18 Years Old, In 7 Months I'm On My Own
- Thread starter MnParaPalermo
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MnParaPalermo
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UPDATE #3
Alright, I'm about a month into the process and my plan is mostly together. My sister has obtained and apostilled my transcript and diploma. When I fly up to the US in July, I will grab those documents and a few others for my DNI. I went to the ministry of education on Esmeralda and they basically confirmed what I have to provide and pass on the exams.
There's a school by my house where I can take the tests during August and December (this gives me decent time to study!). It's called "Nicolas Avellaneda" and the address is "El Salvador 5528". I will be going there either tomorrow or monday. The ministry told me that they will give me a curricala or list of meterials to study.
After all of the tests and documents are gathered, I have to reserve a turn in the building at Montevideo 450 and start a tramite that will take two months to complete.
Lastly, once I apply to the local high school to take the tests, I will have the opportunity to apply for my Student Visa and, after that, a DNI.
Alright... Now onto finding a job! How difficult is it to teach english here without a degree? I've heard that advertising on MercadoLibre is effective.
Alright, I'm about a month into the process and my plan is mostly together. My sister has obtained and apostilled my transcript and diploma. When I fly up to the US in July, I will grab those documents and a few others for my DNI. I went to the ministry of education on Esmeralda and they basically confirmed what I have to provide and pass on the exams.
There's a school by my house where I can take the tests during August and December (this gives me decent time to study!). It's called "Nicolas Avellaneda" and the address is "El Salvador 5528". I will be going there either tomorrow or monday. The ministry told me that they will give me a curricala or list of meterials to study.
After all of the tests and documents are gathered, I have to reserve a turn in the building at Montevideo 450 and start a tramite that will take two months to complete.
Lastly, once I apply to the local high school to take the tests, I will have the opportunity to apply for my Student Visa and, after that, a DNI.
Alright... Now onto finding a job! How difficult is it to teach english here without a degree? I've heard that advertising on MercadoLibre is effective.
steveinbsas
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Perhaps the question should be, "How difficult is it to teach English without using the "check spelling" feature or using capital letters when appropriate?"
Recently, the mother of a Harvard University student who is studying in BA asked how her son (who had already been here for a while) could find clients to teach English. He wasn't having any luck advertising on craigslist. I don't recall anyone posting about trying to find students on MercadoLibre.
I replied that selling used dress shirts (in near new condition) bought in thrift shops in the USA would be easier and more lucrative than teaching English in BA and I wasn't joking. Cowboy shirts with snaps instead of buttons would likely sell even faster.
Here's the thread: http://baexpats.org/...oking-for-work/
ajoknoblauch
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There are some very good high school programs in Oakland Unified, but also some very low-achieving schools. Such a generalization as you've made is highly misleading.
MnParaPalermo
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I find it hard to believe that I can make a steady profit by flying cowboy shirts from the US to BsAs. If I was going to push something internationally, it would definitely be of greater value than clothing.
steveinbsas
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The point I was making is that it is possible to make more money in BA by selling used cowboy shirts (that were purchased in thrift shops in the USA) than teaching English in Buenos Aires.
If you don't have the "working capital" to invest in more expensive items for resale in BA (that you could bring in checked luggage), one way to build up the funds required to make the investment would be to start with goods that were inexpensive to buy, easy to pack, unlikely to raise any red flags with the Aduana, and easy to sell at a very high profit margin. It doesn't have to be shirts. You can only bring in a few electronic items this way without risking having to pay 50% duty and if, in order to try to fool customs, you don't also bring the original box, the resale price will be affected. Many expats have made a few bucks this way, but I don't think anyone has actually made a living doing it. A good friend of mine from the US made a lot of money buying used clothes at Goodwill Stores in Arizona and taking a trailer full twice a year to Sayulita, Mexico where he and his wife had a retail store.
I enjoyed shopping in thrift shops when lived in the US and always do so when I return for a visit. While shopping for used cowboy shirts at a Salvation Army Red Shield store during my last trip to San Francisco I found a $2000 cashmere sport coat by Ermenegildo Zegna in my size for $5.00 (There was a 50% off sale on Fridays). I have to admit I didn't make a profit on it in BA because I have no desire to sell it. It had a small tear at the end of one sleeve that disappeared when I had the sleeve shortened. If I had sold it I might have made a greater profit on it than 100 used cowboy shirts, but there is a good market for cowboy shirts from the USA in Argentina (jeans too, but they weigh too much to bring enough in checked luggage to be cost effective). The thrift shops in San Fransisco are close enough that I could go to five or six of them (by bus) almost every morning and when I stayed in Pacific Heights, I could walk to five of them on Filmore in the afternoons.
