| One of the
larger franchised schools I taught at, I had to buy the textbooks for my
class myself, this school put off getting the students books as if after
the client signed the contract, that was it, no teacher support at all
and this was at one of the big three schools here in Moscow.
Schools
Most native
English speaking teachers come here to teach by applying online with one
of the big franchised schools. This can be both good and bad, good
in that if you are new to teaching and have no contacts here to help you
get settled, find accommodations, arrange transportation and what not,
these schools are good for the new teacher. Most if not all of these
schools know that good teachers hardly ever stay more than a year with
the various schools, so they more or less just run a treadmill, bring in
new teachers, keep them a year, then replace them. The smart teacher
will find their own clients on the side to make up for the wages that most
of these schools pay. Wages paid by most schools are low according
to US standards. You can live comfortably on the wages the schools
pay, especially if they also provide housing, but you can make much more
as much as a freelance teacher. I myself make roughly four times
as much freelancing as I ever made at any school. Quite a few
teachers like working at the franchise schools and that is fine, more power
to them, but as far as myself, I really do not care to be used the way
most of these schools use people. I have taught at several of the
bigger schools here, even at one of the top three schools here and I was
not impressed at all with them. The big problem with these schools
is that they are so large, that the ones running the school has no idea
of what is going on half the time. The school over all maybe a
good school, but because there is some bad management at one of the
branch schools, it can be a gamble as to whether or not you will have good
teacher support and working conditions. These franchised schools
are good for the newbie teacher to get a taste of teaching and a taste
of Russian culture, but most of these teachers hit the road as soon as
their contract is over. Professional teachers know the truth about
these schools, and may only stay at these schools for a year, then get
their own business visas and start teaching on their own. Fact of
the matter is, these schools are businesses and money comes first.
There is a willing market in teachers who only think it will be neat to
teach overseas and live on daddy’s credit card and these schools know it
and as long as there are teachers willing to accept low salaries and live
off daddy’s credit card, salaries will remain low, that is why most professional
teachers who are serious about teaching and earning an excellent wage,
pretty much teach on their own and say to heck with these schools.
The best money in English teaching is made by freelance teaching and not
at any school. Robert Leitch has written a very good article on ESL
teaching here in Russia called, ”Damning Myths” you can read it, I agree
whole hearty with what he says in the article. These big franchise
schools are businesses, not schools, that is a fact. http://www.visarus.co.uk/community/index.php?command=view_article&id=27
I know it sounds
like I do not think highly of the big franchised schools, but they do provide
a service. Otherwise they would not be in business and they do provide
a way for new teachers to learn how to teach and gain valuable experience.
That is why most if not all native English speaking teachers have their
own private students. Also by letting the school handle all the invitations,
visa, accommodations, airfares, and other benefits, they do provide a way
for the new teacher to break into the ESL teaching field. Be weary
of some Russian owned schools, some are only concerned about money, they
put off paying their teachers if at all. If any school fails to pay
you, stop teaching for them right then and there, except no excuses.
Also be weary of schools that use American in there name, most are just
fly by night operations, but not all schools that use American are, but
more are bad than good. One school that uses American L something
has a very bad reputation here for flooding people who have Moscow email
addresses with spam email about their school; this school has made a lot
of people mad. Always be weary about jobs, never sign a contract unless
you agree to it 150%, a contract has to be in both English and Russian
to be enforced in Russian courts. Never buy the hype that all these
schools put on their web pages, you will find that most of the time, facts
differ from what the web pages say. Always ask for several references
from the school, both from clients and teachers. Read all the ESL
forums on the Internet, Dave’s ESL Café is one of the best, every
thing is discussed on these forums, especially which schools are good and
which schools are bad. If you are serious about teaching, then get
yourself a business visa, good for a year and freelance on your own.
