Viewing topic: Newbie intro and request for advice

Hello all,

I am 56 with a BS in computer science, 25 years experience as a Systems Analyst. The last 15 have been in top 20 US Universities. I am currently an IT manager. I position is being eliminated in the next 3 months and have decided that it is as good a time as any to look into something I have always wanted to do. Teach and live abroad.

I have an OxfordSeminars 60 hour TEFL certificate. I took it to gain a bit more knowledge. I recognize it is not CELTA but given that I am not in a position to go somewhere for 5 or 6 weeks right now I thought it was better than nothing. It did prove to be a useful insight I think. And I am still interested in this change of career. I expect to take the Celta sometime between November and the end of January in Moscow, Kyiv, or Prague.

While I have no real class room teaching experience I have taught Sunday school to teens, young adults and seniors for much of the past 20 years. Enough to know I like to teach not to claim any practical teaching experience. I understand that this is NOT something I should include in my CV.

I am not particularly interested in making a lot of money, but I do want to see Russia and experience it while I am still young enough to enjoy it. And do something where I feel like I am making a difference.

I would appreciate any advice on situations currently and opportunities.

Thanks for your time.
Mike the housecattn

Hi Mike and welcome to VisaRus! I reckon that the other main surviving backbone of this site will, no doubt, be along soon to wish you ditto....

As a general lead-in to my answer to you, I would again suggest that you have a good read around this site as many of your questions about the current situation have already been answered in previous posts. Then, if you have any further queries, please feel free to add them to this thread.

As regards advice to you, personally - You seem to have done/ be doing the right things - ie: with a CELTA planned ( good - but not absolutely essential) and a 'realistic' attitude to the situation.

On your comment about 'And do something where I feel like I am making a difference':

Having had quite a long previous career in civil engineering, I can tell you that teaching is probably the most enjoyable job I have ever had, although sometimes, having taught maybe, 10 hours in just one day, I often kind of find the fact rather hard to spot!!

I agree that it is a wise idea to leave the Sunday School bit off your CV. Both you and I are aware of the negative stereotypical image that revealing this fact would probably generate. However, hypothetically-speaking, if you were to say that you had spent 20 years teaching kids in a youth club, for example, many would more probably say "What a great chap, being able to get on with the younger generation so well!" ... How strange is that? (and I'm not 'religious', (to use the word stereotypically and loosely) by the way, although I have quite a few friends who are - and jolly nice chaps they are as well...

The opportunities and routes that are available to you here have also been already detailed on this site and the main things to deal with initially are:-

1. Get a Russian visa, probably a 3-month business one, and get yourself over here.
2. Decide whether you want and are capable of freelancing - or prefer to quickly find a school who will give you teaching work and hopefully, a longer-term Russian visa.

If you have a bit of money stashed away somewhere - or have an income from other means, then that would certainly help take the financial sweat off you, although it's not a definite pre-requisite.

Things like finding somewhere reasonable and cheap(ish) to live are so obvious that I won't even bother to mention them, (although I just have )

Anyway - have a good look around and then come back here with any further questions you may have, if any.

It would also be great if you could let us know how your possible plans are progressing as time goes on. Sadly, rather too few seem to be willing to do this, it seems to me...

Greetings, Mike.

Ditto the dog, as I often say these days.

You seem to have a realistic idea of what you need to do & of what awaits you.

Re. Sunday school - no need to leave it out entirely, it shows you have experience dealing with kids. If you're willing and able to teach kids (I'm not, it's one thing that I definitely think I would need proper training for, have taught in the past but it was more a case of nannying for 1.5 hours at a time than imparting wisdom to them) then you will find your job prospects are broader.

Definitely remove any religious connotations from it if you do mention it, and also make it a commercial activity and not a voluntary, or schools might think you like to work for nothing. You could 'modify' it to "teaching English to immigrant/asylum seeker kids as part of blah-blah state-funded immigration scheme" or whatever.

Re visa - try to set up a contract & visa invitation over the phone, unless you are prepared to come for three months and then return home for your visa. I have been trying to arrange myself a teaching visa invite over the last few weeks (while in the country) and it's a lot harder than I expected.

Many thanks gentlemen.


I was in 'Piter' for 8 days the first week of January and was totally enchanted with the city. I was visiting a freind from Pskov who wanted to show off her favorite city and she did a wonderful job. I also realize that with my virtually non-existent Russian that it will be a significantly different prospect living there without that assistance.

