[oldnemesis]

(11-17-2012 12:10 AM)KorbenDallas Wrote:  

The one thing that is worrying is the costs.

Are you familiar with the SPB prices? It is way more expensive comparing to Prague.

And unless you speak reasonable Russian, don't ask other Russians about their cost of living, ask other foreigners who live there. A lot of cheaper options available to Russians won't be available to you if you don't speak the language.

[east and west]

How old are you? Where will you live, where will you find a social circle

[sevenseers]

I lived in St. Petersburg for 2 years and I also taught english there. the going rate for a native english teacher is 1000 roubles per less (500 per 45 minutes). If you have the ability, find your own students. then you can charge 1500 per lesson to 2000 if you are good enough. this is what the language schools charge the students, and of course they take their cut before they pay you.

teaching english is alright but be careful. when i was there i worked my ass off for maximum 5 lessons per day. they iwll have you running all over the city, with lesssons starting at 10am to 8pm. very little free time. I would advise to have a lot of money in the bank or another source of income, it can wear you out if you are interested in making money. having people come to your house would be ideal, but this wont be possible going through a language school.

if you are only interested in teaching english in russia and not anywhere else, i would skip the TESOL exam. they don't require it and its a waste of money and time.

if you want a run down on the nightlife let me know, I know most of the places there

[The Fantasist]

Great to have you on board Sevenseers. I shall certainly be firing some questions at you about this in the near future.

[sevenseers]

any time vorkuta

[gadabout]

I would like to visit in late summer. Could you answer a few questions...

1. Level of English compared to Moscow? Would a non Russian speaker get by?
2. Is there an ideal spot to live which is centrally located and walking distance to bars/clubs or is nightlife spread out?
3. Are Russians used to foreigners prowling the bars like in Kiev? I felt Moscow was very untrodden which is my main draw to go back to Russia.

[sevenseers]

(03-03-2013 01:42 PM)gadabout Wrote:  

I would like to visit in late summer. Could you answer a few questions...

1. Level of English compared to Moscow? Would a non Russian speaker get by?
2. Is there an ideal spot to live which is centrally located and walking distance to bars/clubs or is nightlife spread out?
3. Are Russians used to foreigners prowling the bars like in Kiev? I felt Moscow was very untrodden which is my main draw to go back to Russia.

I would guess that spb is about the same as moscow. i didnt live in moscow and only visited it a few times. met some great friends through couchsurfing im still in touch with, but they were all english speaking.
it depends what you mean with get by. of the people 25 and under i would say like 30% can speak english and more will eargly try to speak with you, but communication problems will exist. if you are just looking fora visit you can survive with english and basic russian words/phrases. shouldnt be a problem.

2. places to live. petersburg is a HUGE city, over 5 million people. but it is very centrally located around nevsky prospect. stay close to there and you will have no problems and can walk to most places on a good night. i would say live around the metro stations cherneshevskaya, ploshad vostania, gostiny dvor, sennaya ploshad...just look on a map for places near these places and you will be able to afford to taxi everywhere if you wanted to

3. i have never been to kiev so i have no idea about it. people in st petersburg are probably the most well travelled of all russians, since finland and estonia are so close. this enables them to take a bus to estonia for 20 euro and then get a flight with ryanair around europe dirt cheap. when i was there last time i flew to bremen from estonia for EIGHTEEN euro. round trip. point being, they are used to foreigners, its a huge tourist city. you will not necessarily wow anyone by being an american or whatever. it can give you some topics to discuss but its nothing new for them. but all in all i much prefer petersburg to moscow

[thegmanifesto]

(11-14-2012 01:49 AM)KorbenDallas Wrote:  

I start living in St. Petersburg, Russia on the 28th for at least one year. I've already lived in the Czech Republic and loved it, but this time I'll be more focused on getting ahead in my new country than the ladies, but still, I expect to have a good time. Anyway, if anyone else has lived there, please, give me the lowdown. I've already read a few St. Petersburg threads, but I thought I'd open up a new one just to get some fresh stuff.

How is this going?

Can we get an update on this?