Freelance
Teaching
Freelance teaching
is more for the pros; most teachers are afraid of being on their own and
opt out for teaching at some school. Fine, leaves more good paying
clients for me. If you’re a serious teacher, not one of the make
believe teachers that is so common here, freelance teaching can make you
a lot of money. But you have to be serious, willing to work long
hours and willing to provide quality education. Freelance teaching
jobs are easy to find, ads placed by people and companies looking for English
teachers, networking, if you’re a good teacher, your students will recommend
you to friends. I have even had people try to hire me after hearing
a conversation between myself and a co-teacher on a bus. Jobs will
not just fall into your lap; you have to look for them just like in the
US. Send your resume out to schools, translation and notary companies,
publishing companies, legal firms, production companies, every where you
think clients might be found. I know of one teacher who sent her
resume to a production company and now has a job teaching English
to the children of a popular singer here, she starts her day at eight and
works till six. A driver picks her up and brings her home, she gives
a two hour English lesson, and then she and the children go to museums,
the zoo or to an American movie. She works one day per week and is
paid $500.00 per day. That is the only job she has or needs and she
found it by sending out her resume. Not every teacher is qualified
to teach freelance, they are too afraid to go it on their own, so they
stick with the various schools, moving from school to school. Freelance
teaching is where the money is, so if you want to make money, freelance.
Moscow
If you come
from a large city such as New York, Chicago, or LA, then you should be
right at home here in Moscow. If you come from a small or mid size
city such as I do, then the size of Moscow is something that will take
some getting use to. The crowds, traffic, congestion, and large size
of Moscow can be somewhat overwhelming in itself. During rush hour,
the crowds coming and going are something of a headache at times, people
pushing and shoving to try and get a seat, everybody always seems to be
in a rush here. I must admit that from time to time I have had to
play the role of the Ugly American when I was pushed a little too far a
few times. One word of warning, you have to watch yourself when crossing
highways and tram tracks, if you do not, you will get run over. Drivers
here speed just like they do in the US, do not take for granted that a
driver will stop at pedestrian crosswalks or red lights, some do not, and
if your crossing the road, they will not stop or slow down for you.
I have come close to being hit a few times by drivers who came out of nowhere.
You especially have to be careful in winter when ice covers the roads and
sidewalks. But if you’re careful, you can make it across streets
without any trouble. But you can find any and everything you could
ever need or want here.
Winter
How does a
person from Southwest Georgia who may see a light snow one day per year
deal with the Russian winter? Wear plenty of warm clothing and a
warm hat. But honestly, I really did not find the Russian winter
that bad. Sometimes when I have classes early in the morning or at
night, if I’m not wearing long underwear, the wind can cut through your
pants, but since I brought a very warm coat, fur hat and long johns with
me, I only had to buy a good warm dress hat, some more long johns, gloves
and boots. If you wear a good thick coat, long johns and thick pants,
a good hat that covers your ears and gloves, the cold does not really bother
you. More than likely you will have to buy yourself a small space
heater for your apartment since most apartments have communal steam heating,
they
turn the heating on when who ever runs the building chooses to, this year
it is on already in Sept., last year it was not turned on until it started
snowing in Nov. You do not have thermostats in the apartments, you
control heating and cooling by opening or closing a window. I bought
a small space heater that heated my apartment very well. I think
what makes the winters here so bad, is not the cold per say, but the dampness
and wetness, mud every where. If a person has broken bones in the
past or has injuries to the nerves, then the dampness plus cold can be
a little ruff. I know because I have many injuries myself, broken
bones, injuries to my arm and hand that injured the nerves, but I have
made it through one winter and fixing to go through my second winter here
in Moscow. If I can make it through the Russian winters, anybody
can.
Necessities
Russian drugstores
and pharmacies are pretty well stocked here in Moscow. Sometimes foreign
made drugs can be hard to find and you have to call a lot of drug stores
before you can find it. For example, right now in October, unless
you are willing to buy a pneumonia shot made by a Russian drug company,
you will have a hard time finding one, all the drug stores have sold out
of the foreign made vaccines. I was only able to find one today,
the last one this drugstore had. You can get lucky and call on the
day they get new ones in and get one saved until you can get there.
