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MA in TESL--Puerto Rico
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It looks like there has been a number of inquiries over the years regarding the MA TESL program at the InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico in San German.

Their website has a pretty good introduction to the program:
http://www.sg.inter.edu/index.php?page=m-a-in-teaching-esl

It also notes that:
Quote:
Is there anything else you would like to know that is not addressed here? If you have any additional questions about the program, contact the program coordinator, Dr. Carol Moe, at [email protected]. If you would like to communicate directly with graduate students in the program, ask the coordinator to send you the names and e-mail addresses of students. They can tell you about their own experiences teaching and learning here at the San Germán Campus of Inter American University of Puerto Rico. They can also give you advice on housing, financial aid, and other issues not presented here.


In addition, I lived and studied in San German for 3 1/2 years during the mid-1990s and would be willing to share my experience with prospective students, either via this forum or pm.
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EFL Educator



Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 2:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Puerto Rico is an ideal place to study for an MA in TESDL/English/Applied Linguistics etc...but money wise there is no money to be made here. Most Puerto Ricans are poor and living on welfare and/or low wages. Shocked
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 2:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

EFL Educator wrote:
Puerto Rico is an ideal place to study for an MA in TESDL/English/Applied Linguistics etc...but money wise there is no money to be made here. Most Puerto Ricans are poor and living on welfare and/or low wages. Shocked


Yes, in many regards, I found it to be a great place to do my MA.

When I was there, unemployment was somewhere between 12 and 30%, depending on which statistics you chose to believe. (I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw a full-page newspaper campaign ad from Governor Rosello bragging about how his administration had brought unemployment down to a mere 18%.)

It's true that wages are low, but so was the cost of living (and the cost of tuition). As an English teacher with the right qualifications, work is reasonably easy to come by, and you can do just fine if you're not looking to get rich. I taught full-time at a junior college for two years, was able to support myself and my wife just fine, and managed to pay my graduate tuition as well as the the little bit of my wife's undergraduate tuition that wasn't covered by her Pell Grant. If you're willing to teach kids, there are (or were) plenty of opportunities for full-time work in the public schools and private collegios.

While Puerto Rico is certainly not as affluent as the U.S., it's overall much better off economically that many places in Latin America.
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LifterMan



Joined: 26 Nov 2013
Posts: 28

PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have been researching schools to do an MA at and this one never came up in any of the searches. It looks pretty good, there is accreditation, and the price tag looks even better. I just wonder why there are not any reviews about this program on the internet.

It says that students in this program can teach at the university, but I imagine not everyone in the program gets to do this as there probably isn't enough English classes to go around. This is something to think about, as I would like to gain experience at the Uni level.

Do many Puerto Ricans speak English? If this is the case, I wonder what the job market is like. English is so common in the Philippines, so many schools rely on locals to fill the job. Does being a native-speaker carry as much of an advantage as it does in Asia? Is it easy for foreigners to get jobs in San German. I am also assuming that U.S. citizens don't need a work visa to get a job, so can I simply get hired and sign the dotted line and I am a legal worker right then and there?
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EFL Educator



Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town

PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Puerto Rico is America....just like Guam....yes and the local Puerto Ricans all speak English. The starting pay is minimum wage (about $7 an hour). A lot of Puerto Ricans are on welfare...EFL teachers will get paid the minimum wage. It is very difficult to live in Puerto Rico on minimum wage as everything is expensive just like in the states. Go there to study and get an MA TESOL degree and you might get lucky to teach part-time.Did you ever wonder why there are so many Puerto Ricans in the US..especially in New York City. It is because they are sending money home to support their families in Puerto Rico. Good luck!
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lifterman,

I will briefly answer your questions based on my experience at InterAmerican University (IAU) in the mid-1990s. If you're seriously considering the program, however, I would strongly encourage you to contact Dr. Carol Moe, the program director, (see her contact info in my post above) and ask her to put you in touch with some current students from the U.S.

Quote:
I have been researching schools to do an MA at and this one never came up in any of the searches.


I've never seen a review of the school online either. I found out about IAU through the old print version of Petersen's Guide to Graduate School and, interestingly, most of my U.S. classmates did too. About half of the students in the graduate program were Puerto Rican students so they knew about the program locally.

Quote:
. . . and the price tag looks even better.


