Job Discussion Forums

[pullsofyarn]

About 9 months ago I began planning to head to Latin America to teach. I knew nothing about how to do this. I got some books and began looking around the TEFL websites. In the course of my research, I fell in love with Chile, or at least my conception of Chile -
Neruda, Allende, Mistral. I plan to leave at the end of Jan 04 or Feb 05.

Now, I've decided to take a TEFL course. I'm looking at two schools in particular. This first is a CELTA school in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The second is the Bridge Linguatec TEFL course in Santiago. What sort of reputation does this school have? They claim that one may be hired to teach for the school upon completion of the course. How likely is this? Does a certificate from this school carry much wieght with other language institues in Chile?

I have a few other rather basic questions. I've read that the months Jan. and Feb. are bad months to look for a job. Is this a bad time to find work in Chile? (If I didn't currently live in the cold heart of Minnesota, it would be easier to wait until, say, March.) How long is an average teaching contract? And lastly, I'm more of a small city sort of fellow, can ya'll recommend some places in Chile besides Santiago that might be good for work?

I appreciate your advice!!!
Scott Sell

[Weona]

I've heard negative things about Bridge Linguatec TEFL cources. Mainly the cost and the effectiveness of the certification. Also - I heard that you are not gauranteed a job after completion of the course, or at least one that pays (!!). I would get certified in the states before heading down there, personally.

Chile.... good choice. Beautiful country.

[kimchikowboy]

If I were to set up an institute, I would try Puerto Natales. When I was there, I was told the nearest institute was in Punta Arenas. P. Natales has a high demand for tourism in English because of the ferry to Puerto Montt and also Torres del Paine national park. If you have some cash, go down in Jan. or Feb. It's summer there, and you can make some contacts. I was in Chile for over a year, and I miss it every day. But avoid Santiago if you have any sort of breathing problem. The pollution is horrible.
You might also want to check out Valparaiso, a nice old port city.
I liked the area around El Quisco. There's a pretty nice town near there, but I forgot the name.
Suerte.

[pullsofyarn]

Thanks for the responses! I've been snooping around the web looking for info on Punta Arenas. This seems like the sort of place I'm looking for.

Does anyone else have an opinion of Bridge Linguatec? BL is attractive to me because it would not require that I travel to somewhere such as Halifax to get a certificate before leaving for Chile. However, the CELTA is attractive for its universality. Does the CELTA live up to its hype?

I also have a question about money. My plan at the moment is to arrive in Chile either with a CELTA or to attend the BL course. Then, I want to travel around the country a bit and look at some places I might want to live. Would 3,000 US be an appropriate sum to finance my in-county travels and to support myself until I have a steady income?

Thanks again,
Scott

[Weona]

As I previously mentioned, it's probably best to arrive in Chile with the certificate. If you have you mind set on BL, then you should go for it but only if you can afford it. $3,000 will NOT be enough for both the course and to live off of. $3,000 is, however, enough to sustain in-country travels for a little while but it all depends on how long you plan to travel? If you travel by bus (best way to go in my opinion), then you should be ok for a few weeks. Other modes of transportation might be different. I'd personally settle in to the city/town of your choice (researching beforehand, of course) and once you have a steady income, then the traveling should perhaps begin. I think the $3,000 is just enough to help get you started as far as where you're going to live but if you use it both on travel and on living expenses, then that might change things a little.

[bdbarnett1]

I�m currently in Chile as an exchange student. I don�t know much about Bridge-Linguatec (except where it is, I�ll give you the bus numbers lol, it�s in Providencia on Los Leones Blvd), but I can give you some real-time info on the prices of things. I am currently living in a "pensi�n" for 75,000 pesos a month, about 130 USD, roughly. This includes breakfast (a roll-thing and jelly) hot lunch (or supper) and onces, which is a sandwich or two. Good for the active worker, because if you don�t eat lunch, she�ll serve the hot meal at night. I suspect other pensions will do the same. I share a room with some guys that work here in Chile, and there are other students. This is not a hostel.

This is one of the lower-priced places. In general, in Santiago Centro, you can find this type of thing for about 100,000-120,000 pesos a month, about 170-200 USD, a little more if you get into the wealthier parts of town, i.e. Providencia, Las Condes.

You can get apartments in the Centro or the University section of town (near Republica or Barrio Brasil) for about 80,000-100000 pesos a month, I don�t think utilities are that expensive. You could live pretty comfortable on about 700 dollars a month, and that�s if you don�t really watch your spending.

I took a trip down to the south (Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales) in february...I spent 900 USD travelling relatively frugally for three weeks...I would exchange the pesos, if possible, in santiago, because the exchange rates are horrible in the south.

Any more info you need...email [email protected]

I�ll send you Sunday paper or something lol

[eileen]

If you come in January or February, you will not get many hours teaching, because that is when everyone is on vacation, as it's the summer, kids are off school, etc. For people that I know that came in March, it took a while for their schedules to fill up.

Bridge-Linguatec will hire you after you finish their course if they have positions available. Right now, it is the middle of May, and every school I've heard of is scrambling for teachers. That means the people that finished the course at the beginning of May were able to work at Bridge, because they're looking, too. There were five people in the course. One for sure is working there, one is travelling, one is thinking, one is taking a job at another school and I don't know about the last.

I believe they pay about 4,400 per hour (xchange rate is about 600 pesos to $1 US), but consider that they'll take off about 10% for taxes (which you theoretically get back). This is pretty average, but not great pay. They also generally require you to have their training, which, as far as I know, Burford, Fischer (or Fisher) and other schools do not. That said, you'll enjoy teaching much more if you know what you're doing. For schools that don't require experience or training, expect to get around 4k per hour, and figure it's pretty likely you'll work only 20-25 hours per week and spend the rest of the time running between classes. The fanciest institute in town is Norteamericano (Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de Cultura I think is the full name). They pay for your "leisure", i.e. travel time, and also for xportation (figure about 800 rt for peak hours on the metro, 600 for the bus). But they require education and experience, a methodology and grammar test.

These rates are all for Santiago. I'm sure you could work as an English teacher elsewhere, but don't know for sure. I've heard Valpo. (Valparaiso) is possible, but I don't know. It's a really picturesque place, but I personally would get very bored there. However, if you're a small city person, you're wise to avoid Santiago, it's huge.

Maybe you could travel for a month or two when you first get here and see what appeals to you, settling there just in time to start teaching in March, April or May.

In terms of settling yourself, etc. Is US 3k enough? Most definitely, but not if you include the price of your course in that. It's possible to find shares for $200 a month, but I know several people who pay more. You could get one for less, certainly, outside of Santiago, or in more downtown places, or in Nunoa or La Reina. But that's all in Santiago. It all depends on where you're thinking of living how much the setting-up costs will be.

This is horrendously long, but I wish I'd had some advice like it before I came (6 weeks ago).

gl!

[Weona]

eileen -

So I imagine you have experience with Bridge-Linguatec. Just out of curiosity... what did/do you think about it and was it worth the money? I've heard horrible stories about Bridge but not actually from someone who went there... so getting a first hand experience is kind of important before placing your own judgements if you know what I mean! Anyway, thanks!

P.S. Valparaiso? Boring?! I call Valpo my home and I don't think I will ever run out of exciting things to do here.

Que te vaya bien...