Job Discussion Forums

[buterbean]

Has anyone had any experience with TeachingChile.com or WorldTeach. The programs sound good but I am hesitant to pay for a "volunteer" program adn teach in a place that I could probably find a paying job. Any information will be appreciated. thanks.

ps..what the best time to look for jobs? July and February? How are jobs in Conception?

-jason

[The Great Toad]

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=40209\

same question as you... did you try it?

[dribom]

Hey, I know a few people that have completed the World Teach program and would be interested in doing it myself.

World Teach is definately a worthy program. I believe the Chile fee is under three thousand dollars (although you would expect to bring another two at least to spend) and covers most things. I lived in Chile and I have to say that for an 11 month volunteer stint this is remarkably cheap! (Subsdidized by government).

I know Dave's people are generally against volunteer positions where you loose money, but the fact is that that's what makes them volunteer! In the case of WT you're paying for long-term experience working for respectable, academically sound institutions that actually make a difference.

Really... five thousand dollars is nothing for that experience.

On the other hand, I looked into teachingchile and that program is obviously a terrible racket! Their outrageous program fee doesn't cover anything besides placement! You'll have t o pay your own airfare (which could be in the thousands). And their proposed "salary" of $550 US? That won't cover much more than rent! Again - Chile is a very expensive place.

You have to ask... why isn't this program externally funded, like other programs in Chile? Perhaps it's because the institutions being served aren't all public or reputable? When I called their office they couldn't even tell me where they were planning on placing in 2007 (that is a really bad sign).

In short... volunteer programs are awesome, and the ones that are worth doing I think are extremely affordable (Still... blows my mind that some people expect to make a profit in places like Central America!). But you have to screen carefully... there are a lot of frauds out there.

I really think the best way that you can tell if a program is doing good is how long they've been around and how consistent they are (also if they're funded by reputable agencies). A program that has served one community for ten years and has a government grant is probably a good bet. One that can't even tell you who they're serving is not!

On another note... why Chile to volunteer? It's not the most friendly place and is (again) super expensive.




On the other hand, I looked into

[erynn1105]

Why would anyone pay to volunteer teach in Chile? That is a completely ridiculous concept. If you really want to take your hard earned savings (or trust fund) and donate it in addition to your labor, I seriously recommend a different country.

[The Great Toad]

Ok below is the kind reply I got back from Bruce Thompson the founder/owner of Teach Chile... I removed my full name and my email but otherwise it is all there...




(**(&)_&*(,



Thanks for your inquiry.



The �professional career institute� may not be what you are thinking in your mind. In Chile, �universities� are actually broken into three categories:

1. university (curriculum includes liberal arts courses plus the career component)

2. professional career (no liberal arts classes, only the profession such as accounting, nursing, tourism, environmental engineering, architecture, etc.)

3. �other institute� which equates more to a trade school environment � learn how be a mechanic, etc.



We don�t work with any more with the public secondary schools as they are so under-funded they are only wanting volunteers that will teach for free.

I can understand your lack of desire to teach adults in the language institutes, but those are the jobs they pay the most, up to nearly double to that that the universities and professional career institutes pay.



Most of the jobs we find placements for are in Santiago, the country�s capital. One reason is because one-third of the country�s population is in Santiago, and also because our office is located in Santiago. However, each semester we do place some teachers in Vi�a del Mar, Valpara�so, Antofagasta, Concepci�n, Puerto Montt, and Castro Chilo�.



As for the placement fee seeming excessive relevant to what you will be earning: I wish it were not the case. Our organization is not externally-funded by the Ministry of Education, or schools, or private business.



Let me know if you have more questions.



