Job Discussion Forums

[ripple]

Thinking about heading there for certification and employment. A few questions regarding the city:

The tourists, who are reputed to plague the city, are they the soccer mom, dad in polo shirt, annoying brat kids staying at a nice hotel kind of people? Or twenty-something backpackers who like a good beer and survive mostly on two minute noodles? Because if it is predominantly the latter, I would not consider the tourism as much of a problem. Granted, it takes away from the pure Peruvian culture, but it would also diversify it. I think that living there would be great because i'd get to meet backpackers from all over the world, no?

Is it hard to get certified there and find a job? It seems pretty easy in Trujillo from what I have seen. Anyone care to comment on any particular TEFL programs in Cusco?

How far is the city from the mountains? What are the physical surroundings like?

Any other comments

[naturegirl321]

Try PMing raymundo, he's there now.

[JZer]

ripple, I would say that there are a lot of backpackers and some retired people. I spend a month there in 2004. I enjoyed the city but if you want to learn Spanish it may be better to head somewhere else. You will be less tempted to speak English.

[tomteacher]

Ripple

Cusco is in the Andes mountains so it is surrounded by them. It's very easy to go hiking in mountain scenery. Although if you want to go hiking in mountains specifically, I believe that Huaraz north of Trujillo has the best reputation as far as that's concerned. It's a world class mountaineering destination.

[hedge]

Ripple,

I've just arrived in Cusco a couple of days ago and plan to begin Maximo Nivel's monthlong TEFL course tomorrow. Feel free to PM me for more information as the weeks go on.

As far as the tourists in Cusco are concerned, I have to say that I expected many more than I've seen here in the last few days. I've also found that if you want to speak Spanish here, it is definitely possible, but may require some discipline on your part. It is true that many people speak English here. I speak just a bit of Spanish but have been getting by just fine with very little English. The Cusquenos are patient with me in the least!

From here, you can easily see the mountains and it's beautiful!

Anyway, I've only been here a few days, but so far I like it more than I expected I would!

Best wishes in your research!

[schmudu519]

Hey People,
I just finished the TEFL Course in Peru through Bridge Linguatec and Maximo Nivel. Here's one person's account of the experience.

In the beginning of July I wanted to take the TEFL course somewhere in South America. I chose to go with Bridge Linguatec based out of Denver, Colorado. The only reason I chose to do so (this is going to sound REALLY stupid, but it's the truth) is their marketing. I figured..."hey if they can send out a fancy brochure, then they must be doing SOMETHING right." So that was my decision. My next choice was whether to complete the course in Cusco or Santiago. I chose Cusco simply because I like small cities versus large ones like Santiago and I wasn't disappointed.

Here's the big points I want to cover:
-TEFL Course
-Accomodations
-Living in Peru for 7 weeks

==TEFL Course
The course itself was pretty intense. I have an experience of taking multiple AP tests in high school and received my college education from UCSD. So going into the course I thought was going to be a cake walk. To some extent it was, but I was also pleasantly surprised my how much work was required in order to complete the course. I say pleasantly because at the end of the course I felt much more prepared to teach students.

I signed up through Bridge Linguatec and I know other students who signed on through Intersol. But the actual facilities were under the direction of Maximo Nivel. So there were students from all three companies, but we were all placed in the same classroom. In the beginning there were 7 students (at the end there were 6).

The course consisted of 10 classroom observations (1 hour/class) and 3 4-6 page essays. In addition to the written work the course also consisted of: classroom participation, practical teaching (10 classes in the last two weeks), and 3 mini-lessons (you have to create 30 minute lesson students for the students.)

I think the teacher of the course is one of the determining factors of the quality of the program. My teacher was Tom Kearin and I wasn't disappointed with his work. He drilled home the points he thought were important and the end of the course, we the students looked like veterans (as much as humanly possible in 4 weeks.)

In addition to the course, the people at Maximo Nivel were VERY helpful with just about every aspect about my trip. Heidi helped arrange my trips to Puno (Lake Titicaca), Machu Picchu, and the Amazon Rainforest. Martina sold phone cards to me every day. Ken (the CEO) always walked around and made sure that all of the students were happy with the course. Hady (the brujita at the cafeteria) always had a smile on her face and was very joking with all the students. In summary, the support network at Maximo Nivel helped me out a great deal with my trip and was invaluable.

==ACCOMODATIONS
Ken Jones and his wife Giovanna, the owners of Maximo Nivel, also own a shared housing complex called the Family House. I stayed there for my 7-week stay. At 15 bucks a day you get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Be forwarned that the portions aren't as large as in the states, but you do begin to eat a lot healthier. Hot water was always available as long as there were too many people taking it at the same time. Another caveat is that water was usually not available after 10pm. So if you plan to go out clubbing make sure you take a shower first. =)

The three women who are mainly there: Doris, Juanita, and Nancy were so amazing and helpful in every aspect. They cooked and cleaned and were very accomodating if I had any questions. Example: I was cold during the nights so I asked for a heater. Sometimes I asked for extra portions and they readily gave me more food.

==LIVING IN CUSCO
Cusco was a fabulous city. I took a taxi every where I went (which cost 70 cents) and there were cobblestone streets everywhere I looked. You could probably spend years here and not know all of the restaurants in every corner and and cranny. The people here are very warm and for the most part were helpful any time I asked questions. The only times in which I would run into "shady" people would be when taxi drivers try to charge me 1 sol more than the regular rate (who's gonna whine about 30 cents?!?!?)

However there are a couple of things that I didn't like about the city. First, I went to the hospital. Complete honesty it's probably my fault because I like eating at hole in the wall restaurants and so on my second to last week I had to go to the doctor with stomach pain. Turns out I had a fever, bacteria, and parasites. Yay!! The second thing that I didn't enjoy about my experience was the car pollution. There are so many taxis and I don't believe there are any smog checks, but I would get a headache when I would hang out in the main plaza for some time. But if I retreated to less populated areas or indoors then I never had a problem.


Just an FYI: I have a position in Japan through Nova. So following this trip I didn't take advantage of Maximo Nivel's offer to get assigned to their company or through their affiliates. But I know a number of individuals who were asked whether or not they would like to work for the company.

That's about it! I hope someone takes something away from this experience!

Happy Travels!

[nineisone]

Great report on your TEFL experience schmudu519!

Interesting read and should help a lot of forum readers who are inquiring about Cusco. The city is popular with tourists for a reason and your observations of it and Maximo Nivel should help get a lot of newbies interested in studying there.

[tomteacher]

Good for you Hedge. Definitely sounds like something to consider. What were the chicks like (I assume your male)?