Online TEFL course vs. Class TEFL course?

[?ManyQuestions?]

I saw online that there are online TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) courses that cost less than the actual class courses. This would allow m to leave the US even soon and allow me to earn money working while I take the course. However, my concern is that will these online TEFL graduates be recognized in Russian English Schools or other Russian TEFL places of employment?

Here is a link:  https://www.teflonline.net/tefl-online-courses/?c=a16&g=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr_vZ6JPO1QIVxrjACh3g0w09EAAYAiAAEgLuePD_BwE

[Orchid]

I saw online that there are online TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) courses that cost less than the actual class courses. This would allow m to leave the US even soon and allow me to earn money working while I take the course. However, my concern is that will these online TEFL graduates be recognized in Russian English Schools or other Russian TEFL places of employment?

Here is a link:  https://www.teflonline.net/tefl-online-courses/?c=a16&g=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr_vZ6JPO1QIVxrjACh3g0w09EAAYAiAAEgLuePD_BwE

Government schools will not hire you without special education.
But there are many private schools. They do not care about documents.
Mostly they will want their students to have an opportunity to practice with native English speaker.
Many college students and parents of high school students will pay for private lessons.
You can give these lessons at home. Just be careful, and keep a witness with you, or give your lessons at library.
Also you can translate manuals and write business letters for companies.

[andrewfi]

I doubt that without excellent Russian capabilities, certified by  a recognised, accredited, body that any kind of TEFL course will enable you to do work along the lines of translation of manuals.

As for the TEFL/TESOL course type, Orchid is correct to note the need for some kind of training and the limitations of not having it. However, not all qualifications are created equal and having a poorly regarded certificate will be useless and a waste of your money. If the online course you consider does have good accreditation and the learning style suits you then go for it. Before spending money contact forum member Jerash, he may have useful info about which certification is most useful in a Russian speaking environment as well as other pertinent advice.

[Jerash]

Where do you plan to go in Russia? I can only really speak about Moscow- in other places, with the exception of St Petes, I doubt the same assessment applies.

It all comes down to money. Most cheap online TEFL certificates will get you a corresponding earning potential. The more effort and money you put in, the more you're going to get out of it.

My impression is that Native Speakers are in some demand here. But if you want to get good gigs and make good money, you have to be competent, and a proper certificate helps you to prove to potential employers that you are competent.

Any school that will take you on on the basis of the fact that you have a certificate from one of thousands of online TEFL offerings, won't actually care about your qualifications and competency. They will have already decided that they want to hire you because you are a Native Speaker. Expect pay and fulfillment in the experience to correspond.

More reputable and better paying outfits are going to want to see some credentials (I don't mean an online certificate - teaching English as a foreign language is an unregulated industry and anyone can offer you a meaningless piece of paper. Unless there is some reputation behind it, it is fairly well worthless.)

If you have an education degree and are accredited to teach in public schools where you live, you will have good paying options available to you.

You can also try to obtain a CELTA certificate. This is an accreditation from Cambridge University to teach English as a foreign language. It is well respected here and employers will be happy to see it. You can get good work that way. But you have to have some elemental knowledge of the language you speak every day. For CELTA - they hate to see trainees fail. Therefore, the pre-screening process is rigourous and if you can't cope, they won't accept you into the course.

There are one or two equivalents to CELTA that are also welcomed in Moscow.

But I think the most important factors will be your character and intelligence. No pieces of paper will make up for this.

Generally speaking, I guess that in most other Russian cities and towns, you will be a novelty (there are reasons for that) and you will easily find work. But you won't get a Moscow payday there. You certainly won't be earning enough to save any significant amount to carry back home, that's for sure. The money is in Moscow.

And to paraphrase Danchik, if you are like a grapefruit that can't find its way out of a paper bag, well, you'll be like many Native Speakers in this town and you'll be happy with 50,000ru/month.




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[?ManyQuestions?]

The money is in Moscow.

 




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I hate that more cities in Russia can't seem to be on par economically with Moskva. I am not a fan of huge cities to tell you the truth, I ideally like smaller communities. I like the peace and quiet. Also the friendly neighbors who don't cause trouble and actually talk to you. I have been to Chicago and there are places I like (Kennilworth) and places I don't like (the south side). Plus the traffic is terrible. I have seen some bad drivers in my time, but 7 out of the 10 worst drivers I have ever seen I saw in Chicago. I saw a driver try to pass cars in a traffic jam on the shoulder and almost hit a bridge embankment!! Chto idiot!! Plus the car had more duct tape on the font bumper than I have ever seen on a car.

