South America is a very popular destination for new TEFL teachers. Generally speaking it’s popular mostly with American teachers but you will certainly find other nationalities there.
Although some jobs are advertised online, many schools in South America do not have an internet presence so they tend to rely on more local contacts. Often you stand the best chance of finding work if you are actually in country.
There tends to be a great divide when it comes to language schools. In some cases you may be teaching at a high-tech university with modern facilities, or you could easily find work teaching at a small one-room school with no facilities just around the corner. In general, pay is not great in South America (although enough to live on) and it is not always easy to save… but of course this depends on where you are the kind of school you work for. There are great contrasts and you can make good money, especially with private business lessons in the major cities.
The usual qualifications to teach in South America are a degree and a good TEFL Certificate. In some countries you may also be able to find work without a degree although a TEFL certificate is still usually required.
Countries in South America
See also Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico for other nearby destinations.
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Falkland Islands – English speaking with no TEFL/TESOL opportunities
- French Guyana
- Guyana
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
See also Teaching English in Latin America.
Did you know that if you subscribe to our website, you will receive email notifications whenever content changes or new content is added.
1. Enter your e-mail address below and click the Sign Me Up button.
2. You will receive an email asking you to confirm your intention of subscribing to our site.
3. Click the link in the email to confirm. That’s all there is to it! Note: if you wish to unsubscribe from our site, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email you received.
Then indicate you no longer wish to receive our emails.
Thank You
IWeb TEFL Team