You also will not find medicines like Advil, Tylenol or extra strong aspirin
or pm aspirin. There are ibuprofen tables you can buy here that are
just as strong as Advil, but as far as things like Bayer or York aspirin,
Maalox, Neoprene, most nonprescription medicines like that are easy to
find. Drug stores here are no different really than drug stores in
the US just that foreign medicines like US medications can be hard to find
at times. Russians citizens have free health care like in Britain;
they only can get Russian made medicines for free, so there is not a big
demand for foreign made medicines except by foreigners and Russian citizens
who want them.
If you take
a prescription drug, make sure you bring enough with you to last until
you can arrange for a personal doctor here. You might consider getting
a copy of your medical records from you doctor, or a prescription that
can be refilled when you need for it to be. You should be aware,
most Russian pharmacists can not read an English prescription, only in
Russian. So you need to bring enough of any prescribed medicines
you take that will last until you can arrange your own doctor here.
Also never wait until the last minute before trying to get a refill or
purchase medications like insulin if you want a foreign made brand instead
of a Russian brand. For example, Russian insulin can be bought at
any drug store with no trouble, but if you want a brand like Lilly that
is used by most diabetics in the US, you generally have to run around from
drug store to drug store to find it, what little they have is always sold
out.
Dealing
With Government Autocrats
Of course if
you have to deal with government officials here, you will find it as much
of a mess as it is in the US. That is why it is best to come here
at the invitation of a school and let them handle the government hassles
that are what their attorneys are paid for. But if for some reason
you have to deal with the various governmental departments either because
you want to teach freelance as I do, or because the school you work for
messed up, be prepared for one big, long aggravation. Waiting in long lines
with so many others waiting to do the same thing you are at so many different
government offices. Running from office to office all over Moscow trying
to get what the other department wants you to have, running from department
to department because of some rule change and now a new department now
handles it. Things like that can drive you nuts if you let it, I
know because I went through it all myself in order to get my temporary
residence permit, but at least now I can stay and work here in Moscow for
three years before I have to leave. Do not count on getting any help
from the US Embassies Citizen’s Service Section; they only give excuses
as to why they can not help with problems. So you can forget about
help from those clowns. (As you can tell, I’m not too friendly with those
people there. I needed a letter stating that I have a clean criminal
record and thought the embassy could run a check of me through the FBI
computer they are connected to and then give me the letter, but no way,
they would not do it for me. Even though the US Embassy demands that
all people applying for US visas provide the same letter from their countries
embassies, figure that one out.) I had to get the letter myself from
my local hometown sheriff, who by the way ran a check on me through the
same FBI computer that the US embassy supposedly uses to check people applying
for visas. Figure that out if you can.
You will find
that gift giving to be something of a tradition here in Russia. You
generally present a gift to a person who does you a favor. Where
as in the US, we consider gift giving to public officials to be something
like bribery, here in Russia a person generally presents a gift to somebody
who does them a favor, especially public officials in private. Even
though you generally give an inexpensive gift, a box of English tea and
box of chocolates, maybe a bottle of wine to a high official, you give
gifts in private so not to cause any embarrassment to an official.
It pays to stay on the good side of officials who have done you a small
favor; you never can tell when they might be able to help you again.
Gift giving is a Russian tradition, not bribery.
Expenses
Some people
think that Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live
in. I guess it depends on your life style as to whether or not Moscow
is an expensive city. I kind of got a kick out of a post I read on
Dave’s ESL Café that said that any apartment in Moscow under $500.00
per month is a dump and not worth living in. Yea right, if you want
to live like a Daddy Warbucks in a fancy apartment. I have a very
nice apartment, small but comfortable, three rooms, a kitchen, bathroom,
bed/living room, cable TV with 60 plus channels, many of which are US and
British channels, unlimited cable Internet access, telephone, completely
furnished on the edge of Moscow right next to a very nice park and woods.
Of course since I live on the edge of Moscow, it takes longer to get to
classes, but also the rent is a lot lower, especially if you have a Russian
friend who can act as a go between so that the landlord thinks they are
renting to another Russian. I live within walking distance of the
bus, tram stops and close to a nice and large 24 hour grocery store.
