Teacher Discussion Forums

I need your sincere and expert oppinion about Italy and TESL career. Hopefully you can help me out with several questions I have. Please bare with me while I explain me past and future career path.

My name is Sabina, I am 28 years of age and live in Montreal Canada. I am Italian (mother) and canadian. I have dual citizenship ital-canadian and codice fiscale. My mother lives in Rome, so finding a place to live isn't a problem. I am presently completing my 120 hr certificate in TESL/TEFL in Montreal Canada. I have completed a university certificate in Management and have excellent job references, always as an account executive, with INTL companies such as Panasonic Canada and Brother corp INTL. I am perfectly bilingual eng(mother tongue)/french and have good italian language skills. I cannot express through e-mail how I feel about moving and living in Italy, it's a dream for me, as well as being close to my mom. I have been visiting Italy every year for now 8 years and would like to seriously plan my move. For this I need your help.

1. From visiting and working in Italy, what do you think is the best or the most demanded credentials for job placement in Italy ? TESL ?...
2. How much actual teaching experience is needed to grant me a good salary ?
3. What is the average salary ?
4. Were you paid weekly/montly ?
5. When you made the move to teach in Italy, how much daily money did you calculate as a budget ?
6. What is the best time to apply for a job ?
7. When is the best time to start working ?
8. Are you still TESL/TEFL ?
9. What was your general opinion about working in Italy ?

I will deeply appreciate any information you will give me !

Thanks in advance !

Sabina

Sabina,

You'll have more luck if you try the employment forum:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewforum.php?f=18

This forum is used by teachers to discuss HOW to teach, as isn't as well visited as the job forum.

Regards,
Iain

Here is some brief info on the teaching situation in Italy. Remember this is the perspective of someone who is teaching in a private school in the south (Provincia SA) in Campania, so some answers may be completely different if you are planning on teaching in the north, where things are more like industrialized and the salaries are higher.

1.) I would say experience or TESOL (Cambridge offers the course here for about $500 per student).

2.) Sometimes none. If you have a good classroom disposition and energy, you can sometimes find a job with little to no experience. But usually, with kids. Teaching adults can be a little trickier (and they are less patient when they don't understand something).

3.) Here, you can earn from $10 to $15 per hour. But then it depends on how many classes you have per day, per week, etc. I get paid monthly.

4.) see above

5.) I really didn't. I live with my fiance's family. But I would make sure you make enough for daily expenses. Grocery store prices were very economic. Now, they are going up. Make a list of all possible daily, weekly and monthly expenses first. And remember, the classes are hard to count on. The first two weeks, they are all mixed up and some of them don't even show up. I would see how your teaching schedule stabilizes before committing to any major expenses.

6.) July/August or even June. Schools resume in September. But it is never to early to get the word out. "Who you know, not what you know" is never more true than it is here in Italy. (You probably know that)

7.) whenever you can

8.) I am working on the TESOL. I am a college graduate with a bachelor's in Communication Sciences. I am here because I met my fiance in 2001, and decided to move a year later.

9.) It is NOT America (and probably NOT Canada). Things are less organized and less dependable. But I like it. If you are not a flexible person, don't even think of making the move. Go "school shopping". Find the one that seems the most organized and the most opportune. Ask questions like "how many students do you have yearly", "how many per class", "how many teachers", "why did so and so leave your school (if a teacher left recently) etc." and all of the other normal job questions. I repeat, interview THEM.

Good luck,

Emilie