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| Best Latin American country to teach?? |
| Brazil |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
| Argentina |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
| Chile |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
| Mexico |
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60% |
[ 6 ] |
| Ecuador |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
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| Total Votes : 10 |
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al capone
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 72
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 Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:23 pm Post subject: Mexico and students |
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Whats the deal with Mexican students (not all)??????????/
rarely do their homework, call and cancel 10 mins before class, don,t turn up for class for weeks or turn up 30 minutes late(in their companies)
then blame you because they aren,t bi-lingual after a year
At least i get paid on time because i work for two schools but i imagine private tuition has all sorts of problems despite the extra money(if it comes)
apart from that Mexico is a fine country and the people are excellent
but the Peso compared to the Pound is dreadful
where in Latin America is the best bet nowadays??
cheers |
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Enchilada Potosina
Joined: 03 Aug 2010
Posts: 344
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:13 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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I don't even bother with private students. Plenty of people ask but what's the point if, as you say, they don't take it seriously?
The only private students worth pursuing are school kids whose parents have forced them to take class with you. They bring them to your house and pick them up, no escape!
| Quote: |
| then blame you because they aren,t bi-lingual after a year |
Schools that are usually run by monolingual salesmen, who have no idea of what it takes to really learn a language, put this absurd pressure on the teacher to make the students bilingual as quickly as possible. Those awful coursebooks alone will never make a student bilingual.
Probably worth checking out all the other countries you mention, researching them a bit. |
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al capone
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 72
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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yeah have to agree
after two years i think i,ve pushed SLP as far as it can go
pastures new await |
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Isla Guapa
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1520
Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| Enchilada Potosina wrote: |
I don't even bother with private students. Plenty of people ask but what's the point if, as you say, they don't take it seriously?
The only private students worth pursuing are school kids whose parents have forced them to take class with you. They bring them to your house and pick them up, no escape!
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I guess I'm lucky. At the moment, I have 5 private students, all adults, who do take their English classes seriously. They've been with me from 6 months to over two years and would never dream of canceling at the last minute or coming more than a few minutes late. All but one comes to my apartment for class and they all pay on time without quibbling about the cost. |
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Enchilada Potosina
Joined: 03 Aug 2010
Posts: 344
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:09 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| Isla Guapa wrote: |
| Enchilada Potosina wrote: |
I don't even bother with private students. Plenty of people ask but what's the point if, as you say, they don't take it seriously?
The only private students worth pursuing are school kids whose parents have forced them to take class with you. They bring them to your house and pick them up, no escape!
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I guess I'm lucky. At the moment, I have 5 private students, all adults, who do take their English classes seriously. They've been with me from 6 months to over two years and would never dream of canceling at the last minute or coming more than a few minutes late. All but one comes to my apartment for class and they all pay on time without quibbling about the cost. |
Good for you  Hold on to those, they're few and far between. |
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Enigma2011
Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:37 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| al capone wrote: |
Whats the deal with Mexican students (not all)??????????/
rarely do their homework, call and cancel 10 mins before class, don,t turn up for class for weeks or turn up 30 minutes late(in their companies
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Most do not SEEM to care. Isla has students who are EXCEPTIONS and those are a VERY RARE find in Mexico City. You should realize al capone that EFL is not valued in Mexico. I am sure some will come RUNNING to defend Mexico no matter what but the TRUTH of the matter is that examples like you mention is proof that EFL is not important to people here.
MOD EDIT |
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Enigma2011
Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| al capone wrote: |
after two years i think i,ve pushed SLP as far as it can go
pastures new await |
Good idea, al capone. Try S. Korea, Japan or the MD if you would like to have ANY KIND of savings or pension when you get older. While a laid back, not working too much lifestyle is great, it is still better to have money in the bank and some savings. |
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TeresaLopez
Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 601
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:04 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| Enigma2011 wrote: |
Most do not SEEM to care. Isla has students who are EXCEPTIONS and those are a VERY RARE find in Mexico City. You should realize al capone that EFL is not valued in Mexico. I am sure some will come RUNNING to defend Mexico no matter what but the TRUTH of the matter is that examples like you mention is proof that EFL is not important to people here.
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I also have private students that I have had for a long time, one coming up on two years, one coming up on three years and another I have had for a year and a half. One of them does cancel at the last minute fairly often due to work but never has quibbled about paying for those classes. I have had a few of the other kind but they don�t last long. Isla isn�t the only one who has them. I have another friend here in DF who has only private students, most of them he has had for over a year, some going on two years. The TRUTH is that some people�s company�s require them to take classes that they aren�t interested in taking, but the vast majority of MY students ARE motivated and learning, I have several that are bordering on fluency at this point, and it IS important to them. I am not going to defend a whole country, and like you, I know lots of people who couldn�t care less about learning another language, but that is certainly NOT true of the whole country. There are large segments of the population who must know English for thier jobs, and are motivated to learn. Let me turn the tables on you and ask how important it is to most, if not all, Americans, to learn another language? The same ones who say all immigrants should learn English are often the ones who go to another country and then are pissed that no one speaks English. I was just in Cuba and had to listen to some idiot rant one and one about how he couldn�t find his way around because there were no signs in English and no one spoke English. Well, I do, but I wasn�t about to help him. I see that every day here in Mexico. Every day.
