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American School Way- Bogota
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adamthenerd



Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2013 11:43 pm    Post subject: American School Way- Bogota Reply with quote

I worked with these guys for a while at 2 locations and they have alot of nice people working them. Lida Quiroga is one directors at the avenida chille location, Hassan Rubio is one director at the central location, and Juan Carlos is another director at the calle 45 location. Their staff are very nice though in general. They are very helpful with visas. They pay every 2 weeks on time, which is something nice you do not see in general, paying on time or every 2 weeks most employers pay monthly. I also have a few friends who worked with them for some time and all had positive experiences. The material is professional and there is no need for planning, just show up and work. A nice experience!!

Last edited by adamthenerd on Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What city are you talking about here?
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G22



Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I worked for the one off of Calle 42 and Caracas. The guy who owns the place, Mario is his name if I recall, is a nice guy and they do pay on time. They really don't pay much, less than 10.000 an hour but they pay on time, the location is easy to get to and the classes are very easy to handle and require no preparation what so ever.
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leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What kind of hours? Do they want you doing a lot of split shifts?
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adamthenerd



Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last I heard there is Mon-Fri 7.5 hr shifts, Sat 4.5 hrs, for a grand total of 42 hrs per week. This institute is on a monthly salary not hourly, however you may also get part time I believe, which is also on salary. The pay is now a little higher than it was before I think it is around 2 million pesos(roughly 1000 usd). The nice thing about this place is no cancelled classes, pay on time, no preparation of any sort required, also no variations in travel. The negative being it can get boring doing the same lessons over and over with minimal effort required, as the lessons teach themselves with audio, video assistance. It can quickly become boring as there are various points in the day where it is extremely slow you may have one, two or no students. For me when I had 4-6 students it was great as the time would pass quickly.

It is a great place to learn for newer teachers as you get the same ideas about the English language pounded into your head repeatedly. The management does not breath down your neck if no one is complaining you can kind of do whatever you want, so it is a great place to try different methods experimenting with your style. Overall a great place to learn!!


Last edited by adamthenerd on Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:31 pm; edited 3 times in total
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leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This all sounds quite good. How many days per week were you working there, or how many hours per week on average?
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DrNapalmstrike



Joined: 10 Oct 2013
Posts: 16
Location: Gainesville, Florida, USA

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow if it's really 10.000 per hour don't touch that with a stick. most teacher's I know are getting upward of 25.000 an hour, I try not to work for less than 30. if it's salaried 2 million, and they will get your visa, that isn't the worst deal I've heard, but not great for sure. but it negates the getting paid every 2 week benefit that was brought up originally. That would be attractive, to me and I bet people new in Colombia, because it would help you start to be able to pay bills faster.

Also, leretif9, do you know about the pain that finding an apartment in Bogota is. Just as a heads up, most places want a Colombian who makes like twice the amount of your rent to cosign with you, which, unless you know someone here, is basically impossible to find. That being said, I just moved to Bogota, had a buddy go to Cali and Medellin and could not find work, so moved back to Bogota. There is work that isn't too hard to find, but getting a visa can be a little tricky. All in all, I think Bogota is where you want to start in Colombia, unless you know people in Colombia, or speak fluent Spanish and have start up funds to last you until you land enough classes in another city. Also, be prepared to live for 3 months before you see any money come in.
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leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey DrNapalmStrike, thanks for that.

How much in USD would you estimate is a safe amount to tide someone over on arrival for their first five or six months in Bogota?
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G22



Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

leretif9 wrote:
Hey DrNapalmStrike, thanks for that.

How much in USD would you estimate is a safe amount to tide someone over on arrival for their first five or six months in Bogota?


