Re: Black ESL teachers in Asia & Latin America

Hi Felicia,

My name is Rachel and I am originally from Latin America, where I attended a bilingual English/Spanish school. I also worked as an ESL teacher in Asia for several years.

I can tell you that you shouldn't be discouraged by your race or ethnicity. Believe it or not, it is not as easy as it looks to get North Americans and Europeans to relocate to South American countries. I can tell you that racism still does exist and is prevalent in both Asia and South America, but... then again, racism exists everywhere. I was an ESL teacher in Japan being Hispanic and this was never an issue. On another encouraging note, I myself in Colombia had teachers from the USA, Canada, and Britain who were "imported" to my school, and even back then (over 10 years ago) we had African-American teachers from Canada and the US. I assure you, things could have only gotten better since then.

I can tell you that a good place to start is to Google the official bilingual schools of the countries you'd prefer to teach in. In South America, there are numerous private schools that offer English education, many of whom sponsor their teachers to relocate. I can give you a few names that come to mind, but there's many more per country.

This would be my recommendation

1. Select the countries you'd like to teach in (e.g. Colombia, Mexico, Peru, etc)
2. Find the top 3 largest cities (For example: In Colombia: Bogota, Medellin, Cali ; In Peru: Lima, Arequipa)
3. Google the top schools in each city (For example: Colombia, Cali => Colegio Bolivar, Colegio Jefferson, Colegio Britanico
Possible Google Searches:
Colombia Cali Colegio Bilingue Ingles
Peru Colegio Bilingue
Mexico Colegio Americano
or any combination of the following words
colegio = school
liceo = school
academia = academy
bilingue = bilingual
ingles = english

4. Contact the schools by email and enquire about positions as an English teacher.

Another common way my school would find teachers is that they would contact their local American/Canadian/British embassy and inquire about expats residing in the city or looking for work. Contact the embassy of your native country (e.g. USA) in your country of choice and they may be able to refer you to the most likely bilingual schools in the area.

Best of Luck in your search!

Black ESL teachers in Asia & Latin America

I completed a TEFL Certification this summer and am now researching Asian & Latin American countries. As a new teacher and a single African-American woman, is there anyone out there who can advise me how to negotiate the inevitable trials & tribulations of my new career path? Would love to hear from new & veteran teachers....Thanks!