Job Discussion Forums

[lou_la]

I'm looking at Eastern Europe as my next move - I've had enough of Asia, looking for somewhere a little more 'normal'! I'm currently teaching in Taiwan - this is my first TEFL job, I've been here since November, and I don't have a proper TEFL cert, just a 65 hour online one. However, if I complete a year here, my school gives their own TEFL certs too.

I'm probably going to be coming to Ljubljana, Riga, or Tallinn. I've been to them all before, but just on backpacking trips. I've spent time in most contries in Eastern Europe, and these have been some of the most enjoyable. I am planning on taking CELTA before looking for work, and also, I have an EU passport.

I have a few questions:
1- Is there a big difference in availability of jobs, pay and living costs in these three cities? Information is kind of hard to come by! I'm not expecting to live like a king or save a shed load of money, but I'd like to be able to live comfortably. What kind of set up costs would I be looking at? Is there another city in Eastern Europe where I might fare better in regards to being pretty new to TEFL? I'm open to suggestions!

2 - I'll have about a year's experience of teaching kindergarden (which I NEVER want to do again) and elementary school age kids. This means little experience of teaching grammar. Is this experience likely to be useful in the eyes of potential employers? Would only 6 or 9 months instead of a whole year be a big disadvantage in looking for work?

3 - If my experience (or lack thereof) won't make a huge difference in opportunities, would it be better to try to come to Europe in September this year? Otherwise I think I'll have to try to look for work around this time next year. I'm not too enamoured with Taiwan, but it is much better money than in Europe (about 6-700pounds a month after tax and rent). However, if my experience isn't going to help, I'd rather escape with my sanity while I can, instead of slogging through kindy everyday.

4 - for Riga and Tallinn mainly:
I've been learning Russian for the last few years (still low level though!), and really want to improve. Would one or the other cities be better for this, or are both about the same? I'll make it to Russia in the long term eventually, but want to figure my life out first!


Any help/other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Lou

[GF]

If one of your goals is to improve your Russian, then maybe you should think about working in Russia. The money can be quite good there once you get established. If you come to Tallinn, you will find the pay is generally low in relation to your living expenses and the local Estonians will be much more impressed if you try learning Estonian instead of Russian.

[lou_la]

Well, as I'm pretty new to teaching, I thought I'd take it easy somewhere a little less hassle first. I don't think I'd like to live in Moscow - just a few days is enough to drive me crazy - and I'd like to have more experience before I tackle job hunting elsewhere in Russia.