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Cost of rent
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tuanis mae



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

PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I didn�t mean to sound condescending or aggressive to beenthere96-2005. I understand that he is trying to look out for teachers and is interested in us getting a fair salary, and I appreciate that. I wrote my last post in a hurry, , and his comment about teaching in CR not being a �real job� ticked me off. However, I do think that his views on ESL teaching are skewed because his experience is based in Asia which is a great deal different than the rest of the ESL world.
I taught in Europe for 4 years and in that time I always had a roommate as did all my friends. It was just a part of being an ESL teacher. Here it is the same. You need a roommate. But having a roommate takes the $400/month rent and brings it down to $200, which takes the rent factor down to 25% that beenthere96-2005 talked about. It�s just a fact, if you teach outside of Asia or the Middle East, you need a roommate or a significant other to share the rent.
Here are a couple other views I have about ESL wages in Costa Rica.

ESL teachers earn about the same as Costa Rican school teachers teaching in the public school system.

If they can live off this salary shouldn�t we be able to?

Should we make more than them?

If your answer to the above question is �yes� would you have the same opinion if it were a Chinese or Mexican teacher teaching their language in the States, working more or less illegally,( like we do) complaining about their wages and demanding to get paid more than American school teachers?

I agree with beenthere96-2005 , ESL teachers don�t get paid enough, but this is fact of the industry that will never ever change. and many others blame the owners. I don�t. As long as there are teachers willing to work for $8/hour that is what the owners will pay. Why wouldn�t they? If you owned a school would you pay your teachers $11/hour when all you competitors were paying 8? Easy to say yes, but I doubt it. It�s the willingness of teachers to work for this wage that determines the wages, not the owners. Teachers get what they want, a good job that lets them live in a different country and make a decent wage. They don�t care. Why would they, they re only here for a year? ESL teachers will never organize themselves in order to demand higher wages. It�s impossible and it will never ever ever change, because in order to change, it would take an organized effort by teachers many of whom are only in the country for a year or so and therefore don�t really care. Never happen.
So, based on the ESL situation that will never change, I think we have 4 options:
A) You decide that ESL is not for you and you stay at home.
B) You teach English and you go to Korea and make some money.
C) You teach English outside of Asia, but you spend futile energy worrying and complaining about teacher�s wages.
D) You teach English, accept the wages and embrace the amazing positives that ESL can give you.

I chose option D, and I have yet to regret my decision.
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just_a_mirage



Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 169
Location: ecuador

PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, most teachers in Latin America can live off their salaries. But in many cases, the reason for that is that they have typical Latin American living arrangements, in multi-generational households with several adults to split expenses. For that reason they are able to live on less than we are. If you have four adults bringing in $400 dollars apiece, housing expenses per person are much lower, than if you are a single adult shouldering all the expenses alone.
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JZer



Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh

PostPosted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

tuanis mae wrote:
I didn�t mean to sound condescending or aggressive to beenthere96-2005. I understand that he is trying to look out for teachers and is interested in us getting a fair salary, and I appreciate that. I wrote my last post in a hurry, , and his comment about teaching in CR not being a �real job� ticked me off. However, I do think that his views on ESL teaching are skewed because his experience is based in Asia which is a great deal different than the rest of the ESL world.
I taught in Europe for 4 years and in that time I always had a roommate as did all my friends. It was just a part of being an ESL teacher. Here it is the same. You need a roommate. But having a roommate takes the $400/month rent and brings it down to $200, which takes the rent factor down to 25% that beenthere96-2005 talked about. It�s just a fact, if you teach outside of Asia or the Middle East, you need a roommate or a significant other to share the rent.
Here are a couple other views I have about ESL wages in Costa Rica.

ESL teachers earn about the same as Costa Rican school teachers teaching in the public school system.

If they can live off this salary shouldn�t we be able to?

Should we make more than them?

If your answer to the above question is �yes� would you have the same opinion if it were a Chinese or Mexican teacher teaching their language in the States, working more or less illegally,( like we do) complaining about their wages and demanding to get paid more than American school teachers?

