Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller explores the financial landscape of Latin America, discussing the rising use of credit cards, the challenges of mathematical literacy, and the opportunities for expats teaching English. He also touches on cultural humor and practical advice for navigating the region.
Johnny begins by discussing the growing trend of credit card usage in Latin America, highlighting how banks are gradually introducing credit cards to the population, starting with debit cards. He explains that the high interest rates on credit cards in the region, often ranging from 20% to 60% annually, are rarely understood by the general public due to mathematical illiteracy and the way interest rates are presented in fine print. Johnny also shares the results of an unscientific poll where he asked 10 people about their credit card interest rates, and none of them knew the actual rate, with one person being charged 3.2% monthly, which translates to 38.4% annually. He further notes that many Latin Americans only pay the minimum required monthly payment, which keeps them in a cycle of debt, benefiting the banks.
Next, Johnny discusses the lack of basic numeracy skills among young people in both Latin America and the first world. He highlights how even simple mathematical tasks, such as converting kilometers to miles or understanding fractions, are challenging for many. He contrasts this with the practical math skills of street vendors and cashiers in Latin America, who can perform daily calculations but struggle with abstract concepts like percentages and fractions. Johnny suggests that reliance on technology, such as calculators and cash registers, has contributed to this decline in numeracy. He ends by questioning what is being taught in math classes and the vulnerability of people who lack these skills to financial schemes.
Johnny then shifts focus to the cultural and financial dynamics of credit card usage in Latin America, highlighting how the region's population is often unaware of the high interest rates and the addictive nature of credit cards. He explains that in Latin America, people are more focused on having a credit card than on the interest rates, and that this is due to a sense of being trusted by banks. Johnny emphasizes the importance of expats using US-based credit cards due to lower interest rates and better accessibility. He then discusses the humor in Latin American comedy clubs, which he finds lowbrow and not suitable for expats. Finally, he touches on the ease of finding English teaching jobs in Latin America and the importance of using resources like the American Embassy website to locate private schools.
The episode continues with Johnny discussing various options for expats who want to teach English in Ecuador. He mentions that the U.S. Embassy provides a detailed list of services and businesses expats might use, including medical facilities, schools, and social organizations. He advises using the U.S. Embassy website for English-language information, as it avoids the issue of reading through Spanish content. Johnny also highlights the option of working at private language institutes like Berlitz or Kaplan, which offer more flexibility in terms of contract length and working hours. However, he notes that the pay for these positions is low, typically under $100 per week. He then discusses corporate English teaching jobs at call centers, where expats can earn more, but he mentions that these jobs are often repetitive and lack job satisfaction. Finally, he highlights private tutoring as a more rewarding option, noting the high demand for English tutors among students who want to learn proper English.
Johnny then discusses the high demand for private English tutors in a specific region, highlighting the desperation of students to learn proper English. He notes that students are willing to pay for private tutors despite the availability of cheaper alternatives like language schools and interactive software. Johnny points out that many of these software programs are pirated and sold at a fraction of the retail price. He uses the example of Microsoft Encarta to illustrate the prevalence of pirated educational materials. Johnny then shifts focus to the qualifications needed to become a private tutor, emphasizing that while a degree is not strictly required, most expats have at least a bachelor's degree. He explains that many students, despite taking formal English courses, still struggle with the language, and that practicing with a native speaker is crucial. Johnny also touches on the preference for tutors who look like the stereotypical 'gringo' due to cultural biases, and suggests that advertising in the classified section is an effective way to find students.
The episode concludes with Johnny providing advice on teaching English in Latin America, emphasizing the importance of avoiding high tourist areas due to intense competition. He suggests placing tutoring ads in classified sections of local newspapers, noting that many ads are in English. He recommends targeting students from public universities, especially in language and science departments, as they are more likely to need English tutoring. Johnny highlights the financial benefits of tutoring, noting that rates of $5 to $10 per hour are substantial in the region. However, he also warns about the cultural issue of lateness and the manana mentality, suggesting solutions such as tutoring at the student's home or setting up a system with different pricing for punctuality.
Finally, Johnny discusses the challenges expat English teachers face with their students, who often struggle to understand English dialogue in movies and songs despite taking numerous English courses. He humorously points out that even with extensive learning, students may still not grasp common English music, using the Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction' as an example. Johnny finds it amusing that students aim to understand English songs, yet he himself cannot fully comprehend lyrics from popular songs like 'Satisfaction' or hip-hop music.