Best regards,



Bruce Thompson

www.TeachingChile.com

U.S./Canada telephone number that routes the call to our office in Santiago, Chile: 1-720-221-3831

U.K. telephone number that routes the call to our office in Santiago, Chile +44 (0)20 8150 6981




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, June 15, 2006 3:27 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: I'd like to work as an English teacher in your school



Dear Mr. Thompson,



My Name is &*()^()*^()*&. On June 7th I concluded my second year of teaching at EPIK for the Jeju Government Office of Education. I taught at a Girls' Middle school, elementary schools, and language center for Korean Public School Teachers.



I have never married and have no children. Therefore, I'd like to continue my learning and appreciation of other countries while equally enjoying the students I teach in Chile.



I seek a job in a university or public school. I will never work in a for profit academy style business: such as a "professional career / language institute"...



_________________________________________________________

Teaching Institution� can include any one of the following:a school with students ranging from grades 5 through 12, a professional career institute with students ranging from ages 18 to 26 years, a language institute with students ranging from ages 18 to 35 years, or a university with students ranging from ages 18 to 26 years.

_________________________________________________________



.....



Are there public school jobs and university jobs available? Further, the 50 dollar fee is understandable- however, the additional sum of seems exorbitant considering the income I'll earn teaching. What cities of Chile have jobs- only the capital?



I would be happy to help with the sports and clubs of the school as well improving my very very poor Spanish. I would accept an English teaching position in the elementary or high school grades.



Sincerely,

*&%&*$&*%^

------------------------------------------------------



I think they wanted a initial fee of 50 bucks and then some huge sum around 1000.00 dollars... It would not be a big deal if they got me a job at a university or private prep school where I was making 2 grand plus a month, however from what it sounded like I'd have some boring job teaching business men business English who would be looking to get their money's worth and unhappy if the class was not worth it. That is all me in in a cynical assumption mode... maybe Bruce would get me a job teaching airline workers whose classes were paid by the airline and they would relax and try to enjoy the classes ....

I have no clue, but I would tend to agree with dribom that the job finder fee was a bit much. Still if Bruce is out there he should feel free to jump in and defend his ummm ahhh company entity.

But I have to second the person who said volunteering in Chile would be silly. I would agree to volunteer for a summer in Switzerland, Paris, Ulster Town, or Palua if they paid my ticket and give me room and board but Latin American tickets and rents aren't much to blow the wallet. Then again I often snobbishly laugh off the people who work for 500 dollars a month in China. But, a lot of it comes down to how much you want to learn the culture and language - so if you are obsessed with Spanish volunteering would profit you there. So go do the Latin Lingo and love all your students and the pay will be on the heart dribom

Then again I met some Full Bright scholar teachers in Korea who said after they were done they'd have a sweet US Embassy Job waiting for them as a result so...

[lf_aristotle69]

[Simon Ludlam]

I have just returned from Vina del Mar in Chile. I taught English at DUOC and my placement was organised by TeachingChile.

TeachingChile and WorldTeach work alongside one another. Almost all of the teachers coming through these two organisations are assigned to work for DUOC, the largest post high-school educational institution with over 35,000 students in locations throughout the country. DUOC is well-known and is part of the Universidad Catolica group. Each teacher has approximately 5 classes of 18 students which correspond to 15 hours face-to-face teaching a week. English is compulsory for almost all the students so there are approximately 150 teachers of which 11 were from TeachingChile, 18 from WorldTeach, about 10 from the British Council and the rest local.

The TeachingChile participants and the WorldTeach volunteers received a training session for 10 days in Santiago before moving to the various sites. This provides a good opportunity to meet your fellow teachers and subsequently have a contact in many of Chile�s cities.

Once on site, all recruited teachers are treated comparably to local teachers. Local teachers are paid by the hour and the wages are low.

There are differences between the WorldTeach and TeachingChile programs but basically both groups are financially in the same boat. However with just 15 hours a week teaching almost all teachers found additional work; teaching in other institutions or corporates. Local teachers did the same.

