Teaching placements

Product Details

Volunteers will assist other teachers and also take classes for themselves. Students range from around nine years of age to mature adults - such is the popularity of learning English! This fantastic opportunity not only equips Argentinean children with a useful skill but also furthers the personal enrichment of volunteers who know they are making a valuable contribution to Argentinean society.

You will be working with conversation classes, dealing with reading comprehension and vocabulary mainly. The age group is mainly adults but you will be working with children and teenagers as well. Adults work in companies and need both every-day language and Business English. Many students prepare for Cambridge exams and TEFL. In a couple of placements you will be asked to share break-time duties with the other teachers, helping the secretary with office work, photocopying and library work. In one placement you will be asked to assist with classes in the state school giving you an opportunity to interact with less privileged.

Placements are fairly equally divided between schools and institutos (language centres teaching seven different languages). All these are generally private, non-state establishments.

Schools have kindergarten, primary and secondary sections, with pupils arriving aged four and staying on the same campus till the age of eighteen. Institutos cater for the phenomenal growth in the need to learn the English language. They vary in size from 50 to 1000 pupils, though most pupils only attend for a few hours each week. They work mainly in the mornings and evenings. Classes tend to be small, rarely more than 10 and occasionally individual tuition. The Institutos normally follow strict syllabuses and award certificates at the end of each year.

Locations

Lattitude teaching placements are nearly all in the west of the country, never far from the Andes. They stretch from Salta in the north, close to the Bolivian border, to Neuquen in the south, the largest city of Argentine Patagonia, and going eastwards to Buenos Aires and Cordoba.

Skills required

Some knowledge of Spanish is also desirable for work in institutes and essential for work in schools, where the ability to help with music, drama or sport could be an advantage. However if you have no Spanish but are willing to learn, you may also be considered.

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Our users say...

"When I decided to take a year out I knew that I wanted to teach English in South America. I had considered backpacking around, but the idea of living and working in a community appealed to me a lot more. Argentina has always interested me; the country of polo, gauchos and tango (although it is difficult to see a connection between these). I decided to go with Lattitude, a charity organisation because of its good reputation and non-profit ethos. In order to teach English as a Foreign Language I was required to attend a one-week teaching course in London, as well as a briefing on what to expect."Abi