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[dp]

My Oregon Institute of International Education (OIIE) Experience

OIIE, a sister company of TEFL International and based out of Thailand, provides paid internships in various countries where TEFL International have training locations.

OIIE's program consists of first training at TEFL International during the initial week of arrival after which you are placed in a company where you teach their staff English and study in a chosen business area (ex. Information Technology). The hours taught and the work done in the chosen business field is to pay for housing and provide money to fuel your adventure.

The way the work week is suppose to be broken up is that you have 10 hours of English teaching and 30 hours of focusing and learning in your chosen business area.

During the time of the internship, you are to complete the PELT course materials provided by TEFL International to receive the PELT certification.

Unfortunately my experience with OIIE has not gone as smoothly as I hoped or perceived it to go from the information provided (as above).

As of right now, I'm in Costa Rica, just outside of San Jose, in San Pedro. When I first began my adventure with OIIE everything happened as outlined; I flew into San Jose, took a bus to Manuel Antonio and participated in the classes provided by TEFL International. The week of training was exceptionally good especially since I was the first PELT intern to go through the program in Costa Rica, and the only one in my class.

After my first week of training, I was told by the head of the TEFL International location that I would be going to a small town (San Joaquin de Flores) outside of San Jose to do my internship. I began my stay there in a hotel for 2 nights and was later told that I'd be moving to San Pedro. San Pedro is a suburb of San Jose which is pleasant during the day but can be dangerous at night especially if traveling the area alone. The small company wasn't an Information Technology (IT) company as I requested before arriving in Costa Rica but actually a small English school that teaches English to a bunch of companies throughout San Jose; my IT portion of the internship was modified to having me basically doing web pages by myself and not really learning anything at all from them.

Not really as outlined on the website but I continued, still optimistic that I would continue my adventure in Costa Rica and receive my PELT certificate here.

My first day of teaching was at 6:00am and went smoothly. After the class, talking with owner of the small English company, we got to talking about hours of teaching and housing. Supposedly he was under the assumption that housing was not to be included in the deal and that I would teach 10 hours a week because OIIE said that was the maximum amount.

When I left TEFL International in Manuel Antonio I was instructed to call if any problems arose. With the housing being a serious problem for me I called TEFL International in Costa Rica regarding my problem. The head told me not to worry about anything and that housing was included in my internship and that I would have to teach more hours, such as 16 hours to pay for the housing. The man under the owner of the small English company had 16 hours of teaching. The place where I was living now hosted an ex employee of the same small English company who basically did not get the hours needed to survive in Costa Rica.

With that I became skeptical and basically wanted to find out any other options that were available to me considering that the entire time after I left Manuel Antonio (the TEFL International training) had gone completely array from the outline of the website and information provided to me by OIIE.

The head of the Costa Rican TEFL International and I both emailed OIIE to find answers regarding my situation.

It has been over a week and neither of us has yet to hear from OIIE regarding my situation.

Now, I'm not the best at responding to emails immediately but with one week of pure silence from a company who basically does all their communication via email, I became a little *miffed* to say the least.

The head of the TEFL International in Costa Rica tried to comfort me by explaining that we'd figure out a way for me to attain my certificate since it was the primary reason I came to Costa Rica.

I understand how hard it is to find an internship normally, never mind in a week or two, but the head of TEFL International in Costa Rica did find me some opportunities with one catch, they were to be completely unpaid.

Now I didn't come to Costa Rica for the money but I in no way came here to spend all my savings either. For those considering Costa Rica, it can be quite expensive to live here.

With all the cards on the table and OIIE nowhere in sight I was told that the best thing I could do was to probably fly back home and fulfill the teaching requirement there in order to receive the PELT certificate. This teaching requirement seems to be a stipulation because as far as TEFL International in Costa Rica were concerned; once I completed the work given to me I would have fulfilled the requirements in order to receive the PELT certificate. I would also have to pay the remainder of the course which is $499 (total of $999 US dollars).

With my bags packed and me ready to go, I decided to at least spoil myself a little by seeing the famous Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde Cloud Forest this weekend before I fly back home next week.

If you are possibly contemplating an OIIE "PAID" internship that follows the specifics outlined on their website, hopefully my experience thus far has made you at least think twice about such an adventure.

I personally now wish I had participated in the one month intensive TEFL TESOL Course provided by TEFL International in Manuel Antonio rather then trying to do the internship provided by OIIE.

The staff at TEFL International in Costa Rica are truly the best and take care of their students not to mention Manuel Antonio has some of the most beautiful beaches that I've ever seen.

Ah well, you live and learn and see your money burn.

I'm now contemplating on doing an online TESOL certificate through another company rather than pay the larger $500 amount.

Regards,

-DP

PS. If you intend to work in Costa Rica for a long period of time, I definitely recommend working at the larger English/Spanish schools throughout Costa Rica; for job satisfaction here, there is no fair compromise.