But you're right, most work is in cities. Unless you are a farmer, mechanic, postal employee, farm implement salesman (I personally know one.) or some other profession useful to the agricultural industry.


It's a shame that Russia has the total Gross Domestic Product of just the state of New Jersey. Just one state out of 50. I saw a video that showed if the old Confederacy were to secede tomorrow, the remaining Union states would still have the rank of number 1 Gross Domestic Product in the world. I think there is so much potential in Russia being an economic force though, with their vast oil and mineral wealth.

[?ManyQuestions?]

I have decided on an online TEFL course from "i-t-i". I have $1200 saved and have set a goal of saving up to $2,000 in the next 1-2 months. Once I reach $2,000, I am paying for the course and starting it. Ideally, I would like to teach Business English. However, I wouldn't mind teaching children or some other form of teaching English. I wouldn't mind extra work since I am already used to a 6 day work week. I can't teach English online because I need at least an associates degree.

Anyways, here is the course I would like to take.

https://www.i-to-i.com/tefl-courses/300-hour-tefl-course.html

Their jobs board doesn't have TEFL jobs in Russia, but here are some other job boards like Dave's ESL Café.

http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/

http://teflsearch.com/job-results/country/russia

I wouldn't mind having this job.

http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/index.cgi?read=44255

[msmoby]

DO NOT waste your money - you're going to need a LOT more money than that saved to live - until you have enough clients to cover your living costs

You need to add:

1/ working visa cost

2/ flights

3/ rent - plus deposit

4/ food

5/ local transport

6/ Internet / phone

7/ Emergency fund

[andrewfi]

The course to which you linked is only €349.00 if you book before 25th August. No need to hang about if that's what you are sure you want to do.

Is the certification recognised in the places you want to work and by the companies for whom you'd want to work? I see that the company is British and that, on its own might be of some benefit to you - we have less of an issue with paper mills than the U.S and OFQUAL recognition is a genuine level of accreditation albeit in a very general sense rather than specific to TEFL.

Might I suggest that if you want to take advantage of the special offer price, which would be kinda handy, that you check with a couple of schools in Moscow or Saint Petersburg and see if they would be happy to pay you full whack as a teacher with the certification from these guys?

[?ManyQuestions?]

The course to which you linked is only €349.00 if you book before 25th August. No need to hang about if that's what you are sure you want to do.

Is the certification recognised in the places you want to work and by the companies for whom you'd want to work? I see that the company is British and that, on its own might be of some benefit to you - we have less of an issue with paper mills than the U.S and OFQUAL recognition is a genuine level of accreditation albeit in a very general sense rather than specific to TEFL.

Might I suggest that if you want to take advantage of the special offer price, which would be kinda handy, that you check with a couple of schools in Moscow or Saint Petersburg and see if they would be happy to pay you full whack as a teacher with the certification from these guys?

I will try calling and email them if they do not respond. Thank you.

[Jerash]

The money is in Moscow.

 




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I hate that more cities in Russia can't seem to be on par economically with Moskva. I am not a fan of huge cities to tell you the truth, I ideally like smaller communities. I like the peace and quiet. Also the friendly neighbors who don't cause trouble and actually talk to you. I have been to Chicago and there are places I like (Kennilworth) and places I don't like (the south side). Plus the traffic is terrible. I have seen some bad drivers in my time, but 7 out of the 10 worst drivers I have ever seen I saw in Chicago. I saw a driver try to pass cars in a traffic jam on the shoulder and almost hit a bridge embankment!! Chto idiot!! Plus the car had more duct tape on the font bumper than I have ever seen on a car.

But you're right, most work is in cities. Unless you are a farmer, mechanic, postal employee, farm implement salesman (I personally know one.) or some other profession useful to the agricultural industry.


It's a shame that Russia has the total Gross Domestic Product of just the state of New Jersey. Just one state out of 50. I saw a video that showed if the old Confederacy were to secede tomorrow, the remaining Union states would still have the rank of number 1 Gross Domestic Product in the world. I think there is so much potential in Russia being an economic force though, with their vast oil and mineral wealth.

What I find most fascinating, droog, is where you get your GDP numbers from. I honestly believe you'll be much happier in New Jersey.


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[andrewfi]

Jerash, I noticed that the company that manyquestions linked to referred to offering classes over Skype.

It used to be that there was built in functionality via apps to do this. As I recall they no longer exist.

Do you know anything about such classes?

Would it be a viable business model to offer such classes for those who might be better off in New Jersey?

