Anyone have any info on teaching in the Americas?

[Georgie]

Hi!

I've been visiting this site for a few months and have finally decided to get me a login and post a message.

I'm having a lot of difficulty finding info on teaching English in Central/South America. More so as most of the countries (when I have found info) will only accept Americans and/or want qualified teachers.

I would really appreciate it anyone could share their personal experience with teaching in the Americas, or if you know of any useful on-line resources for my research.

Thank you!!!

Georgie

[Antonio]

There are many poor countries in South America, hence the difficulty in finding a teaching job in this part of the world.

Are you willing to teach as a volunteer? If so, then you would have more luck. You may want to consider start teaching as a volunteer and then the school may hire you at the completion of your stint. Don't expect to make much money though.

Teaching in South America would include the following countries:

• Colombia
• Venezuela
• Ecuador
• Peru
• Bolivia
• Guyana
• Suriname
• French Gulana
• Brazil
• Paraguay
• Uruguay
• Chile
• Argentina

When choosing which country to teach in from the above list, take into consideration your personal safety.

In Colombia, there has been a civil war for about 40 years. If this doesn't bother you, then try Kiss English Academy. Email is kisseng@telesat.com.co. I'm sure Anthony Kiss, the director there can point you into the right direction if there are no jobs at his school.

Expect to make about $2 an hour teaching in Venezuala. As you can see, it's really not going to make you any money teaching in South America. Best bet would be to volunteer and be setup with a good school.

www.transitionsabroad.com and www.i-to-i.com should give you a good start on volunteering jobs.

[Amit_kumar]

Several South American nations have American- or British-style bilingual schools and colegios. Although they normally hire state-accredited teachers, a number take on students and university graduates looking for brief periods of work experience as classroom assistants

Voluntary and international exchange organizations which arrange for fee-paying young people to do English tutoring include WorldTeach, with programs in Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador and Guyana, and Alliance Abroad, whose destination countries include Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Costa Rica. An increasing number of language schools offer Spanish instruction to paying foreigners in the mornings and arrange a community volunteer program in the afternoons, for example, CIS-MAM in El Salvador and Travel Alive in Nicaragua. Bridge-Linguatec Language Services based in Denver, www.bridgetefl.com, is a language training company which offers TEFL teacher certification and job placement programs in Latin America and worldwide. TEFL training with Bridge Linguatec lasting from two to four weeks is available in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru. Other TEFL training colleges in the U.S. like Transworld Schools and the Boston Language Institute send a number of their graduates to posts in Latin America.

Even the poorest of Latin American nations offer possibilities to EFL teachers, provided they are prepared to accept a low wage. In contrast to an hourly wage of $10-$30 in Europeanized cities like Santiago and Rio, the wages paid by language schools in La Paz and Quito may be closer to $3

[Tutor]

There are many online resources available which provide job postings for USA. You can find some of them here

Teaching jobs in the United States - powered by Education America Network

In USA if you are licensed teacher then you can easily get into business. However for non-licensed teachers also there are many opportunities as assistant teachers.

[Geo_star]

You can try looking at some of the classified job ads on online newspaper websites.

Try searching for language schools online using the yellow pages or other directories for the countries you are thinking of going to.

Also, make sure you look into the restrictions and rules for obtaining an employment visa. I believe that in order to get one in Brazil, you must be a permanent resident ie. Barzillian or married to a Brazillian. From what I have read, companies rarely sponsor teachers.

You can always look at the Berlitz website to check visa restrictions for different countries where they have schools.

Good luck - your best bet may be to travel to a place where you would like to teach and start looking at what is available once you get there.


Here is a general site about Teaching English in Latin America.


Check out these links for more info on teaching/living in Brazil:

Living in Brazil: Resources for Expatriates

Teaching English in Brazil