Bill: What exactly does this coaching involve? Living with a sweety east of economic normality or? Most guys in this persuit are more interested in living with their sweety in their home country, maybe when you have some experience doing that, your coaching might be more marketable?
I am in the early phases of planning a trip to the Ukraine for the purpose of teaching English there. Though the demand for native English-speaking teachers remains strong, I understand that the cost of living in the larger cities (i.e. Kiev, Odessa, etc.) is quite high. To be frank, I am not doing it for the money. Rather, I'm doing it to learn Ukrainian and Russian. For me, cultural immersion is the ideal method of acheiving proficiency in a foreign language. My ultimate goal is to return to the USA in order to enter a PhD program, preferably one that will allow me to pursue work in Russian history.
You noted in your earlier comments that you teach English from sunrise to sundown for a salary that barely rises above subsistence. I sincerely admire your effort to involve yourself in an endeavor that is oftentimes thankless and exhausting, but also rewarding beyond measure. I would like to learn more about your work in Nikolaev. I've thought of going to some of the smaller towns or 'backwater' areas to teach. What are your thoughts on this? I'd also like to know what your opinion is of the TEFL/TESOLs with regard to the elgibility of employment, be it for private or public educational insitutions in Ukraine.
At one point I considered teaching business classes in Ukraine. I am, after all, an American MBA, and MBA programs are booming in Eastern Europe. What's more there seems to be a strong demand (believe it or not) for English-only speaking business teachers as it forces students to hone their English speaking skills to communicate with the professor.
I figured I could quit my position with the US Postal Service, do my stock trading from a distance, and allow someone I trust to manage my real estate interests. I also hoped to learn Ukranian and/or Russian by immersion.
I applied to several universities but couldn't find any openings to my liking. Whats more my fiance was quite concerned about whether or not the position would be stable enough to count on. Or whether, being a foreigner, I would be treated fairly.
>Noog == Geezus if your bragging about $100.hr in here and make only $200-300 a day your not in bragging territory by any means, and to mention it just seems like one more Ugly dumbass American statement. ;0
> BillG = If your adjusted to Ukraine cost of living my hats off to you for following your dream. Nikolaev from personal experience doesn't have the as much westernized cost of living adjustments for the most part as Kiev. A teaching career is not going to earn a lot of money, but as you can probably see, it will keep you afloat if you stick to Ukraine style of living (borsch and public transportation).
If you have retirement funds, investment income or alternative income that helps a lot. If not, then you might want to look out for apartments you can fix up on your own and rent them out to chumps like us. ;)
I'm considering opening up a offshore software development firm in Nikolaev/Kherson. I do this for a living in the US, but hiring a manager to trust manage the place if I'm not there is going to be the HARDEST part. Lots of corruption, laziness, incompetence to deal with though.
But since I do freelance consulting I can take off for many months at a time. I'll be back in Ukraine in November to check on things. Might stay till December, but it's so damn cold there. ;p