Thread: Teaching English in Russia, esp. in St. Petersburg & Moscow

Does anyone know what the reputable companies are for trying to do this sort of thing? I find quite a few when searching google, but its hard to tell if they are legitimate or not. Id like to hear from someone living in Russia or have experienced teaching there if possible. Thanks.

The user on this forum "Lt. Columbo" was teaching English in Moscow. He have a blog http://england-mosocw.blogspot.com/.

What city do you want to go?

I was thinking St. Petersburg or Moscow, leaning slightly towards st. petersburg. I just don't want to look into companies that are going to screw me over. I will have a degree in computer information systems and a degree in graphic design at the end of spring, I think I may have to get a TESL certificate also.

Getting a TESL certificate is probably indispensable if you want employment in a semi-reputable language company here. They set some store by having the 'right' qualifications, here as everywhere else. It also helps to prepare you for the job, and to show you whether or not you're cut out for it.

I'd advise coming independently on a business visa if you can. The big schools will provide accommodation, transport passes, etc. ad nauseam, but they also leave you with wages that leave you with bugger all left over once you've made basic purchases. I'd avoid them. Further, the biggest Moscow school can no longer issue visas, though they don't advise of this fact on their site.

It's difficult and complicated for a foreigner to forge an independent life here- but it's worth it. Greatest country in the world, Russia!

Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn

I was thinking St. Petersburg or Moscow, leaning slightly towards st. petersburg. I just don't want to look into companies that are going to screw me over. I will have a degree in computer information systems and a degree in graphic design at the end of spring, I think I may have to get a TESL certificate also.

No one ever actually asked me to actually "see" any certificates! My advice is to just tell them you have a CELTA. Just show confidence. If you are going to St Petersburg there are a number of schools and you can probably teach at them all if they have enough classes. For information on teaching in St Petes and reviews on schools there go to this site and look for the school review section. It is run by a Scot who lives in St Petes.
The site is down for modifications right now but check back later when it is working again.
Here: http://www.visarus.co.uk/

There is a School in St Petes that has a bad reputation, a big school with a big name located near the Nevsky River but I can't think of the name right now, but it is listed as a place to stay away from on the site I gave you. As far as I can tell they pay very poorly. They did have a habit of interviewing English teachers and then trying to sell them Russian lessons or a CELTA instead. Wait, the name just came to me! Benedict Language School 4 Admiralteyskaya Emb.

I worked at BIS last year. They were always honest. Tony Sanchez was the Director of Studies. It's small school but paid the usual, about 400r per hour.
http://www.bis-english.ru/about/contacts/

Also you can try here, http://clschool.ru/index.php?option=com ... &Itemid=29
which I found more convenient and regular. They teach classes after hours out of a State middle school, in the Center by Metro Technologechesky, and some other locations aswell. Your classes work with another teacher on another day who teaches all the Grammar to them. Call Татьяна Владимировна @ +7 812 333 25 43

This school got the highest rating in the reviews at visarus
http://www.americanlanguagemaster.com/

There are plenty of others!
Your biggest problem will be getting a visa that's good for longer than 90 days. How are you going to do that?

Interesting topic to follow even if I don't plan to do this myself. Thanks DDT for sharing your insights with everyone. What exactly does it take then, to get a more permanent visa? A permanent job offer, or? And what's this about documents and references never being checked in Russia?

Is a business visa the same as a work visa? I believe a work visa is valid for a year (does anyone know if it is only one-entry?) but you already have to have a job in Russia to obtain such a visa.

Originally Posted by Johanna

Interesting topic to follow even if I don't plan to do this myself. Thanks DDT for sharing your insights with everyone. What exactly does it take then, to get a more permanent visa? A permanent job offer, or? And what's this about documents and references never being checked in Russia?

It's assumed that every one has a University degree. I was never asked about one and neither were the other teachers I know. If it is on your resume then they are happy.

To get a more permanent visa you must get the school or whatever business to sponsor you. That is time consuming and expensive so you must have a good track record as a teacher already. They other way to get a permanent status is to get married but this can take 6 months to almost a year to get. Getting married is the easy part!

The other way to stay in Russia is to become a student. You can stay as long as you are studying. You can also legally work up to 20 hours a week on a student visa. My advice it to do this, take as few classes as you can, to be registered, at a school that teaches Russian.

Originally Posted by devochka

Is a business visa the same as a work visa? I believe a work visa is valid for a year (does anyone know if it is only one-entry?) but you already have to have a job in Russia to obtain such a visa.

Business visa is not a work visa. Work visa allows you to go in and out of Russia but you can only work for the same company on the visa.....but you can get a fake business.


Business Visas, as of recently, only permit a 90 consecutive day stay in Russia at a time. Then you have to leave for 90 days. This means that you can only stay for 6 months, .....3 months in and 3 months out, 3 months in and 3 months out.

I received one of the very last Business Visas that were still good for one year at a time. Business Visa is not legal to work on....but everybody does work anyway.

You can also just get a 3 month Business Visa. Leave when it expires. Get another 3 month Business visa and come straight back to Russia. It's expensive though because you have to travel back and forth.

Some awesome advice here, sorry it took me a while to get back, the posts are appreciated. I do have one other question, if I become a permanent citizen later down the road I have heard that you are required to do military service, what age does this cut off? I am almost 26 right now.

Wait for a year and you'll be officially safe.

Guys are usually called up at 18 to serve for 1 year, but the deferment of military service is possible (e.g. for university students), so the maximum age of enlistment is 27. After that they can't call you up, unless there's a real war (not a local conflict, but something like WWII). There's also a possibility to replace a military service with an alternative civil duty, if you don't want to be in the military for religious or other reasons. Plus there are many semi-legal ways to flunk your duty.

PS. Guys, please correct me if I missed something.

Thanks for the explanation DDT. Very interesting.

Figured I would make use of this spam bringing a semi dead post to life.

DDT speaks the truth, my first jobs were on a student visa (illegal to work on) and I didnt have a degree or any qualifications. Now that I have taught for a year that experience is worth more than any degree and I was hired by a real legit company. So...

If anyone still cares, I'm getting a real job now

I'm done working on student and business visas and was offered a real job with a work permit! Yay.

But for this I did need to have a certificate to teach English. That cost me 300 bucks but in the end I guess it will be worth it.

As far as military service, its going to take at least 5 years for anyone (and thats if you FAST TRACK) to get citizenship and pretty much the only way to do that is to marry a Russian. I'm 23 but I know I won't ever have to worry about military service. And even if I did, my girlfriend (or would be wife's) brother is a major in the army so I'd just go serve for him and not do anything....

Ok anyways, good luck.

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

...
If anyone still cares, I'm getting a real job now ...

I do.
Congratulations!
Behave there!

I'll try

I am also trying to find a teaching job(well, found one) and am now looking for a room to rent in St. Petersburg. Last time I was there my foreign friends used flatmates.ru and all had really good experiences with the site and finding some amazing places and great roommates but unfortunately the site no longer works. Anyone know of any similar sites besides соседи.живем!ru? I'm dreading having to use an agent and losing money...