she said even cleaned her teeth for her at night and helped her to undress etc!
As for her mother,despite her initially voluptuous appearance.I soon understood that she was totally immature and boring as a person with little intellect and probably no interest in anything but buying clothes and things for the house on trips to various places around the world..I was not surprised that her husband had divorced her,especially when she kept asking me if I thought she was beautiful and kept looking in the mirror and fiddling with her hair and ear-rings etc!Politely trying to compliment her and then making my excuse that I needed to go as it was around 11.00 p.m. and I lived about 25 kms away she called the driver but then made me promise that the next Friday I would come again and stay for dinner this time because she planned to go to Germany during the week to a coiffure she had been recommended and wanted my opinion as to whether her new style would make her even more attractive?
I reported my 'adventure' to the schools female director on the Monday and explained that whilst I didn't want to offend the parent of a VIP client,I also didn't expect to have to go on trips to their homes after lessons,especially at night in the winter,even if it was in a BMW with two bodyguards etc!She laughed and said she knew what the girls mother was like and that I should just go to dinner as I had promised,following which she would call her and explain that I had lessons on Saturday mornings so could not accompany her daughter home after each Fridays lesson,but added that I must 'keep her happy' and try not to upset her as she was in reality quite lonely and still hoped that her ex-husband would one day return to her,adding that he was still footing all the bills for her and her daughter!
So I did as I was told and as a result did not eat much dinner the next friday as my hostess made it quite clear as soon as she had sent her daughter to bed that wanted other things from me.......of course it was all part of her desperate efforts to boost her own ego more than anything else but left me feeling totally empty, just like many of these people are...they have everything that money can buy but what they really want most is not on sale and this applies everywhere.Looking back on it afterwards I actually felt rather sorry for her,particularly after I had made an excuse that I could not go there again the next time she called me.I also sometimes wonder what kind of person her daughter has grown-up into?

[GotoRussia]

nice story maruss! Perhaps you should have been the true gentleman and acted more salaciously!

Money does seem to create that empty void especially if it wasn't earned honestly. If you read up on the oligarchs and how they got their wealth you see how that system operates.

I did a temp job this summer for another very wealthy Russian family. Their vacation home in the south of France was stunning, private chefs, housekeepers, drivers. I flew by private jet with them for an overnight trip to another major European city.

Sadly the parents didn't seem to want real responsibility in raising their children. The dad was an absent businessman, the mom more interested in shopping and social life. She barely spent time with the kids not even eating together.

I guess that's where we come in. As typical the kids had never had much discipline and the siblings fought. The house staff all kissed up to them it was pathetic. I tried to show them some tough love but in the end it was for naught.

[maruss]

The majority of ordinary Russians hate these people and I can understand why!It also makes me sick the way some Greek Cypriots here admire them and pander to their needs etc.Cyprus earned a bad reputation as a centre of money laundering and this is one of the reasons which lead to our present recession:there are a number of accountants,lawyers and bankers here who made their fortunes by providing services for so-called 'off-shore' companies for people from Russia and Ukraine,as well as other countries.Of course some are legitimate and operate normal businesses,Forex owned by Andrei Dashin being one of them and him and his wife also do a lot of work for childrens charities etc.You can also find a lot of dubious Russian money in the City of London and other parts of the world so Cypriots do have a point when they say they are being unfairly singled out?
I also sense that fear pervades these kind of people we are talking about in Russia?They never know when the wheel might turn against them and they suddenly find themselves behind bars and/or without anything!Khodorkovsky was one example of what happens if you challenge the wrong peope!Their world is a fantasy which is often built on moving sand and they know it and a symptom of what kind of place Russia really is,despite the glitzy shops and jaguar cars etc. in Moscow which are still the priveledge of very few.

[expatella_girl]

Two of the best posts you've ever made maruss, and you've missed nothing. Spot on.

Yes, the Russian rich are quite a handful aren't they, and they really do have no idea how to behave.

But in Russia there is a deference to the elitny, no matter how vapid and vacant they may be, a hangover from the aristocracy from which Russia has never really departed.

Thanks for posting. Too many people don't understand how difficult a culture Russia really is, they just post here wanting to know if 60,000 a month is enough to live on and where to buy a winter coat.

The problems in Russia run much deeper. The problem of surviving in Russia runs much deeper. There is not a scrap of democratic thought in their minds, it is such an ingrained and deeply stratified culture.

I always thought that the Renaissance and the Enlightenment and everything that went along with it completely passed Russia by. They went from the 17th century, straight into the fury of elitist communism, and then 100 years later thrown to the wolves of 'capitalism'.

It's been a very rough ride and in many cases, the people have had no chartered path. The Russki nuveau riche have behaved very badly, but they really have no other models to build on save the old aristocracy?

I wouldn't want to work for them - but by god their excess and exuberance makes them absolutely fascinating people. Live for today, as tomorrow may never come.