I would have a minimum of $1000 a month.
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adamthenerd



Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah hour and a half classes sound amazing and they can be ok they generally pay 30 000 - 40 000 per classs(1.5 hrs)( you can find better but it is rare and this is generally speaking. is ok although those classes usually run 2 a day sometimes you can luck out and fill three a day, but that is not very common. If you could find 3 a day which is possible though you will probably have to two companies or more to do so you will have to travel for all three classes, which depending on where your classes are generally run from 40 min to 1 and a half hours(Bogata is a really big place with a lot of people and traffic. So in the long run works out to be the same amount of hours the difference being in traffic or class. If you did manage to find three classes per day that would be generaly start times of 6-7 am , 12-1,pm and 6-7 pm all for 1.5 hours. so you are waking up maybe 5-6 am and finishing in the evening. Another disadvantage to the hourly classes are they cancel quite regulary, or no show. No shows are generally great because you should get paid.

Now after all that lets say you did find 3 secure classes a day(which I have not met anyone who managed to do so without cancels and or dropped slots) it would generally work out to the same pay. These hourly classes often can be lacking materials or you need to go the office to pick them up or plan them. The students in these hourly classes in my experience were not as pleasent to deal with, often in the offices the employees are told they have to attend these classes and recieve a certain grade, which makes makes them stressed out and miserable.

So is 2 million for the same spot , no hassle everyday, classes guranteed, you can move close and walk to work everyday, no stress, pay is always on time, nice atmosphere, no preparation show up every day and have a nice easy class with decent people who are there to learn so bad? I donĀ“t know you decide. The students in this kind of language school are generally happy to be there and learn and are paying for it themselves or their parents are, there are alot of young people and students.

That is fine if that other gentlemen would not touch it with a stick, but of course make up your own mind try them both. I assure you 2 million does not sound spectacular but it is really decent for Colombia. Colombian teachers working at the same school with the same hours recieve half the pay of gringos.

The other options of course are the actuall schools I had an experience with such a highschool and you can read the blog on personal growth foundation.

Lastly there are the universities that pay more which may be similar to the highschools although you are dealing with young adults generally so that is a little nice.You can count on alot more work though , with classes being 20-40 generally and you need to plan lessons, grade papers, exams, marks etc..etc...

So shop around and decide what is best for you. Oh yeah also to answer your question about money it depends how you live and where you will live, if you are frugal and go with a 1200 usd and pound the pavement you can be working immediately and paid within a month and a half or if you end up at ASW you will start getting paid immediate. I used to live fine (but frugally off of 1.5 mill and I knew others who did that fine as well. In fact we managed generally to save a couple bucks every month.

Also you can pick up extra classes and work. Just pound the pavement in my experience compu trabajo was the best , there are always plenty of jobs there.

Good Luck


Last edited by adamthenerd on Sat Mar 01, 2014 10:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
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leretif9



Joined: 24 Mar 2013
Posts: 152

PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is extremely helpful. Thanks very much!
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dudeteacher



Joined: 27 Feb 2010
Posts: 173

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very informative indeed.

I am job hunting at the moment. How does one approach for a job. Is there one GM or do you approach the branches individually?

I went to the school's website but it's in Spanish and there was no job application info that I could find.

Thanks,
Dude
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G22



Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course you people do realize that American School Way pays around 9,000 cop an hour, right? There's a reason the place is about 90% native Colombians, who for the most part can't speak fluent English. They also make you work Saturdays if you're full time. If you are willing to work 50 hours a week for a little less than 2 mil a month, that's up to you, but you can go and work somewhere else for 25-30 mil an hour and not have to work weekends. Just sayin.
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adamthenerd



Joined: 30 Jul 2013
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can contact any of the centres individually or contact the calle 45 center Juan Carlos is the director, he oversees all the locations.

Last edited by adamthenerd on Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:01 am; edited 2 times in total
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dudeteacher



Joined: 27 Feb 2010
Posts: 173

PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

adamthenerd wrote:
You can contact any of the centres individually or contact the calle 43 center Juan Carlos is the director, he overseas all the locations.


Calle 43?

Did you mean Calle 45?

Couldn't see a Calle 43 location on their website.

Dude
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