Job Discussion Forums

[ChicagoCubMike]

I'm strongly considering beginning TEFLing in Lisbon, Portugal, in Spring 2005. I'm pretty familiar with the city and Portugal in general, and I speak fairly good Iberian Portuguese. However, I'll be starting out from Chicago, IL, where I'm currently an ESL instructor.

For Lisbon (or Portugal in general) TEFLers out there, are there one or two key pieces of advice or lessons you learned the hard way that you could share to help me make my mind up? I'll probably be able to rely partially on the relatives of a close friend in the Lisbon area for accomodation help and guidance, so I'll have some cunha to call upon. But I'd like to hear what local TEFLers think is (or was) the best way to go about heading to town, finding an apartment (me with cat in tow), and looking for work (including contacting schools in advance from here).

Thanks for any input!

[gtidey]

Ola o meu amigo,

Eu gostaria de ajudar tambem. Incidentally, where are you looking to live? Baixo, Alto, Arriero...?

[ChicagoCubMike]

Thanks, Tidey. Well, I'd love to live in the Bairro Alto or Rato, but my Portuguese friend thinks that's crazy because the buildings are so old (but the upshot is that an upper-story walkup apartment would be cheaper). He thinks I should consider nosing around Saldanha and the Avenidas Novas or looking somewhere west of the city, like Queluz on the Linha de Sintra, or Carcavelos or Parede on the Linha de Cascais. I like the Carcavelos/Parede idea, but shops close up awfully early out there. Either way, for me grungy is fine as long as a place isn't decrepit, and closer in is better.

And of course, Lisbon has an Ikea now, so I can have the same apartment I have here in Chicago

[gtidey]

i wouldn't rule out alto. its right dab in the middle of all the nightlife, shops, cafes and its dead pretty. my mate lives there and he raves about it. alto is the place for me. just get a flat in one of the buildings that isnt falling down. and besides, you wont be there but a year and a bit or something so why worry?

[queenkp]

Flats you should have sorted; if you want to have any sort of a life stay within the city, however. Anywhere from Saldahna to the Bairro is fine; Castello you can find some fantastic old buildings. The metro is awful after about 8pm and it's best to be able to walk everywhere.

As of now it's tough working in Lisbon as an American. Some schools hire us, but the main one (where I worked for two years) has closed. However, email me and I'll forward you a couple of contacts.

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