Many nice apartments can be rented here very reasonable if you know what
you are doing. Of course if you want to live close to the center
of Moscow, so you can walk to your school and all your classes, then be
prepared to pay big bucks, but you can live on the edges of Moscow in a
very good apartment for a very reasonable price. If you use your
brains you can find a very good apartment on the edges of Moscow for $150
or $200 per month. Moscow is a very big city, no matter where you
live; it will take time to get to classes, especially if you teach at different
places. That is a fact you have to accept no matter where you live
here, it will take time to come and go here in Moscow.
Mentioning
apartments remind me, there is a time during the spring or summer where
the hot water is cut off for about three weeks in order for the hot water
pipes to be checked and repaired. This is pretty much the norm for
all parts of Moscow. There is nothing like getting up at five am
to get ready for an 8:00 am class and having to take a shower in cold water,
it really can wake you up fast. This is an aggravation in itself
for a lot of people that you have to take into consideration about living
here.
Restaurants
And Food
There are restaurants
of every type here in Moscow, even many American restaurants such as McDonalds,
Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, TGIF, Louisiana Steak House, Old West Barbeque,
American Bar and Grill and others. The grocery stores are pretty
well stocked, one of my favorite’s Seven Continuants is open 24 hours per
day, and is large and well stocked with every thing, even some things you
will not find in a US grocery store. Sandwiches are not very popular
here, so if you like sandwiches, you’ll have to make your own. One
thing I miss from home is chilidogs, I wish I could find a good chilidog
here, but they have not made it here yet. I also miss Subway sandwiches,
but sandwiches are not popular here, so I have to make my own from cold
cuts I buy at the grocery store. Most foods are very inexpensive
here, only a few imported foods are expensive like some cheeses, beers,
wines, liquors from outside of Russia. The most expensive Russian
food I have seen here is black caviar, very very expensive, but also very
very good. Some sea foods are expensive, but over all most foods
are not expensive. I have even cooked a few American meals for my
Russian co-teachers and students, chili, barbequed chicken and ribs, coleslaw,
beef stew, and I am going to cook Southern Style chicken and dumplings
the next time. It helps the students and co-teachers see a little
of the life in the US South. I learned to cook along time ago; I had to
if I wanted to eat good being away from home all the time. I heard
from one of my students today that there now is a Kentucky Fried Chicken
restaurant here, I will have to go and see because I love KFC.
I also love
the farmer’s markets here, but you do have to be careful when shopping
in them, especially when buying meats and dairy products. Also in
the larger farmer’s markets that are crowded, you do have to be careful
of pickpockets. But the different shops in the farmer’s markets reminds
me of how shopping in the 1800’s and early 1900’s must have been, especially
the butcher shops, reminds me of the butcher shops in Kentucky when I would
visit my grandmother when I was a little boy. To see the meats being
cut, and hanging in the shops and display cases reminds me so much of the
old country stores in the US when I was little.
A few Russian
dishes I really like a lot, squid salad, crab meat salad are two of my
favorite Russian dishes. A lot like chicken salad, but instead of
chicken you use chopped boiled squid or crab meat, a very tasty salad.
I also like dried squid, very tasty and good with beer. I never ate
squid before I came to Russia. I also like a soft salty type of cheese
that is made here, very tasty to me. Russians like to eat small pies
that look something like the apple pies you get at McDonalds, except the
Russian pies are different types, apple, cherry, chocolate, pork, beef,
vegetable, and what not, very popular among Russians as a fast food.
Chicken is very popular here also and one of the best Russian chicken restaurants
is called Roastic’s. Very good fried chicken, almost as good as the
Colonel’s. Another good Russian food is called, “meat on a stick.”
Some like a shish kebab cooked outside on grills. I also developed
a fondness for pickled garlic, very good, and the dill pickles are very
good, especially the homemade ones.
