ESL Jobs Forum

[lawry]

Hi All,
My wife and I are Australians (sorry about that) and our youngest child will soon leave home. When she does we would like to teach in Central/South America. Probably Costa Rica. However, we hope someone can answer a few questions for us as we are very new to ESL. We are both professionals and intend to obtain TESOL qualifications.

Our questions are;
Is an Australian accent a disincentive for employment in Central/South America (is a North American accent preferred)?
We will be nearly 50 years old - is that a problem?
Which months constitute a school year?
Is it difficult to obtain a work permit?

I'd appreciate your input here guys!
Cheers,
Lawry

[gharwell1]

Teaching in Costa Rica can be a rewarding experience. However, there are some pitfalls. I only speak from the time I spent teaching there. Things may have changed.

If you work full time at a school they should help you with some sort of Immigration solution. If not you will have to go to Nicaragua and get another tourist visa every three months.

Otherwise you will have to do pick up classes wherever you can find them. It's a lot of traveling around. I have a list of schools that someone sent me a couple f years ago. If you contact me I will try and find it.

You shouldn’t have a problem being 50 yrs old.

Don’t take anything you can’t afford to lose. My house was broken into twice. Use good judgment. Be aware of your surroundings.

The regular school year starts in March. There are only two seasons. Wet and Dry. The wet starts around June and goes for six months. It’s cool in the Mountains I San Jose and hot and steamy along the coasts. The pacific coast being less hot than the Atlantic side. But the jobs are in San Jose.

There is even someplace in San Jose that has a Certification course. I think it’s called the Boston School.

Any other questions, I’ll be happy to answer if I can.

Gary Harwell
gharwell1@yahoo.com

[lawry]

Thanks for your input Gary.
Any information I can glean will be helpful.
Cheers,
Lawry

[MissSara]

Hello!!

I am new to the forum... new to TEFL... I just got my TEFL certificate from Oxford Seminars in California... I an constantly changing my mind on where to search for my first job....but have mainly narrowed it down to Brazil or Spain. One of my biggest disadvantages however, is my lack of the bachelor's. Is it difficult to find a good job without a degree? I am also pretty biased on working with only children. Is that too much to ask!!??

[Lexicon]

Sorry, Miss Sara but you're American which means you can't work in Spain.

Go for either Mexico or if you're in California, try teaching locally.