Redbeanz
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Not trying to be snarky, so with apologies but respect, if you WERE going to teach English, you would really need to be able to use the subjunctive mood correctly. You should also know that "all right" is two words. People paying to learn a language should be able to have a reasonable expectation that the teacher has full knowledge of that language, so the students can learn it correctly. Teaching English really shouldn't be viewed as something anyone can do if he/she can't find any other work.
MnParaPalermo
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No offense taken, I'm just looking for a job of any type. An aquantaince of mine lives here and is from the US. He says that he earns a few bucks from teaching, but we do not talk much. Another option, through craigslist and facebook, could be bartending or as a receptionist in a hotel.
Don't be greedy - customs isn't as likely to notice 20 shirts packed in luggage as they are something like 5 iPhones...
And as been discussed before here somewhere, used clothes from places like North America and Europe are worth quite a bit here. I know of businesses in Paraguay that pay the right people to get clothes through charitable donations that have been sent down to the poor (and I'm pretty sure places that sell used American clothes here [there are some] surely have some inventory that comes from similar sources) because quality, imported used clothing is valuable.
It's illegal to import used clothing for anything other than personal use in most, if not all, of SA. Ostensibly to protect the textiles trade in SA from "unfair" competition, so they can keep cranking out their low- quality, often last a month or a few washes clothes in peace.
In fact, the more I think about this idea, the more I like it and see ways for people to do this. Could be somewhat risky...but there are many, many "clothing shops" in Buenos Aires that have fairly inexpensive clothing that is available in many stores here (better than the cheapest, but not as good as good-quality imported used OR new for that matter) - but are run out of private apartments.
I've been a number of times with my girls to take a look at deals they've found through Facebook or other social media sources. In fact, there's one woman who does this about two blocks from where I live in Recoleta. She has a two-bedroom apartment that she rents specifically as her "showroom". It's on the 6th floor (if I remember correctly) of a decent building with full-floor, but not very big, apartments. She has to come down to let clients in. One room is where she hangs the clothes, on mobile clothes racks, and the other an office. It even has a kitchen. Heh. But her prices are very good and she has a decent variety of clothes that aren't too poorly made at a decent price.
She makes a fortune. But she's been there for at least a couple of years and hasn't had any problems. I've never felt comfortable enough to ask her how she operates.
There are other people who are like traveling salesmen in that they literally bring a couple of bags of clothes to your apartment - when called of course. Usually those aren't the best quality, but there are some surprises - but always low prices.
So, if someone wanted to start a business selling button-down cowboy shirts, they could bring a quite a bit of used clothes at a steal (I've seen the prices on clothes at Goodwill, and there are some absolutely amazing deals available) from North America, Europe and other places and sell them at the same prices as cheaper clothing here and probably not be able to keep enough stock for demand. Advertise through Facebook, pass out cards to people at parties and bars. Maybe offer them on Mercado Libre.
For crying out loud, that's such a better business than teaching English if you have the head for it. You just have to do some research and see how you can get enough clothes down (if I had to, I know enough people that travel here, and they know enough people, that I could get something once or twice a month easily, but maybe not much quantity). I think someone's previously mentioned a service that lines up mules traveling down here with people who want things here. If you could find enough people to bring things down at a relatively low added overhead (almost certainly cheaper than paying for a round trip ticket to bring down a load of clothes, though of course any time you're back home you take advantage to bring some down), I think you could easily beat what you would earn with teaching English.
Think about tax issues and such as well, but you have some of the same problems with teaching English that you'd have to overcome with selling used imported clothing, the major difference probably being the actual importation of product (and we're probably not talking a ton of clothing, not a get-rich high-volume business).
It's much easier to sell quality clothing than it is to find clients teaching English. And probably more lucrative and allowing more time off. Think of this - even English teachers need to buy clothes, which includes pretty much everyone, but the market for English teaching services among the population, while not small, is probably not as big.
Unless you like to work in the corporate world, in a controlled environment and are lucky enough to land a job with someone like Bradley and his setup (although I don't know anything more than what he's written about). I can understand that desire - I was in the corporate world for a good twenty years, and various levels and sizes of companies in two different industries. I'd never go back - I'd probably end up living under a bridge first, heh.
But finding a good position like that here is probably not going to be easy for someone with little experience. Then you're stuck with hustling clients or hooking up with a school that pays relatively little and demands a lot and treats you like crap...and so on.
And as been discussed before here somewhere, used clothes from places like North America and Europe are worth quite a bit here. I know of businesses in Paraguay that pay the right people to get clothes through charitable donations that have been sent down to the poor (and I'm pretty sure places that sell used American clothes here [there are some] surely have some inventory that comes from similar sources) because quality, imported used clothing is valuable.
It's illegal to import used clothing for anything other than personal use in most, if not all, of SA. Ostensibly to protect the textiles trade in SA from "unfair" competition, so they can keep cranking out their low- quality, often last a month or a few washes clothes in peace.