Last edited by TeresaLopez on Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Enigma2011
Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:09 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| TeresaLopez wrote: |
| Enigma2011 wrote: |
Most do not SEEM to care. Isla has students who are EXCEPTIONS and those are a VERY RARE find in Mexico City. You should realize al capone that EFL is not valued in Mexico. I am sure some will come RUNNING to defend Mexico no matter what but the TRUTH of the matter is that examples like you mention is proof that EFL is not important to people here.
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I also have private students that I have had for a long time, one coming up on two years, one coming up on three years and another I have had for a year and a half. One of them does cancel at the last minute fairly often due to work but never has quibbled about paying for those classes. I have had a few of the other kind but they don�t last long. Isla isn�t the only one who has them. I have another friend here in DF who has only private students, most of them he has had for over a year, some going on two years. |
I think that is really GREAT Teresa. Good for you and your friend!! Just remember that most of the newbies coming to Mexico City will not have any type of supplemental income. Only a savings that they bring with them. |
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TeresaLopez
Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 601
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:13 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| Enigma2011 wrote: |
I think that is really GREAT Teresa. Good for you and your friend!! Just remember that most of the newbies coming to Mexico City will not have any type of supplemental income. Only a savings that they bring with them. |
Well my friend has no supplemental income, has been here for three years and does quite well with just his private classes and nothing else. There is no reason why good newbies can�t build up enough students to either live off of, or to supplement their income from a school with. I also have someone who used to teach for me that left because he had too many private classes, and since they paid more than I did, he went off on his own. He also has no other income. I know of several more examples that live solely on their ESL income, but for some reason you seem to believe it can�t be done. Well, sorry, it can. I am not saying it is always easy, and occasionally there are rough spots, but that happens with any job. |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Posts: 6613
Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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Several postings have been deleted or edited. Posting personal information of other member(s) on this site will quickly result in a permanent ban along with one's ISPs.
You are free to comment on the message but not the messenger on this site. There is too much of the latter on threads on the Mexico forum and so it is highly probable that some of our members will be leaving us shortly if they do not comply with this very final warning. |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 11:39 pm Post subject: Re: Mexico and students |
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| al capone wrote: |
Whats the deal with Mexican students (not all)??????????/
rarely do their homework, call and cancel 10 mins before class, don,t turn up for class for weeks or turn up 30 minutes late(in their companies)
then blame you because they aren,t bi-lingual after a year
At least i get paid on time because i work for two schools but i imagine private tuition has all sorts of problems despite the extra money(if it comes)
apart from that Mexico is a fine country and the people are excellent
but the Peso compared to the Pound is dreadful
where in Latin America is the best bet nowadays??
cheers |
Well, first of all, I think this would have been better posted on the Latin America forum. Perhaps some more general feed back as to teaching/living in the other Latin American countries.
With that said, I think that asking which country is better in Latin America is like asking do you prefer red apples to green ones or Big Macs to Whoppers. If a person like apples or burgers they will be able to give a preference for one or the other. But if you dislike apples or burgers, what is the point in trying a slightly different version of something you already dislike?
If Latin America suits you, I think researching several target countries would be the best, trying to get some feedback from folks that have actually taught in each of those countries and then draw-up some plans.
Myself, I would skip Brazil and I would probably look at going from Ecuador to Peru and to Chile, as those 3 are all on the Pacific Coast of S. America and it's farely easy to get from one to the other. And if you were in Santiago, I am sure you could always grab a quick flight to B.A. and see how it is.
I loved my time spent in Lima, Peru. Great food, good people, a nice port with ships coming and going all the time and the ocean right there. I get depressed if I can't see the sea. I crave the saltwater!
Best of luck! |
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al capone
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 72
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 12:19 am Post subject: |
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but i suppose thats what i was asking
i,ve had my fill of red apples and i would like to find out a bit more about some golden delicous before taking a bite |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Posts: 6613
Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 2:49 am Post subject: |
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Enigma2011's latest posting has been deleted and he is no longer with us.
This is a guaranteed course of action for anyone choosing to disregard a posted Mod warning. |
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Enchilada Potosina
Joined: 03 Aug 2010
Posts: 344
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:32 am Post subject: |
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| al capone wrote: |
yeah have to agree
after two years i think i,ve pushed SLP as far as it can go
pastures new await |
Yep, SLP is not a good place to settle down and try to make a career out of the tefl profession. Full time uni jobs are hard to come by. Full time prepa/colegio jobs are not so hard to come by but the pay is awful. SLP has a truly pitiful selection of language schools to choose from. Few of them are mildly tolerable to work at, but only because they pay $10 pesos more an hour than the others. |
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