Job Discussion Forums

[littlelauren86]

[CarolinaTHeels]

[naturegirl321]

[RJLatrans]

Wow! Forget to check the post for a couple of days and it blows up. O_o

Well, to answer a few questions and to expand on why I want to head to Latin America-

I do aim to become fluent in Spanish while there. After going over numbers, I will probably not leave for at least another year so I plan to save and prepare in every way possible, including becoming better than a kindergartener's level in Spanish while in the USA.

I am NOT looking for a Latin Lover. I mean, sure, if I meet someone that would be great! But I am just as fine continuing being my single awesome self, rockin' out and being able to go wherever I want without having to check with someone else. (Basically, I am very independent. Which would probably not make me a good lover to most Latin men anyway, if cultural differences hold true.)

I also love the writing style of many Latin American writers, and hope to find some inspiration while teaching and learning in the country I end up in. (My super-realistic dream is to eventually become a novelist. So yes, I pretty much planned to live on ramen in the US, so might as well live on rich and beans elsewhere right?)

Right now Bogota, Colombia is my top choice after research and digging into things, though Mexico City is still a option as well as Santiago, Chile. I have been reading the different newspapers of each country and city, and checking out local's blogs to get a realistic picture of what I am stepping into. I am also going to start taking salsa classes and kick boxing classes- one for the night life, the other for self-defense. (Of course, I am already paranoid and would probably not be in dangerous areas at night anyway, but I feel like I can never be too prepared!) I also don't plan to go out and enjoy the night life until I have people who I definitely trust to go out with. Like I said, paranoid.

Naturegirl- After some debate I have scratched Peru from the list, in part thanks to some of your comments I have read elsewhere. Plus, I do want to live in a city, and none of the cities in Peru struck me as places I would enjoy living in. Thanks for your input.

[RJLatrans]

Oh, and forgot to mention- I will also be getting in contact with one of my old Spanish teachers who I was a favored student of when taking his class. He's originally from Cuba, but has traveled all over LA and has taken college students to various places in LA and Spain, so I trust his opinion on things. I hope to get some good insights from him, and perhaps some contacts!

So... Planeo mucho y esperanzo mucho para el mejor! <Aaand it took me about 10 minutes to decide between por and para. And still feeling like something is horribly wrong with this sentence. Le sigh... So much work to do. Sentence structure is my biggest failing.

[naturegirl321]

[RJLatrans]

[spanglish]

Take a look through the posts in the Colombia section for a good overview of the teaching English career path in Bogota.

[MotherF]

I studied in Santiago, Chile when I was in University. If you are interested in literature and writers, that would be an excellent choice. It seemed like every 4th person was a poet. But I was moving in the circles of university students, not EFL teachers and it was the early 90s. Maybe things have changed.

[RJLatrans]

Spanglish- already doing so! There is a lot of great information there, and so far it looks like it coincides with the kind of career trajectory I want. You all on there are incredibly informative.

MotherF- I think part of the current draw to Chile is in names like Neruda and Allende, so there probably is still a large writing tradition there. Plus, Santiago is gorgeous. So I don't think much has changed!

[rbc089]

My experience of teaching in South America seems pretty typical. I usually earned about $700 a month, and had to dip into my savings a lot to enjoy a decent standard of living. However, I was teaching in Cuenca, Ecuador where opportunities are somewhat limited. There aren't many language schools there, and CEDEI seems to employ practically all the English teachers. That said, maybe if you decided to spend several years there, you could build up your connections and get a job in one of the Universities which do pay quite well. I suppose if you really love the culture in South America, it could be worth struggling for a few years in order to get a better job. Nevertheless, by the end of my year in Cuenca, I was pretty frustrated, because I knew I could be earning 2-3 times as much for the same amount of hours in Asia.

[kona]

[RJLatrans]

rbc- Thanks for the info! I do plan to try and stay for a bit, and although I want to be able to save while living comfortably-ish after a couple years, I am not a person to whom money is that much of a priority right now. Enough to survive and pay off bills for me! In a couple years I might be feeling differently, so we'll see.

Kona- Thanks for the ton of info! I found it really helpful. I'm glad to see that my three top options are places where there is a upward track, so that was a big bonus. I am definitely going to look at the possibility of rooming with someone, though I think (as I am probably going with CELTA at this point) it will depend on who I room with there while taking my course, who I get to know, and what areas attract me. And there are so many great writers from all these different countries, so my literature loving heart is a bit torn!