Teach in Latin America
Apart from a few popular cities, there aren’t a lot of teachers in this part of the world, possibly because Latin America is often pictured as a place of poverty and crime, danger and corruption, dictators and drug barons. In fact, Latin America is home to a staggering variety of charming and generous people from café-culture urbanites to street kids, many of whom are eager to improve their knowledge of English.
In the big cities, the greatest demand for English comes from the business community. And because of the strong commercial links between the two American continents, the demand tends to be for American English. Most of the jobs these jobs are in big cities and if you are looking for jobs in the countryside, you’ll find less demand and more work with public schools.
Teaching in Latin America is a cultural rich but momentarily poor experience. Salaries in Central America rarely tend to be high than about $700 US dollars a month, with South America not much better. 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. The upside is that cost of living is ridiculously low across Central and South America.
Some of the schools here prefer someone with a TEFL degree or experience but, typically, as long as you speak English, you’ll be hired. There is often a shortage of teachers in this part of the world since salaries are so low. This means that they are more willing to take anyone who seems responsible. The international or private schools here pay the most. These schools really want their children to learn English. Public schools pay nothing all across the board. The governments don’t really fund ESL classes as much as other parts of the world. Many of the rich families will hire you to tutor on the side and that’s where the real money is. You can make a lot of money on the side teaching.
If you teach in the countryside or in small towns, you’ll be much more limited in the type of jobs you can get. The pay is a lot less in these areas. But like teaching in rural Asia, the trade off is a much more local experience.
When working with the younger kids it helps to know a little bit of Spanish but classes are all taught in English for older students. Working conditions tend to be pretty good and, while problems can occur, employers are pretty good about honoring contracts.
Work visas require gathering a battery of documents—including notarized and officially translated copies of teaching qualifications, a police clearance, etc.—and paying a hefty fee. Consequently, a high percentage of teachers work on tourist visas. These must be kept up-to-date by applying for an extension from the immigration department or by crossing into and back from a neighboring country.
The culture of Latin America is very vibrant and “fiery.” Great food, great people, dancing, and excitement- Latin America has it all. No matter where you go from Brazil to Costa Rica to Honduras to Argentina, culturally you are in for an amazing time. You just won’t leave with much savings.
