I’ve been writing this blog for a few years, so I decided it was time to get involved in creating something a bit more serious, namely an ELT book. I’m happy to announce More Than a Gap Year Adventure: How to Make a Long-Term Career out of TEFL is now available for purchase on various online platforms. I created the book together with a group of amazing ELT professionals whose contributions make it a very valuable read. What is the book about? This is the book description used on Amazon and other online stores: Teaching English is often perceived as a temporary job abroad, yet it is perfectl ..read more

When you think of images of geographical features that represent Colombia, one of the first places that comes to mind is likely to be Caño Cristales, a colourful river that appeared in the movie Encanto, inspired the women’s national football team’s shirts, and is depicted on the 2,000-peso banknote. I had the opportunity to visit it this year, and I’m happy to report that it is indeed truly incredible. If you are considering visiting Caño Cristales, you may find the following information useful. Location Caño Cristales is Iocated in the Serranía de la Macarena national park in the southern p ..read more

This blog celebrated its third birthday last month. I have been publishing new posts only sporadically in the past year or so, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not writing anything anymore. In fact, I’m currently working on a publication that I hope many English teachers will find useful. It’s a collaborative project with a group of amazing ELT professionals, and I look forward to sharing more details about it in a few months’ time. Even though there have been few updates on the blog, the website still keeps receiving new visitors through search engines. The problem is that things change fast: l ..read more

Country guides on TEFL websites can provide you with a rough idea of how much you will earn and spend after moving abroad, but they aren’t perfect. The information may be inaccurate or outdated, and those guides usually don’t reflect the fact that there is a variety of teaching roles available. When people ask me about money in Colombia, I always tell them that your income and expenses will depend on a number of factors. I think it’s important to have access to information in order to be able to make your own decisions, so I’d like to share some concrete figures with you. Some course provider ..read more

The northernmost region of mainland Colombia is visited by more and more tourists every year. You can find a lot of useful information online, so there’s no need for me to mention the most popular places to go to. This blog post aims to provide some practical recommendations based on my trip to La Guajira that I took two months ago. Spend some time in Riohacha Most tourists start their trip to La Guajira in Santa Marta, Barranquilla, or even Cartagena. Riohacha is often seen just as a transit city, which I think is a bit unfair. The department’s capital has a pleasant vibe and I really enjoye ..read more

When I moved to Medellín a year ago, I decided to make a major change in my professional life and quit my stable job at a language institute. I became self-employed and started to offer my services to institutions, private students, and teachers. Now that I have some experience under my belt, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the pros and cons of working as an ELT freelancer in Colombia. Freelancing has many benefits Working as a teacher for Centro Colombo Americano was great in terms of gaining teaching experience, but I wasn’t happy with being underpaid and having few opportunities to dev ..read more

Dorothy Zemach is an ELT professional with extensive experience in a variety of areas. Many teachers have used her materials in the classroom; I did so in the first two years of teaching English in Colombia. She is the go-to person if you want to learn about self-publishing. If you are interested in that, keep an eye on the iTDi website for one of her future courses. When she advertised her latest book All of the Above: Essays on Teaching English as a Foreign Language on social media, I knew that it would be worth reading. My first impression was that All of the Above would be similar to Scot ..read more

Today is the second anniversary of the TEFL in Colombia blog. I launched this website when I was stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and quite a lot has happened since that day. If you are thinking of becoming a blogger, I recommend that you give it a go. Blogging pushes me to keep developing as a teacher and helps me to stay focused on my goal of having a long-term career in ELT. I know that Colombia isn’t the most popular location for that, but I’m doing all I can to make it work here. Anyway, I think this is a nice opportunity to take a look at my blog posts that have received the h ..read more

The long-awaited visa reform has been approved and will go into effect on 21 October, 2022. Several of those changes have already been implemented in the past two years and Resolución 5477 finally provides some clarity and official information. There are also a few other policy adjustments, and this post is going to focus on how the new law affects English teachers. Let me start with a personal observation. Since my arrival in Colombia in 2017, the country has made progress when it comes to digitalisation and online services; I can get a lot of things done from the comfort of my home. Fortuna ..read more

One of the things I like about living in Colombia is that it’s a country full of waterfalls. Many cities are located close to the mountains, so there are plenty of opportunities for hiking. The TEFL in Colombia blog isn’t primarily a travel website, but I like sharing tips for places that are a little bit off the beaten path. I’m not a big fan of overpriced tours, so I prefer to recommend locations that are accessible by public transport. If you are looking for some lesser-known places to visit in Antioquia, you may find this article relevant. Medellín is a prime tourist destination with a lo ..read more