Russian beer
is something else, if you like beer, you’ll love Russian beer. My
favorite is called, “Siberian Crown” a very smooth beer without the bitter
aftertaste. I generally like the stronger beers the best and also
the ales. I was able to even to get hard apple cider here that was
very good also. There are several Russian beers that are very good.
Leisure
Time
If you like
the nightlife, then there must be at least 1000 different nightclubs and
bars here of every type. Some are expensive because they cater to
the tourist and visiting businessman, others that the average Russians
go to can be both nice and bad, depending on they type of club it is and
where it is located. Here in Moscow, there is a free magazine that
can be picked up all over Moscow at different stores and restaurants called
“Element.”
This is Moscow’s English language entertainment guide published either
weekly or monthly. It is very good and tells what is going on and
where all over Moscow, movies, clubs, theaters, operas, concerts, exhibitions,
festivals and fairs can be found in this excellent magazine.
I have your
normal cable TV I think here for Moscow, just your basic channels with
unlimited Internet access. Plenty of English speaking channels to
keep me happy, Turner Classical Movies, BBC, CNN, Cartoon Network, Discovery
Channel, Discovery Civilizations, Discovery Science, Discovery Travel,
Reality TV, ESPN, and a few others. Plus every Russian channel here
in Moscow, several programs that I like are Windows, something like the
old Morton Downey talk show from New York, Naked Funnies is funny as you
know what, people play tricks on other people by taking their cloths off
and shocking people. Sasha and Masha are two Russian comedians that
are funny and there is the old stand by Benny Hill that comes on weekends.
There is plenty
to see and do here in Moscow, whether you like sightseeing, plays, operas,
the movies, festivals, exhibitions, concerts of every type, museums, battle
reenactments, you name it, it can be found here. There are even movie
theaters that only show movies in English. Sometimes you can find
things to see and do by accident. I have seen two movies being made
here, one that stared Patrick Swazie when I just happened by Red Square
one afternoon.
Crime
Crime really
has not been a concern to me here in Moscow. Of course if you leave your
common sense at home, then you might as well stay home also. Yes,
there are criminals and crime here in Moscow, just like in most every city
in the world. You just have to be aware of your surroundings at all
times and what is going on. A few drunks getting on a bus with you
late at night, do not say a word to them in English, just move to another
part of the bus and ignore them. Getting mad and cursing them out
in English only shows them and others that you are not Russian, maybe English
or American and that you may have a lot of money on you. Those drunks
could consider you the one buying their next round of drinks and follow
you off the bus. You have to always be aware of your surroundings and who
and what is around you. Be careful of speaking loudly in English
around strangers; try to blend in with the crowds as much as you can.
Terrorists can strike any where at any time, so not coming here because
of something that may never happen only punishes you. Notice what
is going on, notice people around you, Terrorists can come from any where,
just last week a Blackman from Canada was killed by Russian troops fighting
with Chechen terrorists in Chechnya. Always pay attention to what
is going on around you, is a police dog that policemen have with them that
smell explosives nervous acting for no reason? Does the person just
look like they are up to no good? Be aware, learn to trust your feelings,
terrorists can be any where in any country. Pickpocket’s hangout
where a lot of people are, farmer’s markets, train stations, subway stations,
so always be aware. All my Russian friends have warned me about gypsies,
but I never had any trouble with them, I always leave when they approached
me.
Making Money
In Moscow
Money can be
made here in Moscow if you are a native English speaking teacher, good
money if you know how to make it. But jobs will not just appear out
of nowhere, you have to look for them, no different than in the US.
Some teachers here come to Russia as contract teachers at the invitation
of a school, work through their contract and then start working freelance
on their own after their obligation to the school is completed. I
know of one teacher who is doing this and a few teachers such as me come
here at the invitation of a friend, like it, and decide to stay and teach
here. Most teachers working as contract teachers all teach freelance
because that is where the majority of money is. I mean let’s face
it, if you have business sense, you can make very good money on your own.
But there are also risks also to teaching on your own.