==================
Manyquestions. I know nothing, but, it would seem to me that if the training company has a jobs board with openings around the world but NOT in Russia then it is likely that the qualification offered by this business is probably not worth a lot in Russia. It might be simply that nobody knows about it there, but lack of knowledge is much a bar to entry as low quality is.

If you do want to travel and you are set on this particular course might it not be better to look at working in destinations where you can see there is some demand for your particular certification?

[Steveboy]

Remember you will need to start paying taxes next year in Russia if your teaching English as a kind of side cash job, there will be no more arriving taking some teaching visa or some thing like and not paying taxes. New laws com in on sharing information. You could arrive at immigration only to be deported for non payment of taxes over the last 12 months.
I did read the English teachers will be shooting out of Russia like champaign corks next year..Im speaking about the doggy ones..

[andrewfi]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

[Ste]

Remember you will need to start paying taxes next year in Russia if your teaching English as a kind of side cash job, there will be no more arriving taking some teaching visa or some thing like and not paying taxes. New laws com in on sharing information. You could arrive at immigration only to be deported for non payment of taxes over the last 12 months.
I did read the English teachers will be shooting out of Russia like champaign corks next year..Im speaking about the doggy ones..

Just got an email for a role in Moscow, proper job, salary says;

Ot xxxxxx rub. na ruki

...which I presume means cash in hand?

[Markje]

Just got an email for a role in Moscow, proper job, salary says;

Ot xxxxxx rub. na ruki

...which I presume means cash in hand?

Lucky it doesn't say , "V god" , then 6 figure salary won't make it ;-)

[Ste]

Just got an email for a role in Moscow, proper job, salary says;

Ot xxxxxx rub. na ruki

...which I presume means cash in hand?

Lucky it doesn't say , "V god" , then 6 figure salary won't make it ;-)

It’s per month and it’s still pathetic!!

I’ve no idea how they got my email...

[msmoby]

na ruki

...which I presume means cash in hand?

Yup ! )

CASH .....  I know this expression - all too well - as SC prefers cash in her hand and I like an electronic trail ))

[andrewfi]

Perhaps someone wants to move to Moscow? Dropping hints?

[Steveboy]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

Big brother is coming to Russia! Immigration will be linked to the tax office and will share your information , that includes what country you are a tax resident in and information with that country..so I guess if your in Russia for more than 180 days you become liable to tax , or some thing like that. But for sure if you have paid nothing in 6/12 months you may find yourself doing some hard labour in Siberia.. not sure of the exact details but it is some thing like that! And yes much will depend what visa you have..

[?ManyQuestions?]

Not really, Jerash. Why would I want to live in an high tax place like New Jersey? Taxes are still much lower where I live. Then you have a RINO governor like Chris Christie, who goes to a locked gated beach that is closed to the public but says he and his family has "every right to be there.". I can't believe this guy was once the "darling" of the Republican party.

Of course, with Buddha's philosophy, now I can be content anywhere I live and any relationship with a woman I am with. No matter if her personality is like a fiery tempest or not. I have the patience and the willpower. The control over my own mind that I didn't think was possible before. The problem I am having here locally is that all/most of the attractive women in town are either have a boyfriend or are already married. The rest seem to just want a sexual "friends with benefits". I don't want to get a venereal disease, so I am going to have pass on the "friends with benefits".

Buddha put himself through unimaginable starvation to ty to achieve enlightenment the first try around. The meditation worked, the starvation didn't. If he can put himself through unimaginable suffering and still shrug it off, then so can I. He gave up a pampered life in a palace to understand the world around him and achieve self-actualization in his life. The bad things that happened in my life pale in comparison to what Buddha saw and put himself through.


Buddha "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal and wanting to throw it at somebody else. You are the only one who gets burned."

Remember you will need to start paying taxes next year in Russia if your teaching English as a kind of side cash job, there will be no more arriving taking some teaching visa or some thing like and not paying taxes. New laws com in on sharing information. You could arrive at immigration only to be deported for non payment of taxes over the last 12 months.
I did read the English teachers will be shooting out of Russia like champaign corks next year..Im speaking about the doggy ones..

I don't care about the Russian government taking their "pound of flesh" out of my income. The State and Federal Government already take out a chunk of my income here in the US. Of course, the tax dollars I send to the District of Corruption are to be mostly wasted on their over bloated salaries to do nothing at their job. In life, death and taxes are a certainty. Would I rather not have to pay taxes? Yes. Will I have to pay taxes? Yes.

[Ste]

Perhaps someone wants to move to Moscow? Dropping hints?

Not me, I had my go-native phase 2005 ish, I’ve no intention of going back again.

