Teaching English As A Stopgap

[Davidglen77]

Here 90% of your bus rides will cost under $0.20 usd. That's dirt cheap. I some times take the bus 6 blocks instead of walking because ARS1.50 is inconsequential these days, that just wrong.

Quoting prices in U$D for anything to people who live here and earn pesos is not a correct way to measure costs. It's similar to what INDEC does with the inflation statistics. If a person here is working as an english teacher and earning $3000 pesos per month then saying "well lunch only costs $5,00 U$D and $0,20 U$D for a bus ride because you are talking to someone who is earning around $400 U$D per month and although those amounts are small by themselves when your ARG peso salary is measured in dollars it's very difficult to manage on a long term basis.

 

[PhilipDT]

Quoting prices in U$D for anything to people who live here and earn pesos is not a correct way to measure costs. It's similar to what INDEC does with the inflation statistics. If a person here is working as an english teacher and earning $3000 pesos per month then saying "well lunch only costs $5,00 U$D and $0,20 U$D for a bus ride because you are talking to someone who is earning around $400 U$D per month and although those amounts are small by themselves when your ARG peso salary is measured in dollars it's very difficult to manage on a long term basis.

If I say that the bus costs ARS 1.60 or USD 0.17 it's the same thing. Just like earning 70 pesos an hour is they same as earning USD 7.50 an hour. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

She's in the US. I quoted prices in dollars because its easier for people to comprehend prices in a currency they're familiar with rather than one they are not.

Buses are still ridiculously cheap.

 

[sivan]

on a side note: I believe that the amount of dollars you are allowed to bring in is 10,000. not sure where you heard 500? Argentina doesn't mind people bringing them IN, its trying to get them OUT that's the issue!
Also if you do end up doing something freelance there are several threads about using XOOM to access your money. (I am South African so i don't pay much attention but there are lots of other expats that can help you with that or search for XOOM and read some of the threads about it)

 

[ARbound]

My advise is to forget about teaching unless you have expierence doing so, a TESL certification, and more than $500.00 USD in cash on you when you touch down.

The market for English Teachers is saturated with people like myself who thought they could get a job teaching English just because they speak it. Without the certification AND expierence you'll be hard pressed to get enough hours a week, let alone a month.

I applied for every ad I saw and what many didn't say is that without the expierence or certification my CV was going in the trash.

Now, if you're a woman you might be able to get work as a nanny but that pays even worse than institutes.

I finally was offered a contract that is 9 hours a day, 5 days a week for $33.00 ARS an hour (+/-$3.60 USD). From talking with my friends who are all native Argies with work expierence here, I make the most of us, and only my best friend's boyfriend makes more because he does TV commercials and stuff.

Finally, coming from IT world I'm going to assume you like technology. Prepare to lower your expectations greatly. All 3/4 telecom companies suck (Movistar being the worst) and the service with 3G (when it works) is actually EDGE in America. It's also very expensive to buy electronics unless they're plastered in Blue and Orange Tierra del Fuego stickers, even then a 32" TV for example is 4K ARS.

Finally, there's the inflation part. If your budget is 5K ARS a month when you get here, you'll need to make 6,500 ARS 11-12 months later to have the same standard of living. INDEC (the government stats bureau/bullshit factory) may say 10%, but apartments, businesses, and everyone else knows it is 20%-30% depending on what you're talking about. My rent goes up 20% or 30% in one year from now, whatever we agreed to in the contract because inflation is just that uncontrolled.

P.S. Don't let this scare you. I'm not saying don't come, I'm just saying be realistic and realize much of what you read about Arge is grossly outdated. One of the few places on Earth where a 2013 Ford will cost more in 2014...

 

[lucha54]

Finally, there's the inflation part. If your budget is 5K ARS a month when you get here, you'll need to make 6,500 ARS 11-12 months later to have the same standard of living. INDEC (the government stats bureau/bullshit factory) may say 10%, but apartments, businesses, and everyone else knows it is 20%-30% depending on what you're talking about. My rent goes up 20% or 30% in one year from now, whatever we agreed to in the contract because inflation is just that uncontrolled.

Rent rises between 20-30%, but in the past year, several products and foodstuffs that I bought last year and still buy this year have increased 50-100% in price depending on where I am buying them from. (Frutigran cookies, quinoa, many others)

 

[mixiekins]

on a side note: I believe that the amount of dollars you are allowed to bring in is 10,000. not sure where you heard 500?...
... Also if you do end up doing something freelance there are several threads about using XOOM to access your money...

Oh, it said that on the customs page when I was filing my Reciprocity Fee and such. It also said it on the Customs form they handed out when we were entering Argentine airspace before landing. I'll look into it some more since many of y'all are saying 10,000 USD is the actual limit. I'll report back once I find more info.

My advise is to forget about teaching unless you have expierence doing so, a TESL certification, and more than $500.00 USD in cash on you when you touch down....
P.S. Don't let this scare you. I'm not saying don't come, I'm just saying be realistic and realize much of what you read about Arge is grossly outdated. One of the few places on Earth where a 2013 Ford will cost more in 2014...

Yeah, it definitely seems so. Thanks for your insight! I've moved on and started looking at IT again. Some others have been chatting with me in PM's and encourage freelance IT and working online/telecommute type jobs. I'm actually doing pretty well already on elance, got my first gig last night, so I'm on my way to building a positive reputation there. Hopefully it will work out better this way. Thanks so much!!!

Rent rises between 20-30%, but in the past year, several products and foodstuffs that I bought last year and still buy this year have increased 50-100% in price depending on where I am buying them from. (Frutigran cookies, quinoa, many others)

Ouch! I heard the inflation of food was bad, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. Dang!
Ah, and I was in town during the flour shortage. Gosh, in just one day the price doubled at once market, and tripled at another. It was nuts!




Also, on a side note guys, perhaps we can lay the transit costs thing to rest? I don't want to rock the boat with this thread. Thanks kindly!