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ColomboBritanico
Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 12
Location: Bogota
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 Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:03 pm Post subject: Greetings! + Teaching opportunities? |
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My name is Alex and I have been living and teaching English In Bogota since Feb 2010. I am bilingual and hold dual British-Colombian nationality and hence have the full legal right to work in Colombia. I was born to a Colombian mother and English father and raised in south west London. I completed a BA in Sociology at Kingston university. I do not hold a teaching certificate.
I work for a language institute in the north of Bogota and currently work the morning shift Mon-Fri. There are many positives about my job but I feel the time is right to move on and develop myself as an English teacher. Earlier on in the year I wanted to quit my job and interviewed at a few agencies but they couldn't guarantee me enough hours for me to justify quitting my job.
At this point I am open to taking on some extra lessons (the money would be handy). I read that study agency (http://studyagency.com) is a good place to work for and pays well - the website doesn't seem to be working for me, I can't access the 'contact us' section. Does anyone have a contact e-mail address for them?
I would appreciate any feedback from those currently teaching in Bogota and any info on work opportunities.
Regards. |
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The Internationalist
Joined: 26 May 2012
Posts: 110
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:30 am Post subject: |
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What are your goals for Colombia? ie How long do you want to stay and what do you want to accomplish?
If you want to make ESL a career than id suggest getting a quick MA TESOL. This will open up a lot of doors for you. Esp in Universities.
Although if you are wanting to be a teacher and want to live abroad for a significant amount of time id suggest getting a real teaching license. Doesnt take long if you already have a degree and can be done online.
Plus the pay and benefits will be top notch. |
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ColomboBritanico
Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 12
Location: Bogota
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| The Internationalist wrote: |
What are your goals for Colombia? ie How long do you want to stay and what do you want to accomplish?
If you want to make ESL a career than id suggest getting a quick MA TESOL. This will open up a lot of doors for you. Esp in Universities.
Although if you are wanting to be a teacher and want to live abroad for a significant amount of time id suggest getting a real teaching license. Doesnt take long if you already have a degree and can be done online.
Plus the pay and benefits will be top notch. |
Thanks for your reply!
I will be in Colombia for at least another year, I'm looking to develop my experience through work as opposed to obtaining a certificate - I appreciate that a lot can be learned from taking a course i.e. CELTA but I'm not totally set on doing it so would only consider it if/when I am fully focused on the idea.
I teach because it's pretty much the only job I can do that gives me a half-decent salary - let me just emphasise that I do enjoy my job. If money wasn't an issue I would pursue a job related to my degree. It would have to be an entry level job where salaries average around the 800,000 pesos mark which isn't enough.
Basically I want a better paying job with the scope to learn/develop new teaching skills (I have exhausted all development opportunities in my current job). To put things into perspective, if I work all my scheduled hours I take home between 1.8 - 2 million per month (128 hours per month, 8 of which are teacher meetings) depending on the number of students I have. I was offered a job by Verve English in the north of Bogota a good few months back with a salary of around 2.5 million per month teaching something like 110 hours per month but the schedule wasn't to my liking (three classes per day, one early morning, at midday and in the evening). |
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spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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| ColomboBritanico wrote: |
| The Internationalist wrote: |
What are your goals for Colombia? ie How long do you want to stay and what do you want to accomplish?
If you want to make ESL a career than id suggest getting a quick MA TESOL. This will open up a lot of doors for you. Esp in Universities.
Although if you are wanting to be a teacher and want to live abroad for a significant amount of time id suggest getting a real teaching license. Doesnt take long if you already have a degree and can be done online.
Plus the pay and benefits will be top notch. |
Thanks for your reply!
I will be in Colombia for at least another year, I'm looking to develop my experience through work as opposed to obtaining a certificate - I appreciate that a lot can be learned from taking a course i.e. CELTA but I'm not totally set on doing it so would only consider it if/when I am fully focused on the idea.
I teach because it's pretty much the only job I can do that gives me a half-decent salary - let me just emphasise that I do enjoy my job. If money wasn't an issue I would pursue a job related to my degree. It would have to be an entry level job where salaries average around the 800,000 pesos mark which isn't enough.