Teaching children .... well I helped raise my own but I do not really handle preteens that well in large groups so that option is not particularly appealing. My experience was primarily with the folks from 13 up to around late twenties.

I am prowling through the topics as I have time and it has brought to mind the need to pose (mike avoids ghastly pun) this question ....

Is my professional background going to be an asset? I was a software developer for over 20 years. Most of it as the senior software guy in complex systems environments and of course the last 3 as an IT Manager. Is this likely to help me in say teaching Business English? Seems i recall reading of someone who is now teaching English to software developers.

It would certainly be nice to be able to leverage that.

Again thanks for the warm welcome. I will indeed keep you posted on my progress. I expect to have more concrete plans once I know when they will be terminating my position.

Until next time, thanks again! Mike

Hi Mike, your evil use of a noun as a verb is enough evidence that you've been in IT.

Yes, any professional skills are an advantage in teaching English as it means you can specialise.

IT in SPb is big, just search for outsourcers or IT companies and you'll find DataArt, Luxoft, DevExperts, Digital Design, SUN, Rexoft and countless others. All the above I know have English lessons going on. Mostly with teachers who know nothing about IT.

Ha Ha Ha!! Mr (clever clogs) bobs12!! (Assuming you are talking about Mike's use of 'leverage').

But jus' look at this!!!

"The degree to which an investor or business is utilizing borrowed money. Companies that are HIGHLY LEVERAGED may be at risk of bankruptcy if they are unable to make payments on their debt; they may also be unable to find new lenders in the future."

So, if it can have a 3rd form (No - bobs12, it's not an adverb + adjective) then it must also be capable of being a verb... So there!!!

But, granted - it is an infrequent and unusual usage... Maybe it's because Mike is from across the pond?

(Nice to 'see' you, btw....)

Greetings, dawg I will get out for a BEER as soon as I can get my effing head round the visa problem.

As regards leveraging - feel free to voltage the flat battery on my 2115 if you like, or perhaps we should just go and beverage on the 5th line? Or maybe I am just confusioning you with my speeching?

http://www.google.ru/search?q=use+of+leverage+as+a+verb

"Modern business-speak takes many diabolical liberties with the English language, but the Stateside ubiquity of ‘leverage’ used not as a noun but as a verb, really takes the cake.

Why use the noun form as a verb when there already exists a perfectly good root verb, i.e. lever? Would you say “I can’t imagination why he did it”? “This article confusions me”? “There is water seepaging through the wall”? No. But “to leverage” seems to have become acceptable parlance, without anyone seeming to be sure what it means."

from http://leveragethis.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/leverage-is-not-a-verb/

""Leverage", as a verb, is usually used in one of two ways:
A vague buzzword that people think sounds cool
A precise economic term which means to finance an asset through debt

This leads to the curious phenomenon in which people say "This company is highly leveraged" thinking that it means something good, when in fact it means "We're up to our eyeballs in debt"."

from http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1227546

Sorry, it just makes me cringe a lot when I see it I have had to attend conferences and presentations of late where there is loads of business mumbo-jumbo that really doesn't mean or say anything; leveraging is just the tip of the iceberg

Sorry, Mike - we're not getting at you in particular, just at the world in general...

Have you (Mike, bobs12 or anyone) seen that fine game called "Bullsh*t Bingo"?

The idea is that when you attend a particularly boring meeting, you take with you a pre-designed card with say, a 4 X 4 matrix of squares in each square of which there have been written various so-called 'buzz-words' and 'in' phrases.

On hearing any of the words or phrases thus recorded mentioned in the meeting you quietly cross it off...

This continues until you (with ever-mounting excitement) have crossed off all but one word/phrase needed to complete a line diagonally, horizontally or vertically... When the final word or phrase is mentioned by any meeting participant, you leap to your feet - and at the top of your voice cry...

(Yes, I expect you're all waaaaay ahead of me....)

B-U-L-L-S-H-*-T!!!!!!

And bobs12, you have far too much free time (as do I) I can't understand how in my case, because I'm a teacher.....

Heard of it Sadly in the places where I was hearing the BS it would have been inappropriate to jump up and shout "BS!", and in Russia I just don't meet that kind of silly language

Free time is relative - I'm taking breaks in between stressing about visas. Called one school that had previously said "come for an interview, yes we have work, yes we will arrange a visa" only to find this time they said, "come for an interview, yes we have work, no way will we do anything official and certainly no visa" even though the same school had previously been asking for a job ad on the site and ASSURED me they would provide teachers with visa invites.