The tuition is low. The cost of living in Puerto Rico is low. But wages are also low. So unless you're paying your tuition out of savings (which some of my U.S. classmates did), you'll probably need to take out some student loans to cover some of your expenses. (The plus side is that, since expenses are low, your loans will be smaller than if you went to a school on the U.S. mainland.)

Quote:
It says that students in this program can teach at the university, but I imagine not everyone in the program gets to do this as there probably isn't enough English classes to go around. This is something to think about, as I would like to gain experience at the Uni level.


This was one of the main things that attracted me to IAU and that was also true for many of my U.S.-classmates. Most of my Puerto Rican classmates had full-time teaching jobs at public or private schools in the area and completed the program on a part-time basis.

I was able to teach three undergraduate classes (nine-credits) for my first three semesters in the program (after that, I got a full-time job at a local junior college while completing my studies which paid much better). The pay was low--$800 per class (and adjuncts with MAs were paid $1200 for teaching the same classes). While the pay would most certainly be much higher now, I'm sure it's still low in 2014 dollars.

I've heard that enrollment has increased a bit since I was there, and that it is now harder to get classes to teach than it once was. I believe everybody gets to teach who wants to teach, but it may just be one or two class sections per semester instead of three. I also think you have to go through a semester of teacher training before you're allowed to teach now, which would actually have been nice to have had that program when I was there.

Quote:
Do many Puerto Ricans speak English?


English is a required subject from grades K-12, but it's amazing how little English many students actually learn. You will, of course, run into a number of Puerto Ricans who speak fluent English because they (1) grew up in the States, (2) had good private schooling, or (3) served in the U.S. military. But, for the most part, those are not the folks you'll have in your classes at IAU.

Quote:
If this is the case, I wonder what the job market is like. English is so common in the Philippines, so many schools rely on locals to fill the job.


There are teaching jobs available for qualified native-English speakers, mostly in K-12 education. In spite of the large number of qualified Puerto Rican English teachers, there are still more jobs than teachers.

Quote:
Does being a native-speaker carry as much of an advantage as it does in Asia?


Not really. There are plenty of Puerto Ricans who are fully-fluent in English and have the credentials to teach it. However, some employers will give preference to American teachers. The director of the junior college where I worked had a bias in favor of American English instructors which allowed me to land a full-time teaching job that could just as easily have gone to a qualified Puerto Rican. Not all employers are like that though. I just got lucky.

Quote:
Is it easy for foreigners to get jobs in San German.


Outside of English teaching, no! See my comments above on unemployment.

Quote:
I am also assuming that U.S. citizens don't need a work visa to get a job, so can I simply get hired and sign the dotted line and I am a legal worker right then and there?


For the most part, yes. In addition to your SS# and proof of U.S.-citizenship, you will need a health certificate and police report, both of which are done in Puerto Rico and take a few weeks to process. But, yes, once you have those extra documents in hand, you're good to go.

I could say a whole lot more, but this should give you some basic answers to your initial questions. Feel free to ask any followup questions you might have.
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LifterMan



Joined: 26 Nov 2013
Posts: 28

PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

esl_prof wrote:


I could say a whole lot more, but this should give you some basic answers to your initial questions. Feel free to ask any followup questions you might have.



Thanks for the info esl_prof. I contacted the school and was informed the compensation for student teaching is $800/class. So they are still paying the same amount that they were paying back in the 90's (LOL).

The thing that really has me worried is the low pay and weak job market. I would be coming over with my own savings and I don't want to find myself in a situation where I have to leave halfway through the program due to financial reasons. I don't want to take out a loan, I want to leave debt free.

You said there aren't many jobs for foreigners outside of teaching English however, if I can be hired immediately like a local, then wouldn't I be able to get bottom level jobs like at fast food restaurants or mall security? Or is there a rule where the locals must get hired before U.S. citizens?

How intensive was this program? I plan on teaching (15-20 hours) while going to grad school full-time, would this be too much? Can you also tell me about the benefits/networking of attending here? I would like to eventually play ball with the big boys in the middle east and this looks like it would help me land those jobs.
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
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Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LifterMan wrote:
Thanks for the info esl_prof. I contacted the school and was informed the compensation for student teaching is $800/class. So they are still paying the same amount that they were paying back in the 90's (LOL).


Ugghhh!!! Why does that not surprise me?

Quote:
The thing that really has me worried is the low pay and weak job market. I would be coming over with my own savings and I don't want to find myself in a situation where I have to leave halfway through the program due to financial reasons. I don't want to take out a loan, I want to leave debt free.