Basically I want a better paying job with the scope to learn/develop new teaching skills (I have exhausted all development opportunities in my current job). To put things into perspective, if I work all my scheduled hours I take home between 1.8 - 2 million per month (128 hours per month, 8 of which are teacher meetings) depending on the number of students I have. I was offered a job by Verve English in the north of Bogota a good few months back with a salary of around 2.5 million per month teaching something like 110 hours per month but the schedule wasn't to my liking (three classes per day, one early morning, at midday and in the evening). |
You don't want to be a teacher and you don't want to invest the time/money to become a better teacher to be able to get better jobs. You didn't accept a better job than your current one because you didn't like the schedule and you see no prospects for moving up where you are. You see 0 chance of getting a decently paid position outside of teaching.
Why are you spinning your wheels in Colombia? It sounds like you'd be better off going back to the UK. |
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ColomboBritanico
Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 12
Location: Bogota
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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| spanglish wrote: |
| ColomboBritanico wrote: |
| The Internationalist wrote: |
What are your goals for Colombia? ie How long do you want to stay and what do you want to accomplish?
If you want to make ESL a career than id suggest getting a quick MA TESOL. This will open up a lot of doors for you. Esp in Universities.
Although if you are wanting to be a teacher and want to live abroad for a significant amount of time id suggest getting a real teaching license. Doesnt take long if you already have a degree and can be done online.
Plus the pay and benefits will be top notch. |
Thanks for your reply!
I will be in Colombia for at least another year, I'm looking to develop my experience through work as opposed to obtaining a certificate - I appreciate that a lot can be learned from taking a course i.e. CELTA but I'm not totally set on doing it so would only consider it if/when I am fully focused on the idea.
I teach because it's pretty much the only job I can do that gives me a half-decent salary - let me just emphasise that I do enjoy my job. If money wasn't an issue I would pursue a job related to my degree. It would have to be an entry level job where salaries average around the 800,000 pesos mark which isn't enough.
Basically I want a better paying job with the scope to learn/develop new teaching skills (I have exhausted all development opportunities in my current job). To put things into perspective, if I work all my scheduled hours I take home between 1.8 - 2 million per month (128 hours per month, 8 of which are teacher meetings) depending on the number of students I have. I was offered a job by Verve English in the north of Bogota a good few months back with a salary of around 2.5 million per month teaching something like 110 hours per month but the schedule wasn't to my liking (three classes per day, one early morning, at midday and in the evening). |
You don't want to be a teacher and you don't want to invest the time/money to become a better teacher to be able to get better jobs. You didn't accept a better job than your current one because you didn't like the schedule and you see no prospects for moving up where you are. You see 0 chance of getting a decently paid position outside of teaching.
Why are you spinning your wheels in Colombia? It sounds like you'd be better off going back to the UK. |
I'm quite happy here in Colombia thank you very much. Perhaps I came across somewhat pessimistic but that wasn't my intention - based on my experience I haven't found anything that I would consider a step up (but I AM SURE there are plenty of opportunities around). There is no room for progression in my current role - fact, that isn't to say that there aren't other opportunities elsewhere.
You are free to make judgments but you have certainly got the wrong end of the stick. |
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The Internationalist
Joined: 26 May 2012
Posts: 110
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| Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:42 am Post subject: |
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double post
Last edited by The Internationalist on Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:44 am; edited 1 time in total |
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The Internationalist
Joined: 26 May 2012
Posts: 110
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| Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:42 am Post subject: |
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So it sounds like you want to be a teacher and like Colombia.
Well, like I previously mentioned, you if want the best salaries and benefits than you need to become a real teacher.
I am not up to speed on UK based alternative certification / licensing programs but I am sure you can find one you could complete in 1 years time prob all online from any where in the world.
I am doing a US based one right now, and will be returning to Colombia upon completion. |
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ColomboBritanico
Joined: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 12
Location: Bogota
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| Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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| The Internationalist wrote: |
| So it sounds like you want to be a teacher and like Colombia.
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