Job Discussion Forums

[Nilofer]

Hi,

As the header indicates, I am a non-native English speaker from Malaysia (The country south to Thailand). Anyone has any idea what are my chances of getting an English teaching job in Costa Rica?
I did my BA in Finance and I am currently pursuing a UK law degree (in my third year).
Would a TESL/TEFL certificate help?
Most of the links I have checked out refers to english teaching positions for native English speakers.
i would appreciate any help on how I could got this sorted out.

Thanks a million

[Sgt Killjoy]

Well, I can't give good advice for you, but I can give some general advice. You can probably get a job teaching English there if your English is good. As in many countries, your skin color could be more of a hangup than your lack of being a native English speaker.

I do know of a Filipino teaching in Costa Rica and he does ok.

[Nilofer]

Thanks for replying. I agree on the skin colour part. i have a couple of Costa Rican friends telling me I look like Tica and that chances are people won't really be able to tell me apart.
Under different ciscumstances that would have been a cool thing actually .

In any case, if i were to just show up in CR and try to look for a job, is there a possibility of landing a job? I have seen that MO mentioned frequently in other postings.
I do speak good English and I am hoping that could land me a job. I may still go ahead and get TESL certification online to improve my prospect

[Phil_K]

I'm in Mexico and as another latin country, I hope my experience is relevant. I have worked with a United Nations of English teachers, and among the best I know are Cuban, Swedish, Czech and Polish. In fact, in one company, the Swedish & Czech teachers got on to the starting pay scale reserved for native teachers. I don't think, if Costa Rica is like Mexico that your nationality is a problem, nor your race. What counts is your ability.