Hi,
I am a US expat and have been living in Lithuania since Sept. 1996. I have my own company (www.zverte.com)and work as a translator. People who do not know Lithuanian can find work as editors, esp. if they have a university degree. Jayde started that way here.

As to the language, you are much better off teaching yourself. I memorised 6000 (six thousand) words in 9 months and then took a month to adapt my pronunciation to the real thing.

Modern Lithuanian is an articial language that was created about 150-100 years ago so that all the real Lithuanian speakers could communicate with one another. As a consequence, there are few irregular forms and new words are mostly created by adding suffixes and prefixes. I'll be happy to teach you the method.

On what basis do you intend to stay here? You will need to start collecting your paperwork now and getting it legalised, i.e. getting apostilles, so the documents can be used abroad. Most documents can be obtained while over here, but proof that you are not married has to be created while you are in the States since there is no official source to generate such a document.

Arturas

Post a Reply

00abuse

Choosing an expat health insurance provider is an important decision. Get a quote from our trusted expat health insurance partner, CIGNA. With Cigna Global Health Options, you can create an international health insurance plan that's perfectly tailored for the needs of you and your family.

Learn More Get a Quote

The University of Lithuania runs regular courses, link provided http://www.lsk.flf.vu.lt/index.php/pageid/154

You can also get private lessons, at a much greater cost.

There are not many job opportunities for foreigners who do not speak Lithuuania unless your in a rare in-demand field.
Note, For those that speak the language there are lots of jobs, but pay is usually very low. However, cost of living is very much lower. However, Vilnius is much more then the rest of Lithuania.

Good Luck

Post a Reply

00abuse

Nicknock is correct that the job market for foreigners who do not speak Lithuanian is very limited. Now if you speak Russian and have construction skills... Other than that it is mostly teaching English and editing. But even with a knowledge of Lithuanian, it will be difficult getting work, esp. without a university degree. Employees are first hired through the recommendation of another employee.
There are four real options for staying: a wife, until she divorces you; a job, likewise contingent on staying employed; founding your own company, contingent on its profits, and obtaining Lithuanian citizenship based on ethnic heritage and documents proving citizenship in the first republic (interwar). Citizenship from the tsarist period will get you an opportunity to take Lithuanian citizenship only if you renounce foreign citizenship first. Currently dual citizenship is not being granted but the law is being considered in Parliament.

Cost of living is not cheap in Vilnius for housing. Sharing a flat with friends or girlfriend is the usual method for cheap accomodation. Students can stay in hostels. The farther from Vilnius, the cheaper, except the coast.
Goods like meat that can be sold abroad are also not much cheaper than elsewhere. But the basic foods like bread and grain are reasonable. The selection is better than where I lived in the States. There are also plenty of cheap clothing shops. New English books and periodicals are not cheap but used ones often are. The BBC can be picked up by most radios. My cable service, including English language programmes, is about 8 USD a month.

The problem with Lithuanian university courses is that they take too long and require your presence in Lithuania. You can also take Lithuanian language courses from the University of Chicago, perhaps even distance learning.

In order to use a language, you need an absolute minimum of 2000 words. I would say 4000 words is a better minimum target. Lithuanian grammar is mostly simplified English grammar. Hence the problem of speaking Lithuanian is forgetting to simplify and to not use figurative language, such as the post is 'delivered' or 'brought', it does not 'arrive' since it does not have legs.

Hope that clarifies a little.
Arturas

Post a Reply

00abuse

I forgot to mention wages. I think I saw that minimum wage wage was now about 700 litas (roughly 300 USD) per month, average wages are a little over 1800 litas (roughly 750 USD) per month. I forget is that was in hand or before taxes, which are high at about 33 percent for social security if a regular job and income tax of about 27 percent with a 3-7 thousand non-taxable allowance. The worst thing is that many employers force workers to work overtime. My wife usually works 50+ hours a week.

The 2 room flat (living room, bedroom, kitchen, toilet (separate), bathroom, and entrance hall, about 55 sqm) next to me near the city centre rents for 1000 litas per month. It would sell for approximately 250 thousand litas (100 thousand USD). This is triple its 1998 price. There is a question of a housing bubble but so long as flats remain tax free, serious investment alternatives do not exist, and people have large sums of money (from abroad, for example) to invest, I cannot see housing prices falling.

The real reason to come here is the people and the climate. The people are in general friendly and can make you feel right at home. So long as you are prudent, crime is minimal. Our building has suffered problems with mail theft and teenage hooliganism. Breakins are also frequent, although not so much in this building. They have broken into my basement once but I didn't keep much of value there.

The climate is wonderful compared to the places in the US where I have lived. We get about a week of stinking hot weather a year and while the winters can drop to about 20 C, it is a very dry cold and easy to tolerate. The coast doesn't get as cold but is much damper.

Public transport here is good so you don't need a car. The best employment opportunities are Vilnius and Klaipeda but once you get proper contacts in a big city, telework for things like translation is possible. Unemployment is high in the countryside making villages a dangerous place for a foreigner to settle. However a 4 room flat (living room, three bedrooms, etc, 7500 sqm) in Jurbarkas is very cheap. (I'll have to check out what the price is this weekend.)

Post a Reply

00abuse

There are 60 units (flats) in my building and another 180, an office building, a small provision shop, a bank branch, and a restaurant within a 100 yards of it. Since three of these buildings are 12 stories tall, we also have a reasonable amount of greenery. Parking is a definite problem and traffic jams so bad I have heard that the taxi drivers are so frustrated they are leaving.

