Hey all!


I get a certificate in TEFL on February 11th and was wondering what's the best country in South America to become an ESL teacher? What criteria I'd like for you to consider when suggesting countries and cities include cost of living versus average ESL teacher pay rate, the accessibility to facilities (shops, food, etc.), weather, availability of jobs as an ESL teacher, and ease of working legally in the location. Uhm, of course if you have other reasons of where I should consider, please do tell!!!


Thanks a ton.

Hi Sean,
I don't have personal experience of working in South America but I recently posted about Latin America in the TEFL Logue - there are links in there to individual message boards at Dave's ESL Cafe and Guy Courchesne who helped me out with info.

Many of the characteristics will depend on where in a country you choose to go - the capital, a smaller town, etc. Work permit info is in the post. Be aware that people at Dave's have mentioned it may be wiser to find a job in person, as spooky as it is to go without a job, because there are plenty of jobs that just don't make it online because school directors are slower to go online to recruit...meaning that while many online jobs are fine, they may have more of a tendency to be from places that have trouble recruiting locally. Lots of English teachers already on the ground. (Just so it's clear I am paraphrasing what other people have said here...)

Good luck and feel free to ask if you have more questions and tell us where you end up. I think it would also be cool to hear your perspective on your tefl course and how it will be useful to you, as someone just finishing it.

Thanks for the help Kate!

I was pondering the idea of just hopping on a Greyhound headed south (I think they go as far south as Mexico City), then taking local bus service further south and maybe inquiring about teaching jobs as I go. I don't have much Spanish in me, so that may be hard, and this thought just came to me when you suggested that I just go! It'd give me the flexibility to just go with the flow and find what I find. I don't know how costly this option will be. I don't have much money and I'll be carrying everything I can with me. I'd really like more input. Others? Thanks!!!

Sean. Get out a map and look at how far you are talking.

Mexico City to Panama City is about the same distance as crossing the entirety of the United States, widthwise. Don't take the bus, brother. Also, you can't get directly from Panama to Colombia by land. It's either a ship or a plane.

Now look at a map again.Colombia is about as big as France and Spain put together. and it only gets worse as you go. You are talking A LONG WAY by bus, my brother.

No, I absolutely knew about the distance. I was betting that I'd find a job long before reaching Panama, although I'd be willing to try Panama. I know, that's technically NOT South America. But I, in my head, thought I'd continue on after a semester or a year or whatever contract I take and go further South. Now, I should have wrote this, I'm sorry.

Also, if I got something in Buenos Aires, that to me is the TEFL Mecca and I'd hop on the next thing smokin'. From what I gather, it's a hard living there now-a-days on the TEFL gravy train. With all the reading I've been doing, I'm finding more and more that Costa Rica is the way to go. So I'd hit the pavement hard there on my bus excursion. I'd try and get something in Nicaragua and Panama too then plane it into Bolivia and try the cocaine circuit. If I'm lucky, I'll be TEFLing for the next decade!!

But, I'd still like your input as I'm a huge dreamer, and delerious at that. Thanks again all.

An ambitious plan, but it can be done. A decade is quite the distance...

You'll find that there are teaching jobs just about everywhere, with pay and cost-of-living varying along the way. The opportunities are better in the larger and/or more prosperous countries, such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Brasil, and Ecuador. Travel between countries is easy by air or bus, though the bus can be harrowing through central America. The Darien Gap at Panama/Colombia means a boat ride or a plane through.

One thing you'll find is that it's hard to save any money when taking into account so much travel. If you are properly bankrolled, then what you earn teaching will take care of your in-country needs, but you'd likely have to draw on savings to fly or bus round that much.

Really Guy?

Do you think it'd be that hard to scrounge up bus fare from earnings as an ESL teach?

And why can bus rides in C.A. be harrowing? What's the difference riding the bus in C.A. as opposed to riding the bus in S.A.?

I've browsed your blog man, you're the ESL in C.A. swami, as far as I'm concerned, so I'm listening.

Thanks!

Anyone else?

Being more specific, I just think that the pick-up-and-move-on costs you'll incur won't be covered by the actual teaching pay. More than just the travel, there is the down time between jobs, the set up costs of housing (rarely provided by EFL employers in Latin America), and the overall fairly low pay throughout the region. It can certainly be done, but I don't see how you could avoid having to dip considerably into prior savings.

Harrowing for how long it takes, how many little hassles there are with border officials and currency traders, and how little you can rely on schedules and good roads. A CA trip by bus is for the hardiest of spirits. I'll have to defer to an expert on SA bus travel, since I'm not very familiar.