Job Discussion Forums

[jpvanderwerf2001]

Wow, I just looked at my subject line and it's pretty lame.

Anyhow, I know this might be a bit premature, but do you think a change in regime will open more doors for EFL in Cuba?

Is anyone teaching there now? Conditions?

Cuba is on my want-to-live-in list; however, as an American, it's a tough place to put down roots, as it were.

[Guy Courchesne]

I think it will still be a long time before you see any real changes in Cuba. Castro's not dead yet. I have to imagine that if any sudden collapse came, you'd see a lot of Cubans leaving (or staying) to teach English. There are a lot of highly educated Cubans living both on the island and abroad.

[nineisone]

Yes JP, probably still premature to speculate but if I were to indulge your hypothetical, I would point you to the small, struggling ESL markets on other carribean islands. Take for example, Puerto Rico. Close to 5 mil. population, good economy(for L.A.), U.S. affiliated, and yet, few ESL opportunities. If Cuba should one day transition to some form of democratic governance, or market Leninism(see China) as many predict, it will likely face a steep climb for its economy to improve to a level where it could support a decent sized ESL market. As mentioned, the likely re-entry of its large population of ex-pats abroad, would probably decrease opportunities in almost all sectors, not just ESL.

[naturegirl321]

It'll probably take a couple of decades to see real change.