There are a number of international schools who will employ teachers with CELTA / DELTA qualifications. They tend to select more mature people who have had enough experience with school children (usually 11-18 year olds). Salaries are good, but they pay less to the ESL staff than they do to the other high school teachers who work there. However, they do pay better than any other language school, and you should get paid holidays.

Salary and hours

Classes can be 2 – 3 academic hours (40 mins per ‘hour’), Saturday morning classes are 6 academic hours long. Usual teaching hours per week can be 26-32 hours.

An average teaching salary would probably be somewhere between 40-60,000 Rubles per month.

Type of teaching

Russian language schools employ lots of Russian staff, and in fact may only have 1-2 native English speakers, therefore if you work there you are more likely to have students who are fairly fluent in English already.

Accommodation

Normally teachers pay their own rent (some language schools offer free accommodation, usually shared, but pay lower salaries). Because of the high rent prices in Moscow (4 to 5 times higher than you would have paid here 10 years ago) more newcomers to Moscow are being encouraged to share. This can often be in a two room apartment (@ 35-45,000 Rubles per month). A three room apartment might cost about 50,000 Rubles. Prices depend on location (proximity to metro station) and quality of décor / furniture. It’s almost impossible to find a one room apartment for less than 30,000 Rubles (and if you could, you wouldn’t want to live there).

Start of school year/ best time to look for work

The ‘school year’ supposedly starts in September, but most schools can still be pretty low on students, and you don’t get really busy until October. Everything stops at the end of May. It’s still possible to get paid by the hour after then, but all full time contracts stop on 31st May.

Red Tape

Russia has a lot of red tape. A job offer from a school will help you to get a visa. You may need to take an HIV test to show to the embassy/consulate where you apply. Then you’ll probably need to take another one when you arrive in Russia. At the moment, all English speaking nationals are required to apply for a visa in their own country.

An EU passport holder can get one in any EU country, unless you are from UK or EIRE (they have to go home).

Miscellaneous advice

Moscow is a huge, modern city. The metro system, and other forms of public transport, are cheap and efficient. Prices of other goods and services can vary greatly. It is still possible to live here fairly cheaply (ignoring the outrageous cost of accommodation), but the same items than you may be used to buying in your own country will cost a lot more in Russia. Mobile phone tariffs and internet charges are quite cheap, and they are some of the first things you should try to set up upon arrival. Most internet providers can also offer some English language TV stations.

Knowledge of the Russian language is still essential. Most restaurants in the centre will provide an English menu, but those are the only places where you will see English being used. You will become very dependent upon people who can help you get by, unless you are willing to put in a lot of time and effort to develop your language skills.

It can get very cold here (obviously!), but it can also be surprisingly hot in summer. During the summer heat waves, your local hot water provider likes to shut down the supply for three weeks to clean and repair the system (but hopefully you’ll have already gone on holiday by then).

Further details can be found by checking the following websites: www. expat.ru & www.redtape.ru

It’s worth bearing in mind that living and working in St Petersburg as opposed to Moscow can sometimes be a lot cheaper.