Help others through
Pura vida!
Pura vida! This is the expression we use in Costa Rica for just about any greeting! I’m Lintonia and have been a team member at Idioma Internacional since 2016, first as a teacher and now as an administrator in the Academic Department. If you are a teacher or becoming certified to make a career change to international education, are passionate about learning and language and want to make a marked difference in people’s lives, then you have landed in the right spot! I encourage you to read further and find out how you can become a team member with Idioma Internacional and have the incredible opportunity to work with students from Latin America in a variety of projects and social initiatives that Idioma Interancional is leading with both private and public organizations committed to education.
Who is Idioma Internacional?
Idioma Internacional is a language institute dedicated to delivering high-quality English classes and language evaluations in English, French and Portuguese, with classrooms and an office located in a vibrant, business district on the west side of downtown San José, Costa Rica.
Our diverse and highly-trained teaching staff is composed entirely of native English-speakers from around the globe who hold both a university degree and a recognized certificate in EFL Teaching.
Teaching with Idioma Internacional
As teachers, we all have a passion for both education and service. We consider it a great privilege and responsibility to teach English to a variety of populations in Costa Rica: business professionals, job-seeking individuals, technical high school seniors, amongst others. Teaching with Idioma Internacional allows us to help young professionals to improve their English language skills to be a stepping stone toward employment and a better quality of options for their future.
Teaching English with our company provides a unique and enriching experience that includes:
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International living and working experience in Costa Rica, a safe, stable country with warm people and unmatched natural wonders.
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Professional development training sessions offered monthly at no cost.
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Personalized initial training session and Mentor program.
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Full access to education materials and platforms, including detailed lesson plans and materials.
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Membership in Idioma Cares, our program for volunteering, social responsibility and community service.
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A support team of both academic administrators and colleagues from around the world.
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Housing assistance options provided for Idioma Internacional teachers.
When Is the Best Time to Apply to Idioma?
Now! We have a rolling recruitment process and hire teachers every month, year-round.
APPLICATION PROCESS
& TIMELINE
QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum qualifications
- Native English speaker
- Bachelor’s Degree
- TEFL or related certification
- 100 ESL/ESL teaching hours
- 30 MBS of Internet or higher
Preferred qualifications
- Experience working in corporate business
- Master’s degree in field of education and/or language
- Business and/or overseas experience
- A B1 proficiency in Spanish
Hiring times may vary based on matching current job openings, client needs and for applicant availability.
Here’s What Idioma Internacional Offers!
Please feel free to read through the following information to find out more about Idioma Internacional and the
amazing things we have to offer.
amazing things we have to offer.
- Legal work visa.
Competitive hourly teaching wage in colones.
Travel reimbursements to cover 100% of teaching transportation cost when travel to/from clients is required.
- Enrollment in the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social.
Paid holidays, paid vacation, paid yearly bonus.
Subsidized cell phone lines with 5G coverage countrywide and a 4Mb backup hotspot.
Assistance setting up a Colones bank account in Costa Rica with an international debit card.
Assistance with finding housing options for teachers relocating to San Jose.
Growth opportunities: Teachers can opt to work in our Language Evaluation Services Department to complement their teaching schedules. Additional opportunities are available for developing curriculum and working on academic projects.
Twelve-month initial contracts for full time work: Idioma Internacional offers all teachers full time schedules for a minimum of twelve months in-country.
Legal Work Visas
All teachers are assisted in obtaining a legal work visa. Visas are issued once in-country and working and processing times can vary.
To begin the work visa process, each teacher must provide:
1) a birth certificate with an apostille from the issuing state/province and
2) a federal background check with an apostille.
Both documents must be no older than four months for submission to immigration.
Curriculum, Syllabi and Lesson Plans:
All teacher materials (lesson plans, supporting materials, assessments and rubrics) are provided at no cost to the teacher. Additionally, all programs are managed digitally on a Moodle system for access 24/7 and from anywhere in the world.
Initial and Ongoing Training:
All teachers receive a hands-on and personalized training over a 1-2 week period to prepare them to start in the classroom. Once teachers are working with active classes, they are provided guidance from the Training and Support Team, in order to extend the initial training into on-the-job training as each teacher gets started. Graduation from the Mentor Support Program allows teachers to access dozens of Professional Development Workshops, designed to be asynchronous and flexible, so that they may keep learning and growing professionally during each month of their tenure at Idioma. Finally, we have regular meetings, events and retreats offered through the year to foster community and provide a space for collaborative professional development.
Technology
All teachers must provide their own laptop, headset and speakers as part of their own ESL technology package. Idioma Internacional provides:
- Personal Zoom and/or WebEx accounts for recorded classes
- Moodle platform to manage classes and assessments
- Subsidized phone line and backup Internet connection
- Remote technical support for hardware and software
Additional Professional Development & Income Opportunities
We are committed to our teachers becoming stronger, better trained and more competitive professionals during their time working with Idioma Internacional. To support this, teachers can earn the opportunity to work in our BELT department and become trained Language Evaluators for both written and spoken English assessments. Also, teachers can choose to work in our Curriculum Department to become trained Curriculum Developers and work behind the scenes with curriculum creation, maintenance and digital adaptations
Where you’ll teach
Onsite
Our corporate classes and specialty scholarship classes are held at the client location or our classroom spaces at our office. Additionally, many of our government scholarship programs for technical high school students are held directly on the school’s campus on Saturday mornings and afternoons.
Online
Virtual classes can be delivered from a professional space.
About the students
All of our students are young adults or adults, ranging from 17-years-old and up. The vast majority of our students’ age range is
between 20 to 60 years old.
Will You Need Spanish in the virtual Classroom?
Our classes are all delivered 100% in the target language of English, so there is no need to speak Spanish as an Idioma teacher in the classroom. However, basic skills in Spanish make life a lot easier when you go to the bank, the grocery, recharge your phone, buy bux tickets for travel, etc… You will be living in a Spanish-speaking country so if you don’t speak Spanish already, you will!
Arriving in Costa Rica
All visas are issued once teachers are in the country and working; therefore, all teachers enter Costa Rica on a tourist visa. This tourist visa is generally good for up to 90 days but does depend on the teacher’s home country and Costa Rican law.
Therefore, all teachers entering Costa Rica must have an onward ticket or proof of exit within the 90-day time frame as outlined by Costa Rican law. In other words, in order to enter Costa Rica as a tourist, despite arriving for a job with Idioma, all teachers must show proof of exit within 90 days.
Therefore, all teachers entering Costa Rica must have an onward ticket or proof of exit within the 90-day time frame as outlined by Costa Rican law. In other words, in order to enter Costa Rica as a tourist, despite arriving for a job with Idioma, all teachers must show proof of exit within 90 days.
We hope that you learned a bit more about Idioma Internacional. If you find that our company’s values, community, and requirements match with what you are seeking in your next employment opportunity, we encourage you to apply!