In fact, the more I think about this idea, the more I like it and see ways for people to do this. Could be somewhat risky...but there are many, many "clothing shops" in Buenos Aires that have fairly inexpensive clothing that is available in many stores here (better than the cheapest, but not as good as good-quality imported used OR new for that matter) - but are run out of private apartments.
I've been a number of times with my girls to take a look at deals they've found through Facebook or other social media sources. In fact, there's one woman who does this about two blocks from where I live in Recoleta. She has a two-bedroom apartment that she rents specifically as her "showroom". It's on the 6th floor (if I remember correctly) of a decent building with full-floor, but not very big, apartments. She has to come down to let clients in. One room is where she hangs the clothes, on mobile clothes racks, and the other an office. It even has a kitchen. Heh. But her prices are very good and she has a decent variety of clothes that aren't too poorly made at a decent price.
She makes a fortune. But she's been there for at least a couple of years and hasn't had any problems. I've never felt comfortable enough to ask her how she operates.
There are other people who are like traveling salesmen in that they literally bring a couple of bags of clothes to your apartment - when called of course. Usually those aren't the best quality, but there are some surprises - but always low prices.
So, if someone wanted to start a business selling button-down cowboy shirts, they could bring a quite a bit of used clothes at a steal (I've seen the prices on clothes at Goodwill, and there are some absolutely amazing deals available) from North America, Europe and other places and sell them at the same prices as cheaper clothing here and probably not be able to keep enough stock for demand. Advertise through Facebook, pass out cards to people at parties and bars. Maybe offer them on Mercado Libre.
For crying out loud, that's such a better business than teaching English if you have the head for it. You just have to do some research and see how you can get enough clothes down (if I had to, I know enough people that travel here, and they know enough people, that I could get something once or twice a month easily, but maybe not much quantity). I think someone's previously mentioned a service that lines up mules traveling down here with people who want things here. If you could find enough people to bring things down at a relatively low added overhead (almost certainly cheaper than paying for a round trip ticket to bring down a load of clothes, though of course any time you're back home you take advantage to bring some down), I think you could easily beat what you would earn with teaching English.
Think about tax issues and such as well, but you have some of the same problems with teaching English that you'd have to overcome with selling used imported clothing, the major difference probably being the actual importation of product (and we're probably not talking a ton of clothing, not a get-rich high-volume business).
It's much easier to sell quality clothing than it is to find clients teaching English. And probably more lucrative and allowing more time off. Think of this - even English teachers need to buy clothes, which includes pretty much everyone, but the market for English teaching services among the population, while not small, is probably not as big.
Unless you like to work in the corporate world, in a controlled environment and are lucky enough to land a job with someone like Bradley and his setup (although I don't know anything more than what he's written about). I can understand that desire - I was in the corporate world for a good twenty years, and various levels and sizes of companies in two different industries. I'd never go back - I'd probably end up living under a bridge first, heh.
But finding a good position like that here is probably not going to be easy for someone with little experience. Then you're stuck with hustling clients or hooking up with a school that pays relatively little and demands a lot and treats you like crap...and so on.
MnParaPalermo
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UPDATE #4
Went to the high school today; I posted the address earlier on in the thread. It was a grimy, coarse building but had an open air court. I talked with a man at the front desk and he pointed me to a room called "fotocopias" where I could go and get copies of study material. Lucky me, however, the room happened to be closed every wednesday after 4. Before I left, he told me two extra things-
First, I was told that I must have all my documents and a tramite started at another location, Montevideo, to sign up for and take the tests. My sister has them apostilled, they still need to be shipped via fedex, translated and copied.
Second, I can come back tomorrow to buy something called "Programas". It is a fotocopy of of the material I need to study and pass in the coming months of August and September.
Update on the Job also-
My friend, an expat, has a job teaching english at one of the schools here. I am not sure on the pay or details, but he did say that I might be able to sart as early as the 12th. I do not consider this an opportunity to earn a living, but it is definitely something to do until I can find some legit work with a DNI.
Avanzamos
Went to the high school today; I posted the address earlier on in the thread. It was a grimy, coarse building but had an open air court. I talked with a man at the front desk and he pointed me to a room called "fotocopias" where I could go and get copies of study material. Lucky me, however, the room happened to be closed every wednesday after 4. Before I left, he told me two extra things-
First, I was told that I must have all my documents and a tramite started at another location, Montevideo, to sign up for and take the tests. My sister has them apostilled, they still need to be shipped via fedex, translated and copied.
Second, I can come back tomorrow to buy something called "Programas". It is a fotocopy of of the material I need to study and pass in the coming months of August and September.
Update on the Job also-
My friend, an expat, has a job teaching english at one of the schools here. I am not sure on the pay or details, but he did say that I might be able to sart as early as the 12th. I do not consider this an opportunity to earn a living, but it is definitely something to do until I can find some legit work with a DNI.
Avanzamos