TEFL Jobs in Colombia

It's the question everyone has, so here's a straight answer. Colombia's reputation was formed in a period that has largely passed, and the cities where teachers actually live — Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, the coast — are places tens of thousands of foreigners work in without incident. What that doesn't mean is that caution is optional: opportunistic street crime is real, and there are regions of the country where governments still advise against travel.

Check your own government's travel advice, because it varies considerably by department rather than applying to Colombia as a whole, and take the same advice locals give each other about neighbourhoods and taxis at night.

Most teachers cover their costs and live comfortably by local standards without building savings, and remitting money home is rare. That's the trade Colombia asks you to make. Teachers who do put money aside usually combine institute hours with private students or online teaching. Our guide on TEFL salaries and living costs in Colombia goes through the numbers properly.

Colombia is one of the more open markets on this. There's no immigration rule restricting teaching to particular nationalities, and institutes regularly hire fluent non-native speakers, especially those with a strong qualification. If you've been shut out of Korea or China on passport grounds, Latin America is where to look.

Plenty of people do, and it's how a lot of institute hiring happens — employers want to meet you and see you teach. But understand what you're taking on: savings to live on while you search, no guarantee of a job, and pressure to accept whatever comes up, including work that isn't properly documented. If you'd rather not gamble, a structured placement or internship gets you there with the job already agreed.

No — schools generally prefer English-only classrooms, and some ask you not to use Spanish with students at all. But it's much more necessary for daily life than Japanese or Korean would be in Seoul or Tokyo, because English is less widely spoken outside professional settings. Most teachers pick it up quickly through immersion.

Colombian schools run on two calendars, one starting in February and one in August, so recruitment clusters in the months before each. Language institutes hire more or less continuously as student numbers move, which is why they're the usual first job for people arriving mid-year.

It's the lowest-risk way in, particularly if this is your first teaching job. A placement is arranged before you fly, you arrive into a structure rather than a job hunt, and there's support on the ground while you find your feet. Have a look at our Colombia TEFL internship for how it works.

Asia generally pays better and packages it more generously — housing, flights and completion bonuses are standard in Korea and common in China. Colombia gives you a lower barrier to entry, more open nationality rules, Spanish, and a lifestyle a lot of people prefer. A fair number of teachers do a year in Latin America first and then move to Asia with classroom experience behind them.