Job Discussion Forums

steven_gerrard · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 155

The maximum salary for qualified and experienced teachers at LL was, even when I was there, $800 and there were several others on $700. A starting salary for a CELTA/ Trinity qualified teacher with no experience was $600. As for docking salary if you don't turn up to meetings etc- that's not the case. If you miss the odd meeting or seminar,not much will happen except perhaps a light, unofficial warning. Miss a lot, though and you're out. Of course they are going to say meetings and seminars are compulsory, otherwise barely anyone would attend.

You're not expected to be on call 15 hours a day either. Once your timetable is in place and full, you wont be expected to do an awful lot else.

I lived very happily on my standard salary when I was an ordinary teacher at LL. Of course now I earn much more I wouldn't want to go back to that kind of salary but it was certainly enough to enjoy St Petes on, especially without the worry of accommodation.

garth · Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Grinnell, IA

Maybe it's poor form to try to revive this thread, but I was wondering if the original poster went through with the LL internship, and if so, how do you find it? Or maybe there are other people out there considering applying? I am a college senior applying for the internship beginning next August and it sounds super-cool to me, I mostly just want to be able to live in Russia for a while, pref. Moscow or Petersburg, pick up summathe language and have a good time while fleshing out the resume, which this internship sounds ideal for. Let me know!

Mark Loyd · Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 517

internship in EFL?

How pathetic?

Get the typical low paid job and call it what it is.

steven_gerrard · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 155

I agree that "internship" is a bad name for the programme- it isn't really an internship at all.

A chance to live in Russia with your visa arranged and paid for, accommodation provided, health insurance and a salary which won't set the world on fire but is enough to live on isn't a bad deal. Yeah, you'll work hard but let's face it, you're doing a job you have no qualifications to do, no training apart from what LL provide and no intention of doing for any longer than a couple of years at most. Not a bad choice if you've just graudated from University and are looking to spend time abroad- and this is the kind of person the internship is aimed at.

Now try a similar "internship" in a Russian University where they'll stick you in dire student accommodation, pay for neither flight or visa, give you no academic support whatsoever, expect you to "teach" classes of up to sixty students who probably know more about the English language than you do and pay you a generous stipend of around 75GBP a month- and that's if you're lucky. Isn't that real low paid labour?

Mnizzle · Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 16 Location: Colorado

I would advise against this internship. That is liveable but you can make more with an actual job at BKC. The other problem with it is the following. Language Link brings unsuspecting people to Russia and gets them to work for LL in this program. The certification it provides isn't recognized by any major schools. SHould you want to change employers or have another teaching job post living in Russia, you will have to do another training program. I recommend just getting a CELTA or Trinity certification and applying to LL or BKC as a full-time teacher.

leroy · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 49

Mnizzle is right- invest up to �1000 in a CELTA course so you can earn an extra $50 a month for a job you have absolutely no intention of doing for more than a year.

You'll find there are plenty of schools in Moscow who will take you on with no training whatsoever and just expect you to get on with it. And although the LL intership is not recognised as a CELTA or Trinity equivalent, at least they're not throwing you in the classroom cold.

Confederate · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 46 Location: Moscow, Russia

I got an email last week from a person in California asking me about teacher training at LL, I was some what shocked by what he told me:

"What made me interested in them was two things: They offer Russian language classes as part of the deal (which I would have to pay for), and they will accept people like me with no teaching experience and train and certify them. The only thing I see as a negative is the fact that they want about $9,000 to get me there and house me for 36 weeks, then I have to pay for the Russian classes and may only make $350 per month or so to start. After I pay for classes, my net pay may not be much at all to live on. That concerns me. "

Charging $9,000.00 for something that is not even a CELTA, surely that guy was wrong about LL doing this, but then again from my past experiences with this school, it would not surprise me really.

Just some what shocked to hear that LL is charging $9000.00 for some certificate.

steven_gerrard · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 155

Basically what you're talking about there are people who come to Language Link as STUDENTS to learn Russian. Of course they have to pay for their flights, accommodation and tuition.

Students who study Russian during the day have the option of teaching English in the evening, for which they are trained for 2 weeks and paid by the number of hours they teach. Some do, some don't- it was just a way of making a long study stay in Russia more economically feasible for the student.

BELS · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 402 Location: Moscow

I noticed an advertisement from LL in the Moscow times last week. They were offering 1200 dollars month or $20 an hour partime. Have the wages gone up?

Not that I am interested personally, still too low. But others might be interested.

leroy · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 49

Pay has gone up but that sounds a little on the high side for a teacher (not a DOS or anything which they never advertise for anyway) and certainly that won't include acommodation.

$20 an hour has been the rate there for ages.