Post: #1

So I taught ESL in Bogota, Colombia, and made some rookie mistakes that led to it being really economically unsustainable. I'm writing this to help some of the young guys avoid these mistakes.

Salaries are not high, and in Bogota at least, many places paid only once a month. So you have to have some money in the bank and be frugal if you truly want to live off this money.

The first thing that fucked me up was that I went down in September, did my CELTA (TEFL Certification from Cambridge, the most "respected" one), and then looked for work in October. Found work in late October, but then in mid December everyone goes on Christmas break until mid-January.

So really, from September - February I only ended up working 6 weeks. I had saved up some money before the trip, and that was all spent on living, and I ended up going into debt.

So the first thing is accounting for this long Christmas break, and not going anytime in the fall. For me the perfect time to go would be January. Spend Christmas and New Year's in the U.S., say goodbye, and head down sometime around January 15.

You could choose to do a CELTA course there, which I found to be half the price of doing it in the U.S., or you could just pay for it in the U.S. and arrive and look for a job straight away.

This way, even though the salary will probably work out to something like $1,000 a month, you will at least have a steady stream of it.

So Imagine you just graduated High School or College and don't know what to do. It's June. I advise moving home and working hard, saving up at least $8,000 if you can, and heading down only after a few months of saving up.

I'll continue to update this with more "I should have" thoughts if dudes have other questions.

Post: #2

I came across this and I'm mildly interested. You have the experience- what would you say?

http://www.teachingenglishcolombia.org/?...ign=Hannah

Post: #3

$600 a month.

That's $1.7 million Colombian Pesos.

Depending on where you are that can be absolutely unworkable or ok. Just if you go make sure you have several thousand dollars saved up in the bank for airfare back home and general emergencies, as well as a few thousand saved up just so you can not be sweating money there.

Look into it more and see if you would be able to pick your location or if they send you wherever they want. Keep in mind many dudes here have raved about small-town Colombia where the Gringo factor is insane. Of course, despite that, the major cities are still the most popular destination by far.

It's less than a year too, so if money isn't your concern, check it out.

But realize it's $600 a month, even with Colombia being a "cheap" country, you will make $6,000 in 10 months of work.

Post: #4

Yes the break in December and January really is a factor in Colombia. It is complicating my upcoming trip there, which starts in October. I remember Bogotá being pretty much a ghost town around the holidays. Does anyone know if Cali is like this, too? What about other cities? If Cali stays the same throughout all of December in anticipation of the Feria then I might as well go to some other places first and then do Cali from December 1st. Sorry for slight derail. I have been thinking about teaching ESL in Colombia as a way to earn extra income and supplement cold-approaching. I want to explore more of the country first, though, before deciding on where exactly.