4 ms·

Teach english abroad, and do some freelance here and there for extra income

by andreshb 17y ago

ouch 17y ago
Everyone says this, how does one pursue it? I speak Spanish very well.
- lanstein 17y ago
  Taiwan has tealit.com. I'm sure most countries have something similar.
- andreshb 17y ago
  If you speak spanish very well, I would suggest Chile. Though not the cheapest place in S. America, cheaper than the U.S. and Europe, most of Asia, and rent could be ~$220-$300 month, you could live well with <$800 (single, no kids), $15/day food (eating out) Its safe, more organized than most of the US cities ive been to, and it has a thriving and friendly tech community if you dont want to completely remove yourself from it. If you seriously want to pursue this, let me know, I lived there for some time and have very good contacts w/ the startup/tech community and in education. I suggest you read this article: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/chile-wants-your-poor-your-huddled-masses-your-tech-entrepreneurs/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/chile-wants-your-poor-y... (I'm not Chilean, no agenda here)
  - ouch 17y ago
    Thanks, what would be a good way to reach you? I considered the contact form on your website, but I don't know if you'd receive that directly.
    - andreshb 17y ago
      andres barreto + gmail + com @andresbarreto
jackowayed 17y ago
Seconding the freelance half. I'm only 16, so my pay isn't there yet, but I get the idea that most professional consultants could pretty easily support a modest lifestyle working half-time.
- ouch 17y ago
  I freelanced full-time for a year and it's a very difficult way to support oneself. For every hour you bill, unless you have a very good thing going, you'll also spend an hour following leads and an hour dealing with organizational crap. It's really the worst of both worlds and I'm trying to kill off the business that formed over that year as best I can, without pissing off existing clients. To get enough jobs to support yourself, you end up undercharging. And the business can't scale because most people you'd consider subcontracting to either charge astronomical rates or are god-awful: There's a surprising dearth of people who know their stuff.
  - mattm 17y ago
    But if you do this overseas you can easily support yourself. As for teaching English, the best thing is to just go to a country you are interested in and look for work once you are there. I taught English in China last year (along with doing freelance work) and this is how I did it. You could find work before going but this is actually riskier. They will most likely lock you into a year-long contract and there is a lot of bad schools that recruit this way because the candidates do not know any better. It's much better to move to a place and spend a month looking. That way you can talk with other teachers, see how the school looks and make sure it is not in the middle of nowhere. In many developing countries you can live well on $500 a month so freelancing is always an option for you again if teaching isn't for you.

Teach english abroad, and do some freelance here and there for extra income

ouch 17y ago

Everyone says this, how does one pursue it? I speak Spanish very well.

lanstein 17y ago
Taiwan has tealit.com. I'm sure most countries have something similar.
andreshb 17y ago
If you speak spanish very well, I would suggest Chile. Though not the cheapest place in S. America, cheaper than the U.S. and Europe, most of Asia, and rent could be ~$220-$300 month, you could live well with <$800 (single, no kids), $15/day food (eating out) Its safe, more organized than most of the US cities ive been to, and it has a thriving and friendly tech community if you dont want to completely remove yourself from it. If you seriously want to pursue this, let me know, I lived there for some time and have very good contacts w/ the startup/tech community and in education. I suggest you read this article: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/chile-wants-your-poor-your-huddled-masses-your-tech-entrepreneurs/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/10/chile-wants-your-poor-y... (I'm not Chilean, no agenda here)
- ouch 17y ago
  Thanks, what would be a good way to reach you? I considered the contact form on your website, but I don't know if you'd receive that directly.
  - andreshb 17y ago
    andres barreto + gmail + com @andresbarreto

jackowayed 17y ago

Seconding the freelance half. I'm only 16, so my pay isn't there yet, but I get the idea that most professional consultants could pretty easily support a modest lifestyle working half-time.

ouch 17y ago
I freelanced full-time for a year and it's a very difficult way to support oneself. For every hour you bill, unless you have a very good thing going, you'll also spend an hour following leads and an hour dealing with organizational crap. It's really the worst of both worlds and I'm trying to kill off the business that formed over that year as best I can, without pissing off existing clients. To get enough jobs to support yourself, you end up undercharging. And the business can't scale because most people you'd consider subcontracting to either charge astronomical rates or are god-awful: There's a surprising dearth of people who know their stuff.
- mattm 17y ago
  But if you do this overseas you can easily support yourself. As for teaching English, the best thing is to just go to a country you are interested in and look for work once you are there. I taught English in China last year (along with doing freelance work) and this is how I did it. You could find work before going but this is actually riskier. They will most likely lock you into a year-long contract and there is a lot of bad schools that recruit this way because the candidates do not know any better. It's much better to move to a place and spend a month looking. That way you can talk with other teachers, see how the school looks and make sure it is not in the middle of nowhere. In many developing countries you can live well on $500 a month so freelancing is always an option for you again if teaching isn't for you.