They have received a 0 rating in the directory for their insolence

Oh ugh!! Sorry about the business speak. But lever my experience sounds so silly. We yanks do play rather rough and loose with the language I fear. Especially the whole ize verb thing.

The banter alone makes stopping in here worthwhile 8^)

More news on the "what are Mike's plans front" Job will end 31 August unless they haven't found a person f or the new job. So I am now able to begin some definite planning.

The question ... do you folks know anything anything about the TEFL Institute training program in SPB? I suspect they are fronting for Via Lingua and have heard horrible things about them. Also as this course is not one of the brand names is the certificate worth anything?

I prefer to stay out of Moscow and am a bit nervous about the arrive and look for work without a certification approach. However the cost would probably cover my expenses for more than a month.

I will certainly check out the IT leads, many thanks.

Oh ugh!! Sorry about the business speak. But lever my experience sounds so silly. We yanks do play rather rough and loose with the language I fear. Especially the whole ize verb thing.

The banter alone makes stopping in here worthwhile 8^)

More news on the "what are Mike's plans front" Job will end 31 August unless they haven't found a person f or the new job. So I am now able to begin some definite planning.

The question ... do you folks know anything anything about the TEFL Institute training program in SPB? I suspect they are fronting for Via Lingua and have heard horrible things about them. Also as this course is not one of the brand names is the certificate worth anything?

I prefer to stay out of Moscow and am a bit nervous about the arrive and look for work without a certification approach. However the cost would probably cover my expenses for more than a month.

I will certainly check out the IT leads, many thanks.

can you give more info about that course? A link to a website if possible? Sounds like the Benedict School. Stay away from the BS or you mayl subsequently find it harder to be taken seriously in other schools.

I will PM you shortly, I have a project that might help you introduce yourself to some IT companies

Thank you much sir!!

I will be looking for the PM

OK .. if reading my PM is a test .. I failed 8^(

I see I have a PM but the only thing I can get to is the request authorization message.

help?

Hi again Mike, Sorry for the slight delay - It was a 'busy' weekend...

I've had a look and your PM seems to be enabled, but maybe bobs12 has been pressing buttons and twiddling knobs since you last wrote. Perhaps you could check it again now.

There's also a problem with the VisaRus site running rather S-L-O-W-L-Y at the moment. I have been assured by bobs12 that he is aware of it and will take action to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

Cheers1

Thanks meme. bobs12 got me straightened out almost immediately. I should have updated this thread. Sorry about that.

Thanks again!

That's OK Mike - We can't all be in all places at all times. I thought bobs12 had probably sorted it out for you - but I'm afraid that it wasn't the first thing that sprang to mind to ask him when I saw him yesterday...

What is probably springing, more imminently, into bobs12's mind currently, is how to suitably muffle his oars as he punts his UK-registered Daiwaoo Muzzo across the river between the Russian-Estonian border at Ivangorod/Narva.

For, yes, bobs12 is a-travellin' ..... again!!

And as regards what you might mean by 'banter'... bobs12 and I always speak to each other in such a manner... an' it appears (to us) to be infinitely normal....

I must go now, I'm afraid, Old Chap. There is a jolly old cabbage-crate coming in over the Briney, and I have to speedily slip down the apples-and-pears to avoid any further trouble-and-strife (if you get my drift...)

So - Toodle-Pip for now! (and a 'Yoiks' and 'Tally-ho!' for good measure...)

In return for all this 'FUN', Could you please perhaps give me a bit of info?...I currently seem not to be receiving email alerts on new postings on various threads, including this one (which I have enabled). What about you?....

I am getting the alerts as it happens.

As to catching your drift, 'fraid it is entirely too much cross pond vernacular for this ole Tennessee boy, I do seem to catch that you are going somewhere?


I like the interplay between you and bobs12 .. and they way you comfortably include the rest of us if we are willing to play!

It looks like I may be seeing you guys as soon as october.

Yeah - ain't we just the 'wild ones'?

Bobs12 has already gone but will be back soon, although he is, of course, omnipresent virtually.

I also ship out soon, tomorrow, in fact - as I am going to spend 2 months being busy doing nothin' in Bulgaria...

Hope to see you in October then!