Freelance Teacher, Vilnius, Lithuania

Our new parliament has just finished giving their oaths and a new
Prime Minister is being proposed.

The hole in the budget is horrible. The new government is going to
propose to have all taxes be 20%, including the VAT one (current VAT is 18%).
That means that freelancers who have been paying 15% tax might have to
pay more. They also want to do away with freelancer business certificates just
as the one that I have, and that’s terrible news.

And so, here I am, back from my trip to Stockholm. The weather
was generally nice, with occasional showers and strong wind. I
was wearing my fur coat so it was okay.

The hostel we stayed in was very conveniently located next to
the underground stop, and it was 4 minutes by it to the old
town. We bought Stockholm Card for free public transport and
visited a number of museums. The food wasn’t good but we
didn’t have any choice.

The prices there are something out of this world! Everything was
very expensive as for our teacher’s salary. However, the same malady
goes for Vilnius: I’ve just returned from the mall. I bought a pair of
jeans and two sweaters because I’m almost wearing rags, and I paid
the price of a one-way plane ticket (economy class). I still want
a new coat but that’s not until next fall.

Tomorrow is a public holiday due to All Saints. I willt ry to do
some lesson preparation or just head for the cinema.

Okay, so here’s the update for the past several weeks. I’m still
self-employed with a few hours at a college that I’m thinking of
asking to remove soon. I just don’t want to work -both private
and contracted- after 5 pm. I can fill in my mornings andafternoons
with private students. I have trouble forming an evening group, though.
I had some calls about in-company classes but that is not until
winter break.

I had a party with my friends and students to commemorate one year
of my practice and my 27th birthday. Not many people came because
it turned out that October is a birthday and holiday month. We had
a potluck party and I still drink the juice they brought. There’s a nasty
stain on my carpet for that matter. I received lovely presents, including
the Bible in modern day English.

Next week I’m heading for Stockholm, leaving on Monday and
returning on Thursday. I can’t keep all that excitement, I’m
about to explode! Yatta! I’ll post the photos asap.

My Italian classes are going well. I made some friends online
who live in Italy, so now I can practice more often.

I spend money on books but that’s the disease with no cure.
I still need to figure out where I can buy a dictionary of abbreviations.
My family gave me some money as a present to invest into a
Lithuanian-English dictionary, and so I did. It’s very practical.

I also had my hair cut. Now I’m one sexy teacher :DDD

My life’s flowing quietly and peacefully. I have my private students
and my college students to keep me busy. My income is getting a bit
better with a few students willing to have lessons three times a week.
That means working on Fridays but since it’s my preparation day and
I have to go to the office, I don’t mind having a few morning lessons.
My problem is I cannot say no to money at this stage of my career.

This week I have attended two teacher development seminars. One
was held by OUP and aimed at Business English. The gratis book we
got was Business Result Upper-intermediate. It contains a CD (they
must have forgotten to rip it off :D) with listenings tracks, so it’s a gem.
The other seminar was by Pearson Education and was aimed at
exam classes. The gratis book is called Premium. I need to have a
closer look at it. It’s got a CD-ROM so that’s a plus.

Using the discounts they gave during the seminar, I bought
‘Across Cultures’, a one-level book with a CD and a Teacher’s book
to supplement my lessons on different cultural topics.

I keep going to my Italian lessons. The method used is by all means
not communicative and the majority of the time is taken by L1 being
used to introduce new grammar and vocabulary. I still need to decide
if I like it or not. Also, there’re special membership tickets at the Italian
centre of culture for those who want to borrow books and watch Fridays’
films at their place. I still need to find time and go there to have more info.

The coming Friday is important because it’s a double celebration: my birthday
(on the 15th) and one year of my self-employment. I will give a pot-luck party to
my students and friends.

englishdroid, where ARE you?
http://www.englishdroid.com/node/519

I revised my rates and increased the price for individual lessons by 10 Litas.
My October timetable is crazy, I work from 9.00 to 21.00 with a lunch break
and short coffee breaks. I expect a long and barren summer plus the winter
break is never easy, so I need all the money that comes in.

