Job Discussion Forums

[Tina23]

Hi everyone, sorry if this sounds silly! Starting a job with IH Riga in 3 weeks and am currently standing in my flat in Glasgow surrounded by "stuff".
In your experience, what would be sensible to pack, store or throw out? Don't quite know where to start, to be honest! Apart from the glaringly obvious, like winter clothes. Will be moving into a furnished flat, with kitchen stuff, so won't need any of that.
Any advice would be great!
Also, if anyone knows about affordable ways of sending parcels from the UK to Latvia, please let me know.

Thanks

Tina

[everglade71]

I wondered how the work over in Riga was going? I've been looking at buying a property either in Riga or Jurmala to work part-time from as well as the UK. I did visit Riga earlier in the year and loved it. How do you find the language issue? Is it much of a problem or have you endeavoured to learn Latvian? Look forward to your reply and hope the job is going well. !

[Tina23]

Hi there, work is going well, and I'm really enjoying Riga. It has gone quite cold and nasty though! Have Latvian lessons once a week, and practice whenever I can. Not easy though, as a lot of people speak English and will answer my feeble attempts at Latvian with English responses.
Compared to average earnings, I find Riga to be quite expensive. I've heard property is really expensive, too, especially in the city centre.
Overall, I'm having a great time though, and I'm finding Riga a very easy place to live in.

[jonniboy]

Jurmala?! Gosh you�re not asking much! That was one of the most popular places in Soviet times so some of the better properties there go for as much as half a million quid. Zolitude, Purvciems and Kengarags are a lot cheaper but the standard of flats is a bit shocking sometimes. Latvia has one of the biggest gaps in general between average wages and prices. I still buy my clothes in Spain or UK where it�s cheaper. This is one reason why so many Latvians are heading West. Shame for the country but boom town for the aspiring English teacher. I�d 19 hours of privates within three months of moving there � it took me a year in Spain to get 7 hours!

As for the language issue probably just as useful to study Russian as I did. Apparently of those in Riga aged over twenty, 95% speak Russian and only 70% Latvian. I also have a Latvian girlfriend so it kinda makes you lazy when you have your own personal translator at your side all day! It does get a bit frustrating though when you�re trying to learn a language and people respond to you in English.

Structurally, Latvian�s a bit similar to Russian: perfective and imperfective verbs, 7 declensions, no articles and as far as I know, only three tenses. It�s not really that easy to learn but at least it�s not Estonian.

Riga�s really easy to teach in � good attentive students and unlike other countries the market is mostly adults and late teenagers. Joy! There�s definitely a big demand for native speakers which isn�t being met as the weather seems to put people off.

Tina you�ll be fine with the weather as it doesn�t usually go below minus 10 but I guarantee that you�ll be sick of the sight of snow at the end of it. A nip of Balzams in your coffee every morning and you�ll be fine.

[everglade71]

Sveiki Jonniboy ......

priecajos ka tev klajas labi...

thanks for the tips....i have 'seen the light' over the properties in Jurmala...and it wasn't what i expected for the price! So i've now reserved an apartment on the south bank of the river in the centre, just close to where the new south bridge is going to link to. Its not ready whilst october next year so i do have time to keep learning the language, although i do hope to visit before then to arrange the mortgages, etc.
Do you know if there are many places in Riag that offer Latvian courses for foreigners? I take it from what you said, Estonian is even harder to learn than Latvian?
And i absolutely love the snow....so thats no problem!
I take it you do live there on a full-time basis and dont switch bewteen there and the UK?
Whats the driving like there? When we were shuttled from the airport there didnt seem to be any rules on the road and no speed limits....if you drive, was it easy to adjust in to?
I also assume that there's no problems there with political correctness and things like the compensation culture which are ruining the UK?

Gaidisu atbildi...

Visu labu.

