When Peter, from New Zealand, arrived in Moscow several years ago, he was "brimming with excitement" at the idea of starting his stint as an English teacher. Before he left his homeland, a language school had promised him a full-time job, full visa support and a place to live.
"Needless to say, I was more than a little disappointed to be informed on arrival that the school presently had no work for me, the visa I was given was for a student, and I was handed a copy of the newspaper Iz Ruk v Ruki to search for an apartment," he said.
These days in Moscow there is no shortage of English-speaking expatriates who could be tapped to fill English language teaching positions. However, with the current terms on offer, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the schools to attract native speakers with extensive work experience in the field, although that is what clients are now demanding.
Moscow-based expat English teachers -- who like Peter agreed to be interviewed for this article on condition that their surnames and place of employment be withheld from publication -- said most schools were unable or unwilling to guarantee the high salaries and long-term career opportunities that serious teachers would expect to receive. And, as Peter found, it is difficult to know which schools to trust when being recruited from abroad.
Geraldine, from Britain, said she was under no illusions when she arrived in Moscow eight months ago. "Nobody is foolish enough to believe that English teaching is going to make you rich, or that it can be seen as providing huge career opportunities," she said. "I had always wanted to come to Russia, and teaching English gave me a great opportunity to live here and immerse myself into the culture."
Gone are the days when almost anyone who spoke English fluently could walk into a school and get hired as a teacher.
Both individual students and corporate clients have been complaining about a lack of professionalism and experience among untrained foreign-language teachers, and they now demand higher standards from schools. As a result, all schools now demand qualifications of some kind, such as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) or TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate.
"I walked into a job without being asked for any particular qualifications, but that just won't happen these days," said James, a Moscow-based English teacher with 10 years' experience.
Yelena Lubimova, senior student coordinator at Lingua, said her company demanded a minimum of a year's experience "to ensure professionalism."
All schools contacted for this article said that knowledge of Russian was of little importance, although 50 percent of teachers said they understood the language. Almost every school offered some form of Russian classes for those with zero knowledge.
As the idea of coming to Russia for the first time can be daunting, many new teachers seek support from their employers. BKC and English First -- which are the two biggest schools in Moscow, each with about 100 full-time teachers on contracts plus 50 freelancers -- offer packages that spare teachers the headache of organizing everything for themselves. BKC's web site, for example, promises visa support, airport transfer, airfare reimbursement of $500 to $800 once a year, shared accommodation or a $300 reimbursement for rent, a net monthly salary of $600 to $675, 25 days of paid vacation, reimbursement of monthly travel expenses, free access to e-mail and medical insurance.
"This was a particularly important factor, both financially as well as psychologically, on my first big international adventure," said Judy, 21, an English teacher from Glasgow.
Oksana Vladimirskaya, senior recruitment officer at BKC, said 90 percent of the school's 150 native speakers were under 30 years of age.
"Many contracts are signed on a nine-month basis, commonly from the beginning of the school year in September," she said.
Teachers are more or less obliged to accept whatever student groups are assigned to them.
"I felt that I knew the Moscow metro better than the locals within the first few months of my stay, as my groups were located in practically all parts of the city," said Michael, an English teacher at one of the smaller schools. "One class I was given was at a logistics company in the Moscow region, and I had to travel four hours there and back for a 1 1/2-hour class."
Salaries are not high -- reaching about $800 a month for senior teachers -- but first-timer teachers said they did not mind the modest pay when the school helped out with matters such as finding an apartment.
Teachers hired locally often choose to be paid an hourly rate rather than a monthly salary. The average hourly rate among schools offering work by the hour is $15, a figure that has changed little in the last six years.
Barry, from Detroit, who has five years' teaching under his belt, said part-time teachers could expect to receive an average of 16 to 20 hours of work per week, with almost all classes held in the morning and evening.