I found the TeachingChile program more flexible than WorldTeach in terms of accommodation and on-going obligations. Bruce Thompson (the TeachingChile coordinator) was efficient and helpful. He organised my placement, visa and sorted out any issues I had with DUOC during my stay. I also met Josh (the WorldTeach coordinator) on numerous occasions and he was also very much hands-on. The advantage of going through one of these organisations is the access to places like DUOC and the stamp of approval your application gets. It is difficult to get a student or work visa in Chile from abroad without an institution to sponsor you and for me this justified a good part of the fee.

On a lighter note, the TeachingChile placement allowed me to travel from Vina to Ushuaia and back through Argentina in a beaten up old Nissan. We had a great group of 10 English teachers in the Vina/Valpo area and together with our Chilean friends it seemed like one long party in those colourful bars that hang on the hills overlooking the bay of Valparaiso.

[meghangreenberg]

I also just returned from a semester teaching in Chile through TeachingChile (Hi Simon!), and I wanted to write to share what a positive experience it was for me.

As a program, TeachingChile is rock solid. Bruce Thompson--who runs the program as a volunteer-- is professional, helpful, and extremely attentive to details, in addition to being a wonderful and caring person.

I enjoyed working at DUOC because it gave me contact with 18-25 year old Chileans in a real school environment. The most rewarding part of the experience was getting to know my students in an out of the classroom. The biggest frustration for me was that my students, kind and hilarious though they were, were sometimes pretty unmotivated to learn English.

A word about finances: For anyone who does not have a lot of money saved in the bank, I think that TeachingChile is a much better set-up than World Teach. World Teach volunteers live with host families and receive a 80,000 monthly stipend in addition to room and two meals a day. TeachingChile teachers receive 300,000 pesos a month.

I survived pretty well on my 300,000 peso monthly stipend. My apartment was on the cheap side, 100,000, and I would spend less than 50,000 on food and transportation, so I would have 150,000 left over for going out, going on weekend trips, etc, and I only occasionally dipped into my savings.

Even though the World Teach teachers receive two meals a day, I think that almost all of them have ended up relying quite heavily on savings, parental support, and credit cards to pay for transportation, weekend fun and travel. Volunteering is of course a noble and wonderful thing to do, and World Teach is a great program, but World Teach participants at DUOC are in the bizarre position of volunteering for a business, in which their colleagues who are working alongside them are getting paid significantly more for doing exactly the same job.

Overall, I had a great experience in Santiago, I and recommend TeachingChile highly. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

[Worldly]

[john_n_carolina]

...i can vouch for World Teach, I was with them for 3 years in Ecuador...they got me into the Galapagos which at that time was very hard....for me, a year abroad at $3500 wasn't that bad an option. at that time, I made that much in 3 weeks....

...i was looking to test the waters of education, then come home and do a masters...instead, i stayed 7 years and never came home...

[Ai]

[john_n_carolina]

...also, WorldTeach looks good on your resume. if you went to Chile and found your own work, what would you put down?

1 yr ATEC Communications
1 yr ESL CDI Institute
1.5 yrs Linguatec Escuela

Just like the Peace Corps, with World Teach on your resume it has a much stronger and lasting impression.

And, my fellow teachers weren't all ignorant, idealistic 30 something's. 2 were from Harvard, one from Umass, and many others from Top Tier Colleges...

[Sgt Killjoy]

I am very leery of organizations where you have to pay to volunteer. It's nice to see two completely unsolicited testimonials about what a perfect program TeachingChile is. So well written, they almost read like an advertisement.

[Simon Ludlam]

I'm a little late in replying to the posts above.

I am glad the quality of our English is appreciated, it helps to have a minimum level when teaching the language to non-native speakers.

I understand the general concern about paying to be a volunteer. But Bruce Thompson has a limited number of people go through the programme, I would think it takes up a huge amount of his time and with Pesos/USD at 475, this is no golden goose. I got real value for money as it would have been very difficult to have got a comparable job without having a sponsor in Chile and dealing with Chilean immigration without letters of introduction is a slow and time consuming process.