Job Discussion Forums

[adelonline]

I'm new to this forum, I'm a 21 year old Canadian university student from Montreal, I have a college degree and about 60 university credits, I'm really interested in travelling and teaching in Latin America in January for about 6 month (till June), I don't have any teaching experience and I'm not yet certified with a TESOL certificate , I had several questions

1. Do I absolutely need a TESOL certificate to teach, or just being fluent in English is enough?
2. If I consider getting certified, what's recommended? Just any TESOL course? Or certain places give better chances? TESOL classes in Canada look better, or in a Latin American country like Mexico or Argentina look better
3. Which country should I go to? I�m looking for hot weather, a beach, very cheap cost of living etc.....(I'm hesitating between Argentina and Mexico)
4. What places in Latin America is the cost of living the cheapest? And what places pay is the highest?( in Latin America)

I know I wrote a lot, but unfortunately I don't personally know anybody that teached in Latin America, so this forum is my only hope to find relevant information that could help me

[Cdaniels]

The usual contracts are for 1 year. Six months will limit you. After a lot of research I'm going to get a CELTA in Mexico. Unfortunately, beach + cheap don't usually go together. Costa Rica seems to be a good place to go, but you need to interview in the country: schools there don't hire from overseas, although I've heard that many take any well-dressed native-English speaker. Also, rate-of-pay and cost-of-living often go together- So if you're depending on your paycheck from teaching, low cost of living isn't generally a good indicator. There are books on this subject. Perhaps they're not always the most up to date, but This Forum is not you're only hope of finding information! OK

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[matttheboy]

argentina-there are no jobs til early march after summer holidays and the beaches here are not even close to paradise. Beaches in mexico (or at least the ones i've seen on telly) are far, far superior. You can get work no problems in argentina without a tefl cert and with only staying a few months but pay here is low and it can take a fair while to build up hours unless you're very lucky.

and that avatar is bleeding huge...

[Guy Courchesne]

Serenity in a BIG way.

Made me chuckle to recall a Seinfeld episode.

Serenity NOW!

[wanderingwonderwoman]

i would say that a tefl of some sort would help you get a job. i have known people in two countries (chile and ecuador) who have gotten away without it, though. if you are only planning on doing this for a short time in life, and dont have lots of money (tefl certs arent exactly cheap) you might want to just try your luck and come on down here. for latin america, i would say that just any old cert. would do. you might enjoy yourself more and get an early exposure to the language if you come on down and get it in l.a. though.

a previous poster commented that cheap standard of living and working in a country dont necessarily go together. i have found that cheap countries are good for travelling in, and more expensive countries make for better working environments. i have a MUCH higher standard of living here in chile than i did in ecuador. friends in argentina haven't fared so well. i would go so far as to say that chile probably has the highest pay for teachers, and private lessons are GREAT money makers here. theres also thousands of miles of coastline....but winter is really winter, and summer may not be the best time to come for teaching work (or you could get lucky!)

from the sound of it, you may be happier up near the caribbean..thats where the really warm weather and stunning beaches are... but i know next to nothing about working in columbia or venezuela (hear mexico is great but low pay)...but i do know that its a super easy field to slide into and if you just take off, it will probably work out!

good luck!

[naturegirl321]

If you have experience teaching, PM me and I might be able to help you out.

[skye]

theres been some posts on this website about EBH in honduras. they hire without TESOL, with no experience and may be looking for teachers come january.

There ARE opportunities out there for people like you, they're just not well publicized, or you'll be warned against them by people who are no longer adventurous to try out backwoods central america


come january i may advise you against it myself, but as of right now all's well. its tough and demanding with very few comforts, yes. but its also exactly what i was looking for.