Length of training: 4 weeks
Tuition: Approximately $ 1,645
($ 500 Deposit, 900 Euro Balance)
(housing costs are not included)
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TEFL Course Dates
St. Petersburg, Russia TEFL Class
In St Petersburg the TEFL courses are run in cooperation with the Benedict School - the biggest and most popular language school in the city. The St Petersburg center is located in the heart of the city, near the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum.
St Petersburg is quite rightly known throughout the world for its beauty and culture. So unlike the Russian cities that came before it, with its strict geometric lines and an elegance reminiscent of Europe's most alluring capitals, St. Petersburg is in many ways Russia's adopted child: too European to be Russian, and yet too Russian to be European.
A powerful combination of both East and West, St. Petersburg is, more than anything, a city born of the passion of its founder, Czar Peter the Great. This city embodies his mission to bring an unwilling Russian nation into the fold of Europe and into the mainstream of European history. Built on more than a hundred islands in the NEA Delta linked by canals and arched bridges, it is often called the "northern Venice," and its elegant embankments are reminiscent of those of Paris. The city's focal point is the Admiralty; its most-visited attraction, a stone's throw away, the Winter Palace. Three major avenues radiate outward from the Admiralty: Nevsky Prospect (St. Petersburg's main shopping street), Gorokhovaya Ulitsa, and Voznesensky Prospect.
Yet there is much more to the city than this. There is an impressive variety of cultural and non-cultural entertainment, all of which is available to students on a limited budget. The food and transportation in the city are relatively inexpensive. While it should be stated that the standards of accommodation are considerably more basic than those found in Western Europe & Northern America, apartments are always clean, spacious and conveniently located near the metro.Alternatively, you could be placed with a Russian family (single room with breakfast for the same price).
International TEFL Academy offers lifetime job search guidance for all our graduates.
The TEFL TESOL School
In St Petersburg the TEFL courses are run in cooperation with the Benedict School - the biggest and most popular language school in the city. Survival Russian Lessons are also provided as part of the package, as well as airport greeting and transfer, all course materials and social program.
Alternatively, you could be placed with a Russian family (single room with breakfast for the same price)
Tuition fee covers:
- TEFL TESOL course fee
- Course Book
- Job placement assistance in St. Petersburg, throughout Russia and lifetime job guidance advice worldwide
Tuition does not cover:
- Personal Expenses
- International Flights
- Visa,Insurance, Airport Pick up
- Housing is paid direct to hostel & apartments directly in St. Petersburg
Accommodation:
International TEFL Academy's partner school is able to provide accommodation for teacher trainees at a very low price at the Benedict School Hostel. This will typically consist of a 3-room apartment shared with 2 or 3 other trainees. While it should be stated that the standards of accommodation are considerably more basic than those found in Western Europe & Northern America, apartments are always clean and spacious and conveniently located near the metro. Alternatively, you could be placed with a Russian family (single room with breakfast).
Food and Clothing:
Food: Nothing, absolutely nothing, tastes better than hot Russian crepes with caviar, mushrooms, caramel, berries, or what have you with a cup of tea on a cold winter street. Meals are the responsibility of the participant. Affordable meals may be purchased throughout the city of St. Petersburg at very reasonable prices. Russian cuisine is derived from the vast number of cultures contained within the country's expansive borders. With Eastern cooking methods (derived from the country's close proximity to the Silk Road) staples such as fish, poultry, game, mushrooms, berries and honey with various breads are supplemented by crops of rye, wheat, barley and millet (which serve as the basis for pancakes, cereals, kvass, beer and vodka.) The country's flavorful stews are the perfect defense against Russia's often-harsh climate.
A variety of soups (both hot and cold) grace numerous, Russian dinner tables as well as various meat-based dishes (using any and all kinds of meat). Another way to stay warm, Saint Petersburgers know how to party. There is an excellent variety of clubs in the city, providing a sophisticated selection of nightlife for every tourist. The city hosts an array of music venues, featuring music from ranging from edgy rock and pop to contemporary hip hop and jazz.
Weather and Clothing:
The climate of St. Petersburg is classified as "humid continental" of the cool summer subtype. Summertime is usually cool, humid and short while winters are long and cold but with frequent warm spells. The month of July sees average temperatures of 22°C (72°F) with the highest temperatures reaching 34°C (94°F). Wintertime sees minimum temperature averages of -27°C (-17°F) with the lowest ever recorded as -35.9°C (-33°F).
