English teaching in Tuscany!

Hello Jsamarani; Thank you for your post. How would you suggest I go about applying for a position to teach in Tuscany and/or Italy in general? It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. My life circumstances are such that I am free to to make this commitment. Your advice and suggestions as someone who is already doing it, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. vm

Dear VeroMarr,
There a multiple ways that you can teach English in Italy. Due to the fact, that people who were raised speaking english are mother-tongue speakers, already gives you a few steps ahead of everyone else. There are Naval Bases, Camp Darby, and University of Cambridge Centers all over italy, each one making it possible for you to get a job as english teacher. All of these places are open to you, also Universities around italy who are looking for madre-lingue inglese (english mother-tongue speakers)... Go there, drop off your CV (Resume) and see what happens. Ciao e Buona Fortuna. Good Luck. Let me know, how it goes. Also, take a look at my blog about my experiences here in Tuscany.
jessicastuscany.blogspot.com

Hi there--are you teaching English? If so who are you working for? Are there many opportunities. Dreaming of a little venture one day!

Yes, I am working as an English Teacher in Tuscany. I work for the University of Cambridge centers where they teach english. There are over 185 of them all around Italy alone. Good luck.

that's great--how did you get into that? Are you able to point me in the right direction.  How to go about it? Not quite sure!We're you an English teacher before? Did you have previous training. Do you speak Italian? I've been learning Italian here in my home town so know enough to get by. My husband and I are dreaming of a sabatical mybe Italy or france and thought teaching English would be the go!
ta for your reply?

Dear Skara,
Before transferring to Tuscany, I had studied one year of italian plus or minus a month or so. I felt nervous about getting into the work force here without knowing much of anything about how italian bureacracy works; until I found it that it is a lot like ours (as in any other nation or country just a little bit slower). I was a teacher before I arrived for younger children, therefore, my qualifications helped me once I stepped into a couple of offices, putting down my resume, and leaving. Within the next couple of days, the phones began to rang. Now that I have been working, I realize that I was worried about my level of italian; but in the end, that was not important. English is important, and for that I am grateful. Italian comes along more and more with time. Good luck.

Hey thanks so much for your help...it's good just to chat and get some idea of how things work. Great that things are working out for you.
Cheers and enjoy your new life!!

Dear Skara,
Don't stop. If you really would like to come to Italy, come. It is really not that difficult and a person who is a native English speaker, is your ticket to a job here. There are 200 or more English schools that are not including elementary schools, military bases, universities, etc. The only way I was able to make it here, was because somebody really put my ticket in my hand and left me at the airport. I was always saying, maybe next year, but now I'm actually here and I love it. There are so many study abroad programs, tourists programs, anything. Big English communities in Siena, Rome, Firenze. All the best places. Come on, don't wait for your life to be over to do what you've dreamed of.

How can someone get around the visa problem, as I understand it, of only being able to stay in Italy for 3 months out of every 6 months and the basic prohibition of being able to work there?

Dear lawdream,

That is something I am not quite familiar with. Therefore, what I share with you cannot be hold accountable and before entering the country of Italy; you may want to double check with a lawyer. However, what I know is that a tourist visa is the one you are speaking of. If you come here and within 3-5 days of arrival, go to the polizia municipale in your city of residence; you can ask for a permission to stay; either for work or for school. In this case, you can be granted a certain amount of time in order to stay, for example, one year or two. A few of my co-workers are from England, one from Poland, and another man from the Caribbean. Therefore, I could ask them just to be a little more clear; if you'd like. Hope this helps. Buona giornata... (Have a good day!) in italian.

P.S. If you have a job already, that will already open the door to a permit of stay. Your employer could help you out. As if, the company you work for requested your coming to Italy. ;-)

I don't have a job lined up.  I have considered coming and buying a house to fix up myself and possibly selling it to make money and continuing to do that, but if I have to leave every 3 months and stay out for 3 months, that would be difficult.  I would also assume the rules for visas for EU countries would be different from someone from the US.  Any information you could provide would be great!

hey there thanks for the post back there a bit....I haven't left the idea altogether. At the moment I am looking at a TESOL (teaching English as a second language)course. It runs here in the OZ for people who want to teach overseas.  I wouldn't mind teaching Kids...is there much demand for that...I have worked with kids alot so thought it might be an option?
It sounds like things are going really well for you? Where exactly are you teaching?
Is accomodation easy to find?  I would come with my hubby and 2 young kids which would, no doubt , make things a lttle more tricky!
Ciao til next time...or should I say "ce vediamo"!!

Dear Skara,

I know of those TOFEL exams, I was also checking into that before I left the states and was really about to sign up; when I realized it really was not the most important thing to get you in the door. Upon arriving here, I realized it was the fact that I grew up speaking English, italian people go crazy for this because an italian just cannot possibly sound the same. Therefore, you can get a lot of work as a Madra Lingua (mother-tongue)native english speaker. I work in tuscany with a company called British School of Livorno. They are everywhere and are private institutions, therefore, they offer more positions and hours. Public sector; that's a toughy. This is where you would need all the qualifications you got to get a sniff in the least. However, every thing and every experience definitely is not a loss; we always end up learning so much from our experiences. Again, there are 185 private institutions that teach english here, specifically for certification. I would look more into this information, directly on the website of University of Cambridge websites. Teaching kids in order to gain a certificate is a long commitment, but if you have any knowledge in this area, it will help. Hope this helps a bit more. I would love to see you and your kids here, running all over the seaside. "Ci vediamo presto" We'll see each other soon. "In Boca Lupo" Is a way of saying, "Good luck"....

Hello
I am interested in teaching English in Tuscony

I don't want to put the dampers on things but if you work here as an English teacher,you will get a very low salary, no health benefits, sick or holiday pay.
I've been teaching all over Italy for over 20 years and am now in Tuscany. I love the job but it's hard to make ends meet.
Bear in mind that accomodation and utilities are expensive....at 50 years old I'm forced to rent a room out to someone in  order to share expenses.
You'd probably get 1,000 euros a month NET for 25 hours teaching a week. This is all over Italy, even in more expensive cities like Rome and Milan. There are just too many teachers out there and schools know that.
I'd be happy to give any advice.

Buon Giorno:

I read your post and was happy to hear how well things are going for you. I am seeking to teach English in Italy also and would welcome any advice you can give me. I am currently residing in the city of Pisa and am able to travel to other towns outside of the city to teach. What advice can you give me to get started and do I need to acquire a TEFL certificate in order to pursue my task? Thank you so very much for your time and expertise.

Sincerely,
Barbara Malzone