Teachers about Lingua.ru

What's it like teaching English at Lingua.ru and living in Moscow? I've just completed a 6-month teaching contract here and I'll try to answer.

Teaching: Students and faculty take teaching seriously, so be prepared to as well. Most students are young professionals (working as programmers, economists, secretaries, etc.) and pay their own tuition and they are there to learn-primarily grammar and speaking. Teaching materials, syllabus and teaching aides are provided. A senior teacher sat in to critique a few of my classes, which was appropriate and useful (to me). You do not need to speak Russian to teach. School support staff is helpful and around holidays or (staff) birthdays there are parties, creating a fun, if light, sense of school spirit. I would go out for drinks from time to time with students, discussions ranging from school to politics. Read your contract very carefully-I wish I did more so with mine-because the school will hold you to it. Overall, teaching-like most things-you get out of it what you put into it, though a word of caution: teaching is respected and taken seriously here.

Living in Moscow: Moscow is a major city, full of fun and hassles. You CAN get out and about on a Saturday night on your salary, however, you probably won't save enough to travel for 3 months afterward. Food and most stuff is cheap. Hassles include the long and slow lines on Metro (why if you have four escalators and huge crowds queuing up are only 2 turned on?). Some things here just don't make sense, so don't spend a lot of time trying to figure it all out. If you are not a city person, stay at home. A final bit of advice: come here with a purpose. From time to time you run into a teacher who clearly has lost their way and 3 years later is still here, primarily because they have nothing to return to.

Stephen Minervino
English Teacher, Dec 01 - Jun 02

System of education
The school schedule in Lingua.ru is flexible and comfortable not only for our students but also for us. I can arrange my lessons for the coming week beforehand and have enough time to do it well. Owing to this flexible schedule I can always see new faces at each lesson and thus get acquainted with lots of new students. I always have a lot of leisure time, which I usually spend with my students who are always ready to communicate and practice their English." (Paul)

Location
Very conveniently located in the heart of Moscow not far from Red Square. Only 3 minute walk from the central subway station (George).

Reduced planning time
Very well structured progressive system consisting of 15 steps from beginner to advanced. There are 8 lessons in each step. This gives the teacher a very easy to follow path with little planning time needed because the lessons are already provided, but teacher's creativity is not restricted.

Friendly atmosphere
As a language school, Lingua.ru is unique and stands out from many others in Russia. I not only work here, but I actually enjoy doing so. Why? The relationship between the students, the support staff and teachers here is more like one in a family rather than work. Teaching for me is more than just a job. I can firmly say that I can't live without teaching, I feel happy when I teach, when I am able to help students to enrich their knowledge, make them understand lots of things in a foreign language, learn more about different cultures in the world, etc. I enjoy teaching, and I think I've made the right choice.