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Certification Course Recommendations - Help!
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jprimm



Joined: 03 Aug 2007
Posts: 91

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2010 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you like the beach I would go to Samara. I think it would be a lot more fun. If you want to save money take the Bridge online course. The Samara school and Maximo both have good reputations.
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orchidlife



Joined: 12 Apr 2010
Posts: 6

PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:35 am    Post subject: Re: EBC and Costa Rica Reply with quote

Thanks jprimm. I shall check it out.
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ElJuero



Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Posts: 58

PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:22 am    Post subject: SIT Reply with quote

The SIT program in Fortuna's an excellent program. Great information from an instructor who's got 2 decades worth of teaching and can put the theory into the classroom.
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davehb34



Joined: 16 Jan 2010
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 3:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I took the TEFL Certification at Maximo in January 2010 and found it to exceed my expectations. Sherry the instructor was great and I actually learned quite a bit. To me the amount of practical teaching is somewhat irrelavent and I would be worried about a school that is less expensive that is offering 20 hours practical teaching in Costa Rica. You will get plenty of practice teaching once you land a job!

On a side note I found living and working in San Jose to be unbearable. The school I worked for Politecnico had a tendency to over promise and under deliver. Most teachers ending up working every Saturday even when promised to have it off which pretty much defeats the purpose of working in Costa Rica. To me living in San Jose period defeats the purpose of being in Costa Rica. San Jose is an absolute dump and the nightlife is worse than any city I have ever lived in. Yes, you can travel on the weekends but spending 10 hours every weekend on a sweaty bus can really take it out of you.

I would recommend to travel to Costa Rica to have fun, study Spanish, or teach English but be prepared to live without many of the modern conveniences and not make any money.
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ElJuero



Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Posts: 58

PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

davehb34 wrote:
I took the TEFL Certification at Maximo in January 2010 and found it to exceed my expectations. Sherry the instructor was great and I actually learned quite a bit. To me the amount of practical teaching is somewhat irrelavent and I would be worried about a school that is less expensive that is offering 20 hours practical teaching in Costa Rica. You will get plenty of practice teaching once you land a job!

On a side note I found living and working in San Jose to be unbearable. The school I worked for Politecnico had a tendency to over promise and under deliver. Most teachers ending up working every Saturday even when promised to have it off which pretty much defeats the purpose of working in Costa Rica. To me living in San Jose period defeats the purpose of being in Costa Rica. San Jose is an absolute dump and the nightlife is worse than any city I have ever lived in. Yes, you can travel on the weekends but spending 10 hours every weekend on a sweaty bus can really take it out of you.

I would recommend to travel to Costa Rica to have fun, study Spanish, or teach English but be prepared to live without many of the modern conveniences and not make any money.


It was interesting reading your post. I had a great TESOL course but it was out in the countryside. I looked in SJ but found it oppressive on some level - none of the architecture I had hoped to see in Latin America seemed to exist. Just a crummy Latin Urban environment, I ended up leaving for countries in the north - with mixed success. Too bad as Tico's are about as friendly as you can get and they've got their head in the right place as far as democracy, educational efforts etc.. I've thought of returning now that I've got some more experience but your post reminds me of what I was afraid of.
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dantana



Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

voegelae wrote:
Hi there! Of course I don't mind you asking... yes, this is a career change. I've actually been out of college for a year, working with a really good company, but KNOW that teaching is my direction... I want to live abroad for quite awhile to really pick up on my Spanish (I know it pretty well but want to perfect it) and then sometime down the road, head back to the states to teach Spanish... unless after teaching abroad changes my decision. I've also studied in Costa Rica before, love the country, the culture, the people, and see myself staying there for quite some time.

So in short, yes it's a career change and not something I'm looking as "an escape from home" or "a fun little vacation". I'm really going to change my career path.

Good luck with all your decision making... I finally just chose one before dwendling too long (I have messages from back in early 2007 where I asked people information about teaching English abroad... it's about time I finally made the move!) Smile


Great article and I totally agree with you. I'm thinking along the same lines as you and thinking of making a career change also. Mine is a little different....I'd like to take Spanish but for different reasons. I like teaching but I will deviate off from teaching after a while but Costa Rica is really nice...was in Tamarindo a few years ago and fell in love with the place. I know I'm not about to get rich, I can be content and happy with very little unlike most people.
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tuanis mae



Joined: 20 Dec 2009
Posts: 34
Location: costa rica

PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I hadnt heard of Maximo Nivel before and have just checked out their site. oddly enough EBC's dates match up with MN's and also BridgeTEFL's dates for CR - I wonder if they are at all connected, do you know??


Yes they are all the same. Maximo pays a finder's fee every time they are sent a student through the other's websites. So if you are stressing out trying to decide between these 3 options you can relax, its all the same.
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