Teaching English in Bogota!

Hi!

I am Shaheen from Mauritius. Im 21 and currently on an exchange program at a university in Santiago Chile. I have like 3 months holidays: from December to March, I was hoping that I could spend them in Bogota teaching English. I am CELTA certified. I believe my Spanish is ok: I do get round getting myself understood and I understand Chilians who speak so fast! haha
Any advice? Whether it is likely to find job around that time for only 3 months?

Saludos!

Shaheen

By shaheen on Aug 12, 2007, 08:19 in Friendly Talkzone.

Leeroy says on Aug 12, 2007, 09:08:

I doubt you would be able to find a (legal) job at an academy or university for such a short time (not to mention visa complications), but you could probably get some private work.

rmykita says on Aug 12, 2007, 19:48:

I have a friend who needs private work during that time. He is the owner of www.inglesbogota.com Take a look, and let me know if you would like me to make the introduction, he pays well and gives support...

Ry
ryan_mykita at hotmail.com

shaheen says on Aug 13, 2007, 07:26:

Hi Ryan,

I am definitely interested. Im just unclear about the term private work. Does it mean to teach english in a private English institution?

Shaheen

danronian says on Aug 13, 2007, 16:17:

Yes, I agree that the VISA process is long and difficult. The good news is working not legally is widely accepted, and if you are a native speaker, and have a degree, work should be easy to find. I am in this same situation, and my VISA is pending... Good luck!

vicshere says on Aug 13, 2007, 17:41:

The good news is working not legally is widely accepted....what does this mean?

listo

Leeroy says on Aug 13, 2007, 18:28:

That she would be able to find work easily.

Illegal? Yes. Unethical? Hmm... maybe...

It would be silly to argue that "working illegally=working unethically", a visa does not automatically give a moral stamp of approval to work done. Nonetheless...

Colombians prefer native English speaking teachers to Colombians with (near) perfect English. This by itself may be fair enough, but when you consider that many under-qualified native English speakers with little or no experience are still preferred against Colombian teachers with masters' degrees and decades of experience, things start to get more complicated.

Then add into this equation that the OP is from Mauritius (which is a French speaking country, I believe, but in any case she appears to be fluent in English from her OP), and that she may well not be the "blonde hair blue eyes" stereotypical westerner that Colombians expect, well things start to get very complicated indeed. Let's not get started on how Mauritian exchange students in Chile get tourist visas for Colombia...

So, I don't know. I don't know how easily she would get work, I don't know if it would be "ethically correct" if she did, I don't know how Colombians would respond to her, I don't even know if she could get into the country in the first place. Because of this, I say "Go for it and good luck".