Teaching English in Buenos Aires

[willsmith3511]

Hi all I'm planning on moving to Buenos Aires at the end of February in hopes of finding a job teaching English. I was hoping to hear about the process of finding a job, the experience living in the city, and any potential opportunities that might be out there from anyone who has has gone through the experience or knows someone who does. Please let me know! Thanks!

 

[tangobob]

Join the queue. There are more hopeful English teachers here than Tango teachers.

 

[Rich One]

Please search the Forum for experiences and rates.. Here are Some very general remarks to keep in mind:

1. As the economy falls less students so less teachers needed , English lessons are not an essential
2. Institutes, Schools and Companies prefer very Xp teachers with work visas, as there are abundant , no need to sponsor visas
3. In this oversupply the rates fall to obtain business.

Private lessons are a different issue , its a matter of luck , we hear about the new arrival who met a diplomat, at the airport that needed lessons for the entire family, five days a week.... and later moved with the family to Italy.
Being a young attractive female may also help

 

[mmoon]

You will find when you search this site that many have come to BA wanting to teach English, and few have succeeded. Assuming you will earn your income from locals who will pay in pesos, you can not expect to make a very good living right now. If you are determined to give it a try, I would do what you can to make yourself stand out from the pack as a tutor, whether you travel to students' homes to give lessons there, or mix the lessons with a cultural exchange, movie nights, cooking lessons, or something different. Unless you have an in to an existing school, I believe you will have difficulty finding a job in any kind of institution. Sorry not to be more encouraging, but I wish you luck!

 

[TruchoTango]

The girl I knew who taught english here constantly lamented the problems with transportation over such a large city. In other words, she could only get in 3 -4 lessons per day - if she was lucky - because it took so long to get from place to place. This dynamic undermined her ability to earn an acceptable living.

 

[GMXam]

Teach English remotely via skype/hangouts/etc. You will earn in the business' associated currency(ies), and you can work from anywhere with internet. I second both mmoon's and TruchoTango's comments, having had many friends and acquaintances over the past 5 years who have attempted this. None of them live here anymore, some only lasting a year, others lasting slightly longer because they lived with another person sharing the costs of living, only to ultimately switch professions entirely (all of them). If you go in knowing the facts, you can plan adequately and maybe do both to see for yourself what works for you without the risk of eating rice and beans for weeks. Good luck, and welcome!

 

[highland110]

Hey WillSmith,

I don't recommend having your full income depend on teaching locally. Private classes may not be consistent and institutes generally don't pay well. As previously mentioned, some teachers have to travel a lot and I don't think it's worth it.

Another option is to teach English online. You would get paid in USD and not be subject to the unstability of the peso.

OpenEnglish and EF pay less but offer more flexibility while the Chinese companies (VIPKIDS, DADA ABC, Magic Ears, etc) pay quite well but are much more strict.

I work for EF, let me know if you have any questions.

 

[RichardP]

The only issue with teaching purely online is that you will miss out on meeting some really cool people. Some of my students from 25 years ago are now life long friends and I've gotten some great invites over the years out of it. Some have even visited me in the US.
Yes, it's crazy but you won't really get to know BA unless you have to criss cross the city to make ends meet.

 

[Aztangogirl]

Join the queue. There are more hopeful English teachers here than Tango teachers.

And There are SO many tango teachers!