Job Discussion Forums

[Mike from MI]

Which Latin American country presents the least amount of hassles for a foreign teacher? By hassles, I'm thinking mainly of bureaucracy, crime, xenophobia (especially anti-American sentiment), and crooked or inept employers.

I haven't been on these forums for very long, but it looks like Costa Rica might be what I am looking for. It sounds like the people are friendly and work permit requirements are not enforced.

Am I wrong about this? I don't need to make much money; I mainly want to gain ESL teaching experience and improve my Spanish. I'm looking at staying less than a year. Is there a better choice than Costa Rica?

[Prof.Gringo]

[DrNapalmstrike]

Hey Mike, I'm also from MI. Cadillac and East Lansing. Anyway, I have been looking into going to CR too. Sounds friendly, like you had mentioned. Though I hear with the high number of English speakers there, you might not get a chance to improve your Spanish as much as if you moved to a country with less English speakers, such as Colombia. I'm thinking about being in San Jose in January, that's when the jobs are in high season as far as I can tell from these boards. Haven't been there my self so I can't say for sure.

Panama also looks promising to me. Public transport, beautiful beaches, the rumor of jobs on the forum boards, etc.. Colombia is supposed to be very nice too.

[just_a_mirage]

Im also a Michigander, but have been living and teaching in Ecuador for about ten years. There are quite a few jobs in the big cities (Quito, Guayaquil) here. If you have an university degree, it is fairly easy to get a resident visa which allows you to work anywhere. Once you have the resident visa, you can get contracted, and receive the national health care, although many folks opt to supplement that. There are jobs in high schools, English institutes, universities, etc.

[Mike from MI]

Thanks for your replies. I'll do some more research.

There seem to be a lot of Michiganders on these boards. Back in the early 90s, I taught in Korea for a year, which was my first real job after college. The company had a recruiter who lived in Ypsilanti. They liked to recruit in Michigan because the dialect of educated Michiganders was the easiest to understand and the closest to what they heard in American media. The lack of jobs in our state probably gave them a decent applicant pool.