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Teaching English as a foreign language

in Russia? Any one have any experience

         

Essex_boy

8:57 pm on Dec 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Ive been offered a position teaching English in Russia for this (red?) October and I was just wondering what the living costs are.

Accom and utilities are paid for and the salary is aroun 12 time teh national average, so it seems ok.

just wondered if anyone here knew what food stuffs etc cost?

Neo541

9:19 pm on Dec 27, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Where in Russia?

flea

11:37 am on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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I am from Ukraine.
If you are interested I can tell you about prices, living etc here. I attend English courses taugh by guy from USA.

Essex_boy

11:45 am on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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No overly sure where in Russia at the moment.

I guess that makes a big diffrence.

flea

11:55 am on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Ukraine and Russia are 2 dif. states.

In Kiev (the capitol of Ukraine) to rent one room apt costs from $200. But Kiev is very expensive city - so in other UA area it can started from $80-100.
Food, a lot of supermarkets, restourants - $100-200 depending upon your preferences.

Essex_boy

1:39 pm on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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$100 - $200 is that per month for food?

flea

3:10 pm on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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$100 to eat good for one person that live not in Kiev.
(I manage to eat at aprox. in $70, but I guess that guys from abroad have more sophisticated needs).

Kilo of meat - $5
Kilo of cheese - &4
Kilo of Rice - $1
A McDonalds menu - $3
Pizza - $3

Essex_boy

4:01 pm on Dec 28, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Glad you mentioned Pizza!

Whats the average monthly wage? Or what would be considered a good wage.

walkman

5:00 am on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)



"Kilo of meat - $5
Kilo of cheese - &4
Kilo of Rice - $1
A McDonalds menu - $3
Pizza - $3"

other than the pizza these are US prices. How the h-ll do locals afford these items?

Shak

7:47 am on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Essex Boy

apart from the financials, these are once in a lifetime chances, so if it makes the slight bit of sense, get your backside out there and enjoy life.

good luck

Shak

Essex_boy

8:37 am on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Shak - Just what I was thinking.Starts in October '05.

So how do you say in Russian 'Got any Vodka mate' ;>

flea

9:18 am on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Ok, mate, Fasten your seat belts!
Now salary per month (if in Kiev - add $100-200):
teacher - $70
Library worker - $50
Nurse - $50
Designer - $100-200
Sales Manager - $100-500
Programmer - $100-300

Corruption, bribes flourish.

flea

10:09 am on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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"Or what would be considered a good wage."
Good avarage wage is $200-300. But you will get it if you are very skilled worker (programmer)or sales manager.

If you come as a teacher you will find probably many interesting experiences. People will love you. Here is very VERY cool girl. You can meet withthem on the strets, in transport, in cafe - that is very simple here.

[edited by: lawman at 1:30 pm (utc) on Dec. 29, 2004]

Essex_boy

12:30 pm on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Thats interesting, Ive been offered $115 per week with all living costs paid, except food.

So thats pretty good isnt it?

Worked with a Bulgarian once apprently $600 per year was pretty good out there. She was earning $1600 a month over here and her family couldnt believe it.

I think Ill take it.

Shak

12:56 pm on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Esex Boy

not bad mate

I'd take it for the experience alone, at least you are NOT out of pocket and it'd look great on the CV (imo)

Shak

flea

1:12 pm on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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Yep, $115 per week sounds cool!
And I suppose you will have a lot of free time.

Essex_boy

6:26 pm on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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yeah I think Ill take it. Shak I had considered that and was thinking along the same lines.

Hawkgirl

8:31 pm on Dec 29, 2004 (gmt 0)

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I agree with Shak. The experience alone will be worth it ... and it could be a fun challenge to figure out life in a new place like that.

ronin

8:10 pm on Jan 4, 2005 (gmt 0)

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Essex_boy: Most places outside St. Petersburg and Moscow are relatively cheap. Moscow is hideously expensive - more expensive than London in some ways. Sochi on the Black Sea is also expensive, being a playground for the rich, though the town of Adler to the east of Sochi is much more affordable.

I would guess that in most provincial capitals like Voronezh, Tambov, Perm' or Saratov, $115 per week would be a great salary given that everything else is pretty much covered.

I took the trans-mongolian to eastern Siberia and stayed for a week in Ulan-Ude once. Obviously I was staying in hotels which is more expensive than renting an apartment but I was spending one third to half as much per week as I had been spending in Moscow (and I was going out every night as opposed to once every few nights in Moscow).

So how do you say in Russian 'Got any Vodka mate

Izvinit'e pozhalusta, u vas jest vodka?
(Excuse me please, do you have any vodka?)

Hmmm... no that's probably too polite for most Russians >;-> You can ask that in the shops.

How about:

Vodka jest? Davaj vypijem!
(You have vodka? Let's drink!)

Yes I know it looks like a j... believe me, it's a y sound

Essex_boy

9:42 pm on Jan 4, 2005 (gmt 0)

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Thanks for teh translations Ill TRY to pronounce them corectly.

Luckly for me a mate of mine is maried to a Russian so I think kill get some language training from her.

I was somewhat worried about the country being rather lawless (no worse than Essex on a Saturday night?), is that so?

grandpa

3:31 am on Jan 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

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Essex_boy, it'll be a crying shame if you can't get any Beef and Tomato pot noodle with that vodka. As far as lawlessness, it's probably safer than Deep Ellum in the heart of Dallas, TX on any given weekend.

Essex_boy

9:25 am on Jan 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

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Yeah I know - Im speaking to Putin this week to ensure they have a supply of those pot noodles.....

ronin

2:32 pm on Jan 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

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No worse than Saturday night in Southend or Canvey, certainly.

I would recommend learning the Cyrillic alphabet before you go (which will only take you an afternoon...) because if it you don't know it, it's formidable, but if you do know it, you barely notice that it's not the latin alphabet.

A few letters are very similar - A, D, K, M, O, T, Z
Others are the same as they are in Greek (Pi is P for instance and Theta is F).

Some are false friends - S looks like C, R looks like P, N looks like H, V looks like B, I looks like N.

One or two others are modified from hebrew script - one that looks like a straight angled W with a looped tail on the end is pronounced "shch" (as in pushchair).

If you want to go out for a pint in London some time I can teach you some basic phrases or something. I'm in Bulgaria at the moment which is a good chance to improve my (very limited) Bulgarian - though I find myself falling back on my Russian quite a lot, given that I'm a lot more confident about using it.

TheVisitor

3:58 pm on Jan 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

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Imagine a hot vodka pot noodle....

Essex_boy

10:23 pm on Jan 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

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That crossed my mind too.....

Southend! i wouldnt go there true bandit country, Saturday night or not.

Ronin I may well take you up on that offer, just bring your own pot noodle :0