Job Discussion Forums

Prof.Gringo · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:07 pm Post subject:

It sure seems like a lot of people become ESL teachers because they went to college, got a degree in something pretty much useless and feel that they now deserve something better then the same service or whatever job they had while studying. You get what you ask for.

Walkerman · Joined: 02 Jan 2005 Posts: 6

..better "THAN"...

Prof.Gringo · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:04 pm Post subject:

Excuse me for living.... my life doesn't revolve around this forum. Guess I didn't take the time to run that post through spell check or proofread it. BTW did you major in English or some other useless liberal art?

PlayadelSoul · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 346 Location: Playa del Carmen

Well, we all make mistakes. However, as English teachers, we should admit them rather than turn defensive and strike out at the person who points them out. How would you feel if your students tried that approach?

Sgt Killjoy · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 438

If you got the typical loans, ie Stafford Loans, government insured, you can move those loans to a income based repayment plan. At the salary you will be earning in Mexico, you will probably be asked to pay less than $20 a month for the loans.

Contact your lender to see what they can do. If they are dragging their feet, see about a Ford Consolidation Loan that will take care of all of it.

Walkerman · Joined: 02 Jan 2005 Posts: 6

Prof. Gringo I get that you are a disproportionately angry person.

Negative people are very likely depressed.

I hope that you can find within you the humility to address your difficulties.

You can do it.

I don't like my English being corrected here either.

I was really just holding a mirror to your frightening attitude.

Rough times require self-discipline.

Do you really want the world that you are creating here?

JosephP · Joined: 13 May 2003 Posts: 445

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

Okay... my term abroad will pay me 4000 pesos per month for forty-eight hours work (twelve per week). This is in Guadalajara (well, Zapopan technically). Is that a decent salary? Oh, and I'll have lots of my own money to spend as well (as my rent alone at uni is $700 USD per month so that should save me a lot of money right there).

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Is your housing provided for in the $4000.00 pesos? If not, you will have to get another job to make ends meet. Even with rent included, this will be hard to do. The hourly wage itself is okay, it's just that you don't have enough hours. I don't understand the last sentence of your post though, so maybe I got it all wrong.

MELEE · Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:22 pm Post subject:

Jetgirly,
you're taking a semester off from university to do this right?
You normally spend US 700, in the US? on rent, right. Your term is going to be 4 months? or 6?
4 months you normally spend 700+ US for a total of 2800+ in normal living expenses that you, your parents or scholarships pay for. No you come to Mexico for your "term abroad" and will EARN 4000 pesos a month, plus have the money you would spend in the US or where ever your home country is.

That's a terrible salary--but to me it sounds like you've got a great deal. Most students PAY FOR their terms abroad, you, are getting PAID FOR your term abroad. You are coming out way ahead and will have an priceless experience you will remember for a life time.
Enjoy!

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Melee wrote:

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I am a post-degree student in the Faculty of Education, and my term abroad is my last semester before I graduate. My university sends student teachers overseas (if they want) for their last semester, but has a condition that we can only work twelve hours per week. As they have to arrange all the placements, there is really no getting around the twelve hours per week rule. They put this rule in place because in their minds, if we're still doing our coursework by correspondance, we wouldn't be able to work more than that.

So, I've been offered a spot in Guadalajara that pays 4000 pesos per month for twelve hours of teaching weekly. Nothing is included, and I would have to find my own accommodation. HOWEVER, I currently live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada. My rent alone is about $700 USD per month, and on top of that I've got all my other expenses (cable, phone, food, etc.). So, I figured my cost of living would drop dramatically for the time that I'm in Mexico, leaving me with quite a bit of extra spending money. I wouldn't need to survive off that 4000 pesos alone, but I would want to know that I wasn't being ripped off in terms of the hourly wage. It would appear that is a decent hourly wage, so I'm happy and I'm planning to accept the position.

PS - Just to add, I pay for everything myself... it's not coming from parents and we don't find out about scholarships until AFTER we pay our tuition, so we have to have enough money in case we don't get them!

GueroPaz · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Thailand or Mexico

Speaking of salaries or wages in Mexico, if I work independiente, private one-on-one as a tutor, in a big city other than DF, what's a reasonable hourly rate to demand? I know, it varies, and it depends, but I'm experienced and degreed and competent. 75 pesos per hour? My current rate in Thailand is 110 pesos.

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

It will depend where you land in Mexico. Larger centers pay more, but they also cost more to live in. It won't take long to determine the going rate in the place you land.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

In Mexico City, you can ask for anywhere between 100 and 250 pesos per hour teaching privately - maybe more if you put together groups. There are a lot of factors to consider though...travel around the city and where the class would be being the most important.

I don't agree with Samantha though, to say it's more expensive to live in the larger cities. Housing, yes, but most other costs seem to me to be cheaper in the cities than in smaller centers.