Korean Job Discussion Forums

wings · Joined: 09 Nov 2006

If you really want to learn Spanish then stay away from places like Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende or any big tourist places. People will speak to you in English constantly no matter how much you insist.

If you get a job in a smaller, or less popular city you will meet people really easily and have a better chance to speak Spanish.

I have worked in big and small cities there and found that becuase there are fewer people lining up to teach in the smaller places they offer you a lot more perks if you are working at an ESL school. Pay will be the same or even a bit less, but they are more likely to offer you Spanish classes and housing.

Normal Hogwan style schools outside of Mexico City don't pay much more than 70 pesos (about 7$ US) an hour, and you will usually be working split shifts and saturday mornings.

saw6436 · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon, ROK

I'm a huge fan of La Paz.

VirginIslander · Joined: 24 May 2006 Location: Busan

This is from guatemala365:

bacasper · Joined: 26 Mar 2007

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

I worked in Queretaro and also Comitan,Chiapas. That's going on 7 years ago now....

Loved Mexico, the food, music, culture, people.....the only problems I had were the low wages and being a constant target for potential rip-off scams...

Weird over-charges on utilities and stuff like that.

But if you go there with your money from the glorious land of K, you should be OK.

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

I've spent time in latin america and am now fairly fluent in Spanish (though I feel it getting a little rusty, will have to return!

by fluent I mean native speakers tell me I speak it with considerable "fluidez" .. not someone who can barely speak it, but others describe as "fluent". I can often get mistaken for a native of a different Latin country when the conversation just begins and only several things are said (most often they guess Argentina or Puerto Rico, because of my light hair, blue eyes)

the key thing is to immerse yourself into the local environment, on top of taking classes. Won't be THAT easy to do if you're teaching English.. but in Caracas, the place where I worked offered formal Spanish classes (complete/full course from beginner to advanced) which I took. (they were free for teachers)

AND - and this is the key thing - I lived with a Venezuelan family and unless absolutely necessary refused to speak English and or interact with English speakers outside of my English classes.

the women in Latin America can NOT be beat. I also love the culture, the work to live lifestyle, the music etc.

but Mexico and Central America wouldn't be at the top of my list.

They'd be at the bottom.

if you're coming in with some dough saved up from Korea and want to teach yet enjoy yourself for a year..

go to Colombia.. or Venezuela.. or Peru.

toong tao daeng · Joined: 18 Jan 2008

Check out La Paz, Baja California Sur.

It's a beautiful spot.

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

My sister taught in Saltillo, Mexico (near Monterrey) from 1998 to 2006. She worked at a great school that flew her home twice a year, sent presents for my family and treated us great when we went down there. I almost went to her school instead of coming to Korea, but I just didn't want to follow my sister.

I don't know exactly how much money she made, but it was enough to rent a 3 bed/3 bath house and own a car. She had over 2 months of vacation every year (I don't know exactly).

The school was private and it went from 3 year olds up to high school. She had young students, but the way they studied was that she taught them in English one day and the next was in Spanish.

The city itself wasn't the most exciting, but it wasn't bad and has lots of history and enough modernity to live comfortably, and if you needed more, Monterrey was less than an hour away. The city also has regular flight connections to Houston and Mexico City, while Monterrey has many, many more.

Don Mario · Joined: 28 Jun 2007

I got my TEFL in Guadalajara. The 2nd biggest city in Mexico.

Get used to dishonest, corrupt school managers, inconsistent
students (which affects your pay!), living in shared accomodations
with other foreigners. All these things can add up to a nightmare
and they do! Living there is a blast once you accept the pace
of life and the corruption, crime, noise, pollution, value for
your money, etc.

The living arrangements can be improved if a group of known
teachers rent together.

Trying to find a school to hire you can be an adventure in itself,
because the schools almost expect a foriegner to be billingual in
Spanish. The deal is that the beginning classes are better taught
by local teachers, cutting you out of hours.

Have fun and dont expect to save money to travel like Korea
or Japan.

DM

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

There are a few cities I'm interested in - Veracruz, Mazatlan and Acapulco. Could someone who knows these cities give me their impression of them?

D.D. · Joined: 29 May 2008

Mazatlan is like the guy said -nice place but it is always spring break. People come there on one and two week vacations get drunk and screw.

18-23 year olds. Great weather there and nice beaches. Is really cheap if you stay outside the golden zone. Beer was even getting expensive back in 1993. Lots of outdoor bars on the beach with people dancing on the tables.

Zebra12 · Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Location: Ottawa

Hi - not sure what you're looking for...but here's a go at a few suggestions. I've lived on two occassions in beautiful Mexico...learned Spanish and have good friends there that I stay in touch with via Skype. The best base to locate in is Gaudalajara...small enough compared to Mexico City DF, yet very central to some extent. As one other person mentioned, Gaunajauto is close by--which is a fabulous city. Mexico is actually nicer than Europe--once you get past the negatives--the nature and vastness of the place contains many fascinating glimpses of different cultures and unique flora and fauna etc. I've been all over he world, and I'd settle down in Mexico any day...love the place.

I taught for some time at the American [Inter'l] Foundation School of Guadalajara. It is one of the top international schools in the world--but you'd need to apply for a position there at one of the overseas recruiting fairs (Princeton U in NJ or Queen's U in Ontario, Canada etc.) But, there are also many ESL schools that one can also teach at...a good one from Vancouver is there...others as well. The region is very beautiful--the city is dynamic and interesting. Fun clubs. Good friends to be found.

Cheers - gue te via muy bien sin problemas - adios - James