Teaching English and Starting a small guest house in Bolivia

by Jeff Cannella
(Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)

I am interested in coming to Bolivia to look into the English teaching market and to possibly buy an old colonial house to start a guesthouse further down the line. I am 46, have an MA in TESOL, no k-12 public school qualifications though, and nearly 18 years teaching experience to adults and university students. With my background what are my job options, what cities are best to job hunt and what kind of salaries can I expect? As for the guesthouse idea I am interested in buying a small colonial house to run as both my home and guesthouse business. Any information on how I can buy such homes and their prices ranges would also be appreciated.

Comments for Teaching English and Starting a small guest house in Bolivia

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Jul 08, 2015
 nice
by: Anonymous

Life means many things, but besides taking care of your family, home and working, you should take care of you.
May 19, 2015
 english teaching
by: shelly

I am also looking for English teaching jobs in the Bolivia. But I don’t need any guest I am already have arranged the room. I am more concerned about the salary I could get there as a teacher. I heard the salary is very low.
Sep 01, 2012
 depends
by: onelove.1ai

on what you need to know? what you bring to the mix of it all and how it will all standout in the end. Bolivia, and especially santa cruz, is starting to buzz with new types of services and is a rapidly growing city.
Aug 22, 2012
 English Coordinator at St. Thomas School
by: Marjorie Mindel

Santa Cruz has many opportunities for teaching English (language institutes, all-English speaking schools, intensive-English teaching schools, universities, and private classes, including companies sometimes).

Salaries vary. It depends on where you teach. Private classes run about $10US an hour and up. As Santa Cruz has many tourists, a guest house is feasible. Finding a large, colonial-style house close to the center of town would be expensive, but farther out might suit your budget and still be feasible for tourists.

These are just some ideas for you. La Paz probably has opportunities in high schools and universities or English teachers, but I'm not familiar with that city.

Good luck. I've been living here (from the USA) for more than 30 years, and I feel right at home here.
Aug 22, 2012
 salaries are low
by: Anonymous

Salaries suck at the schools in Bolivia, unless you work for the American schools, in which case you're limited to La Paz, Santa Cruz, or Cochabamba. Plus I don't know what qualifications they require. Even the private Bolivian schools don't pay move than a few hundred dollars a month. You could try teaching at one of the English institutes like CBA, Centro Boliviano Americano. They don't pay well either, but they don't require teaching credential for the most part.
Aug 22, 2012
 private tutors earn more
by: Anonymous

private english tutors charge between $8 and $10 per hour mostly
Aug 22, 2012
 lots of demand for english in santa cruz
by: Anonymous

There's a lot of demand for English teachers in Santa Cruz, but not many colonial houses. For colonial you'll want to visit Sucre, although I'm not sure how much demand there is in Sucre for English teachers.

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