The English Teachers - RF Duncan-Goodwillie

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that I could, much to my own surprise. I was kind of intrigued by Russia. The alphabet is completely different, the language is too, but on the other hand it’s not as different as Japanese or Chinese. It’s different but the same at the same time and that intrigued me.

      I had an epiphany when I was sitting and waiting to teach in one of the rooms. They gave me this soup and I was eating it and looking across at the Russian alphabet poster on the wall and figuring it out. It was pretty much the same order of letters and I was enjoying the soup and I thought I could cope with it.

      Anyway, I finished in Moldova and went back to Britain skint, but with lots of stories and quite buoyed up by the whole thing. To cut a long story short, I did a summer school and met a guy there who was like a mentor. He was teaching in Italy. Prior to this I didn’t know the TEFL industry existed. I knew there were people teaching in China, but I didn’t realise this whole big thing existed.

      He introduced me to the idea that you could take a TEFL certificate and work abroad. He was kind of my model that this was possible. So I did my CELTA with Saxon Court in London and I looked about the job market and saw an advert for jobs in the Ukraine. I was thinking about Eastern Europe after Moldova and I applied for that and got an email asking me to come for an interview which was in Norfolk for some reason.

      I went and the gentleman was very eccentric. It turned out he was a head-hunter and wasn’t offering a particular job. He said there was a post in West Siberia and he helped me through the application process. I got the job and in 2007 I went to this oil town in West Siberia and taught there for a year and a half. It was a good introduction to Russian Russia. There was no expat community. There were no concessions to anything Western or European.

      Then I went back to Britain for a while, but there weren’t many jobs so I went for a job in Kazan for four years at a small school before moving on to where I am now.

      RFDG: I know Moscow wasn’t your first choice, but what drew you here?

      EC: I just wanted to work in Russia. I applied to St Petersburg, too. I actually didn’t really want to work in Moscow, but I’ve since come to like it here. I used to think it was too big and probably too expensive. Maybe too Westernised as well. But I’ve come to like it more. Kazan is my favourite city, but there’s more going on in Moscow.

      RFDG: Why did you decide to go into teaching in the first place?

      EC: My dad is an Art lecturer. It’s kind of in the blood since my mum is a primary school teacher – and a nurse as well – and I had an interest in my actual subject which is English literature. I was interested in conveying that. I never saw myself as an ordinary teacher. My original idea was to work in adult education or as a lecturer, but then you take what work there is and follow from there.

      *

      Elena Atlasova (EA)

      Setting the scene: The room we’re sitting in is part of a franchise’s teacher training department and is far too big for the slight figures of Lena and myself. We’ve both had our afternoon coffee and it’s obvious from the rapid-fire way we speak to each other. Lena confesses she sometimes worries about her English and hopes she will be comprehensible. Her mock nervousness and thoughtfulness as she speaks lets me know this will not be a problem at all.

      EA: I grew up here in Moscow. My mom is also a teacher, but she’s a German teacher. I’ve always wanted to do something connected to languages. My school years were really, really good. I loved school. I was not – definitely not – a star pupil, but I still loved it. I spent most of my time reading.

      After school I went to the People’s Friendship University of Russia. I did my BA in Philology and my paper was on the peculiarities of the translation from English to Russian in terms of fiction books. Then my family insisted on me doing my Masters. I really didn’t want to, mainly because I’d had enough at that point. I really wanted to start working and earning money. Then after some time, I did want to do my Masters, but I went to a different field.

      I studied Arts and Humanities. I loved it, mostly because I love education and I love knowledge, especially if it’s free and I don’t have to pay for it. But at the same time, it was quite difficult because I wanted to start working. So I did. I worked for a couple of magazines. I worked for the Russian edition of Glamour magazine and for Fashion Collection, but I didn’t really like it. It was quite boring, to tell the truth. I mean, probably for somebody it would be the goal of their life, but it wasn’t for me. So, I decided to do something else and I came to BKC and worked as an administrator for a year.

      Then I did my CELTA and I loved it so much that I haven’t been able to stop teaching ever since.

      RFDG: I know you said you always wanted to be a teacher, but what do you think are the reasons?

      EA: Well, my mom is a teacher and she loves her profession so much. She’s a university teacher and she’s always said that it’s the best profession you can possibly have because you don’t have to sit in an office. You get to work with people. I like that and I think she feels the same as I do, that our profession is really, really rewarding, because not only do you get to learn about people, you get to make friendships and acquaintances. It’s also very rewarding in terms of making people’s lives better. The other part of my family wanted me to go into medicine, but I don’t think it’s for me. I still love knowing that I’m actually doing something to make people’s lives better. So, I think that was the main reason.

      RFDG: You grew up here. Is that the only reason you decided to work specifically in Moscow?

      EA: No. Until last year I haven’t been able to really leave Moscow. I have my whole family here and even though they actually wanted me to go and study somewhere and were ready to give me the money to do it, my grandfather had cancer, so I didn’t want to go anywhere.

      Now the situation, unfortunately, has changed and I’m free to go wherever I want.

      RFDG: If you could go anywhere, where would you like to go?

      EA: I love Europe. Maybe it’s because I’m very into art. I’m specifically into European art – a boring person! Many people say, “Oh, Europe – every city, every town is absolutely no different from every other one. It’s all the same. Blah, blah, blah.” I’ve heard my friends saying that.

      But every single little town, village and city I’ve been to in Europe is so different. And I love it. I love the differences. I love the cultural differences. If you go to Asia, of course there is a bigger difference. But I still love Europe. I’d love to go to England again. I was there three times when I was in school, but I don’t really remember much. I do remember it, of course, but I’ve never really got to explore it, to experience it.

      RFDG: Does anything stop you from going there?

      EA: No, not really, apart from the financial question because it is very, very expensive. So, right now that’s why I’m trying to get the teaching scholarship. But I have a job and I think I could get a visa. Then again, you need a lot of time to actually explore the UK, so I think I can only do it in the summer.

      *

      Felipe Fülber (FF)

      Setting the scene: Like many interviewees, Felipe puts a great deal of thought into what he says. Unlike many interviewees, he often makes puns and sly asides. This takes the edge off the wisdom and thoughtfulness that comes through while we sit in somewhat uncomfortable desk chairs in one of the smaller classrooms of a teacher training centre.

      FF:

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