Post a Reply

00abuse

Arturas did an excellent job answering your question. I would just add that if you have a background in business or are proficient in another language, you may want to check out the chambers of commerce of other countries in Vilnius. One of their members may need someone who is an English native speaker or someone with business experience in Western Europe/the U.S.

Swiss Baltic Chamber of Commerce
http://www.sbccchamber.com/index.php?lng=en&page_id=32

American Chamber of Commerce
http://www.amcham.lt

British Chamber of Commerce
http://www.bccl.lt

Also, you may want to check out Lithuanian products while you are there and consider exporting them to other parts of the world.

I taught English in Lithuania -- didn't make much money. If you want to live comfortably in Vilnius, think BUSINESS.

Good luck!
Jennifer

Post a Reply

00abuse

Ziema26 has some interesting points.

I have heard that the US embassy distributes editing jobs, but I never tried to go that path. Usually one would apply at the translation bureaus. The problem there will be the quality of the translation you will receive. Some (not all) translators think that if someone else will edit it, it means they do not have to check their work or even worry that it makes sense. For years I refused all editing in principle for that reason, esp when no Lithuanian text was availlable. Translation/editing used to pay well but I think it is falling behind now in pricing. Of course, my main client is a government institution, which does not help. Translation bureaus usually handle repetitive texts like contracts and do not worry too much about quality. What you ultimately want to do is find your own clients and a chamber of commerce might be of assistance in that matter. In the meantime, you will probably get more immediate work at a translation bureau, esp until you establish a reputation.

10 years ago, teaching jobs were easy to get. Lithuanians had the idea that if one is in the presence of a native English speaker, one will easily and automatically absorb the language. Somehow it just didn't work out that way. In order to learn a language you have to memorise lots and lots of words - at home alone. Teacher's pay here is still low but most students pay big bucks, even 40-60 litas (15-22 USD) per hour for private instruction. However they are not looking to learn the language but only to pass the national exam. I have never seen the exam so I will leave that commentary to another. The Ministry of Education had some kind of test on the internet and I was one of the first to take it. I scored about 60 percent and so did a US friend of mine but that was because the test had so many mistakes like ambiguous questions or multiple correct answers that it was impossible to do better. A friend of mine who lived here for a number of years had a part time teaching job just so he could find private students easily and some teachers make no bones of it, even giving their private students the answers in advance to all the tests and exams in their classes and the rest of the pupils have to fend for themselves.

Schools are still short of English teachers because anyone who knows the language well can find better paid employment elsewhere. My daughter's English teacher has recently retrained from being a German teacher. English is required, so she couldn't duck it for another language like we had hoped. I offered my services last year and was turned down. So I would recommend a degree as an English teacher. You will probably have more luck in a small town school but be careful how they handle your paperwork. Mine didn't register me properly because they thought I would not ever speak the language well enough to cause problems or make it to Vilnius where the people I needed to speak to work.

When I came here in 95, there were still many gaps in the import line but they have mostly been filled by now. Exports to the US are still weak; most exports go to nearby countries. There are professional organisations that will help with serious exporting such as http://www.businesslithuania.com/en/index.html . But you are probably not so connected. Of simple goods, the most evident are food (some exports, like beer, mostly Chicago and New England) and art (paintings, carvings, linen textiles, amber jewellery). I can't see a common person making enough from food exports to make a living from it but if you were to return home with craft samples, you might be able to start something in the right community. But the craftsmen will probably not speak English. We produce clothing, some of it good quality but that needs to go through professional importers.

Lithuania has little heavy industry due to the fact that under Soviet rule, heavy and sensitive industry was controlled from Moscow, the rest, like construction, locally. Therefore the authorities here made a decision that we had a 'construction shortage' that especially affected heavy industry projects. So mostly we have light industry like garments and footwear, food, arts and crafts, appliances, etc.

Good luck

Post a Reply

00abuse

One thing of note. If you have all the necessary documents and a proper basis, such as an employment contract, a visa will be issued in about a week. In order to obtain a temporary or permanent residency permit (both valid for 5 years), it will take about 4-6 months to process the application. US citizens are allowed to stay in Lithuania for 3 months out of every 6. Processing your residency permit application does not give you the right to remain in the country beyond the above limits, i.e. 3 months or the length of your visa. Failure to abide by this regulation will result in no permit being issued and your expulsion from the country.

Post a Reply

00abuse

To Arturas -
Lithuanian language was not created 100-150 years ago, but is one of the oldest languages in the world, tracing its roots back to Sanskrit. And most definitely, its grammar is not a simplified version of English. It has a very complex stucture and has absolutely nothing to do with English nor any other Anglo-Saxon languages.
Also, by the way, I would not imagine how anyone would move to Lithuania because of the climate! I love my country, but it has long winters, cold summers and lots of rain!

Post a Reply

00abuse

Hi to everyone

I am Lithuanian, from Vilnius and have read most absurd things in the replies posted to your ramunelis - question.
Regarding the language and the person who wrote that Lithuanian language was created 150 years ago - it is the most absurd nonsense I've ever heard. It is one of the oldest European language!
Actually - Lithuania has incredibly long history, so I strongly recommend that you go and read some history books.

Regarding work opportunities - it is hard for Lithuanians themselves, not to talk about the foreigners. However, you could find job in the international companies in Vilnius and other cities like Kaunas, etc.
The euro is going to be introduces in 2008, so there will be changs to visas, permissions to work, to stay, etc.
Courses - there's University of Vlinius (not Uni of Lithuania), which offers the courses. They are expensive, so probably you are better of taking some private lessons, as young Lithuanians speak English.

Regards
Milo
www.aussiefoodshop.com

Post a Reply

00abuse