Job Discussion Forums

MichelleV · Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 5

Hi everyone!!!!

I'm currently a teacher in China. My contracts going to be done soon and I'm thinking about heading to South America. I've heard that Brasil is the place to go. Does anyone know any good schools? Do most people get a job before they go, or do they look for a job once they get there? If you know anything about teaching in Brasil, or any other great places to head to in South America please let me know!!!!!
Thanks!!!!
Michelle

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Just out of curiosity, who told you that Brazil was the place to go? Based on what? If you ask any other fellow teachers where the place to be is, you'll get tons of different responses! What are you looking for in terms of location, climate, activities, salary, etc.?

You will occasionally see South American job ads posted here and on tefl.com, but for the majority of them you can just show up in person. Jobs in schools and universities will follow academic calendars, but private language institutes may hire year-round.

d

Aramas · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:04 am Post subject:

I took it to mean that Brazil tends to get the most enthusiastic recommendations from travellers (particularly male ones) rather than from teachers.

The problem with Brazil and Colombia (perhaps the two most popular 'tropical partying' SA countries) is that you can't stay there for more than 6 months of any year. If you want to teach in Brazil then basically you have to either go illegal or go away. In Colombia at least, if you jump through the right hoops and grease the right palms, you can probably get a work permit. Eventually. Brazil is one of the most expensive countries in SA, but strangely enough, even though living costs vary wildly between countries (Ecuador and Bolivia are the cheapest, Brazil, Chile and Argentina the most expensive) teaching wages seem to be similar everywhere.

In the end, perhaps the only way to find out which SA country you like best is to travel around and see for yourself.

Take some time to read the older posts on the Brazil forum. Everything should be covered in there. While you're there check out the forums for other countries. There seems to be a minor exodus of teachers to Peru at present. It appears to have a bit of everything - beaches, deserts, mountains, jungles and various archeological/mystical/cultural attractions, and while it's not the cheapest place to live in it's a lot moreso than some.

MichelleV · Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 5

Thanks for the replies!!!!

And D, whoever you are, i'm basing my statement of Brasil by what I have read in this forum.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

nineisone · Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 187

Go ahead and throw Venezuela on both the challenging and expensive lists, especially for Caracas. And Panama City which is modern, party laden, yet difficult to get that work permit.

Aramas · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject:

Now, now girls! Behave!

I probably should have posted this link: http://www.geocities.com/teachinginbrazil/

And if you have a high tolerance for unrestrained bigotry: http://www.brazzilforum.com/

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

Brazil IS the place to go.. if you have money or are traveling around. I absolutely love that country! Favorite in the world by far for traveling.

I also taught there.. but work visa wasn't possible.. there was a 6 month rule out of a 12-month period. Some teachers just don't go home, ignoring the rule. Kinda crazy, but it is a great country. Salaries are quite low.. I was a very very very poor man for 6 months teaching in Brazil.. but I loved it.

I wouldn't want to repeat the poverty/teaching part myself.. but I'd love to get back there again in a heartbeat if I could.

I worked in Sao Paulo/Rio de Jainero. But if I were to go back again, I'd personally aim for the Northeast (low salaries, but also a really low cost of living). Heard that down in the southeast (below SP/Rio) there is a higher demand for English than the northeast.. and that might equally be interesting for different reasons.

Sao Paulo pays the best and has the most demand - which is where I was struggling a lot financially.. but had a great time otherwise. There were jobs around that city though.. but the 6-month limit stress combined with running around everywhere interviewing made me lazy and just stick through with what I had than the traditional keep looking for new gigs to add like you'd do otherwise.

Jyulee · Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 81

Although my experience of working in South America as a whole is pretty limited (one country!), I am of the impression that it is better to show up and start handing out CVS, than to try to organise something in advance.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

I agree, too. When I was looking for jobs in Chile, I very foolishly disregarded all of the advice that I got from Dave's posters telling me that it was better to show up in person because one huge reason that the schools that post online do so is because everyone who's already in the country knows how horrible they are! Well, I accepted a job offer over the internet, and it was... HORRIBLE!!!

d

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Getting jobs over the internet but can be done, school, especially international schools and universities often hire over the internet.

MELEE · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:25 pm Post subject:

In general I also agree the the best jobs are the ones you get when you are already in the country. But I want to point out that there are some other reasons why schools do or don't advertise on the internet. I think Latin America is at least 5 if not 10 years behind in terms of internet use and knowledge. Iis catching up fast, but many middle aged people here in Mexico still have never used the internet or don't have an accurate idea of the scope of its uses (they think its just for teenagers to chat). So it could be that many school directors do not know how to use the internet to advertise their openings. Add to that the fact that more and more ESL job sites charge to place ads. While I totatlly understand their need-desire to do so, not only is the price prohibitive in local currancy, but they may not have the credit card required to buy the ad or just not trust in the internet transactions. Next comes the Latin tendency to be very humanistic, want to meet face to face, before hiring someone. And in the big cities, there are usually enough teachers wandering in off the street to cover their hiring needs. All of this ads up to few jobs in Latin America on the internet.

While I'm sorry for Denise's bad luck in Chile. I do want to point out that there is another reason why some schools in Latin America DO advertise in the internet. Some places, like the place where I work, are so far off the beaten track that no one, or very few people, wander in off the street to apply for jobs. In fact in the 8 and half years I've been working here, it has only happened twice. With 15 native English speaking teachers, that's not anywhere close enough to meet our demand.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Ooops, I guess my last post was too strong. I didn't mean to imply that it was always bad to apply for jobs online. It's generally how I get my jobs, and I've only been burned once. (But oooooooh, it still stings!) I generally prefer to search online because I like the security of knowing that I have something waiting for me at the other end, but with Chile in particular so many people were screaming, "Nooooo! Noooooo! There are so many jobs here!"

And because of the scarcity of online ads, as MELEE mentioned, it's hard to apply online in Latin America.

d