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qualifications for teaching English in Russia
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Posted by: P-Jilbs

I have a question that perhaps some of you may be able to answer concidering many of you have made replies on ESL/TEFL matters. Mine is a bit different.

I am a 22 year old American who is very interested in and anxious to visit Russia. Teaching English seems like a very rewarding way to help Russian people out, and to also learn about Russian culture firsthand. I just started an online couse for TEFL certification (teflonline.com) today actually.

My biggest concerns are that:

a.) My online TEFL certification will not be taken seriously.
b.) I will not be taken seriously because I only have some college experience and no degree.

Teaching English in Russia is something I really want to do. Am I ridiculously underqualified?

I did very well in my Elementary Russian class and have continued learning the language outside of school...

Posted by: OzGuyLooking

My advice is to check out this site, http://www.visarus.co.uk/ , it is specifically about TESOL in Russia, it even lists schools and gives reports on some of them. BTW some of these schools have an excellent reputation and require a high standard of qualification if you already have one otherwise they will train you as an intern but you teach on a voluntary basis and have to find money to live on. Other schools are not worried about the qualification, infact they are just as happy to have a english speaker let alone a teacher of english, but the rate of pay is commensurate with your qualification.

I am in the process of contacting Uni's and schools in Russia and Ukraine letting them know what my current qualifications are (BA/Grad Dip Ed and nearly finished a B Soc Sc) and what they will be at the end of next year (Masters of Ed with a specialisation in TESOL or Masters in Art or Social Science with a specialisation in Anthropology and Lingusitics (with a TESOL core component)). From this from what I have seen, check out the other threads I think from memory Randy gave me this idea (thanks mate), if they are interested they will contact me and we can organise something from there.

I wouldn't say you are rediculously underqualified as there are so many opportunities to do this type of work, what I will say is if you want a 'good' pay packet you should get as good a qualification as you can in the time that is available. It is possible to earn in a week what many Russians earn in oevr a month if you have the qualification and experience to do the job.

Hope this helps.

Posted by: bingism

This might be a bit late now, but my experience of talking to a number of the schools in SPb is that there is a slight shift away from cert.TEFL and towards the Cambridge CELTA qualification. That said, it's still possible to find placements with no qualification at all. "American Language Master" in SPb offer a one week course to get you in the door. Also, Language Link offer paid internships in Moscow. Beware - do not go near the Benedict School!!

Posted by: P-Jilbs

i would certainly like to do anything that allows me to live in russia and get a job!

Posted by: OzGuyLooking

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingism

This might be a bit late now, but my experience of talking to a number of the schools in SPb is that there is a slight shift away from cert.TEFL and towards the Cambridge CELTA qualification. That said, it's still possible to find placements with no qualification at all. "American Language Master" in SPb offer a one week course to get you in the door. Also, Language Link offer paid internships in Moscow. Beware - do not go near the Benedict School!!

There is a problem from what I have seen with the whole Benedict thing. It appears to be a chain or franchise. There are indeed some incrediblty bad reports about Benedict but if you look closely it is just one school not the entire group. I cannot remember which school it is but they have been kicked out of the franchise and have been requested not to use the name Benedict in order to associate themselves with the franchise groups which still has a good reputation.

I have contacted some other schools or placement gencies but as yet I am waiting for a response. It may be that I am jumping tghe gun to early as I will not be able to go with the "full" qualification until the end of next year as it is a 1 year full time course. If I find a lady who interests me so much that I go earlier I will have to just go on a lesser qualification and study the work via Correspondence/WebCT while I am working. There are always options.

Posted by: bingism

Hi Oz

Just seen this post (I missed it somehow). Why is the full qualification a year? I'm doing an intensive CELTA in London - it's the end of week 2 and I can guarantee intensive is the right word!!!! It has cost me Ł1200 (US$2000) but it's worth it as International House in London is deemed to be one of the best (if not the best) place to do it in the World.

The Benedict situation is odd to say the least.... as far as I'm aware (this information is third hand) it was the St Petersburg branch that is under investigation by Via Lingua - yet Via Lingua is still promoting Benedict on its website !!! If I were anyone looking to teach in Russia, I'd certainly recommend a full-time intensive course. Something that has 100-120 hours including 6-10 observed teaching practice is a good course and a CELTA is recognised World-Wide. It would seem that cert.TEFL is only "OK" these days!!

Anyway, looks like I'll be off to Ufa in July if I can get the package agreed so Russia here I come (again).....

Posted by: OzGuyLooking

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingism

Hi Oz ...
Why is the full qualification a year?

Hi Bing.
I am doing a full year course for a variety of reasons:
1. It will assiit in my Australian employment withthe various department of Educations we have over here. None of them recognise the Cambridge CELTA course as a legit qualification for teaching in the state systems. They will employ you with it but you must promise to undertake the recognised courses within a certain period of time, I think it is within 2 years of starting your employment with them.
2. I will be doing a Masters, not a Certificate or Diploma. I suppose you could call the course I will be doing a MELTA, as against a CELTA and/or DELTA.
3. I want to do a research component which will require a thesis being written to explain my findings. I have a few ideas on some things about TESOL that I would like to try out with non English speakers. BTW they work with English speakers that have difficulty so I am hoping they will work with non-English speakers with a little modification. Once I have done it all I will gladly fill you all in some more but ATM I cant because it has to be original research to qualify.
4. From the research I have done into TESOL employment throughout the world the more experience you have the better the wages you are able to get. Someone with a CELTA or DELTA is not going to get the same wages as someone with a Masters and teaching experience especially in a recognised government system that can be contacted to verify the claims made by the applicant.

I tend to aim high with everything I do so I am going to do the hard yards now so the future will be easier. I am not getting any younger you know, he he he.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingism

Anyway, looks like I'll be off to Ufa in July if I can get the package agreed so Russia here I come (again).....

Good luck mate, I hope everything works out for you.

Posted by: bingism

Hi Oz,
Sounds like you've got it all pegged

Would be interested in hearing what your research throws up as and when the time's right... Thanks for the good wishes - gotta be honest it's pretty nerve-racking since July is only a few weeks away now. One giant step into the unknown

Good luck with the MA & research...

Posted by: Ronin_FM3

Well, I'm thinking about this too. I have no qualifications as yet and do not know what to do. I speak Russian already, although I still make some mistakes with the case system; fortunately this does not change the meaning of anything! As I get more opportunities to speak Russian with native speakers, I improve with this. I imagine that with a little time spent in a Russian speaking environment I would finally correct this shortcoming. I've been to Ukraine and Russia a few times already...but only for a couple weeks at a time.

I wonder if I've gone nuts, considering such a thing?

Posted by: niksa

I have a question that perhaps some of you may be able to answer concidering many of you have made replies on ESL/TEFL matters. Mine is a bit different.

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