Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) is really one of
the only jobs available to English speaking expats living in Buenos Aires. I’ve heard that jobs in the tourism and restaurant
industry exist, but the easiest jobs to find are teaching English is schools
and private institutes. So what is
teaching English like down here in the Paris of the South? To be honest it’s pretty unglamorous and a
bit frustrating. English schools often
times experience a high English teacher turnover rat. The main reason being that the pay is squat,
teachers make anywhere from $8-$11 USD an hour.
The hours are low. Students are
usually only interested in taking English classes in the morning, late
afternoons and evenings, which often means you only have 10-20 hours of work a
week. Full time employment is virtually
non-existent, as is the possibility of making decent money. The third thing that factor is travel
time. A twenty hour work week can end up
being a thirty hour work week due to travel time if your classes are located in
different parts of the city, and while Buenos Aires does have a subway and bus
system, there are often strikes which lead to subway closures and overcrowded
buses. Basically, you earn enough money
to pay your rent, eat and buy yourself an occasional treat. So is it worth it? Well, it really depends on what a person
hopes to gain from their experience in Buenos Aires.
I am no stranger to this city or unfamiliar with the bureaucracy
that exists. I lived for a semester in Buenos Aires back in 2004 and traveled
back and forth on several other occasions.
This however was back when things were much less expensive and before
inflation had caused the prices of food to rise astronomically, but when my
husband Thomas and I decided to come to Buenos Aires it was not to make our
fortune. My personal goal was to improve
my Spanish and gain some valuable teaching experience. My husband Thomas, who lugged what felt like
50 lbs of camera equipment, came with the goal of taking some fantastic
photographs. A couple weeks in, and I
discovered I too enjoy taking pictures, and together we have enjoyed
documenting life in Buenos Aires. Even
though we both work for peanuts, the opportunity to experience big city life
has been totally worth it. This however
may not be the case for all expats who decide to embark on an adventure down
south. I chatted with an American ESL teacher on the subway a few weeks
ago. She had been teaching in Korea and
before that Japan. She had only been in
Buenos Aires a couple of weeks but expressed the desire to leave as soon as she
was able to secure a position abroad somewhere else. “Teaching
English here is nothing like teaching
English is Korea and Japan…they pay you nothing here, and I find that schools
here exists by taking advantage of teachers…I don’t know how you can stand it
here,” she said to me. I sort of
responded with a shrug and I told her it’s not for everyone I guess, and that
is my advice for anyone who is interesting in coming here to work and
live. Decide what your goals are and if
making money is one of them…then you might need to reconsider Buenos Aires as
your destination. However, if you are
interested in learning Spanish, eating some wonderful cuisine, making friends
with some amazingly hospitable people and experience adventure in a face paced
city, then come on down…the water really ain’t that bad.
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