Need Advice

[HotHamComingThru]

Hello,

I am a 23 year old college grad that would love to move to Argentina with my girlfriend hopefully in august. She wants to teach English down there for about a year and want me to go with her (which I would love to do for the experience). But the thing is will it be relatively easy for me to find something to do down there. I am no fluent in Spanish but i know enough to get around. Like is there any English speaking job that i would be able to obtain? I just don't want to move down there with her and be a bump on a log the whole time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
Sorry if this is the wrong area to post this, I am new to the site


Drew

 

[HowardinBA]

"she wants to teach english" is she qualified?do you have any qualifications?what could you do here in BA?think very carefully before you come here,do you have accomodation reseved?etc etc etc...it,s a huge step for mankind.good luck anyway.you will receive many replies and a lot of good advice from people who have been/still are, in a similar situation,regards Howard

 

[Katie]

What kind of English does your girlfriend want to teach? Like Howard asked, is she TEFL certified? Does she have a degree in education? You should know that most of the English teaching jobs open to foreigners are at institutes (google Wall Street and Bridge to get an idea). It's pretty hard to work for a public or private school due to visa regulations. Finding private students takes time to build up a network, but pays better. It's hard to give advice since we don't know what your education/specialties are.

All I can really say is do your research. You can start on this site by searching "teaching english" or whatever. There are quite a few blogs written by 20-somethings that teach/taught English here. A good one is yillabean.blogspot.com. She has since left Argentina, but she taught English in institutes for several months and wrote quite extensively about teaching, cost of living, etc.

If you don't want to teach English you may find that there simply aren't that many positions available. You can work for a call center (they're always hiring), but I've heard the wages aren't that great and there may be some problems with the visa situation. You can always try to get work as a bartender or waiter, but those are difficult to come by as well. For jobs try computrabajo.com.ar, the classified section of lanacion.com and clarin.com, and craigslist (though craigslist can be a mixed bag). Do you have any contacts in Argentina? Use them.

If you have other questions feel free to send me a PM. I'm also 23, I've been here for a year and a half and I've taught English in several different capacities. Good luck!

 

[NYKate]

http://bloggersinargentina.blogspot.com/

These are good as well! Best of luck!

 

[HowardinBA]

What kind of English does your girlfriend want to teach? Like Howard asked, is she TEFL certified? Does she have a degree in education? You should know that most of the English teaching jobs open to foreigners are at institutes (google Wall Street and Bridge to get an idea). It's pretty hard to work for a public or private school due to visa regulations. Finding private students takes time to build up a network, but pays better. It's hard to give advice since we don't know what your education/specialties are.

All I can really say is do your research. You can start on this site by searching "teaching english" or whatever. There are quite a few blogs written by 20-somethings that teach/taught English here. A good one is yillabean.blogspot.com. She has since left Argentina, but she taught English in institutes for several months and wrote quite extensively about teaching, cost of living, etc.

If you don't want to teach English you may find that there simply aren't that many positions available. You can work for a call center (they're always hiring), but I've heard the wages aren't that great and there may be some problems with the visa situation. You can always try to get work as a bartender or waiter, but those are difficult to come by as well. For jobs try computrabajo.com.ar, the classified section of lanacion.com and clarin.com, and craigslist (though craigslist can be a mixed bag). Do you have any contacts in Argentina? Use them.

If you have other questions feel free to send me a PM. I'm also 23, I've been here for a year and a half and I've taught English in several different capacities. Good luck!

spot on there our Kate...I work privately teaching English to companies and I have my own private students.I drive and cover the Zona Norte.We,ll help anyone if we can.best of luck,Howard

 

[mendozanow]

As per your plans, go for it, but depend on nothing, if you find work great, but be prepared not to.

 

[fred mertz]

I think that it would be rather difficult for both of you to survive on wages paid in pesos. If a landlord is willing to rent to you, you may have to pay for a years' rent up front. Does a combined income of US$1,000.00 a month seem good? Many things here don't cost too much less than in the First World.

 

[sergio]

It´s not cheap here anymore. Come with as much money as you can. Your biggest problem will be accommodation. Expect to pay as much as you would in a moderate / small city in the US. As for teaching, few employers will ask for a teaching certificate of any kind. You would be employed illegally anyway, common here. Call centers may want a visa but you can try. They might be willing to do the necessary paper work but don´t tell them it is for just one year.

 

[HotHamComingThru]

Oh ya sorry i forgot to mention her qualifications. She just graduated from USF with a degree in world languages and international studies. She is getting her TEFL cert this summer.

Thanks alot for the great advice. I will check out those other blogs. I have alot more research ahead of me.