Job Discussion Forums

amalik99 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Colorado, US

Hello, my fiance and I are interested in teaching ESL overseas. We are 23, with college degrees in History and Anthropology/Spanish respectively. I have studied in Mexico, have good Spanish skills, He speaks intermediate Armenian and Turkish. We both have 3 years of assistant teaching (as TAs and student teachers at private schools) and tutoring experience. I currently work as the director of tutoring at a public high school and he is an ESL tutor at the same school. We are registered for CELTA in the spring. Neither of us have outstanding debts, just a student loans payments.
We are interested in teaching in Spain, Italy, Thailand, Chile or Argentina becuase since those countries fit our language interests (except Thailand, but it just seems interesting. Both of us have lived overseas before, and are fine with a lower standard of living but we do want to make sure we have enough to live on and get back to the US.
I know this is a long email, but it would be so helpful if someone could give us any suggestions/warnings/things to look for/ideas for two people in our position and with our background....hope to hear from someone!

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Spain and Italy (or at least the legal jobs there!) require EU passports.

Regarding your loans--how much does each of you need to send back every month? Even if it`s only a couple hundred dollars, it will be difficult in the places you`ve mentione. Chile and Argentina may be the most developed South American nations, but even there the salaries won`t really provide savings. I make about $700/month in Peru (you can get a few hundred more in Chile, but from what I`ve heard less in Argentina), and you can live quite comfortably on that, but you shouldn`t count on having too much left over for Western loans/expenses.

Sorry to be so negative. Good luck, really!

d

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject:

amalik99 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Colorado, US

by "outstanding debt" I meant no morgages, no credit cards, no medical bills.
How long can you defer a student loan for hardship/poverty? My loans are consolidated, I pay $140.00 a month.
We would like to teach for two years, max.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

You may want to look into teaching in Korea, Taiwan or Japan. Your debts will easily be paid. When I was single, I saved over $20,000 US in one year in Korea. Mind you the Korean won was much stronger then, but you still should be able to save over $1,000/month each.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

$140 should be manageable. Just make sure you figure out how to transfer money back home--best to get something set up before you leave! Having your loan payments automatically deducted every month is really easy to do. What may take a bit more planning is getting a bank account set up in whichever country you choose, or getting their currency deposited into your account in the US.

d

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:12 pm Post subject:

$140 sounds awfully good- you may be able to manage that from a lot of places in the world.

You can defer for economic hardship or poverty practically without limit, but past a certain point, interest continues to accrue. This is not good. If you're considering this option, check with your loan holder.

Justin