Job Discussion Forums

[OriontheGreat]

Hello Everyone,

I'm sure the answer to following question varies greatly depending on the qualifications of the teacher and the institute or school at which that teacher works, but in general what age group do those of you with a bachelor's degree a TEFL or CELTA certificate and zero to one year of teaching experience find yourselves teaching in Costa Rica?

I checked out some photos on the website for Ingles Empresarial www.ingles-empresarial.com in San Jose and it looked like most of the students there were in their late twenties to mid fifties. It also seemed that many were taking the English classes as part of a company group. Is this the norm in Costa Rica?

Regards,

Orion

[thombo]

I plan to write about this more indepth soon on my blog (http://costaricaclassroom.blogspot.com) but to give you an answer right quick, I'd say that most students are between 20 and 35. Obviously that varies a little bit, there are some teenagers, and some older students, but for the most part, they are people looking to improve their chances at finding a well paying job, or are taking english to help themselves in their current job. You said you noticed that a lot of the pictures look like students in a work setting, and that is sometimes the case. Companies will hire a language school to send teachers to the company to conduct classes on site. The reality down here is that if you really want to succeed in business or improve you salary, the best way to do it is to learn how to speak english really well. Those are your students, not, as many might expect, highschoolers or lowerschoolers.


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http://costaricaclassroom.blogspot.com

[thombo]

I want realy quick to let people know that I have recently updated may blog to include an entry on who the students are that you would likely be teaching if you were to teach ESL here in Costa Rica. As I explain in the post, you will likely be teaching young business professionals trying to learn English so they can find a better job or raise their salary. This may come as a surprise to a lot of people who might think that an English teacher would likely be teaching in a high school or something. Anyway, read more about it at Costa Rica Classroom

Oh and I am writing based strictly on my own experience. If you have different experience or just want to tell me I'm wrong, please feel free to leave comments.

Thanks,
Bruce