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kazachka
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 220
Location: Moscow and Alaska
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 Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:34 am Post subject: |
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| jonniboy wrote: |
| kazachka wrote: |
| I have a friend who is an English teacher(Latvian) and she said 15Ls /academic hr is the starting rate for a good private teacher in Riga. |
She's wrong. 15 lats per acad hour isn't doable in Riga: 10 is the max that people will pay and most will sniff at paying more than 10 per clock hour. Anyone hoping to get clients paying 15 per academic hour/20 per clock hour is in for a serious disappointment, especially if they have no local contacts/local reputation. |
She also knows someone in Jurmala getting 15-20/acad. hr. Hate to ask, but what do schools pay? |
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kazachka
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 220
Location: Moscow and Alaska
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| Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:35 am Post subject: |
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| expatella_girl wrote: |
| I think none of the Baltics were ever CIS. |
Nope! |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| kazachka wrote: |
| jonniboy wrote: |
| kazachka wrote: |
| I have a friend who is an English teacher(Latvian) and she said 15Ls /academic hr is the starting rate for a good private teacher in Riga. |
She's wrong. 15 lats per acad hour isn't doable in Riga: 10 is the max that people will pay and most will sniff at paying more than 10 per clock hour. Anyone hoping to get clients paying 15 per academic hour/20 per clock hour is in for a serious disappointment, especially if they have no local contacts/local reputation. |
She also knows someone in Jurmala getting 15-20/acad. hr. Hate to ask, but what do schools pay? |
Max in schools these days would be 7 lats/acad hr. Most will pay less than that. |
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kazachka
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 220
Location: Moscow and Alaska
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah I had a feeling it was +- about that figure-sucks. Private seems the only way to go which I understand if one has Latvian residency or a passport is realistic. I was in Riga again last week -starting to kick around options. I'm seriously considering the move. Latvia is a HEALTHIER place to be at the end of the day and I'm not the only Moscow teacher who has bailed to the Baltics for similar reasons. |
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waxwing
Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China
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| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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| kazachka wrote: |
| Yeah I had a feeling it was +- about that figure-sucks. Private seems the only way to go which I understand if one has Latvian residency or a passport is realistic. I was in Riga again last week -starting to kick around options. I'm seriously considering the move. Latvia is a HEALTHIER place to be at the end of the day and I'm not the only Moscow teacher who has bailed to the Baltics for similar reasons. |
Is rent as ridiculously cheap as it looks from my research? I spent a few weeks in Riga in the summer and paid a biggish price for a tourist short term rental. But I spoke to people telling me unbelievably low rents, also looking at: http://www.realty.lv/?lang=ru&id=1&sort_location=1 there seems to be lots in the $100-$300 eur/month range.
Btw I realize that apart from rent, other things aren't nearly so cheap. But heck, if you're coming from Moscow .. 
Btw I can't imagine that there is really much point in going to Riga as a teacher .. must be one of the worst markets around. There is no work, virtually no economy and everyone young ambitious is leaving again, like they did in the early '00s. |
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kazachka
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 220
Location: Moscow and Alaska
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:57 am Post subject: |
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| Rent is all relative. Yes- it's cheap but groceries are nearly as much as they cost in Moscow. Rent USED TO be cheap in Moscow too, but it's all relative. Rent is lower,but so are salaries. It's what you have left at the end of the day that counts and if there is no profit margin then there really isn't a point in going. I was kicking around whether it would be worth it even if I were to be totally private. I know lots of ppl bail in the winter and houses sit empty too. Yes- the economy is the pits esp post crisis and being dependant on imports does not help. It was just on the news when it was in Riga last week that Russia's freeze on grain exports are going to lead to price hikes in Latvia. It's not too surprising. |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:10 am Post subject: |
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| waxwing wrote: |
| Is rent as ridiculously cheap as it looks from my research? I spent a few weeks in Riga in the summer and paid a biggish price for a tourist short term rental. But I spoke to people telling me unbelievably low rents, also looking at: http://www.realty.lv/?lang=ru&id=1&sort_location=1 there seems to be lots in the $100-$300 eur/month range. |
I don't pay rent but if I did then yes it would be around those figures. Shared flat near the centre is now �100 a month, my friend is paying �200 a month for his own flat 25 minutes walk from the old town.
| waxwing wrote: |
Btw I realize that apart from rent, other things aren't nearly so cheap. But heck, if you're coming from Moscow ..
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They've definitely come down a bit compared to the peaks of 2007 but they are still too high compared to local salaries. Clothes in particular. Most people buy their clothes abroad if they can.
| waxwing wrote: |
| Btw I can't imagine that there is really much point in going to Riga as a teacher .. must be one of the worst markets around. There is no work, virtually no economy and everyone young ambitious is leaving again, like they did in the early '00s. |
Not at all. If anything the opposite. The crisis has actually led to an upturn in teaching. Bizarre, since like you I thought it would lead to a downturn and was ready to ship out in Summer 2009. Last year I was really maxing out the hours, worked over 40 hours some weeks just to fit em all in and in the end I was turning away work. The reason is that education is highly valued here, I believe Estonia and Latvia have the highest literacy rates of any country in the world for example. As a result when the going gets tough people look to improve their education, particularly for going abroad. Those that plan to stay need English for job interviews. I've 34 hours now and 10 hours of that is IELTS lessons for people who hope to leave next year to work or study abroad. Furthermore, compared to other European markets, there really is very little competition from other native speakers and this helps in getting relatively better paying clients.