I agree with beenthere96-2005 , ESL teachers don�t get paid enough, but this is fact of the industry that will never ever change. and many others blame the owners. I don�t. As long as there are teachers willing to work for $8/hour that is what the owners will pay. Why wouldn�t they? If you owned a school would you pay your teachers $11/hour when all you competitors were paying 8? Easy to say yes, but I doubt it. It�s the willingness of teachers to work for this wage that determines the wages, not the owners. Teachers get what they want, a good job that lets them live in a different country and make a decent wage. They don�t care. Why would they, they re only here for a year? ESL teachers will never organize themselves in order to demand higher wages. It�s impossible and it will never ever ever change, because in order to change, it would take an organized effort by teachers many of whom are only in the country for a year or so and therefore don�t really care. Never happen.
So, based on the ESL situation that will never change, I think we have 4 options:
A) You decide that ESL is not for you and you stay at home.
B) You teach English and you go to Korea and make some money.
C) You teach English outside of Asia, but you spend futile energy worrying and complaining about teacher�s wages.
D) You teach English, accept the wages and embrace the amazing positives that ESL can give you.

I chose option D, and I have yet to regret my decision.


Actually there is an option E, get an online editing job to earn an extra $400 a month then you can live well in Costa Rica.
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dhsampso



Joined: 17 Jun 2009
Posts: 44
Location: Virginia

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agreed, JZer. I didn't some copy editing on the side towards the end of my stay for a Costa Rican company. If I had planned on staying longer, I would have made it a consistent thing. Helped me expand my vacation budget.
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deessell2



Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 132
Location: Under the sun

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I lived in Costa Rica I taught online. This enabled me to have a good lifestyle there.
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tuanismae19



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The fact of the matter is if you want to make over $1000 a month in Costa Rica, you are going to need a second job. Whether it is online, or at another local school, you will be working a lot of hours.

I make around $900 a month. On that, I am able to pay rent, make a monthly beach trip, go out for a few drinks on Saturday night, buy groceries, etc. You just have to decide what kind of lifestyle you want here. If you are going to live like a local, that is more than enough to support you. I know locals who make $700 a month and do just fine.

In my case, I try to be as local as I can. Yes, I could have had my own North American style apartment for $400 a month. I moved in with a family who rents a room in their house for $200 a month, including laundry, cleaning and all utilities. Moving in with a family is the way to go, in my opinion. You tend to get a lot more for a lot less, not to mention all the free Spanish practice!

I do all of my shopping at local markets and grocery stores. Automercado, Pricesmart and Walmart all have most of the same things as we have in the states, but they are incredibly expensive places to shop. I spend around $150 a month on groceries. I had friends who were spendings $300 plus at the other places.

Then of course, there's enterainment. Like everything else, you have to decide how you want to spend your money. A weekend at the beach can be done for around $100 if you stay in a hostel and stay away from the touristy bars and restaurants usually found on the main strip of the beach. That weekend can quickly turn into $250 to $300 if you stay in a hotel and drink at their bars.

The crazy thing is that there are usually super cheap places close to the expensive ones, most people just do not notice them. For instance, in Heredia centro, Boulevar charges 1.400 for one beer. Right around the corner at the Fofos seafood bar, they charge 900 colones for jarra of whatever is on tap, usually Imperial. It may not sound like a lot to tourists, but if you have 5 drinks in each place, it is a price difference of 2.500 colones.

You can be frugal and enjoy Costa Rica. You just probably will not enjoy some of the standards you are used to having at home. Living with a little less never hurt anyone from North America. [/i]
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dhsampso



Joined: 17 Jun 2009
Posts: 44
Location: Virginia

PostPosted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tuanismae19 is absolutely correct. I had a tico roommate and we shared everything. Food shopping between the two of us was maybe $30/week and we often got it lower if we went to the farmers market on Saturday mornings--I was able to pick up enough fresh produce to last 2 weeks for roughly $10-12. Plenty of ways to make your money go further.
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JZer



Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh

PostPosted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhsampso wrote:
tuanismae19 is absolutely correct. I had a tico roommate and we shared everything. Food shopping between the two of us was maybe $30/week and we often got it lower if we went to the farmers market on Saturday mornings--I was able to pick up enough fresh produce to last 2 weeks for roughly $10-12. Plenty of ways to make your money go further.


I would say teach online only or write articles for the internet. Then you can earn around $1700 US a month. I don't see any good reason to teach in Costa Rica.
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