Job Discussion Forums

Mari204 · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Miami, FL

Why have I read that BridgeLinguatec has received bad press... does anyone know why? Anything about this institution I should know about? I was looking to enroll in the TEFL course in Santiago, Chile. Please respond. Thanks! Confused

mkatherine · Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 3 Location: New York

I am interested in Bridge Linguatec's TEFL course online and would then want to use their job placement program to find work in Santiago. I have taught in Latin America before at international schools but am brand new to the TEFL world. Any suggestions? Is there a particular TEFL school that is good for Latin America job placement?

3eyes · Joined: 09 Feb 2006 Posts: 5

I recently completed the Bridge TEFL course in Santiago and am now teaching at a different institute. My two cents: The course itself was worthwhile and the trainers were great. The hours of practice teaching and subsequent evaluations were especially helpful. $1,500 helpful? I dunno, but helpful nonetheless.

If you are relying on Bridge for the promised "job placement assistance," think again. From what I can tell, it goes like this: If you want an interview at Bridge and you didn't completely bomb the course, they'll give you one. They'll probably even give you a low-paying job with not very many hours at first, allowing you to barely scrape by in expensive Santiago. You will be committed to teaching in the Bridge-Ling method, which involves comically lame videos from the early 90s.

Bridge does offer work contracts to teachers so you can live legally in Chile, but most teachers do under-the-table lessons to supplement their pay anyway.

If you want help finding work elsewhere, you are on your own. The Denver headquarters and Santiago institute alike were incredibly unreceptive to my requests for help. What's worse is they acted like they were following up, but never came through with anything except a recommendation to "start knocking on doors." Thanks B-L!