However I'm not saying that any new teacher should come to Riga expecting that. I've been here since Autumn 2005 and therefore have local contacts and local reputation, therefore get many students by word of mouth. |
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waxwing
Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:30 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for that response jonniboy. Good to hear teaching's going well for you. As you say, it's a function of your own experience as well as the market in general and difficult to extricate the two. Have you asked any students if emigration plans are a factor?
If I wanted to pay 200 eur a month, which area would you recommend within shouting distance of the old town? (I won't actually be doing this until next year, if at all, but want to get my planning in early!). Is that "little Moscow"/Russian area to the south OK? (I heard it was cheap, but others told me it was dangerous ... I walked around for a few hours and it seemed alright to me. BTW I have lived in Russia before).
Also, for a good internet service (cable/ADSL) and the necessary heating+water+any communal charges how much does it usually add up to per month?(I realize winter and summer are different!).
thanks |
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Qaaolchoura
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Posts: 539
Location: 21 miles from the Syrian border
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| Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| That's what I thought. So why are they all lumped into the CIS board? |
Are they? The forum doesn't say it does, and I'd assumed Latvia would fall under General Europe. I'd just figured the OP had the same impulse as a quite lot of people: Former Soviet Union = Russia.
~Q |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, they are. The policy here appears to be that the Baltics should be treated as though they are CIS. While it is not explicitly stated, I don't see any deletion or re-direction of posts when anyone posts Latvian or Estonian questions on the 'Russia & CIS' board, like we do with Korean posts that are not on the Korean board etc. |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:36 am Post subject: |
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| I definitely wouldn't call the Baltics the CIS when I'm in the countries. But here it doesn't really matter. They're hardly in the top 10 of people's lists to teach in and most of us that do work here usually check both this board and the General Europe board. |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| waxwing wrote: |
Thanks for that response jonniboy. Good to hear teaching's going well for you. As you say, it's a function of your own experience as well as the market in general and difficult to extricate the two. Have you asked any students if emigration plans are a factor?
If I wanted to pay 200 eur a month, which area would you recommend within shouting distance of the old town? (I won't actually be doing this until next year, if at all, but want to get my planning in early!). Is that "little Moscow"/Russian area to the south OK? (I heard it was cheap, but others told me it was dangerous ... I walked around for a few hours and it seemed alright to me. BTW I have lived in Russia before).
Also, for a good internet service (cable/ADSL) and the necessary heating+water+any communal charges how much does it usually add up to per month?(I realize winter and summer are different!).
thanks |
Emigration is generally the main factor why many students want to learn. That or the fact that they work with companies with HQs in Scandinavia and need to communicate with colleagues there. Also one trend that was surprising to me at least was that with colleagues in other Baltic countries English is becoming the lingua franca of inter communication. Often this is the semi-official policy of some companies, especially those in the public sector, even though for many of them Russian would be easier.
Funny you mention the little Moscow suburb as I've lived here for the past 2 years. Moved here in fact from the "Art Noveau" district! "Maskachka" as locals often call it does have a bad reputation though the parts closest to the centre (where I live) have improved greatly in the last decade and the crime levels are no worse than any other areas of the city.
For all that perception is more important than facts. I don't work with private students in the evenings but when I did then sometimes some of them expressed reservations about coming here. Very few to be fair but if you're planning on living solely off privates, it's a factor to consider.
Generally if you were looking here then anywhere between the centre and Lacplesa Iela is fine. For me if I was choosing I'd go for the new town: anywhere between Elizabetes Iela and Stabu Iela. Though you might have to pay a bit more for there, maybe 250 or even 300 euro. Agenskalns, just across the river from the old town would also be a decent place to live and would be a bit cheaper.
Bills can be a bit of a killer especially heating. 40 lats for two people in the warmer 5 months for heating, water, gas and electricity, rising the rest of the year to 100 lats. Internet I pay 17 lats a month for broadband. Cable TV with 94 channels 14 lats. |
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waxwing
Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 719
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:34 am Post subject: |
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| jonniboy wrote: |
Generally if you were looking here then anywhere between the centre and Lacplesa Iela is fine. For me if I was choosing I'd go for the new town: anywhere between Elizabetes Iela and Stabu Iela. Though you might have to pay a bit more for there, maybe 250 or even 300 euro. Agenskalns, just across the river from the old town would also be a decent place to live and would be a bit cheaper.
Bills can be a bit of a killer especially heating. 40 lats for two people in the warmer 5 months for heating, water, gas and electricity, rising the rest of the year to 100 lats. Internet I pay 17 lats a month for broadband. Cable TV with 94 channels 14 lats. |
Muchos gracias, this is exactly the kind of info it's difficult to get unless you're on the ground. I'll take a gander at the Google map, although I do vaguely remember where Elizabetes is.
By the way I'm not planning to teach there, mostly just take an extremely extended sabbatical Plus brush up on my Russian, although I am aware of the issues that surround that |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:36 am Post subject: |
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| You'll be fine with the Russian here and if that's your plan then Maskavas Forstate would actually be a better place for you to live as there are more Russians here than most of the other districts. You might find the odd Latvian hothead who doesn't like it but those people are rare. |
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kazachka
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 220
Location: Moscow and Alaska
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| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:33 am Post subject: |
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| hate to ask but what's the cheap end of rent near Mezaparks? |
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