Hola, ola' and hello--
I'm interested in working in South America this coming year, and have been comparing TEFL, TESOL, and seemingly every other program under the sun. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for in terms of an English-teaching licensure program in another country? Do you even feel it is necessary to have a certification if you already have some informal language teaching experience? I'm especially interested in both Argentina and Brazil. Has anyone tried a program there?
Muchisimas gracias!

I've heard that once you have a TEFL you can pretty much teach anywhere, but I've also heard from quite a few people that it's not hard to find work even without the license. A friend of mine just started teaching English in Buenos Aires. I'm not sure the program but I can find out for you if you want--let me know.

Hi everyone. Thanks for starting this group. I work for Friends of the Orphans, and we help recruit/screen/select volunteers to serve in the 9 homes called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos in Latin America and the Caribbean. We do need ESL teachers at times. Volunteers must be 21, have AT LEAST a basic knowledge of Spanish (and be willing to go to language school if it's too basic), be hard working and patient. We pay volunteers a small stipend and provide room and board- not a way to say money, but better than many programs that charge to volunteer. Volunteers must commit for at least 1 year. For more details, please see www.nph.org.

Teaching ESL in one of NPH's home is a hard job! Those volutneers with prior teaching experience and A LOT of patience do best. All of the kids are orphaned, and for many it's their first experience in school. Many have learning disabilities due to malnutrition, and traumas they have lived through.

Please let me know if you may be itnerested in volunteering to teach ESL at NPH!
volunteers@friendsus.org

Alicia,
I spent 7 months in Antigua, Guatemala doing work pretty similar to what it sounds like you're thinking about. Basically, I worked part time for a local NGO, taught private English lessons, and bartended a few nights a week to make ends meet. (I was able to live pretty comfortably, but also relied on my credit card a bit more than I should have!) I found the NGO job on idealist after arriving in Guatemala. I did take an online TEFL course but didn't find it that helpful. My best teaching resource was an intermediate level English workbook I found in the language section of Barnes & Noble... if I were doing it again I would bring a beginning level book too. I pretty much found my students through word of mouth, and could have found a lot more if I had wanted just by hanging a few fliers around town... I found English lessons to be in high demand. Overall, definitely found a LOT of opportunities to volunteer and make a difference down there, and didn't have too hard of a time patchworking together different things to be able to live there long term (came home to go to grad school, not because I ran out of options). If you're thinking about Guatemala, especially the Antigua area, I can definitely help you with organizations and a bit of local orientation. Good luck!

Annie,
Antigua, Guatemala is definately on my list of places to volunteer. By any chance, did you volunteer with Camino Seguro? I was thinking of doing that program, but have decided on volunteering with an NGO in Ecuador for a couple fo months. However, I would still like to talk to you for advice, and if I ever decide to go to Guatemala I will certainly contact you. What is the atmosphere like in Antigua? What kind of NGO work did you do and how did you like it? As for teahing English, I have been considering doing that on the side. You think buying a book and teaching yourself how to teach is more beneficial than taking an online TEFL course? That sounds good to me considering all of the money you have to put out to get TEFL certifided. Also, another question that all Americans have to unfortunately deal with. What did you do about healthcare while you werw abroad? Thanks so much for responding to this thread and I look forward to hearing what you have to say. If you don't mind my asking, what are you going to study in graduate school? Thanks!

Alicia....My daughter and I, ages 20 and 54 respectively, went to Antigua in May with the intention of working with Camino Seguro. For readers who may not know, it serves kids of the Guatemala City's dump pickers. It is an awesome program, beautiful and successful. BUT, since the founder died in a car crash early this year and the project received a lot of publicity, the volunteer program has been strained. They have too many volunteers with great intentions but poor language skills, and not enough time. My daughter, who had only had a couple years of h.s. spanish but was taking 4 hours a day 1 on1 lessons in Antigua, immediately knew that her placement was way beyond her capabilities. She found a different situation with handicapped kids in a hospital that suited it perfectly. It felt that Camino Seguro had mislead us to believe that volunteers were needed, and her trip had been planned around that. It was initially a big blow.
My spanish is good, so I was placed to help los basicos (14-18 year olds) with their homework. The bus ride to and from the project made my days about 12 hours long...which would have been fine if I felt I was productive a good chunk of that time. Instead I felt pretty superfluous....hanging out while kids eat, have special classes, marching here and there....I figured that I was really working only about 2 hours a day, and was pretty expendable. My biggest achievement was teaching guitar chords to a couple kids. I had fun, but not enough to stay. After 2 weeks, I, too, went to work in Hermano Pedro hospital, with ancianas.
I would suggest Camino Seguro to people with good language skills who can commit to a long stay...several months at least. One volunteer in particular there feels that she has found her life's work, so I don't want to discourage anyone. They just have an overabundance of shot time volunteers now. If you decide to go, I suggest you question the volunteer coordinator thoroughly.

I would love to hear more about ARGENTINA (attn: Alicia and Gabriel). I've been drawn to it since hearing from my brother who has been through there quite a bit working for Outward Bound and recently bought a small remote patch of lad outside of Bariloche. I definatly plan on visiting him and Buenos Aires but it would be even better if I could find a job there, particularly teaching english in BA. I know almost no spanish so it seems like the only job I could get while trying to learn. Gabriel, do you know the name of your friend's program there? Do you think they might work well with someone with no spanish? Does anyone have any suggestions for how to immerse myself in Spanish, Argentina AND get a job?