Certified English/Russian/Georgian Teacher specializing in IELTS, TORFL, Business & Finance
Teaches
Georgian
Native
Russian
Native
English
Speaks
Polish
Certified English/Russian/Georgian Teacher specializing in IELTS, TORFL, Business & Finance
About Me
Me as a Teacher
My lessons & teaching style
Resume
From Russian FederationLiving in Tbilisi, Georgia (09:48 UTC+04:00)
About Me
italki teacher since May 1, 2018
Interest topicBusiness & FinanceTravelSports & FitnessFilms & TV SeriesMusic
I've been passionate about linguistics since I was a kid. By a freak of fate, however, I'd chosen economics, and after taking a master's degree began my career in investment banking where I gained a solid 7-year experience as a financial advisor.
In 2018 I've done an about-face towards teaching. In total there's over 7000 lessons with around 600 students under my belt - online for ITALKI and face-to-face for BERLITZ. I believe teaching the foreign languages is my true vocation.
Given I was raised in a thoroughly musical family, my second passion is music. In my spare time, I love listening to it and playing the guitar.
Me as a Teacher
* have strong work ethic
* taught people from all around the world for 7 years with exceptional success
* speak all 3 languages without any thick regional accent
* experienced in teaching people of all ages and walks of life
* friendly, responsible, fun, punctual, and patient all the way through
My lessons & teaching style
Lessons with me are dynamic and fun, adapted to your needs and personality. In the formal class we mainly stick to a curriculum, whereas in the informal one we talk about anything of your fancy or have a spontaneous conversation.
Since June 2018, I've advised and prepared students taking the IELTS test. My expertise has been proven by their great test results. I, myself, have taken it four times in 2017-2018 (both the Academic and General modules), and most recently got the remarkable band scores (Listening 8.5 Reading 8.5 Writing 6.5 Speaking 8.0).
My teaching material
PDF file
Text Documents
Audio files
Image files
Video files
Articles and news
Quizzes
Test templates and examples
Graphs and charts
Homework Assignments
Certificates
Teacher of Russian as a Foreign Language - Moscow State University - 2019350-hour Course in Methods of TRFL
Certificate uploaded
Qualified Specialist of the Financial Market in Brokerage and Security Management - The Institute of Stock Market and Management - 2014
Certificate uploaded
Education
2019 - 2019
Other - Teaching Russian as a Foreign LanguageMoscow State University
2005 - 2010
Master's - Economics and Business ManagementRussian State University of Trade and Economics
Work Experience
2020 - 2021
Teacher of English and RussianBerlitz - Warsaw, Poland
2018 - 2020
Teacher of English, Russian and Georgianitalki HK Limited - Tbilisi, Georgia
2011 - 2018
Financial advisorCitibank - St. Petersburg, Russian FederationConsulted on financial instruments and provided individual financial planning.
Test of Russian as a Foreign Language (TORFL) Preparation Course
A1 - C2Test Preparation14 lessons completed
USD 30.00
Package with 23% off
Availability
Based on your timezone (UTC+00:00)
1,620 Reviews
All
Russian
Georgian
Evy
118 Russian lessons
Teacher’s pick
Niko and I spent an enjoyable hour talking about podcasting and regional ways of speaking/slang. I really appreciate Niko's corrections and his ability to quickly think of idiomatic ways to phrase my ideas. Thanks for an enjoyable year of teaching!
Dec 28, 2021
John
126 Russian lessons
Teacher’s pick
Niko is a great teacher who has helped me from forming bad habits in Russian. His approach is varied between conversation, grammar and vocabulary building, and he’s done a fantastic job helping me to learn the basics, while also teaching me to speak about my interests. Lessons are always fun and casual, while also incredibly helpful to anyone seriously looking to learn Russian. I can already notice enormous strides in my conversation skills, and I look forward to making more!
Oct 12, 2021
Jacob Berntsson
53 Russian lessons
Teacher’s pick
Niko is one of the best teachers out there. He has a very pedagogical approach and is great at adjusting his lessons to suit the students’ needs. The topics we have covered in class range from basic grammar to the peculiar world of contemporary Russian slang. There are simply no limits to how you can explore the Russian language and culture with Niko. He is also excellent at thinking of English equivalents to Russian expressions, making it easier to grasp some of the more complex Russian sayings and concepts. On top of all this, he is intelligent, knowledgeable and nice to talk to. I can’t recommend Niko as a teacher highly enough.
Oct 7, 2021
Iiro
115 Russian lessons
Learning Russian with Niko is fun.
He adapts to my specific needs and has a way of explaining things in a funny and memorable way that a language-learning app just can't compete with. Our conversations don't feel that much different from talking to a good friend of mine.
While the lessons have been really easy-going and fun, Niko also has great attention to detail and does not let you off easy when it makes sense. As someone from a Nordic country, my intonation can be a bit too monotonic at times, but Niko took the time to make sure my "question intonation" was correct - other teachers in the past have let me off the hook while they shouldn't have.
To top it all off, I think Niko has a great voice that I think I've started subconsciously mirroring in my life outside of speaking Russian. Who knew that I would learn Russian and get a slightly deeper voice while doing it!
All in all, I would highly recommend Niko to anyone and I will definitely get lessons from him in the future.
Dec 22, 2023
Nigel Lim
283 Russian lessons
Niko has been a big part of my Russian learning. I am thankful for his assiduousness in helping me build a strong foundation in grammar, vocabulary and speaking, on the basis of which I can proceed with confidence toward fluency.
Dec 7, 2023
Jinx
16 Russian lessons
Love my lessons with Niko, friendly, gentle with corrections and great at explaining subtle differences, adding new vocab, and all around fun to talk to