I’ve now been living in Russia for almost a year, and I must say that it has been a very good experience all around. Russian people in general are very open and friendly, and all the places I’ve visited so far have been very beautiful. There are challenges of course to living here, and there is definitely a language barrier, but it hasn’t really been a problem for me so far.
I’ve been teaching for English City for several months now, and I’ve been to 3 of the off-season camps (Fall, Winter, and Spring). Every one of those camps has been a good experience. In general, the children who attend our camps are very friendly, attentive, and they have a big desire to learn the English language. Being at an English City camp is a unique experience, because there are a lot of Russian kids trying their best to speak English as much as possible. There is a mixture of ages and levels, so the level on which you get to interact with the kids varies quite a bit. By that I mean it can range from talking about sports and clothing to advanced discussions.
The English teachers’ responsibilities are quite simple. We do exercises with the kids in the morning, and then teach them English lessons in the later morning and in the afternoon. We also eat all meals with the kids. You’ll sit with the same table every day at a session of camp and get to know those kids quite well. There are also evening activities which the teachers are welcome to participate in. At night there is a “candle” time, where the lights are turned out, and all the kids pass the candle around in a circle. They share one-by-one what they enjoyed about that day, and it’s a neat time of togetherness.
The most special time of the week is at the very last night, where the children perform the play that they have been working on all week with the Russian teachers. It’s really cool to watch it after getting to know those kids all week.
I haven’t yet experienced summer camp with English City, but it’ll begin shortly, and I’m really looking forward to it! The schedule is basically the same, except that twice during the day we also take the kids swimming in the Black Sea. It’ll be a hot summer, but I’m convinced that it will also be a lot of fun, and there will be a lot more experiences to offer.

Rayan Lapere

 

English City provides services and activities in the area of supplementary education for preschoolers, school children and youth, in theatre and English.

We have been running successfully for 5 years, maintaining the image of a theatrical and educational institute which also gives children exposure to international relations. We are currently running the following projects actively:

- educational camps for children during school holidays. In the autumn, winter, and spring breaks we operate in the Leningrad region, near Saint Petersburg. In the summer we travel to Gelendzhik on the Black Sea.

- drama studios MAGIC WORLD. This is the only one theatre school in the English language for young people in St. Petersburg. Since 2010, our English language theatre studios have been run in Russian schools located near the metro stations Gor’kovskaya, Pionerskaya, and Staraya Derevnya, and also in Pushkin – a suburb of St. Petersburg.

At every location, we have professional actors who are actively performing and lecturers from the theatre academy in Saint Petersburg who teach the children, as well as native English speakers.

A few words about our educational camps:

At camp you will teach English to children aged 7 to 17 years and serve as a leader, which means you will be with the children all day. Besides classes, you will have an opportunity to do some sports and a variety of other activities the children may choose to participate in.

At camp, we expect that participating children will be able to overcome the language barrier and communicate confidently with people from other countries, learn about other cultures, and improve their conversational English. On the theatrical side, they will have a chance to reveal their creative skills and perform for their family and friends.

We are offering you a volunteer position, which is a great opportunity to experience Russian life and culture first-hand. Although the work itself is volunteer, we do pay for housing in the camp, transportation from St. Petersburg to the camp and back, and food in the camp so there will be little you need to pay for.

Living conditions in the camp in the autumn, winter, and spring breaks are as follows:

- 4-bed rooms, shared bathroom, and healthy meals 5 times per day

- comfortable classrooms, and a concert hall for 200 people

- sports grounds and equipment

- security and medical care on-call 24-hours

Living conditions differ somewhat in the summer camp: 3-bed rooms in a comfortable cottage, with a private washroom and shower, and a private beach on the Black Sea owned by the camp.

A few words about the MAGIC WORLD drama studios:

Each location of our drama studio has sessions twice per week. One session lasts 90 minutes, with 45 minutes in English class, and 45 minutes in theatrical instruction. It is possible that a school may have more than one group session per day. .

For lesson preparation, we have a fully equipped office with computers with internet access, and teaching materials at your disposal.

If you have any more questions, contact us via e-mail: english_city@mail.ru

We look forward to hearing from you.