realistic earnings for a TEFL qualified teacher - private tuition/translation work/bilingual PA etc

[dissipatedfog]

teaching English for 30 hours a week, is about 50 to 60 hours a week of work, so that would make it around 10 to 15 peso an hour, not 25-30

I've never heard of an hour of prep per hour teaching! That seems excessive, sorry if you've had to do that. My last job in Honduras had almost no prep (maybe an hour a month), but that's also not normal. I'll see how this job goes for the next few weeks and report back.

 

[CABJ]

You have to travel and have long breaks

 

[ahmed]

Hi,Can some of people who have English teaching jobs comment on how they found their jobs? Also is it necessary to take a TEFL course before? Thanks,
Ahmed

 

[CABJ]

Craigslist
Herald
Writing to the language schools

 

[KatharineAnn]

25 pesos an hour is a GOOD rate. Market rate is about 22-25 per hour. You´re lucky if you find better than that. Working 50 hours a week? Whoever said that is insane, it is just simply impossible. Working 30 hours a week is a LOT, if you consider 1. travel time 2. breaks 3. class prep. As the other poster noted, you don´t work 8 hours back to back like in normal jobs. You work one hour here, one hour there, another there...and you spend time travelling from here to there to there. A comfortable, full time Engish job would be 25 hours a week, but I recommend starting at no more than 20 until you get used to the insanity that is this profession.
Another thing that will lower your salary considerably : cancellations. The nature of teaching one on one is MANY cancellations - around 1 out of every 5 of my classses get cancelled every week, sometimes more. If the student cancels in advance, or your institute has no cancellation policy, you don´t get paid. So expect to earn at least 20% less than your original schedule should indicate.
So, 25 hours a week for 25 pesos an hour that´s about 2500 pesos a month, right? substract maybe 500 from that for cancellations, you can expect around 2000 pesos per month (maybe more, but not much) teaching 25 hours a week.
In sum, it´s not a well-paying job. But it´s not a particularly difficult job, and it´s not a profession. If it´s something to have fun doing for a year, go for it. But if you are like 90% of us, you will get tired of it - and be anxious to make some real money!!

 

[tdjb]

How difficult is the work?

 

[[email protected]]

As regards qualifications accepted, does it make a difference whether you have done a Tefl course or a Tesol course - is it all the same? Cheers,
S.

 

[Brook]

I am thinking of doing a teaching english as secind language course with the aim of finding work in Bs As.

Are there particular qualifications that are preferable e.g. TEFL, TESOL etc.
And will it be easy to find work if i have no prior experience? (I am an Australia who only speaks English...at this stage!)

 

[cujodu]

I spend more time travelling to the classes than I spend on teaching. Or at least the equal amount. If I was teaching 20 hours a week, that's at least 40 including travel time. Your classes will be early morning, lunchtime, and evening. What to do in between? Sit at a cafe and spend one hours pay, twice a day? There goes your pay. Subway, buses, forget a taxi. More money. It's really a losing proposition.

 

[Katie]

Ahmed- another site to check out for jobs is computrabajo.com.ar. You can search for full-time or part-time, as well as different categories, so you don't have to wade through a lot postings to find teaching jobs. I found both of my jobs through the site and interviewed with several others.

Two pieces of advice: when you send an email in response to a job posting, include a copy of your CV in the body of the email as well as attached as a .doc. I also included a CV in Spanish which helped during the interview process as almost all of my interviews were conducted in Spanish.

Good luck! If you have any more questions feel free to send me a pm.