Job Discussion Forums

[karenh]

currently teaching in Paris for the past 7 years and hope to come to Italy in Sept for at least a year. A bit disheartened by what I've read but still determined! If anybody knows of any decent schools or towns I would appreciate any tips! Also if teacher in Italy is looking to'swap' for Paris then I could give them a hand!

[andrew murphy]

Karenh, I suggest you think of the place in which you want to work and then try the Italian yellow pages: http://paginegialle.virgilio.it/pg/index1.html under "scuole di lingue" and the locality you're interested in. This will bring up heaps of possibilities. As to suitability of these, this is very often subjective. Take a look at Dave's Job Information Journal under Italy and you will see that there is no shortage of disgruntalled former employees of Italian schools of English. I think you should also trust your nous after teaching for 7 years in Paris (which time incidentally will put you in good stead with an Italian employer). I'm sure you must have got to know some of the pitfalls of the trade during this time. Good Luck

[roadrunner]

I am planning on taking a ELT course in June, doing a couple of months of summer school teaching here in England, and then moving to Italy at the start of September.

My dilema is: where to go? I don't want to go to a big city, with all the problems that brings. A smaller place, with decent facilities, would do me fine.

What's the best: north, central or south? Anyone know? I guess facilities-wise, the north is best, but the south might be cheaper, although do regional variations in salary cancel out disparities in the cost of living?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[andrew murphy]

The general rule of thumb seems to be that the smaller the town the more driving around the teacher will do (for which one may or may not be given a car and a decent allowance if anything at all). The cost of accommodation in the larger and more touristy cities is higher than in the smaller centres but then again there seems to be more work in the former than in the latter. There also seems to be more work in the North than in the South or at least the North seems more popular with wannabe TEFL teachers.

[roadrunner]

Thanks Andrew.

I'm looking at 2 places in particular, Padua (near Venice) and Cozensa (in Calabria, bear the foot of Italy).

I plan to use a bicycle to get to and from school, so I guess a smaller place will be better for me. It might even be possible to walk between shcools, if I can't find sufficient work at one place.

I've been using tourist guides to find out more about these 2 places. Does anyone know anything about them? Thanks.