(happy upbeat music)
- Good morning everyone.
My name is Erika and I am doing a The ITA
Instagram Story Takeover from Moscow, Russia.
Yey.
First of all, I just want to point out that
I've only been here for a few weeks now.
I've been teaching for two weeks.
But today we're going to head over to a company
wide bootcamp training session.
I'm working for a company called EF, English First,
which you might know,
a worldwide company called Education First.
So this company is a branch from Education First.
My schools is in the North of Moscow.
So it's away from the busy part of the city,
as well it's a teens and kids center
so very fun.
I live in a pretty old fashioned apartment
and the cost is about
400 USD a month.
But it's pretty authentic and cute.
So I love it.
So I did the online TEFL certification
through ITA, which I think was the most useful because
I was able to study at university while completing
my TEFL certification.
And I think the most important part of the course
is classroom management
because it's the most practical part
about teaching is how are you going to
manage these crazy students.
So as I mentioned before
I teach in a kids and teens center so,
they can be kind of crazy by times,
and it's important to know
how to discipline them and
help them understand and be comfortable and polite
in the
because in most cases
you're not just teaching
them English,
you're teaching them how to share with other kids,
how to not eat glue.
Very important life skills.
It's also important to realize
that there is a big difference
between teaching kids in the public school
and a private school.
For example, most of my students
are pretty privileged
children.
They don't speak with any other,
oh that's a (foreign language).
(foreign language).
Basically what I was trying to say
is my kids are still learning how to socialize
and behave with other students,
which is a new practice for them altogether.
Okay guys, so sorry I'm a little bit hot.
It is 32 degrees here in Moscow.
And I'm on my way home from the metro,
but first I want to stop by
my way to work.
And so today as I told you I had to do some company
training which was at the other side
of the city.
So the metro covers 1000 kilometers
worth of land.
From my apartment and
to the metro station
and then to
the place where I did my training
took about an hour and
about one dollar and 20 cents USD.
Can't go wrong.
To be honest Russia has one of the best transportation
systems in the whole world.
You can take metro, bus, trolley,
tram, train, Uber.
Anything.
At all.
It's amazing.
So I live about 15 minutes away
from the school where I teach.
And to get there I must walk through this very
very beautiful park that I'm going to show you
all around.
I also wanted to mention to you
a few tips for traveling and teaching for the first time.
So first of all
do some research.
Do some research about the place you're traveling to.
Language, culture.
It's a good idea to research,
about the school that you want to be teaching at.
Things like, what are your expectations?
Who will you be teaching?
Healthcare.
Expense costs like traveling.
Compensation for exchange.
And by the way,
you haven't been asking any questions yet.
But please do send some
so I can answer in more detail for you
any kinds of concerns you have.
And here there is a theater,
but today it looks like there is
a huge party,
fun stuff.
Along with research you should also
have patience.
Patience for not only your students,
but also your company.
When you move to a firm place,
everything is going to feel new and so chaotic.
This is where the research comes in.
If you do your research, you know what to expect.
And if your expectations are not met,
then yes you can start to question the situation.
And behind me there is a very beautiful lake
and church.
So let's go ahead and see it.
So on my way to work there is a cafe
you can get some food.
There is guys fishing in this lake.
Boat, you can go boating.
And my school is just over here in this building.
Below.
Kay guys so I'm starting to get quite sweaty now,
I'm going to head home.
But before still I wanted to give you
my very last tip
which is
modesty.
And so when I speak about modesty
I am talking about
nationality and your language
your English language speaking.
For example, you shouldn't run around the street
yelling I'm american in English.
So yes unfortunately,
things like nationalism and racism and sexism
isn't exactly dead
in Russia, yet.
So just be careful and always be thinking
about your safety.
And become accustomed.
Try to fit in.
Understand some cultural cues.
And one stereotype that's very popular in America
is that Russians are very angry mean people.
And this is not exactly true.
What you will find though is most people don't
generally wear a smile in public,
useless they're really happy about something so.
In a way it's kind of
sad.
It makes you feel oh maybe everybody is angry here,
but
with another perspective
if somebody is smiling and laughing
you understand that that's genuine happiness
and this is much more satisfying and fulfilling
knowing that you're actually having a good time
with this person that's not all fake.
I just got a question in,
which was why Russia?
And well because I have been here before.
I studied the language and literature,
and history and I really appreciate this place on earth.
And well it was time to get a job.
So, I actually studied biology and Russian studies
in university and so,
it just led me here.
I decided to take a break from science
for a while and now I realize that teaching
is pretty fulfilling.
So, so happy.
And of course I studied the language
in St. Petersburg
which is such a lovely city to go to.
But I'm also really enjoying Moscow.
So we decided to go downtown and
take some chicken nuggets.
This place is absolutely my favorite
because you can get anything
an it's just in the middle of downtown.
So, I love it.
Obviously.
(upbeat music)