Job Discussion Forums

AmorFati · Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 33

Hey,

I had been looking at teaching kids in Japan, but it wasn't working out. They look for explosive balls of sunshine, candy, and rainbows, and I'm not silly at all. Without a TESOL, do I have any options at all for teaching English in Italy? Unlike with Japanese, I can speak decent Italian and would learn very fast.

If if I don't teach, what other types of jobs (if possible) could bring be to Italy?

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

If you are from an EU member country, you would be able to find legal work in Italy.

However, most newbies in Italy do have certification. Why not consider taking a 30-day training course? This would at least put you on par with other newbies in the region, and give you some additional tools for teaching that would be useful in practice.

Teacher in Rome · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 1286

Unless you want to teach (or tour guide), working in Italy is quite difficult if you don't have good language skills. The job market isn't buoyant at all, though some people always get lucky. I'm struggling to think of one growth area (work wise) but not coming up with anything. If you have a range of good skills (IT etc) you could probably find something, but the short-term outlook isn't very positive.

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

Judging by certain of your vocabulary you aren't British/Irish so unless you have right to work here that'll be your biggest issue. The Italian economy is very patchy (although some people do alright) but without assets or contacts it's difficult.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

If the OP is North American but speaks 'decent' Italian as he/she noted, then I'd assume that there is close family who are Italian. In this case, he/she may be eligible for Italian citizenship - which would allow legal working permission as well.

AmorFati · Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 33

You are correct in your syntax-based assumptions; I am American. I have no family in Italy, I just took two semesters of Italian at University and found it very easy to pick up, learn, and most importantly, understand other people speaking.

It looks like Italian isn't the greatest market for teaching English, however.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Definitely not if you can't work there legally.
Even if you can, the pay is not exactly lavish.

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

Your best bet would be a posting with an American company, to be honest. I did another blitz with my CV the other day, and this time managed to speak with the head of one of the local [general] training organisations. He was saying that with the state of the economy companies are even reluctant to do compulsory training at the moment: no chance with English then!

There's definitely a need for better English: one of the companies I visited does business via the internet. I took along a couple of pages of their web-site English version with _many_ corrections to illustrate the problem. The translation is probably done by the owner's nephew (or similar - or possibly Babelfish!) but I shan't hold my breath about getting any work. Tourism is important locally, with many Northern Europeans visiting yet the local web-site doesn't have an English (or German, Spanish, whatever) version.

Italy will still be here in a few years so best to make your fortune elsewhere and visit in a few years time. Smile