Volunteer Teach in Chile - (past program)

WorldTeach in Chile was, pardon the quiche, the experience of a lifetime. The friends I made are friends to this day. The students I taught keep in touch. The host family remains so much more than just a host family. The life lived remains unforgettable.

Do it already.

Teaching in Chile through WorldTeach was the best experience I could have hoped for. WorldTeach prepared me to teach and also gave me a community and group of friends to help me while I was down there. My school and host family were wonderful. My living situation in Villa Alemana was very nice. I took the Metro to school everyday, taught 5th grade to seniors in high school. The curriculum was supportive and yet flexible. I felt I had adequate support creating lesson plans. I would highly recommend WorldTeach as a teach abroad program!!!

Chile is a very unique country. As one of the most stable countries in South America, the people are what make this country truly special. Santiago provides numerous social, cultural and professional opportunities. I recommend you take advantage of the one of a kind experience this program provides. Living with a family is the best way to get a feel for the country and the only way to learn the language effectively. The teaching program is a challenge for the students as well as the teachers. The success of your classes depend on you, as does what you get back from the program as a whole. I threw myself in headfirst and am still living and working in Chile six years later. You never know what can happen.

World Teach Chile (Elqui Valley) is great for those who want to teach English in public schools alongside in-country teachers. Definitely for those who enjoy the laid-back, rural lifestyle- and who want to be enmeshed in a country's culture. As someone pursuing a career in international development, I felt I learned a lot from this experience and definitely got the on the ground perspective I was looking for. However, with these perks, do come some challenges- ex. dealing with discipline issues in schools, accepting that schedules do change last minute, dealing with a lot of alone time, surviving winter without heat (pack layers!!). Although, sitting around a bonfire under the stars surrounded by mountains and vineyards really can't be beat!

WorldTeach and Chile are two excellent choices! Chile is a beautiful country to call home base while experiencing South America. WorldTeach is the best program and provides you with so much support!!

I was a volunteer in Limache, Chile in 2010. I had a great Field Director named Allyson Caudill who was always there to support me. My group of volunteers varied in age from 24-years-old to 63-years-old. I was the oldest one in our group. We lived together for a month in Santiago and trained there. It really helped us to get to know each other. During our volunteer year, we helped each other and visited each other. It was great!

I stayed with a Chilean family who had two daughters, and they were like sisters to me. My host mother, Pilar, was the nicest person and fed me well. The town was small and the farms around it produced delicious tomatoes. The tomatoes were well known for their flavor throughout Chile.

My school was not the most modern, but I was given my own classroom. The teachers were friendly and included me in their social activities. It was a great experience. I give WorldTeach my highest recommendation.

My passions for teaching and traveling were widely awakened when I became a WorldTeach volunteer English teacher in Chile in 2009. Before we received our teaching assignments, about 20 other volunteers and I received incredible training in not only best practice communicative approach teaching, but also in the culture of Chile. The amount of support that we received pre-departure and in-country were phenomenal.

After three weeks, we had to leave our comfort bubble of the training in Santiago and we embarked on our own individual teaching assignments in various rural towns in the eighth (Bio-Bio) region of the country. We all lived with host families who were incredibly welcoming and warm. My home was just a few blocks from my school so I could easily walk there and back. It was a very safe town (like most of Chile) and the locals treated me like I was a rock star. It was winter when I first arrived, and the south/central part of the country can get wet and cold. If I didn't have a scarf on, without a doubt, someone would wrap a "bufanda" around my neck for fear I would catch a cold. I didn't even have to miss my mother with a town like that!

Teaching had its immense triumphs and challenges. I taught 5th through 8th grade. I had experience working with adult immigrants, so this was a new realm. I had to spend a lot more time on classroom behavioral issues than I was used to, which can be challenging in the communicative approach (English only in the classroom). The English level was very minimal. I taught introductions, emotions, numbers, the alphabet, days of the week, etc. I had about 15 students at a time. There were about 8 classes each meeting twice weekly, so I made about 4 different lesson plans a week. I had to create my own material, but I had complete control over what I wanted to teach.

The experience set a foundation for my educational career. I would definitely recommend WorldTeach to someone that is looking for a teach-abroad experience. My only regret is that I didn’t stay longer.