Job Discussion Forums

[Hawko79]

Hi guys,

I've been lurking on this forum for 2-3 years with the idea of teaching English abroad. This is my first post. I'm finally going to try and get the ball rolling.

I'll give you a brief background on myself before I begin. My name is Matt and I am 28 years old. I have a degree in IT and a Masters in Accounting. I have no prior teaching experience. Last year I travelled through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina and really enjoyed my time in South America.

I'm not intending to travel to South America and save any money. My goal is to experience a new culture and new lifestyle. I've been looking into Colombia and Argentina, although I am still worried about the safety issues in Colombia.

I have a few questions that I hope you can help me answer:

1. Where is the best place to work and be able to live comfortably?

2. When is the best time to go? I'd like to be gone by mid next year but am reasonably flexible.

3. Do most people work on tourist visas? Is that the best way to do it?

4. I have a friend who is interested in joining me but he has no degree. Will he still be able to find work?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help. I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way.

[naturegirl321]

Lots of your questions are subjective.
1. Where is the best place to work and be able to live comfortably?
It depends

2. When is the best time to go? I'd like to be gone by mid next year but am reasonably flexible. If you want to avoid tourists, avoid the northern hemisphere-s summer.

3. Do most people work on tourist visas? Is that the best way to do it? Some people do. It-s the eaiest, but not the best as you-=ll be taking the lower paying jobs.

4. I have a friend who is interested in joining me but he has no degree. Will he still be able to find work? If he is a native speaker, that-s possible. Out of the three jobs I-ve had in Peru, only one asked to even see my degree.

[john_n_carolina]

...the first thing i'd suggest is getting a TEFL degree. you can do it in Ecuador at www.cec-epn.edu.ec, or with Justin at EIL Quito.

with an IT degree and accounting you're gonna need some practice, tools, ideas, classroom management, grammar review etc before starting. otherwise, you'll be preparing everyday after class for 6 hours a night.

[Justin Trullinger]

Thanks for the recommendation, John.

Just to clarify terminology;

I believe that the course at the CEC is a certificate in TEFL, though I don't remember who it's accredited through.

Ours is the SIT certificate in TESOL, through the School for International Training in Vermont. (www.sit.edu)

Both are certificates, which is to say short course qualifications. Neither is a degree. (Usually takes 3-5 years to get a degree. Takes 4 to 6 weeks to get a TESOL cert.)


Best,

Justin ( [email protected] )

[john_n_carolina]

...the TEFL course offered at CEC-EPN, www.cec-epn.edu.ec is run by Juniata College of P.A.

like Justin said, these courses will give you a very good background and starting point. they're only 4-6 weeks, but very intensive. 6-8/hrs day, homework, papers, classroom teaching, seminars, etc.

[Justin Trullinger]

I only WISH our TESOL course consisted of 6 to 8 hours per day.

Participants usually spend 10 or so, but I'm usually here at least an hour before they arrive, and for 2 or more after they leave....fun, but exhausting!


Best,
Justin

[john_n_carolina]

haha i figured i'd shoot on the low side, but like you said, maybe it is more like 10 hours a day. the course used to be held in the same building where i taught, and the trainees always looked like they'd been out dancing till 4am.

[Hawko79]

Thank you for your responses, I really appreciate it.

I have no previous teaching experience, so I presume I will need some training of some sort to get me started. I live in Australia, do you recommend I take a course here or is it better to do a course in the country I end up choosing?

At the moment I'm not 100% sure of which country I want to visit, I just want to go to a place where it won't be impossible to find work. If anyone can give any advice on this that would be great.

Thanks again for your help. I'm just trying to gain a clearer understanding of what I need to do.

[naturegirl321]

Taking the course in the country you want to teach in can be good, but not always possible. You might want to do it at home, it-ll be draining, but at least you-ll know what-s going on outside of the classroom. Whereas if you went to another country, you-ll have to work on langugage, customs, you-ll want to visit places. It-s just too much.

[lozwich]

[Hawko79]

Hi again,

It's been a while but I have decided to go to Colombia, hopefully in October-November. I have not done any teaching certification yet, but now I have the following questions:

1. I was looking into the British Council of Colombia's CELTA course starting in late October. I've sent them an email but they have not responded. Is acceptance into this course fairly straightforward? Or are there additional requirements that must be met?

2. If I didn't have any teaching certification or experience, can I obtain enough work to live reasonably comfortably (ie. not have to watch my wallet every day)?

3. If I arrive in October/November, will it be extremely difficult to find work? I presume that the holiday season would have started.

Thank you again for your help, much appreciated.

[lozwich]

Hiya,

1. When did you send the email? If it was in the past week or so, don't worry, they are in the middle of a CELTA right now, so probably a bit busy. If it was ages ago, send another one, it might have got lost. You'll need to do an application task and have an interview, but that's standard for every CELTA around the world.

2. I'd say no, not in Bogota, but if you wanted to go somewhere else it might be easier.

3. I think you'll have trouble getting good work if you arrive in October. Some schools/universities start the year in August/September and others in March, so you're arriving off-hiring season. You might be able to pick up something at a private academy, but bring some cash, you might not earn a full-time wage for a while.

Where in Oz are you? There's lots of CELTA courses there too.

Cheers,
Lozwich.

[dixie]

For your friend without a degree, and for yourself, check immigration laws if you are interested in becoming legal (wherever it is that you end up). Sometimes schools don�t care what education you do(n�t) have, but the gov�t does.

[pirateinpanama]

dixie makes a good point. Governments at times won't issue a working visa or permit unless you can prove a college degree. I think this happens in Asia most often. On the other hand, some schools are so desperate (university level included) in this part of the world, they'll pretty much take "anyone."
Take Panama, for example; some schools don't give a hoot if you have a degree, certificate, or whatever. Although it's "illegal" to be teaching without a degree on the university level, it's being done. Excluding the Univ. of Panama, you'll see this in the private university sector. Many of these "professores" have fake on-line degrees. In some cases (TEFL), the students have more of an education than the teacher.

[Hawko79]

Thanks for the responses.

I need to clarify that I will be embarking on this journey by myself. My mate is not going to join me.

Lozwich, I am from Melbourne, Australia. I wanted to do the CELTA in Bogota because I thought it would give me a better change of getting a job after I completed it (eg. being able to meet contacts etc). The cost of the CELTA in Melbourne is around $2600, I am presuming it is cheaper elsewhere. I sent the email to the British Council of Colombia about a week ago, so I'll give it a few more days.

Do you think I should do the CELTA here and then leave? I can go any time.

Thanks again for your help.