I apologize that this is so long and in english only.

[fucking-snow.livejournal.com]

i am in my last year at an american university, i am a native russian speaker and my english is 100% fluent (no one knows i'm foreign unless i tell them, and even then sometimes people don't believe me). in may, i will have a Bachelors of Art with a minor in Art History, but that's not very relevant, since what I really want to do is teach, either Russian or English, anywhere. in the united states- only college level, anywhere else - any ages.

my question is, does anybody know where i can even start to look for information, what are the legalities of this, requirements, etc. for example, in Illinois, where i am currently living, you have to have a master's degree to teach in college. i know that this is different from state to state. i have no idea what it's like in other countries.

i have looked at a few religious-type programs that send people to different countries to teach english, but it's not clear if you have to have professional teaching experience.

thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

P.S. I am also looking for pen-pal type communication, I can help with both English and Russian.

Comments

[marzchik263.livejournal.com]

at my college (University of Texas at Austin) most of the russian instructors are current grad students.

[pineapplelisa.livejournal.com]

Same with my (ex) college in Washington. Also, I've found a couple non-religious teach-in-Russia sites, and I know there are plenty for teaching english in other countries.

A link

[blackfeather.livejournal.com]

I know a few of these from a friend who teaches English in China. I have also done my own research, and found that a lot of the jobs will be for those younger than college age (or older). Having a teaching credential will help, however. TOEFL certification isn't a full degree program. CELTA, Trinity and Cambridge are the ones I heard the most about when I was in Moscow studying at Language Link (http://www.russian.language.ru/), where I learned Russian much faster than here at DVGU / FENU (http://www.dvgu.ru/). I was at Language Link as a work-study, to learn Russian and teach English. They also had me writing fiction for them, to use as source material for kids. Credentials will also increase your pay while teaching, from what it would be otherwise. A lot of folks are more impressed by pieces of paper than by actual skills, it seems.

The other link I'd recommend to find out about real-life conditions for English teachers around the world is Dave's ESL Cafe (http://www.daveseslcafe.com/). It is one that has come up on my friend's email list about her experiences teaching in China.

Good luck. Keep the community posted about your progress.

Чёрное Перо

Re: A link

[fucking-snow.livejournal.com]

thank you, that's incredibly helpful. going to look at these right now.