Teaching English in Colombia

ColombiaBoard says on Jul 9, 2009, 10:55:

I see this type of question over and over and I think it´s time to make an important distinction for those interested in teaching english in Colombia.

If you are a certified elementary / high school teacher in any area you can teach in Colombia at any bilingual school, there are several in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and at least one in other cities. There are even bilingual schools that teach in German, Italian and French.

If you want to teach english as a second language then yours options are to teach at either a Language Institute (there are hundreds everywhere), at a standard colombian high school (preferrably a private school) or at a college or university. For this you usually need at least a CELTA certificate.

For both teaching options (bilingual school and/or language institute) you have to have a contract to apply for a work visa BEFORE entering the country. Some people choose to teach at a language school without a work visa and they can be deported if the local immigration authority finds them.

The best paid teachers are the private bilingual school teachers, english teachers at a language instituted have a "decent" wage. The best option for you in Medellin would be this:

www.colomboworld.com

You cand send your resume online

Contact the potential employer or visit the country and talk to them in person.

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span_colombia says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:02:

first of all, you should post in the colombia and latin america sections of dave's esl cafe.

1. pay seems to be slightly higher in bogota than other cities, but cost of living is higher. there are more options in bogota, but also more competition from other native speakers. pay ranges from gross 1 million pesos/month - 3 million for beginners. you have options of high schools, universities and language institutes. generally the high school and university positions are the most difficult to get. institutes will probably require you to travel to companies to deliver your classes.

2. some yes some no. the employers offering worthwhile jobs will probably know what a CELTA is and have minimum requirements for their teaching positions. for the sake of being a good teacher, I'd recommend you get the industry standard minimum requirement - a 120 hour course with 6 hours of supervised/evaluated teaching to real students. the trinity tesol, CELTA, and SIT certificates all meet this requirement. you can get the CELTA here in bogota for $2000 at the british council or you can go to ecuador and do it at southern cross for $1300.

3. depends on the employer. I suppose for some university positions you might be able to get hired from outside the country and for language institutes like international house. generally it's best to be here.

just a general word of warning: unless you are a professional esl teacher and/or get lucky enough to get one of the most coveted jobs, colombia is not an easy country to be an english teacher. you'll make enough money to live, but very little more than that and you won't make enough to spend a lot or pay for you plane ticket back home.

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Sehnsucht says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:04:

Thank you, ColombiaBoard. I should have been clearer: I am looking to teach English as a second language in Colombia.

Your points are well taken, but I do have a quick follow up question: the CELTA award is not offered in my region of the USA. Are there any others programs that are as universally accepted as the CELTA? Are you familiar with the TEFL Institute in Chicago? Would a certificate from that organization carry much weight?

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span_colombia says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:05:

you can come to colombia and look for a job. you'll just have to leave the country (go to venezuela) to process your work visa. it's a hassle, but a very common thing to do.

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:15:

You can get a tesol certificate here in colombia and the institutes will recognize it easier.

I´m so glad that I´m not an english teacher in medellin anymore.

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Sehnsucht says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:20:

mranderson - thanks for the tip on obtaining a certificate there on the ground. As for the bomb you dropped in your second sentence, can you elaborate? Are there other cities better suited to teaching English in Colombia?

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:32:

Also are you going to report your income? According to my tax attorney you are not exempt from social security tax. You may be surprised how much that can be. Whatever pityful savings you accumulate here will be gone. You do not own your money anymore, the u.s. owns it and they let you keep some of it because they are so nice.

Probably would be better getting a job at a university that pays top dollar. Hard to get too.

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sirwhale says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:43:

Sorry Span Colombia but I´m not sure I agree on the wage comment. I often find it´s the Americans who complain about the pay and find it hardest to live. I lived on it in Santiago de Chile and I´m gonna be living on it here. You should spend what you have and money isn´t the only thing in the world. I live very cheaply, I havn´t bought clothes in agggges and drink the cheapest drinks, only east at the cheapest places. But my quality of life is good, as in I´m enjoying myself. If you´re coming here for the experience then you´ll have a good time. You´ll learn a lot and meet great people. I´m slightly luckier than spancolombia as this time i´ve managed to land myself a good job with back to back classes and they´re gonna be paying my flight home, although i will be getting up at 5 every morning. Plus I´m living in Medellín which is much easier than Bogotá due to its size and lack of decent public transport. I´d say if you´re gonna be teaching at a private institute, stay away from the big cities.

Don´t get me wrong I´d love to earn more money and be able to go out more, travel more but you can still live a simple life and enjoy yourself. If you find a friend with a car you can get out and take advantage of all the bank holidays they have here.

You should get your certificate before coming here and apply for jobs in Unis. It´s always worth trying.

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 11:52:

It´s a great experience to come live in a foriegn country and try your hand at teaching english. You learn so much about a culture by living here. The first year was great, the second year just sucked (teaching english that is). Make sure you come here with some savings. Anything over 10k dollars should be enough as long as you´ll be working. You´ll probably have to live in an estrato 3 or lower barrio depending on how much savings you bring.

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mcheasley says on Jul 9, 2009, 12:42:

You do not want to teach without a Work Visa.... They are really cracking down in the last 4 months.... 6 in Medellin and 9 in Bogota that are no longer in the country.... I don't know if they are being reported or the searches are random... Don't be surprised if you walk into a private english school and find that no one can speak english (including the teachers)... Teaching in a public school will require a teaching degree and I don't mean a tesol certificate... Good Luck............

