Setting the scene: If I could describe Anastasia in a word it would be sharp. Everything about her is sharp. Her eyes, fashion sense, manner of speaking and her knowledge of what she speaks about. Without even speaking, I’m aware she is dedicated to her work and willing to ignore everything unrelated when it’s time to work. People who may not know her well might find it jarring, but after several months of working together I find it reassuring to speak to someone who knows what is going on.
AD: I’m from Saratov and I graduated from the Philological department at the state university there in 2013. I’m a teacher, interpreter and a manager, so I’ve a lot of different qualifications. I started working as a corporate teacher, teaching business to groups of people, maybe 15—20 adults. I didn’t teach kids or teenagers. But then I started working as a private tutor. I was teaching kids ranging from 8—13 or 14. Before moving to Moscow it was pretty much all corporate and for a while when I first moved here it was the same. But now I’m in my new job I have to teach a variety of classes… almost everything.
RFDG: Why did you choose teaching?
AD: I didn’t choose it to be honest. I started learning when I was two years old and someone told my mother that I was gifted in languages or something like that. I always had a private tutor because my mother believed I was a superstar of English. The state programme was never good enough for me and when it was time to choose my future profession I wanted to be a journalist. I found it quite attractive. I’ve always been quite creative, but my mother insisted on me entering this Philological department since it was connected with English and language. Then when I was 19 I started teaching and I liked it.
RFDG: When you say you were always above the curriculum at school, was that your parents’ opinion or was that a fact based on grades?
AD: Both.
RFDG: You didn’t feel it was the path you wanted to follow, but was it a particularly bad thing when you look back?
AD: You know, in our country we usually regard this profession as a back-up plan, not something very serious. It didn’t come to my mind when I was a child. When I was much younger, teaching English was usually associated with schools and universities. I didn’t know about the courses or corporate teaching. So, that’s why it wasn’t attractive at first, but now I’m quite happy with it.
RFDG: So, with the live experience of being a teacher it feels like a natural fit?
AD: Yeah, I feel this is my calling. I love it and my students love me, and I can see their progress. I think it was the right choice.
RFDG: Why did you choose Moscow?
AD: I’m very ambitious to be honest. Before moving here I had always dreamt of moving somewhere. Not Saratov because Saratov was never enough for me. I felt like I could do more than Saratov. There were a few attempts. At first I wanted to try St Petersburg but I was alone and didn’t feel confident enough, and then I did my CELTA and I had a boyfriend at the time.
Right after CELTA I started applying for different positions in Moscow. It wasn’t so serious, it was more like, “Well, why not? Let’s try!” I didn’t even tell anyone about it. Then I was invited for an interview. I bought a plane ticket the same day and went to Moscow, had the interview, got accepted, got hired and told my boyfriend I was going to Moscow. I wasn’t serious about it but he said, “Great. I’m coming with you.” And we went to Moscow three or four days later.
RFDG: That’s a quick change!
AD: Yeah.
RFDG: Did you feel more confident going to Moscow than St Petersburg, or after taking CELTA?
AD: Specifically after CELTA. I was thinking about St Petersburg and at that time I had a couple of friends there. Moscow seemed like something unachievable. It seemed like I wasn’t good enough to live and work there.
RFDG: Why is St Petersburg less of an achievement?
AD: I suppose it’s due to some stereotypes about the place. It’s nice and cosy. I’m a philologist so I read a lot and at university I had to read a lot and St Petersburg was like a lullaby of all these things I’d read about as a student.
RFDG: So, if St Petersburg is a lullaby, what is Moscow?
AD: Moscow is the opposite. I think it’s more my element. A lullaby was not for me and in the end that’s why I didn’t move to St Petersburg. It was just one of my ideas. It was just one possible step.
RFDG: Would you change your career?
AD: I think I would. I still find journalism quite attractive and being an English teacher I feel like I’m always on the verge of burning out. I give myself every day and I don’t feel I get enough back from it. I always give and I rarely get anything back.
RFDG: And you’d get more back as a journalist?
AD: I think so.
RFDG: Are there any comparisons to be made between being a teacher and a journalist?
AD: In my opinion they both require creativity. Being an English teacher I create things every day. Every lesson is different. And journalism is similar; you create things based on facts.
RFDG: What kind of journalism?
AD: Good question. I’ve never thought of it. Everything I think about now is my work and my students. I think only about them all the time. Journalism is just my ideal world. It would be about travelling and sharing impressions.