That is a very legitimate concern. Jobs can be found but they require (1) networking (which means you need to be physically present in Puerto Rico), (2) transportation (you'll need a car for most jobs, the publicos will not be reliable for certain locations and times of day), and (3) a working knowledge of Spanish to get past the front desk and land an interview. The one thing that used to be nice about the graduate teaching opportunities at IAU is that they allowed to get your foot in the door and network before venturing beyond the university.

Summers, in particular, were tough because there wasn't much in the way of teaching opportunities at IAU for grad students and, back in the 90s, the English department didn't offer any graduate classes during the summer session either. Now, I believe, you can at least pick up a few grad classes during the summer, which will allow you more time to focus on paying work during the school year. Another option, if you've got savings, is to fly back to the States (or elsewhere) during the summer and get a summer job at home.

I'd say plan on showing up with enough savings to get through your first semester, which will allow you some time to network and make some connections for jobs. If you planned to start in January, you'd be in a good position to begin networking for full-time school year jobs beginning in September.

In addition, you should most definitely start communicating with other grad students in the program now before you get there. They will be able to give you much more up-to-date information on the job opportunities that are available.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can put together a list of likely teaching opportunities in and around San German over the next few days and post it to this discussion thread.

Quote:
You said there aren't many jobs for foreigners outside of teaching English however, if I can be hired immediately like a local, then wouldn't I be able to get bottom level jobs like at fast food restaurants or mall security? Or is there a rule where the locals must get hired before U.S. citizens?


In theory, you can be hired for these types of jobs. In practice you won't be. With unemployment in the range of 12-30%, why hire you--an outsider--over a qualified Puerto Rican? For that matter, why hire a qualified Puerto Rican when you can just hire a friend of a friend?

I arrived in San German a few months before the start of my first semester, having just finished a two-year volunteer teaching stint in neighboring Dominican Republic, expecting to cobble together a couple of part-time minimum wage jobs to support myself until school started. I spent a month applying to something like 70-75 different places in San German and Mayaguez (the nearest major city) before barely landing a job as a fish cleaner at a tuna fish factory. I survived, but barely. You don't want to go there if you don't have to.

Quote:
How intensive was this program? I plan on teaching (15-20 hours) while going to grad school full-time, would this be too much?


That's doable. My first three semesters, I taught three English classes (9 credits) while taking three grad classes (9 credits) which was a time commitment of about 55 hours per week. Two hours of homework/prep time for every hour in class is a good rule of thumb for planning your time.

When I began teaching full-time at the junior college, I dropped my course load at IAU to two graduate classes (6 credits) per semester. Most of my Puerto Rican colleagues who taught full-time generally took two grad classes per semester as well. If you were able to take two grad classes per semester plus summer session, you could still finish the program in two years.

Quote:
Can you also tell me about the benefits/networking of attending here? I would like to eventually play ball with the big boys in the middle east and this looks like it would help me land those jobs.


Back in the '90s, many of the students in our program landed jobs at King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia following graduation. One of my classmates is still in the Middle East twenty years later, teaching in Oman.

If you're looking for a program that is academically rigorous, highly competitive, and will get you into a good PhD program, then IAU is probably not the best way to go.

On the practical side, you can get a lot of university teaching experience. Even though you're technically just a "teaching assistant," functionally you are the professor of record for your classes at IAU and this type of experience is valuable in landing university jobs later anywhere in the world.

Having previously taught in the Dominican Republic, where students were very eager to learn English, and then moving to Puerto Rico, where students often seemed to care less about learning English, was a big challenge for me. But it also forced me to become a much better teacher. In the D.R., I could pretty much do whatever I wanted in the classroom, and students were so eager they probably learned in spite of me. In Puerto Rico, I had to become a lot more thoughtful, intentional, and creative in order to keep my students engaged.

In applying for teaching jobs in my hometown here in the States, having a degree from a school that's not Local State University (where everybody else around here seems to have gotten their credentials) has been a helpful asset. Prospective employers are interested in somebody who has done something different and not followed the exact same path as everyone else they've hired.

Oh, yes! And three years of navigating Puerto Rican bureaucracy--frustrating as it was--pretty much prepared me for everything I've ever dealt with in subsequent overseas teaching jobs. And back here at home, where bureaucrats are rank amateurs compared to Puerto Rico, I find that a lot of things that drive my colleagues crazy don't really bother me a whole lot anymore, if at all.
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