[jonniboy]

Hi,

first about the languages, noun cases were never really my thing so Latvian's six is a bit more managable than Estonian's fifteen. Also Latvian at least is an Indo European language and so has a bit in common with other European languages especially Russian and German. Estonian isn't and so its only relatives are Finnish, Hungarian and a few micro languages in Central Siberia. There are a few places which do Latvian language courses you can search on

http://www.zl.lv/portal/index.php?lang=en

I took a few Russian classes at this place which was okay

http://www.linguafranca.lv/

Baltic and Slavic states generally don't 'do' PC. In fact some times it goes a bit too far the other way, I've walked into the middle of a couple of neo-Nazi demos in the centre with few people batting an eyelid and I've also been called 'niggah' or 'Miguel' on the grounds that I have a slightly mediterranean complexion!

As for my situ, I taught two years in Spain and finished my first year in Latvia last June. Previously I went back to UK when classes dropped off in the Summer and filled in with a bit of lucrative but dull accountancy temping but as of next year I've decided to enjoy my Summers and so stayed a bit longer in UK to save cash - I'm back there in 3 weeks.

Can't comment on the driving as I leave that to my dear girlfriend but the quality of the roads can be atrocious in the rural areas and they do have one of the highest road fatality rates in Europe.

Let me know closer to the time you're moving and I'll give you whatever info.

[gypsea29]

very curious about the international house and any other tips on latvia. i speak latvian actually, so the language is not an issue. and it sounds like private lessons abound. do you have to have a job at the international house before you go?

[Tina23]

Just about to finish my year in Riga.
From my experience, Riga is an easy place to live in, and IH a good school to work for. The pay is rather crap though, I have to say. Which is why I'm off to Germany next term, dull, but financially better (if you have such nasty things like overdrafts and loans to pay back.yuk!)
International House are hiring at the moment. Not sure what it will be like there next year, as the DOS is leaving, but the new DOS is a great guy as well.

[gypsea29]

THANK YOU for responding. so, the pay is not great...but is it liveable? and does the school treat you well? and do the offer health coverage? and are you able to give private lessons? meaning, does your contract lock you out of them? i have a tefl and an M.A. in International Education, but lack really much actual teaching experience, except freelance. so, do you think that Latvia would be good place for me to get my feet wet? and must you always do a year with them?

[gypsea29]

Could you also give me the proper contact info for the International House? I just got an e-mail kicked back to me...
thanks!

[Tina23]

private lessons ok, as long as you dont "steal" students from the school and it doesnt interfere with your job at IH
school treats you well enough, but again, cant compare, as is my first job!
health coverage for the basics, so if you're into parachuting, you might want to take out your own insurance.
I found it a good first job, as they do a lot of observations and training type stuff, and they were always approachable if I had any newbie-questions. The students were mostly very motivated (surprisingly even the teens!), but you will spend a good deal of your time teaching teens. The school doesnt do a lot of in-company stuff.
You can manage on the salary, but it really isnt great. Beware of high heating bills in the winter! They will eat into your budget quite heftily.And Riga is not cheap, compared to other Eastern European cities.
The International House website is:
www.ihworld.com
IH Riga
http://www.ihriga.lv/
All the necessary contact details are on the website.
Good luck, let us know how you're getting on!

[gypsea29]

thanks a million! i have other motivations for going, besides just teaching. I just needed to ensure that I could make my ends meet. as for the heating issue---a semester in France and the Salar D'Uyuni taught me the art of sleeping in sweaters and the value of really warm blankets!

And, unless there's scuba diving, I should be good with the basic coverage.

Oh, and the websites. I got a bounceback from one of the names on there. But, I contacted the two others...so...

If you think of anything else, it would be appreciated. I am a newbie to this, so you have given me hope and relief!

[gypsea29]

Oh, and I was thinking what I could do was offer myself as Editor/ Proofreader to students at University. Thoughts on this?

[Tina23]

no idea re students/uni, but worth a try when you're here. saying that, students here have compulsory English classes in their 1st year at uni.

not really a question of sweaters, more a question of post-soviet heating! lol
the heating gets switched on at a certain date (november, if I remember correctly) and your bill gets progressively more expensive the colder it gets.It normally peaks round about Jan/Feb time before going down again. So it's out of your control really.
Out of interest, who did you contact?

[gypsea29]

the main info info@satva then [email protected] and a woman named Nataly Zelenina. The info one and Nataly's came back.

do you have any direct e-mails?