Job Discussion Forums

[Foxjxa]

Hi all, I've been lurking this forum for quite some time now and have really enjoyed reading all your posts. I just want to say thank you to everyone for being so willing to share their experiences abroad, and it's about time I asked for some personalised advice.

I'm a small Kiwi female who plans to study for a TESOL/TEFL/CELTA abroad once both I and my partner finish studying. We'll both be fully qualified secondary teachers by the time we leave New Zealand, (Me for Biology, General Sciences & Health, him for History & English), but want to pick up that extra qualification before heading over to Japan for a year or so.

My problem is, I'm having a really difficult time choosing between doing a course in Costa Rica or doing one in Ecuador, and what sort of course we should do. While having the best possible qualification, (CELTA?), would be nice, I'm more interested in visiting an exotic, diverse, relatively cheap and safe location where we can enjoy the local culture.

Any advice or experiences that can help compare and contrast these two countries would be extremely helpful to me, as would be any help in narrowing down the long list of possible courses/locations I have in front of me.

Thanks in advance. ^^

[naturegirl321]

If you're qualified to teach in schools, look at intl schools. You'll get paid about 4 times more and have benefits. If you want to pick up an extra qual, hoenstly, I'd do it in NZ. That being said, if you want to do it abroad, go for Costa Rica, it'll be less of a culture shock.

CELTA; Trinity, and SIT are the three best course.s

[HLJHLJ]

What's drawing you to Latin America? If you are starting in NZ and aiming to head towards Japan in a year or so, then Asia would seem a more obvious choice.

Also, international schools usually ask for 2 years teaching experience in your home country. If you don't already have that, your time may be spent getting that experience, as it really will open many more doors for you than a CELTA, etc.