Job Discussion Forums

[katsu]

Hi...

I was wondering whether anyone of you have taught English in Tuscany? How did you like it? Can you suggest any specific schools?

How is it in terms of pay when compared to other Italian cities?

And what is housing like in Tuscany?

Thanx so much for all of your answers

[katsu]

Wow! Is teaching in Tuscany that unpopular?

hmm...

[SueH]

Not being in Tuscany I can't help.

But it's not a city, so housing prices will vary. Pay is never significantly different from one place to another.

Moaning about no replies after only one day here will not endear you to people. So do a bit more research first about where in Tuscany you might like to go. Also you might like to reassure people that you have citizenship of an EU member state or other ways of getting a work visa, as otherwise they'll be wasting their time helping you.

[ilaria]

This forum seems to have few posters who actually live in Italy! Try googling 'expat Italy' - there are several other forums on other sites that are much more active and you may get lucky and find someone who can give you more help.

I looked into working in Florence a while back. Nothing came of it because I was applying from China with three or four months left on my contract - my guess is that unless you're on the spot, available for interviews in person, you're not going to find work in such a popular place. Anyway, here I am in Sicily now, very happy and actually putting down roots

Here are a few things I found on the internet when investigating Florence, and I hope you find them useful.

There's a good article in 'Student Traveler' magazine called 'Work in Florence'. www.studenttraveler.com/mod-Pagesetter-viewpub-tid-10002-pid-75.html Aimed at Americans who want to live and work in Florence. Much of the advice could also apply to other nationalities and to jobhunting in the rest of Italy.

The Florentine - www.theFlorentine.net Free newspaper in English with classified ads - not many TEFL vacancies when I looked, but download it (PDF) and check it out anyway.

Studentsville - www.studentsville.it/forum/forums/default.asp Forum for foreign students in Florence. Good for finding accommodation. Some posts offering work, mostly of the 'We are looking for some girls to hang out in a bar, 10 euros and a free drink' variety.

Edited to sort out those links!

[katsu]

thanx guys for both of your replies...

I know it's not a city, i'm looking to stay away from bigger cities, tourists and so on...It would make sense that rent and living is cheaper there than in bigger cities.

I'm not sure where in Tuscany I would want to live and work..It's true I haven't really done much research as I just wanted to get some pointers from teachers and others who've been there, what's it like and stuff, and perhaps get some suggestions about certain schools, apartments before I go on my hunt.
And I actually thought I would find a lot of ppl on here who have been there...

But anyways, I'm keeping my options open for now. Thanx ilaria for the links, I'll definately check them out

Cheers...

[Alfredo]

Hi Katsu,

Only just seen your message.

I lived in Florence and taught English outside of the city. From my experience and from what I heard about other schools, you can expect to receive from around E900-E1,100 a month by teaching between 22-30hrs per week.

The cost of living in Florence is obviously far higher - almost twice that - of living in a provincial town. Expect to pay between E250 a room at base up to E600. I found two nice places at around E450 per month. I also had to commute to my school, which was both a) a pain and b) more expensive.

Anyway, there are many places to find schools, and the best place to look is www.inglese.it which some other kind soul told me about on here. Go to the site and on the right hand side of the page click on 'Corsi in Italia', enter your desired citta' or province and bob's your uncle, a list of all the schools appear on screen.

I had a brilliant time in Tuscany. Florence is fantastic and in my opinion is really a big town; it certainly is not a big city like Rome or Milan. There are schools in lots of other cities, such as Lucca, Pisa or Livorno. I mostly stayed in central/northern Tuscany and didn't explore much of the south of the region, but I understand it is hillier, more rolling countryside, the classic image coming from around the hills of Siena. Siena is quite small and really nice and apparently Arezzo, also in the south, is very nice.

I'm sure you'll find a school and if you go to Tuscany I'm sure you would have the most fantastic time: great people, great food, great weather (mostly!) - in short it's bloody brilliant.

If you want any more info let me know and I may be able to help.

Good luck!

Alfredo

[katsu]

Hi Alfredo,

Thank you so much for your reply. I'll definately check out the mentioned site. It sounds like you had a wonderful experience, and I was really glad to hear that...

Thanx,
Katsu