Rusty English Lecturer / ESL Teacher from Perth who is thinking BA would be good :-)

[Johnno]

Hi all,

May as well jump in here and introduce myself

John is the name - British / Australian and I have taught English / ESL in places like Japan, Thailand, Qatar, UAE, Scotland, etc...

I'm a Perth boy (Australia) but have been working outside the teaching / education field for several years now and I have the urge to get back into it...

I also have the urge to make a 'sea change' if you will - but instead of moving to the sea I think I'll change country instead I have always wanted to live in Buenos Aires - the place has always fascinated me...

Well - this year I am thinking I will take the bull by the horns and go for it

So - thats why I am here - and will be grateful if anyone out there has tips, suggestions, contacts, ideas and so

Good to be here and many thanks in advance

John.

 

[irishvan]

Hi Johnno,

I have now lived here for one year so would be happy to meet you and talk. Not into writing lengthy emails. There is a little infor at www.daveseslcafe.com and some of the archives of this site.

 

[Christy Caldwell]

Hi John,
Welcome to the thread. There is plenty of work here...and they seem to like native speakers. It is not well paid but it's never been the most lucrative of professions anyway. The going rate is between 25 and 40 pesos an hour. I have 4 employers; two private teachers who give me students and 2 institutes that send me into businesses to teach. The people here are wonderful! Very friendly, intelligent and eager to learn and the BA life is one of the best an ex-pat can find...hope this helps!
Christy

 

[Johnno]

Thanks Christy and Irishvan I would love to hook up with you both if possible - the first piece of advice I was given about moving to BA was to start NETWORKING as quickly as possible so that when my feet touch the ground I am able to start doing something productive rather than trying to live of extremely meagre savings I'd rather not blow lol

I will be coming down in July for about 2 or 3 weeks - hoping to rent an apartment in BA for that time - and to get a feel for the place and so on - maybe I can get a few interviews too - the game plan is to be trying to get into full time work or get enough hours happening when I get down there the second time - probably December/January - so the first visit in July is more about getting a feel for the place, having a holiday to chill/relax and meeting people and starting to build my network

John.

PS PM me if you would like to get my msn and yahoo IDs - would be good to have a few people I can be chatting to now - so hopefully help me from making too many mistakes and to maybe point me in the right direction here and there

 

[Johnno]

PS I am guessing that if I come on my British or Irish passport it would be better than coming on my Australian ? (I heard EU passports are better down there ?)

 

[mendozanow]

PS I am guessing that if I come on my British or Irish passport it would be better than coming on my Australian ? (I heard EU passports are better down there ?)

The big thing is you will not have to pay the $130 US or so reciprocity fee on arrival in BA if you use your EU passport.

 

[Johnno]

Thanks for that tip Mendozanow - I will definitely fly in on my British passport

 

[2GuysInPM]

The big thing is you will not have to pay the $130 US or so reciprocity fee on arrival in BA if you use your EU passport.

for Australian passport holders, the fee shold be USD $100.

 

[laureltp]

From my experience here it's easy to fall for some bad deals at institutions. I think it's important to stand your ground and don't work for less than you are worth. I had a friend who was a highly qualified English teacher who was working for 15 pesos and like 10 hours a day.(the institute was Wallstreet by the way, stay away from those guys!) I am not trying to scare you, I am just saying be careful with yourself.

A good idea, to make extra money on the side is to teach private lessons. I have heard of people charging up to 50 pesos for private lessons (although I believe the average is 30 to 40).

I think you will enjoy the students. A lot of them are really curious to hear about the customs of other countries and enjoy studying with native speakers. Good luck!

 

[michaelk]

Stop – do not come here. You WILL become the victim of multiple crimes. Furthermore if you are female, blond, Swedish (and able to wind up gullible male forum members), you will be lynched in the street. Sorry, I hadn’t seen a post like that on this thread so I thought it best to keep the traditions of the forum.
Seriously, been here about three months myself. If you’ve got experience and are qualified you shouldn’t have any probs finding work. There are enough institutes offering a reasonable rate (30 pesos per hour and above) so you shouldn’t have to work for much lower than that. When your established with them you can sometimes up the rate, if you feel they’re underpaying you. I’m happy to share the ones I recommend. As has been said private students are much more lucrative but are very flaky here (change their minds/cancel classes all the bloody time).

All the best - Michael