How it works
BRIDGE is not a site for finding a tutor. We organise the teaching ourselves: we recruit and train the teachers, form the classes, and run each course from start to finish.
The unit is a class group
One group is 8–12 students, two teachers, the same time every week, and a 10-week course. Students take a level test at the start and again at the end. Everything else in BRIDGE exists so that groups like this get formed and reach the end.
Two tracks
Russian for school, for children who are falling behind because of the language barrier. And English. Adding a third subject is a setting for us, not a new project.
Teacher and language helper
Two people are in every lesson. The teacher runs the lesson. The language helper explains the hard parts in the student's own language — Tajik, Uzbek or Kyrgyz. Finding one person who knows the subject, knows the language and can teach is almost impossible. Finding two is easy.
The class time is set around the students
We first find a time that suits the students, and only then look for a teacher who is free then. That is why our groups actually form instead of collapsing over mismatched schedules.
The lessons are already written
BRIDGE writes the curriculum: materials, lesson plan and homework. A teacher does not need to invent the lesson — only to deliver it. That is why quality does not depend on who happens to be teaching, and why any trained volunteer can pick up a group at lesson seven.
How students join
Under-18s are referred to us by a school or organisation — they know the families and hold parental consent. Adults can sign up themselves.
How teachers join
An application, a short test, a video interview, a trial lesson and BRIDGE training. Only then can someone teach. The system will not let an unapproved volunteer be added to a group — that is not a rule someone can forget, it is a block inside the software.