(upbeat music)
- Hi guys, good morning.
This is Brianna coming to you from
Medellin, Colombia.
This is my second ITA takeover.
My takeover today
will be a little bit different than my last one
because I started a new job about a month ago.
So, today I'm gonna begin my morning
like I do most mornings
by teaching English online for a little bit.
A couple days a week I teach online with a Chinese program,
and then a couple other mornings
I teach online with a Japanese company.
So, this is my neighborhood.
I am currently heading out of my house
to go to a Zumba class.
I just started going to Zumba classes a couple of months ago
and there's an awesome dance studio right by my house.
Most of my mornings I really like to go to Zumba class,
like I said.
Also, I like to lesson plan or teach English online
because I don't begin teaching
at my language institute until two in the afternoon.
So, I've seen this question asked a couple times now,
so I thought I'd address it.
I've actually been living in Colombia
for about a year and three months,
and I just got this job
teaching at the language institute about a month ago.
How I found this job
and how I recommend people to find a job like this,
is to just be here.
First of all, I think you really need to be here in Medellin
because a lot of companies,
a lot of schools,
a lot of universities
are not good about responding to emails.
So, I think the best is if you're physically here
and you're making connections with locals
and other expats living here.
A friend of mine told me that her institute had an opening
and that's how I got this job today.
The reason that it took me about a year to find this job
is because I was offered many jobs last year
at different institutes and at different schools,
but there was always an issue.
Either the pay wasn't very good,
maybe the hours weren't very good,
so I was really waiting out.
Something else that's unique
and a little bit difficult about living in Colombia,
is the visa.
Anyone that is from outside of Colombia
can be here for six months per calendar year
on a tourist visa.
A lot of people come here teaching english online
on the tourist visa,
but then if a person seriously wants to stay,
they need to maybe find a student visa or a work visa.
Actually, I had a student visa last year
where I was studying Spanish.
I've had a couple people ask me about housing
and where I live.
I do live in Medellin.
I live in a neighborhood called Lao Dai Les.
I moved here about eight months ago
and here is my beautiful, furnished apartment.
I pay about 250 U.S. dollars.
This apartment has three bedrooms and I was really lucky,
because through the ITA Colombia Facebook page,
I found a couple girls to live with at this apartment.
Here's one of them, Lucy. - Hi.
So, here I'm back with my roommate Lucy
and I just wanted her to tell you guys
a little bit about her experience
teaching here in Medellin.
- I've been in Colombia,
in Medellin, specifically,
since the beginning of the year.
Back when I was in my TEFL course in Chicago,
I never thought I would teach online,
but I've actually loved it
and am riding out my tourist visa,
maybe gonna do student visa,
and then explore some more options.
So, yeah.
- So, here is right outside of my apartment.
I have a beautiful neighborhood.
I'm about to head to work now.
I'm going to work a little bit earlier today
because I have a meeting.
Hi guys.
So, these are two of my students at the language institute.
First, my student Sada.
Why are you learning English?
- I'm learning English because I want to become a teacher.
- Awesome.
And Allison?
- I am learning English because I want to do--
(crosstalk between students)
(upbeat music)