Wouldn’t mind Kiev though, a mate lives there, works in Abu Dhabi mostly but flies back in a few months a year with a shitload of taxfree cash. I tried to explain to him about tax residency but he thinks he’ll get away with it. He won’t.

My next role is either this one, or back to Sweden or a wfh in uk for an Austrian Bank. 

Probs stay here even though it’s only Ireland and UK lite really I’ve never been more relaxed plus there’s lots of work in finance here in the IFSC coming from Brexiting Banks etc. Here be construction cranes...

[Ste]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

Big brother is coming to Russia! Immigration will be linked to the tax office and will share your information , that includes what country you are a tax resident in and information with that country..so I guess if your in Russia for more than 180 days you become liable to tax , or some thing like that. But for sure if you have paid nothing in 6/12 months you may find yourself doing some hard labour in Siberia.. not sure of the exact details but it is some thing like that! And yes much will depend what visa you have..

Tax residency is 91 days for UK. Of course for Americans it doesn’t matter, they are taxed on their worldwide income even if they’ve spent zero days in the land of the not free.

[Steveboy]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

Big brother is coming to Russia! Immigration will be linked to the tax office and will share your information , that includes what country you are a tax resident in and information with that country..so I guess if your in Russia for more than 180 days you become liable to tax , or some thing like that. But for sure if you have paid nothing in 6/12 months you may find yourself doing some hard labour in Siberia.. not sure of the exact details but it is some thing like that! And yes much will depend what visa you have..

Tax residency is 91 days for UK. Of course for Americans it doesn’t matter, they are taxed on their worldwide income even if they’ve spent zero days in the land of the not free.

So it is best to live between 3 countries , like have a house in each and just stay your allowance each year?  The best place in the world to live tax free and hassle free is The Transnistria ...I cannot think of a better place, you can just cross a few hedges and fields and never actually be classed as living any where..even was thinking about staying there permanently , if you have a nice income from the net there you can live like a king, drive an expensive car, own several properties , travel every month. It is paradise!!

[rw_recruiter]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

Big brother is coming to Russia! Immigration will be linked to the tax office and will share your information , that includes what country you are a tax resident in and information with that country..so I guess if your in Russia for more than 180 days you become liable to tax , or some thing like that. But for sure if you have paid nothing in 6/12 months you may find yourself doing some hard labour in Siberia.. not sure of the exact details but it is some thing like that! And yes much will depend what visa you have..

Tax residency is 91 days for UK. Of course for Americans it doesn’t matter, they are taxed on their worldwide income even if they’ve spent zero days in the land of the not free.

Only if you declare over 100k a year. Many loopholes Amerkianski digital nomads use to pay zero taxes overseas.

[Ste]

Ah, that tax thing means that it'll be much harder to 'work' with the wrong visa type. It'll probably improve the average standards of teaching quite a bit even as 'teachers' become somewhat short in supply.

The days of the itinerant teacher of English coming to an end in Russia, at last.

Big brother is coming to Russia! Immigration will be linked to the tax office and will share your information , that includes what country you are a tax resident in and information with that country..so I guess if your in Russia for more than 180 days you become liable to tax , or some thing like that. But for sure if you have paid nothing in 6/12 months you may find yourself doing some hard labour in Siberia.. not sure of the exact details but it is some thing like that! And yes much will depend what visa you have..

Tax residency is 91 days for UK. Of course for Americans it doesn’t matter, they are taxed on their worldwide income even if they’ve spent zero days in the land of the not free.

So it is best to live between 3 countries , like have a house in each and just stay your allowance each year?  The best place in the world to live tax free and hassle free is The Transnistria ...I cannot think of a better place, you can just cross a few hedges and fields and never actually be classed as living any where..even was thinking about staying there permanently , if you have a nice income from the net there you can live like a king, drive an expensive car, own several properties , travel every month. It is paradise!!

Fraid not, cos the 91 day test isn’t the only test for habitual residency, having a home for use is one, as is working from home, not permitted in the 91 days, and tax is due where the work is done, so tax will be paid somewhere unless you bury your head in the sand.

Tax folks are far reaching now, in my industry the German Finanzamt has collared a lot, and they are utter *snip*s.

In EU the Germans, the Brits and the Swedes are worst, but they’re all catching on now, seems the Russians are too!

Here in Dublin the Guards are sat at Dublin port noting uk car reg plates ready to pounce and charge VRT illegally. It’s 13-36% if the original value of the car and if you don’t pay they take the car there and then.

So on your 12 year old Maserati is £5k