|
|
|
Job in St. Petersburg for native speakers - teaching English options
|
Analyzing Yellow Pages list
According to Yellow Pages the total amount of English (foreign) language schools
in St. Petersburg amounts to about 40 institutions (we exclude schools situated
in suburbs which are thereafter hard to reach plus those which are mostly
oriented to support children in their school lessons). Moreover there are about
200 Universities and High schools where English language is certainly taught.
But if you are a native speaker and are looking for a job as an English teacher
it does not mean at all that you have so many places to apply to.
All state institutions or schools would be delighted to get you but the payment
they can offer is so low (about $70-$100 per month) that one can not live on
that. So you have to forget about these working places in case you do not have
other income or your teaching is not a kind of spending time/charity.
If we consider private language schools and courses, we can divide them in three
categories - let us call them A, B, C.
|
Category "C"
Category "C" is most numerous. Small schools, called in Russian usually "courses"
make a good deal of the total amount of the schools. They neither can afford such
a luxury as a native speaking teacher nor to say the truth need him. Their
audience comes to the school with a dream to learn English in 2-3 months for a
very modest charge without any basic knowledge of grammar, phonetics or anything
besides some desultory phrases. Soon students understand that the goal is not so
easy to achieve and most often give up.
|
Category "B"
These schools are oriented for the most prosperous and therefore most fastidious
audience - i.e. mostly businessmen or successful managers who need the language
for the further promotion. They are small but still are a good place to work at.
This category is at least twice larger than "A". The only disadvantage of them is
that usually they can not offer you a full-time employment. They can almost
guarantee you about 10-12 hours per week ($6-$10), but no more. So to earn enough
for living you need to work part-time in several of them. It might be a bit
difficult to make an optimal time schedule. Journeys from one job to another is
an additional nuisance. But if you do not find it really dramatic and you can
easily do it.
|
Category "A"
More prosperous and sensible students direct their steps to the schools of
category "A". These offer a large scale of groups starting from elementary to
the advanced and proficient level. I have found only 5 of such kind. They are:
| – |
English school for adults of Natalia Shurygina
|
| – |
British Council center
|
| – |
Benedict school
|
| – |
Denis school
|
| – |
Educa center
|
If you satisfy the requirements of any of these schools you do not need to look
for anything else - they are able to offer you as much hours as you can stand at
the rate $5-$8 per hour.
There are some schools which crave to belong to the category "A" but do not have
enough resources for that. Sometimes they manage to collect some groups of people
advanced in English and may need a native speaker for a part-time job. It is
rather unpredictable but you may leave you CV and contact phone so they call you
if they need you.
|
The real reasons why the schools hire you
Just to clarify this point - nobody ever hires a native speaker in St. Petersburg
for teaching grammar. And no one ever lets the native speaker teach students from
elementary to upper-intermediate level. For that there are plenty of high-skilled
experienced and far less expensive local teachers. Therefore the native speakers
get hired for 3 reasons.
First and most common - to develop the students ability of speaking. A very common
method of the training is so called English club. Several students who speak
English rather well gather on Fridays or Saturdays and discuss different topics
they offer themselves. The native speaker acts as a coordinator of such meetings.
Very often he has to answer the numerous questions about his country from the
students who naturally use their chance to ask what they are interested in.
Another reason why the native speaker may be hired is to prepare the students for
passing the certain language tests like TOEFL, GMAT etc. This job is by the way
better paid than the previous one.
But the best rate you get if you are hired for the third reason - to lead some
specialized course upon the request of some commercial company. Let us say an oil
dealer wants a course of English for his staff focused on the themes of this
industry. If you can do it, you will get $10 per hour or even more. It is always
to be discussed in particular.
|
Rates
If you have a high-education diploma and good communicational skills but have no
certificate as an English language teacher and no practical experience you still
will find a job - but you get $4-$5 per 45 min and no more. If you just received
the diploma of certified English teacher for foreigners but yet have no practice
then you get $6-$7 for the beginning and then if you confirm you class your
payment will raise to $10. If you are a professional teacher and can prove it
then you can require $10 from the beginning but it is not guaranteed that you get
it. Still $10-$12 per 45 min for high-professional teacher is a normal rate. The
question is only to find enough classes.
|
What the English schools owners would love to see in you
Ability to teach is a gift. That is what almost all the schools owners trust in.
That is the first thing they test. Do you have a gift? If so, do not worry about
the rest. They will train you what you do not know. They will care about you.
They will find additional sources to pay you more. They will fuss with you as a
hen with one chick. You may easily test your talent if you answer the following
questions. Do your students love you? Do they miss you if you take a week off?
Do they start smiling when you enter the class? Do they hang upon your lips? Do
they quote you in their everyday life? If most of your answers are positive then
to Russian standard you are a talented teacher.
Let us return from the dreams of schools owners to the reality. The reality is
that the main part of your job will be a conversation with your students about
everything one may imagine. They will ask you, ask you and ask you again about
your country and culture and everything. That is like a long and hard test of
all knowledge you have acquired up to the moment. And what is also important -
the average intelligence level in St. Petersburg audience is rather high. People
who reached the high level in English are usually high-skilled in their
occupation, clever and very educated. To be interesting during 2 hours for
St. Petersburg audience - that is a real test. Not everybody passes it. The
diploma does not help - it has nothing in common with your professional skills.
It is about yourself. Your general education, interests, ideas about the world,
even your spiritual maturity and moral principles sometimes - that is what
determines if you will be interesting and desired for your students and
therefore for the employers.
|
The common claims to the native speakers
He is not a bright man. It is not interesting to speak with him. He has nothing
to offer, nothing to tell about. He is too closed. Or by the contrast - he
speaks without a break, he never actually listens to us. Can you imagine, he did
not know that... He even does not know that... We know American literature
(history, geography etc) much better than he! Etc...
|
This article was continued in 2006 - check it
here.
|
Your opinion regarding this article will be much appreciated at the
forum.
|
|