I am happy to say that (after upgrading to a paid domain, too) the
number of emails/calls is very big and I cannot accommodate all students, so
I keep a waiting list. Naturally, many want to study after work, that is, 5 or 7
p.m. and that time slot is almost always taken.

The turnover is not high so far but I expect it with some students who
aren’t really putting English lessons as their priority. For example, I have an
elementary group that wants lessons once a week because the other day
is ‘good for leaving’. Talk about progress! But this time I’m getting less
ambitious and more practical-even if it’s an affair for one month, it’s
a cash affair, isn’t it?

This post refers to those students who sign up to attend an
interview, you agree about the time and the price, you even
prepare for the first lesson and then suddenly they call to cancel the
whole thing. They give a variety of reasons ranging from a business trip
to having found something cheaper. Today I had to of them.

Next time a person comes for an interview I will charge a fee. I will
deduct it from the first month’s total. I am sick and tired of people
who suck my time and effort.

Well, the weather is not communicative enough to do something else
but sit and browse the Internet, tracking down all ‘English teacher
needed’ adds in the country and boosting my ego-self with the fact
that they need me and I can say no. Bear with me, I have my reasons.

Another thing is that I signed up for Italian lessons. I will have
lessons Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7.30 pm to 9 pm. The time is
a bit late but if I can pull a group for my 5-8.30 pm slot, that
will be worth it.

There will be coming a few more people for an interview/placement test
next week. That will make me a couple of hundred litas richer, so I don’t mind.
I have only one slot free anyway, and that’s morning time. I’ve got
a few colleagues in the same business, so we share students we cannot
timetable ourselves. So many people woke up to find they need
lessons after 5 pm! This time has been booked since August, for that matter.
A rude awakening for some folks who still don’t get the importance of
private tutoring and expect to have a private tutor at their door whenever
they wish. HHAHAHHA!!!

Next, there will be a conference for business English teachers in Vilnius.
That’s on the 9th of September, a Thursday. Some people think
other people don’t have to go to work, eh? This publishing house
has been organizing their events on working days for I don’t know
how many years, that’s so embarassing. However, it’s better than
having to come on a Saturday. The point is, WHO IS GOING TO
COVER YOUR CLASSES?

Yada yada yada.

Okay, I’m still alive and kicking. That’s good news.

My private students are filling up spaces in my timetable. I hope there
will be fewer cancellations of agreements but new students will have
to pay for their interviews, that’s decided.

My college groups are a mix of something. They’re only a couple of
years my juniours so it’s tricky to establish discipline. However, my job is
to make sure the educational process goes on, so I’m not going
to worry myself over their progress, should they decide they don’t need any.

The first official week of work has almost passed. This is what I have at the
moment: 6 private students who have paid for this month. That means they will
attend, hopefully. Then, a couple of lessons at a college in their business
studies faculty for evening and distance students. I have also
received my bill for the office, bah. And a couple of cancellations of agreed
timetables, which hints at starting to charge for interviews.

An abundance of teachers have advertised online and I have left a few
comments there asking if they have tax inspection’s permits. That should scare
their adds away, I hope. I have fixed rates and I don’t want to lower them
not even for one Litas, better I’d stay at home in bed.

Now I’m trying to sort out a lesson for the evening group (one a week,
18.00-19.30, 27 people -TWENTY SEVEN!!!-, small classroom) from
Market Leader Intermediate. It’s Unit 7 for Wednesday. I also need
to make copies for their individual reading and activities folder
to be left in the library, but copies are for free for the teachers
there, so all I need to do is to pull together a nice selection on
activities on advertising management.

Lately I’ve been troubled with the idea that I don’t want and it will
really not be possible to teach for a profession for ever, so
I’d need to have another qualification, something that English
would be a plus to. I still need to work for this idea.

So far, so good. Could be better, though.