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coastalad says on Jul 9, 2009, 19:39:

Your friends who taught English in South Korea wont be much help, they will give a monkey a job teaching English in Asia if it looks foreign.... and pay it a lot of money for conversation based classes.

Teaching in Colombia doesn't compare much with teaching in Asia, it's more difficult in terms of low wages,obtaining a visa, finding work and so forth.

always avoiding white picket fences

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Brody says on Jul 9, 2009, 20:42:

The important thing is to just get into it. I did a TEFL program in Mexico, called International Teacher Training Organization, and it was more than enough. It was good to get my feet wet in Latin America first. Start working the job hunting when you are getting your certificate, and it is not that difficult to get a job once you land here. Go where you want, and figure it out. Your one hundred percent airtight plan is going to collapse anyway. Just fly here with some savings, and then knock on doors with your resume. And get that Spanish level up!

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Sehnsucht says on Jul 9, 2009, 21:25:

These comments are invaluable to me, so thanks for taking the time to provide input.

To coastalad: from your profile, I see that you spent time in Japan. Did you teach in Japan? Part of why I want to get abroad is to escape the "money trap" that is my current life. So let's say that money is no object to me (other than making enough to live a modest lifestyle in Colombia - from what others on this site and Dave's ESL Cafe indicate, perhaps 1M - 1.5M pesos/month); in that case, is Colombia a better destination for me than Korea? Mind you I am seeking exactly what it is that Colombia seems to offer: rich culture, friendly people, great beaches and climate, cities that provide some nightlife, etc. It's like the anti-Minnesota, basically. So is it a simple matter of me just deciding that it's not at all about the money (other than survival) and diving headlong into Colombia? Or I am naive? (maybe it's both)

To Brody: your comment totally hit home, especially because I am always seeking the perfect plan, and life doesn't work that way (particularly when trying to arrange a job in a far off land). So to make sure I'm tracking, you would suggest a TEFL program in Colombia, rather than here in the States? As for my Spanish, I literally speak none, but I can spend the next several months in pursuit of at least enough Spanish to make it there (again, maybe naive).

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span_colombia says on Jul 9, 2009, 21:43:

a few months of intense spanish will go a very long ways. I always recommend guatemala as a great cheap place to learn conversational spanish. come, spend several months and see how you like it. even a community college course in the US can make a big difference.

if you're looking for anti-minnesota semi-tropical weather, don't settle in bogota - it's pretty cold here.

it's best to work hard in the US before you come and save your money, then come here, travel and find out what places you like.

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njc (Dev team) says on Jul 9, 2009, 22:19:

If you consider Minneapolis to be cold right now, then you need to go to the coast.

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coastalad says on Jul 10, 2009, 00:17:

Sehnsucht: Colombia can be a great place to live and offer a great lifestyle, as long as you have cash in the bank to fall back on. As said before countless times on this forum its much better to come here with money in the bank so not to be too stressed about finding work, that way you won't have to accept a job where you will work your ass off and miss out on the good things you came here for in the first place. I was offered a job in med, 50 hrs a week, 6am starts, 6 days for 1.2mil ... thats not what i ventured to Colombia for.

If you are looking for somewhere un-MN like the just remember that big cities like Bogota, Medellin and Cali are also a long way from the beach.... closer than MN but still a day bus away..... yes you will find friendly ppl and a climate to suit depending on your preference.

as for Japan, yes i taught there, enjoyed it immensely, I could save enough there in a month to live in Colombia for 2 or 3 while still hitting the slopes(no pun intended) or bars frequently.

as for learning Spanish, if I were you id stop in Guatemala for a month or 2 on the way down and enroll in school there. 20 hrs of 1 on 1 lessons amounts to about $150 or so a week with a homestay... If you have the time that is, much better than paying for courses at home... not sure on the TEFL however, maybe the states is better for that, you could always do a night course and fit it around your work before taking off.... also before you leave check the papers or personals for language exchanges, you teach them, they teach you, good practice and confidence builder for teaching, Im sure you could find some latin immigrants who would be keen on this.

The web is full of esl sites, i frequently find material there for classes

always avoiding white picket fences

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Chriscan says on Jul 10, 2009, 01:48:

If you don't mind loosing a bit of money and are doing it for the experience, there is a lot of demand for native speakers, just not boatloads of money to pay them.

No problem is so formidable that you can't walk away from it.

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AFEE13 says on Jul 10, 2009, 06:12:

Sensucht...Im on the same page as you man...I want to leave the money trap America's taught me to live in

Never looking back or too far in front of me, the present is a gift and I just want to BE

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Sehnsucht says on Jul 10, 2009, 06:19:

njc: you are correct about Minnesota weather - right now it's absolutely perfect outside; essentially, the weather here now is how it is in Medellin year around! I would be coming sometime this winter, around the turn of the year.

coastalad: The tip on spending a month or two in Guatemala in a Spanish immersion setting makes a ton of sense...certainly more time and cost effective than trying to learn on the side here in the States. Lastly, do the beach towns pay significantly less than cities like Bogota and Medellin?

Again, thanks to all for the continued support/feedback.

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