I got a job offer as a teacher intern and I have read up on them and seen mixed reviews.
Russia - 1 Answers
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I worked for them many years ago. The company wasn't the best run, but it wasn't bad either, if you were mature enough just to get on with teaching (they didn't interfere much). I say that as I wasn't so mature at the time but luckily my slightly older colleague who knew Russia much better was, and helped me get my head out of my arse; as a result I had a good time in the end, and I still think back to my couple of years with great fondness. I say all of this because there are two things you need to consider: more than Language Link overall: will you like living in Russia (and a lot can't, for a variety of reasons, while some for some it becomes home) and what is the management like at the local school. Living in Russia can be a little scary at first, as they do things "differently" there. Doing things differently is a way of keeping ahead of other people through confusing them. This goes for Russians working with Russians. Some people cannot deal with this, and so will put up complaints about conditions and the torments they had to suffer. Russia is not a leisure centre, and you don't go there to luxuriate. Read their comments carefully in case they're just people who wouldn't have been happy anywhere in Russia. As for what you've read about the school itself (and particularly the branches, which is more important than the centre), look for things like being paid on time, being asked to move arbitrarily, managers being indifferent to housing problems (cockroaches don't count - everyone has them) and the extent to which the manager may be messing with people's heads in order to preserve his/her own authority (Russians actually have a word for this: volyuntarizm). Perhaps I make Russia sound like a nightmare. It isn't. It's a country of positive and negative extremes, which is why people fall in love with it.