The city of St. Petersburg sees somewhat slightly warmer temperatures than the suburbs with varying weather conditions year-round with an average of 165 overcast days out of the entire year. St. Petersburg weather is COLD in the winter, so dress accordingly -- down coat, hat, gloves and possibly long johns. Waterproof boots are a must; the streets are muddy even if it's not snowing. Dress conservatively; bright colors will really make you stand out.
Excursions and Cultural Highlights:
With the possible exception of the Louvre, there is no museum in the world that rivals the Hermitage in size and quality. Its collection is so large that it would take years to view it in its entirety--at last count; there were nearly three million works on exhibit. The museum is especially strong in Italian Renaissance and French Impressionist paintings, as well as possessing outstanding collections of works by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Matisse.
Visitors should also take advantage of its excellent Greek and Roman antiquities collection and its exhibits of Siberian and Central Asian art. Not least among the attractions of the Hermitage is the museum itself, with its fine interior decoration and architectural detail. The Hermitage is so enormous, its collection so striking and diverse, and its interior so attractive in its own right, that many visitors return several times during their stay in St. Petersburg.
The origins of the Hermitage can be traced back to the private art collection of Peter the Great, who purchased numerous works during his travels abroad and later hung them in his residence. Catherine the Great expanded the collection considerably, and she and her successors built the Hermitage collection in large part with purchases of the private collections of the Western European aristocracy and monarchy. By the time Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894, he was heir to the greatest collection of art in Europe. After the Revolution of 1917, the museum was opened to the public, and its collection was further augmented by the addition of modern works taken from private collections. Today, the Hermitage has embarked on a major renovation effort. Its collection is in the process of being reorganized, and many of its works have for the first time become available for traveling exhibits outside of the country.
The Winter Palace
The Winter Palace is undoubtedly the most famous building of imperial St. Petersburg, not only as the residence of the Tsars and the backdrop for the 1905 and 1917 Revolutions, but also as the home of the Hermitage, the world's largest museum of art. The Empress Elizabeth commissioned the present structure, completed in 1762, and designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Its opulent baroque facade, stretching two hundred meters, is a veritable cornucopia of pilasters, bays, and statuary. The palace served as the winter residence for every ruler of Russia since Peter III, who installed himself there along with his mistress, the Countess Vorontsova. After his wife Catherine the Great seized the throne, she redecorated and appropriated her husband's old quarters. While her son Nicholas I lived in a modest apartment there, his wife Alexandra commissioned the famously luxurious Malachite Room, later to be used as the meeting place for Kerensky's Provisional Government.
Nicholas II had his quarters immediately above this room until 1904, when he moved from the increasingly discontented capital to Tsarskoe Selo. In July of 1917, the Provisional Government took up residence here, thus setting the stage for the October Revolution. After consolidating its power, the Bolshevik government transferred its capital to Moscow, and since that time the Winter Palace has been associated primarily with its role as the Hermitage Museum.
The Importance of English in Russia:
The demand for English in business is particularly high. Private schools usually send teachers to the clients’ place of business. The ability to discuss business comfortably is essential. Native speakers are especially scarce in the cold winter months when the seasonal “tourist teachers” go home. Keeping an eye out for opportunities will pay dividends.
Employment possibilities for native English speakers are not just confined to teaching. Proofreading and editing are not necessarily well-paid jobs, but they can usually be done from the comfort of home, provided you have a computer. Networking is important, and anything that expands your base of contacts is worth trying. Russia is not the easiest place for foreigners to work, but with a taste for adventure and some ambition, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
Teaching English in Russia:
As there are many openings here for newly qualified teachers St Petersburg is the perfect place for taking a TEFL course. For a growing number of young Russians, English is the key to a better job and a ticket to a new life abroad, hence the EFL boom. Oil, tourism, and services outsourcing are among the major industries where good English is essential. Private English language schools abound, capitalizing on the inadequacies of the state education system. Most of the schools employ a mix of local and native-speaker teachers. Demand for the latter is so high that even all teachers are overloaded with work.
To learn more about teaching abroad and TEFL Certification go to our form to request a brochure.