RFDG: Is it possible to combine the two?
AD: I think it is and I have thought about it. But in this case it seems to be I won’t be able to be 100% present at my current job and give what I have to give. I feel I have to do my current job very well and I can’t think about a few things at the same time.
RFDG: What contributes to that feeling of obligation?
AD: My background. My parents, my childhood. In my family there is always this idea that everyone must work very hard and everyone must do their job properly. I love my job. I just can’t imagine myself doing it 50—60%. And I’m a perfectionist. It’s important for me to do things well. I always say when I talk to my friends, “If you can’t do it then don’t do it. Do something else.” It’s like my motto.
RFDG: Do you think the feeling of needing to work hard is shared by other teachers in Moscow?
AD: Of course not.
RFDG: What’s the percentage?
AD: I feel there are very few people like me. To be honest, I rarely meet people like me. You see some hard-working teachers, but for me I live my work. It’s not like, “OK, this is the end of my working day I’m going home to relax.” When I’m going home my students text me and I am ready to help them. Even at night or one in the morning if it is necessary. In the morning I wake up and think about them. I don’t think about my private life. It’s different.
RFDG: Why can’t other people be that way?
AD: I’m not sure that it’s right to be honest. It has a negative impact since it can be like I always live for someone else, for my students, not for myself. At this stage of my life I think this is right. We are born to contribute something to society or the world and I’m not thinking about my life now.
RFDG: How long have you felt like this?
AD: Maybe the last four to five years. It became stronger in Moscow.
RFDG: Is it important to stay in Moscow now?
AD: No.
RFDG: So, if you could be somewhere else where would you go?
AD: Abroad. I want to travel. I want to see different places and societies.
RFDG: What about in terms of work?
AD: I’m quite unstable I’d say. It seems to me that everything is temporary. The city, my life… I know I’m not going to move anywhere else in Moscow. It’s boundless. I don’t see any borders here. I like freedom and it’s what I get here. I have thought about travelling and living somewhere for a year. I still feel that I haven’t found my place.
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Setting the scene: Daniel comes across as incredibly friendly and encouraging. He is actually from Brazil despite having a slightly North American accent. But as our conversation progresses it’s clear he is very much not American. He’s very much the professional teacher and also very much the “busy teacher” (as was I on this particular day) and our interview took place at a brisk pace before our lessons.
DSSP: I started teaching in Brazil in March 2012. It wasn’t because I wanted to be an English teacher. It just kind of happened. I wanted to go back to studying English, so I went back to the English school I was at when I was a child. They did a placement test with me and at the end of the test they said they didn’t have any courses for me, but they needed English teachers and asked if I would be interested. I agreed because I was between jobs at the time and I needed the money. I went through the process of the test and orientation, and at the end we taught lessons. They were observed and they would choose teachers from the group of candidates.
RFDG: What did you want to be originally?
DSSP: My major is in Biology and I worked a little in the field, but it just happened that I wasn’t working for a while and it was hard. In Brazil, being a biologist you either have to be a teacher or a researcher. It’s hard to make enough money and you have to choose a specific area. I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted and I started college when I was 17 and left at 21. It was a big decision then.
RFDG: Why Moscow?
DSSP: I taught in Brazil for five years without any certificates or diploma and I felt I needed to get some knowledge and theory. So, I decided to do the CELTA in Boston, in the USA, in 2014. I also started thinking about working abroad. The CELTA helps you do that. I finished CELTA and went back to Brazil. When I went back I was very enthused after that CELTA. I wanted to go abroad, but when I got back to my old job I kind of lost my enthusiasm and went back to the same old routine.
Then in 2016, again in that period of teaching English, I also stopped teaching for a while because I wasn’t sure. Then I went back again and I thought I had to make up my mind and did I want to be an English teacher and progress in this career or change? I just decided to invest in this. I thought I should use my CELTA and looked for jobs aboard. I looked for jobs in Europe but I didn’t have a European passport. I even got some interviews, but as soon as they found out I was Brazilian they said there was nothing they could do.
I also decided to work for IH. I was applying for IH schools. I saw BKC in Moscow and they provided the visa and everything went so smoothly. I thought I would give it a try, but it took six months from applying and thinking if it was the best decision.
RFDG: What influenced your decision to focus on ELT?
DSSP: I got advice from some wise people, but also I was happy with what I was doing despite some hard times. Deep down it went naturally that way. I think most important decisions should be made this way. They shouldn’t be manufactured. You need to feel it and let things flow.
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