Job Discussion Forums

[Matt_22]

I'm leaving my job in Korea next spring, and I want to teach somewhere in Latin America. I'm really pretty much up for whatever. Just to give you some ideas:


I want to work part-time for roughly 6 months

I will have a degree, legit TEFL cert, and over one year of experience.

I prefer a beautiful area or at least somewhere in close proximity to good beaches. In other words - the opposite of South Korea.

Money is not very important to me. A relaxed, high quality of life is.

I want to live there from March-August. So nowehere unbearably hot, please.



I was thinking of somewhere near Quintana Roo, but if anyone has any suggestions at all I'd like to hear them.

[Matt_22]

okay. so realistically i might be looking at 4-5 months of work rather than 6. i looked up information on panama and it requires lots of money upfront for work permit and housing expenses. so i'll scratch that off my list of ideas. anyone out there have any suggestions?

[John Hall]

I would say that Costa Rica seems to fit your criteria fairly well.

[nineisone]

Do you speak Spanish fairly well?

Do you have interests in L.A. beyond the ideal of a lay on the beach lifestyle?

If you haven't traveled to Latin America or anywhere in the 3rd world, I would concur that Costa Rica might be the best option for you. Living in the San Jose environs should allow you to procur some kind of work and close proximity to Jaco and other good beach areas. There is also plenty of English spoken around Costa Rica and your likely to find many of your fellow countrymen to converse with(regardless if your american, canuck, aussie, or brit). Likely to be the easiest transition.

If you have other interests, say history, music, literature, please share the specifics and I'm sure someone can point you in the right directions.

[Matt_22]

i speak a decent amount of spanish, enough to get by in quite a few situations. i took over 4 years of it in high school but forgot all of my verb conjugations other than present. i still have a lot of vocabulary though and am looking forward to learning the language again. i definitely prefer a spanish speaking country though, so brazil is definitely out.

as far as my interests, i'm not really into any sort of party scene at the moment. some nice bars would be cool, but i don't need any sort club scene or anything. i'm just looking to relax for 5-6 months teaching part-time and getting my head clear before heading to grad school. a region with a little bit of history and an interesting culture would be great, but my main priority is a beautiful city/town with a slow pace of life.

i'll take your advice and do some homework on costa rica. i've had friends vacation there in the past that absolutely loved it.

[nineisone]

Costa Rica is quite beautiful, although getting to be a real tourist trap. If you wanted to try doing some volunteer teaching you could check out the poorer nations next door, Nicaragua and Honduras. Both have nice coast lines, although teaching opps may be more prevalant in the interior colonial cities, i.e. Granada and Tegucigalpa. I think this holds true with Mexico, although I have not traveled there(except the ugly frontera) and only have done a little research. Somebody had mentioned Veracruz as a beautiful coastal city with an ESL market. Possibly check that out.

There is always Northern Peru: look on the job board for a recent listing out of Talara. I believe it is L&B Lang. school. The region has several nice beaches, is pretty laid back, more desert than tropical, but still a pretty enjoyable place.

Good luck