"I am usually free between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day, but I fill in my hours with private classes," he said. "Needless to say, this is not only to avoid boredom but also to so that I can enjoy some degree of financial freedom."
"Needless to say, I was more than a little disappointed to be informed on arrival that the school presently had no work for me, the visa I was given was for a student, and I was handed a copy of the newspaper Iz Ruk v Ruki to search for an apartment," he said.
These days in Moscow there is no shortage of English-speaking expatriates who could be tapped to fill English language teaching positions. However, with the current terms on offer, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the schools to attract native speakers with extensive work experience in the field, although that is what clients are now demanding.
Moscow-based expat English teachers -- who like Peter agreed to be interviewed for this article on condition that their surnames and place of employment be withheld from publication -- said most schools were unable or unwilling to guarantee the high salaries and long-term career opportunities that serious teachers would expect to receive. And, as Peter found, it is difficult to know which schools to trust when being recruited from abroad.
Geraldine, from Britain, said she was under no illusions when she arrived in Moscow eight months ago. "Nobody is foolish enough to believe that English teaching is going to make you rich, or that it can be seen as providing huge career opportunities," she said. "I had always wanted to come to Russia, and teaching English gave me a great opportunity to live here and immerse myself into the culture."
Gone are the days when almost anyone who spoke English fluently could walk into a school and get hired as a teacher.
Both individual students and corporate clients have been complaining about a lack of professionalism and experience among untrained foreign-language teachers, and they now demand higher standards from schools. As a result, all schools now demand qualifications of some kind, such as a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) or TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate.
"I walked into a job without being asked for any particular qualifications, but that just won't happen these days," said James, a Moscow-based English teacher with 10 years' experience.
Yelena Lubimova, senior student coordinator at Lingua, said her company demanded a minimum of a year's experience "to ensure professionalism."
All schools contacted for this article said that knowledge of Russian was of little importance, although 50 percent of teachers said they understood the language. Almost every school offered some form of Russian classes for those with zero knowledge.
As the idea of coming to Russia for the first time can be daunting, many new teachers seek support from their employers. BKC and English First -- which are the two biggest schools in Moscow, each with about 100 full-time teachers on contracts plus 50 freelancers -- offer packages that spare teachers the headache of organizing everything for themselves. BKC's web site, for example, promises visa support, airport transfer, airfare reimbursement of $500 to $800 once a year, shared accommodation or a $300 reimbursement for rent, a net monthly salary of $600 to $675, 25 days of paid vacation, reimbursement of monthly travel expenses, free access to e-mail and medical insurance.
"This was a particularly important factor, both financially as well as psychologically, on my first big international adventure," said Judy, 21, an English teacher from Glasgow.
Oksana Vladimirskaya, senior recruitment officer at BKC, said 90 percent of the school's 150 native speakers were under 30 years of age.
"Many contracts are signed on a nine-month basis, commonly from the beginning of the school year in September," she said.
Teachers are more or less obliged to accept whatever student groups are assigned to them.
"I felt that I knew the Moscow metro better than the locals within the first few months of my stay, as my groups were located in practically all parts of the city," said Michael, an English teacher at one of the smaller schools. "One class I was given was at a logistics company in the Moscow region, and I had to travel four hours there and back for a 1 1/2-hour class."
Salaries are not high -- reaching about $800 a month for senior teachers -- but first-timer teachers said they did not mind the modest pay when the school helped out with matters such as finding an apartment.
Teachers hired locally often choose to be paid an hourly rate rather than a monthly salary. The average hourly rate among schools offering work by the hour is $15, a figure that has changed little in the last six years.
Barry, from Detroit, who has five years' teaching under his belt, said part-time teachers could expect to receive an average of 16 to 20 hours of work per week, with almost all classes held in the morning and evening.
"I am usually free between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day, but I fill in my hours with private classes," he said. "Needless to say, this is not only to avoid boredom but also to so that I can enjoy some degree of financial freedom."
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