Job Discussion Forums

[disc77]

Hello everyone,

I am looking to go to Russia next summer and plan to stay there for a while, if not eventually move there permanently. I am originally from the USSR and speak Russian fluently. I have lived in the US for 15 years and my English is near-native. I have a TESL certificate from a US university and will soon have my MA in linguistics, and close to 4 years of teaching experience.

My question is really for people who have taught in Russia and are career ESL teachers.

From your experience, how possible is it to avoid the big schools as your first teaching experience? I don't have ANY connections with people at universities, etc... and obviously no private students as I am not in Russia. I am not adverse to teaching in a BKC or LL school for a year, but then what are the chances of actually "moving up" to a better-paying position with other schools - I would need one if I plan to stay long-term. Or is it a good idea to get a position at one of these schools and just try to survive on $1000 a month for the first year?

Also, from your "dealings" with Russian students, how common is the attitude among them that a native speaker by definition is a better teacher than a native Russian speaker? The reason I am asking is in my experience, I have had a number of Russian speakers here in the US tell me that they prefered a native speaker because they "know what they're doing" and didn't want a Russian person teaching them English. I have to say that I have no accent in English having lived here for such a long time, and these students would tell me this without realizing that I am a native Russian speaker. However, if I told them that I was Russian (in class), it seemed to change their attitude. I NEVER have this problem with non-Russian students as most of them cannot tell I am not an American - talk about ironic! I have read some of the posts on the debate about using L1 teachers in the classroom and see that some of them resign to the "fact" that they can only teach grammar. While I like teaching grammar, I wouldn't want to be "type-cast".

Your advice, opinions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I plan to go to Moscow. But if there is a well-hidden town somewhere nearby, I wouldn't be opposed to teaching there.

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[JessInRussia]

Hi disc77

I'm not the most experienced teacher and haven't taught in Moscow. I'm sure others will comment and advise you on that.

I am, however, freelance and have been for quite some time. It's MUCH better. No split shifts, no long treks to the next client and no-one to report to. Of course I had to build up my resources in the beginning, but now I teach mainly from home, and occasionally go to someone's workplace. I charge a rate equal to that of my old school and people pay with happiness. After a while you get known, and I have a minimum of a call a week from a new prospect. (I had some business cards printed too.)

As far as you being Russian goes, I just wouldn't tell anyone. Your teaching skills will show themselves and later no-one will care. If they ask you if you speak Russian, say yes, but not in the classroom. It's just my opinion, though. I speak a lot of Russian, but many students don't know this.

In conclusion, my main advice from personal experience is to go freelance.

Good luck!
Jess

PS: And by the way, there is a well-hidden town outside Moscow, but you have to be one of the 36 richest people in Russia to live there.

[maruss]

I would second most of the advice on the above postings-why tell anyone you are not native if you can get away with saying you are??This would reduce your image and demand among potential students and gain you absolutely nothing!
My own advice though centres on a couple of other very important points:
Firstly,Moscow is one of the least desirable cities in the world to live in regarding high costs, poor value for money,unfriendliness and rudeness,awful climate and a very unhealthy ecological environment!Why do you think that the elite live in luxury compounds in the forest outside it?
Secondly,I cannot understand why anyone from the former S.U. would contemplate returning to Russia,especially under the regime which is in power there now.Conditions regarding human rights, press freedom and corruption are deteriorating continually and consequently relations with the E.U. and other Western countries are at their worst since the Cold War!
The only possible exception might be if you are from one of the Baltic countries and speak the local language, where they have joined the free world and are developing their civil societies and economies.
Obviously I don't know where you live now or your circumstances,but this does not seem like a good idea unless it is just for a short time and you want to gain some experience of contemporary Russia.
This is not because I have a grudge against the place from reading too many spy-stories etc. but from my own experience of living there for six months quite recently and in-depth knowledge of the country.
Further proof is surely the large number of the Russian elite who are investing their money in places such as London etc. rather than in their own country.They obviously have a good reason?
Hope this is of use.

[disc77]

Jess and maruss, thank you for the replies.

While I've considered not telling my students that I am Russian, it would be hard to keep this a secret with my oh-so-Russian first name. However, I am not concerned about my students knowing that I am Russian; rather I wonder what the percentage is of those who would consider me "inept" at teaching English. And since it appears that some schools are on the "customer service" end of the teaching spectrum, and it's all about making students feel happy , would this prevent me from either getting jobs or demanding and receiving higher wages? Jess, how long did it take you to establish your own client base?

As far as why even go, maruss, quite simply - I miss it. Even looking at all the changes, the positives and the negatives, when I arrive at Sheremetyevo-2 and step outside and smell that weird combination of gasoline and dust (mostly gasoline), I say to myself, "Ah, I am home."
Sometimes you end up missing the weirdest things.

As far as freedom of the press, corruption, etc..., I started typing an answer and it was turning out to be very long, and as such I don't think it fit for this forum. We can probably open a new thread and devote it solely to freedom of the press issues. Let me just say that we would first have to establish what we mean by 'freedom'. And that can get very tricky. And as for the Russian elite - I really don't care what it does, where it buys houses, villas, ships, soccer teams... While you may think that the fact that they're buying abroad is indicative of their expectations of Russia's future, it may also simply indicate that they want to become part of the Western elite. I mean you don't see them selling their 2, 3, 5 apartments in Moscow center and palace-size houses on Rublevksoe shosse.

What about Novosibirsk? - I've posted questions about it a while ago, but there seems to be little information available on the schools there.

[maruss]

Employers I worked for had corporate clients who specified that they wanted exclusively native teachers and of course they were charged more accordingly.Everyone in Russia is prepared to say what's necessary to protect their interest-and pocket -so why not use another first name if you can sound like a native speaker of English?
More on the other points later!

[mdk]

[MIKEBUCHAN]

MDK

You are so very correct!

I found on the frontier - in the Urals - there is even an entire faculty for Theoretical English Grammar. I listened to this and found that it did not resemble anything that I could understand. It even made the Russian case grammar easy to understand!

And you are correct to tell about dealing with the locals! I found the usual methodology for teaching English to be from the 18th century and usually by teachers that almost can not speak English at all.

[BELS]

[GF]

[maruss]

Isn't nearly everything is Russia dishonest and deceitful,unfortunately ,starting from the top downwards...??

[mdk]

[GF]

[mdk]

My Dear Sir,


Compared to some of the amusing little pecadillos I have seen carried out in the name of ESL education last year in Moscow, this doesn't even register on the radar.

It's a dead cert that the OP has a command of American English so far above a Russian Englsih teacher who has spent no more than a few weeks in the west that the difference is immaterial.

I think it is highly probable that the OP speaks better English than I do, because I speak normal patois of Fresno in order to not stand out like a brass-bound, fully-fledged immigrant.

Now then, if the OP happens to read this, he should definitely tell his students that he is Russian born and has lived 15 years in the states so that St. Peter doesn't condemn him to 15 milliseconds in purgatory for his heinous deception of innocent and gullible Russians.

[GF]

Misrepresenting oneself is fraud, pure and simple. That is especially so when people's hard earned money is involved.

[maruss]

If even a fraction of the people who commit fraud in Russia were brought to justice,the courts would be busy 24 hours a day,dealing with minor cases of deception up to the crooks who posed as developers and swindled people who paid for appartments that were never built etc etc!
But as we all know,the whole system there is corrupt and crooked so what would be the point when the verdicts are usually decided in advance....