Job Discussion Forums

[choco1]

Some questions of a newbie here. Bear with me.

I live in London, UK. Mid-thirties. Needing a career change and a total break from office 9-5 routine.

Education wise BSC(Politics), MA (International Relations). Speak 3 langauges fluently (Amharic, tigryihna - Ethiopian). English. And lower intermidiate Spanish.

Looking forward to doing a CELTA in 2011. And teach abroad in latin & central america. Key objective - stay 1-2 year period. Study and improve my spanish & also travel around south america to gain a deeper understanging of the region & culture.

1. Which city or country is ideal for this ? Colombia, Chile or Brazil ( not spanish speaking though )

2. Which CELTA provider in London provides good courses and value for money ?

3. Is it better to stay in one country to teach ? Or move around very few months ?

4. Again, the same question regarding Asia ? I will want to do that after south america. Or shall i do Asia first, as i have read the pay is better and the paying potential is higher.

5. Improving my spanish to higher fluency is a big motivator of south america. Again not sure where they have the best school for this in south america.

Regards

[Justin Trullinger]

Narrowing things down and getting specific is going to be a big help to your planning. My thoughts on your questions:

1. Which country or city depends on what you're looking for in a country or city. Integration? night life? Dancing? Architecture? Not Brazil, if Spanish is the interest...other than that, could be anywhere.

2. I don't know London course providers, but you might get a lower price and some inside info by doing a course in your target country.

3. With the time frame you're considering, I would recommend one or a maximum of two countries. Any more and you get into the difficult scenario of findiing short term employment.

4. Asia or Latin America? Totally personal.

5. Everyplace has schools- which is best? They all are. (Just ask them.) Learning the language is going to depend a lot more on you than the school, and most places will have schools that are good enough.


Best,
Justin

[Glenski]

[nickpellatt]

I did a Trinity course with St Giles in my hometown of Eastbourne, but they also offers courses at their branch in London. I would recommend them very highly. Great trainers, very knowledgable and patient.

[Quatermass]

I was about to leave London when I opted to do my Celta course. Rather than stay there another month, paying an extortionate rent, I did the course in Krakow, Poland, which was excellent. The course fee was the same but my other costs were much reduced.

[spanglish]

Warning about learning Spanish: teaching English full time while trying to take Spanish classes and learn on the side is very difficult. My Spanish hasn't improved much while I've taught (I studied hard before starting work and then took a 3 month break to take more classes) and I've watched my work colleagues over the last year who started with very little Spanish and they still don't speak very well. Exception: having a girlfriend/boyfriend who doesn't speak English. Personally I think Colombia is a pretty decent place to learn; formal classes are very expensive, but it's a fun place to be with lots to do (Bogota).

I'd recommend you invest a few months in taking Spanish classes in your target country before starting work, and afterward you'll have to be very disciplined if you want to continue to learn.

[naturegirl321]

If learning spanish is the main reason for going, then just enroll in a language course.