You have to
consider who do you want to teach and what type of English you want to
teach? Most ESL teachers seem to concentrate on professional clients,
doctors, lawyers, businessmen, entertainment personalities. But do
not forget that there are many working class and middle class parents who
want their children to learn English so they will have a future.
They can not afford to pay for their children to attend these private language
schools, so they often try to hire private teachers without much success.
You can charge them $10.00 per hour, two hours per week, and put together
a class of five students. Teach three classes like this three per
day, that’s $150.00 per day, you’ll be making as much as the average Russian
makes in a month in one day. I have taught students like this privately
and enjoyed the experience very much and the parents always paid after
each class. Some teachers only prefer to teach rich kids and that
is good, because there are a lot more working class and middle class kids
than rich kids, so let the rest concentrate on the rich kiddies.
Sure you can concentrate on only teaching the rich, but you will find that
you can make plenty of money teaching the working and middle class also,
more than likely a teacher who only concentrates on teaching the rich has
to work at on of the schools on the side, where as a teacher who teaches
all classes of people, rich, middle and working classes is a teacher who
now teaches for themselves on their own. The demand to learn English
is great here, so you can find clients with no trouble at all, more than
you possibly can find time to teach.
Teaching jobs
are easy to find for the native English speaking teacher. There must be
around 200 private language schools here, out of that maybe only half worth
working with. Each neighborhood here in Moscow publishes their own little
newspaper, look for ads of schools in these newspapers, plus there is a
weekly or monthly magazine of businesses published here with ads, this
is a good magazine to find job leads. You will also find ads in the
Moscow Times, an English language newspaper, both from schools and private
individuals looking for English teachers. I found a good way to make
extra money by working as an English language translation editor.
I edit the English translations for a translation company; business is
so good that I have considered doing that and stop teaching completely.
The jobs are here, you just have to look for them, teaching, editing, and
translations if you know Russian, plus all the international companies
here are always looking for English speakers and English teachers.
Money can be made here if you know how to look for jobs.
More Thoughts
On Freelance Teaching
A lot of native
English teachers like to place ads. How do you know you’re not setting
yourself up to be robbed by somebody who answers your ad? First,
where did you place ads? In a bar, bus stop, subway, grocery store,
newspaper? If you advertise in a bar, bus stop, or subway, you really
should stay home or go back to the US as fast as you can, because that
is only asking for trouble. Criminal’s hangout at bust stops and
subway stations and they do read the notices posted. Most teachers
I know here advertise either in newspapers or on the Internet. You
word your ad according to the type of clients you want to attract.
Plus also if you teach in a school, you use your students to spread the
word that you also teach privately, they will if you are a good teacher
and serious. Reputation means a lot here in Russia, if you are a
good teacher and clients are happy with your teaching, they will recommend
you to others. Freelance teaching is where the money is in teaching
here in Russia. Most teachers start off teaching with a school, then
move on to freelance teaching for a reason, why split your salary with
a school when it is you doing all the work. I guess it depends on
your personality, some people only feel good when they work for other people
and some feel good working for both others and themselves and others only
want to work for themselves. But as far as I’m concerned, freelance
teaching is the best, especially if your experienced and have your own
resources, then you’re all set to do it.
I know several
teachers who do this and they make good money teaching privately. They
have business visas which are good for a year. I know of one teacher
who came here on his own with a business visa and started teaching freelance,
skipped over the schools completely.
Coming here
to teach in the Land of Mystery is a decision I will never regret making.
The Russian people are some of the nicest people I have ever met.
Becoming an ESL teacher happened by accident, but it is true; you can see
the world as an ESL teacher. Some people who come here have hated
it here, but most are like me, loved it here. To be able to see things
that I have seen is something else, to do things that I could not normally
do. Coming here to Moscow, is what you make out of it, make the trip
bad, then it will be bad, make the trip good, then it will be good.
Moscow is not the perfect city, nor is Russia the perfect country, but
it is an interesting, and fun country. If Moscow is not to your tastes,
then there are many other cities looking for teachers, St. Petersburg is
another popular teaching destination. Remember the old commercial,
“Try it, You’ll like It!”
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