Topics
Credit card usage in Latin America, Banking practices and debt, Mathematical illiteracy and financial literacy, Interest rates and their impact on consumers, Numeracy, Education, Technology dependence, Financial literacy, Cultural differences in math skills, Financial habits and awareness, Expatriate advice on financial tools, Cultural humor in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:39 Credit Card Addiction in Latin America 00:01:50 The Transition from Debit to Credit Cards 00:02:20 High Interest Rates and Financial Literacy 00:04:57 The Same Old Story of Numeracy Issues 00:09:03 Numeracy in Latin America vs. the First World 00:09:37 The First World Love and Gullibility Factor for Credit Cards in Latin America 00:11:05 Einstein's Insight on Compound Interest and Expatriate Advice 00:11:46 The Latin Sense of Humor and Its Challenges for Expats 00:13:15 Finding English Teaching Jobs in Latin America 00:13:51 Introduction to Teaching English in Ecuador 00:14:47 Alternative Teaching Options Beyond Private Schools 00:16:12 Earnings and Challenges of Teaching English in Ecuador 00:17:46 Private Tutoring as a Rewarding Teaching Option 00:18:22 High Demand for English Tutors 00:18:35 Cost of Private Tutoring vs. Alternatives 00:21:17 Importance of Practicing with Native Speakers 00:22:40 Avoiding High-Traffic Tourist Areas for Teaching English 00:22:55 Placing Tutoring Ads in Classified Sections 00:23:23 Targeting Students from Public Universities 00:23:51 English as the Language of Math and Science 00:24:10 Financial Benefits of Tutoring in Latin America 00:24:33 Cultural Issue of Lateness and the Manana Mentality 00:25:28 Solutions to Chronic Lateness and the Manana Mentality 00:26:36 Encouragement for Language Learners 00:27:12 Johnny's Humorous Take on Language Learning
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:01] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love When the stars above came out to play Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller And you're listening to the Exped Files Living in Latin America The one of a kind show that tells you what it's like To live, work, play and or retire in Latin America So let's get started He was a picture in old Spanish lays Maybe you remember that I mentioned in one of my past shows That Latin America is becoming a credit card addicted society And I've mentioned how the banks slowly get the people accustomed to that credit card merry go round
[00:49] By getting employers to direct deposit salaries in banks And giving even minimum wage workers a debit card And teaching even the dirt floor peasant how to withdraw his money 24-7 at an ATM machine And like I mentioned in past programs If you go to any bank for even a simple operation You just might have to stand in line for a whole hour or even more So the option of withdrawing your money from an ATM machine in a few minutes or less Seems just like a gift from Buddha So it's not unusual for an expat to be standing in line at an ATM machine And at least some of the people standing in line with you Looked just like they came out of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath They might not have running water in the house And their clothes might smell like a campfire because they still cook with firewood
[01:35] But if they have a regular job they probably have a debit card And once the banks get these minimum wage slaves used to pulling money out of ATM machines with debit cards It doesn't take long and it's a short step Maybe three to six months or so For the banks to start pitching these people on the pleasures of having your very own credit card Just like the important wealthy people have Not a debit card now Because we all know the banks can't make any real money on a debit card Because there's no excessive interest or late charges to collect So as far as a bank's concerned A debit card is like a potato chip Nobody can eat just one And believe me, down here in Latin America Having a credit card is a real badge of distinction And the credit card interest charges down here Range anywhere from 20% to 60% annually
[02:23] So you have to wonder why would anybody ever fall for such a high interest rate Well because down here the people are basically mathematically illiterate Sure everyone can add and subtract Maybe even multiply and divide to at least some degree But talk about fractions and percentages? Forget about it And just one thing about credit card interest rates down here They never actually tell you up front They always seem to bury it in a fine print And you know as well as I do, even up north Nobody bothers to read those forms Anyway, how hard is it for a bank to fool a guy with a 6th grade education Because for adults, that's the average level of education down here Anyway, when banks actually state the interest rate charge They're always careful to state the monthly figure, not the annual one
[03:10] And surprisingly, almost no one ever questions or contests the interest rate on their new credit card Because they're just so glad to have one, they don't care As a matter of fact, I recently did an unscientific poll myself And by the way, I'm always doing unscientific polls You might have noticed that Anyway, I asked 10 people that I know down here 10 Latins with a Visa card Just what their interest rate was And none of them knew, none of them could tell me They could only guess, and they always guessed low In fact, way too low Most of them guessed around 20% And when I looked at one of my friend's Visa statements I saw in the small print that he was being charged 3.2% a month When I told him, you know, that works out to 38.4% a year
[03:56] Doesn't an interest rate like that bother you? Well, he just shrugged and said, you know, that's the cost of doing business, I guess And it seems like the Latins don't care if their interest rate is 20, 30, 40, 50, or whatever percent They just don't seem to connect the interest rate with the things they are buying And the monthly payment they are making That interest rate number is just something they are pretty much unconcerned with And the fact is, I don't know of any Latin that actually pays off his whole bill at the end of the month So they are all pretty much on that treadmill Then I spoke to one of my friends who is a banker down here And he told me that between 30 and 40% of all the credit card customers at his bank Pay just the minimum required monthly payment Which means, of course, they are never going to pay off their balance And he just nodded affirmatively and said, you know, that's a really big profit center for the bank
[04:43] And it's one we didn't even have 10 or 15 years ago And he said it with such pride that I couldn't believe it And then I said, so, you mean it's planned that way, right? And then he said, first world banks do it Credit and debt drive the economy And I didn't say anything to him But I was thinking, it's just another version of the same old story Latins love everything first world, including credit card debt Anyway, speaking of mathematical ignorance Well, that disease has already spread down here quickly from the first world Now, you might have heard stories or read articles about first world kids up north Who can't add, subtract, multiply or divide simple numbers without a calculator And even when they get the right answer with a calculator They don't know or remember their multiplication tables So they don't actually know how they got the answer
[05:29] I mean, you probably know some people like that yourself Maybe you are one I mean, you might test yourself by not using a calculator The next time you have to manipulate some numbers And I'm just talking about the simple functions now Like add, subtract, multiply and divide Forget about percentages and fractions For most people under 30, even in the first world That's a lost cause Now, here's a simple way to test someone's enumeracy in one easy step Just ask them to convert without a calculator 100 kilometers per hour into miles per hour Which is actually something quite useful to do And can come up at any time Especially if you visit Europe or Latin America Now, I'm not surprised if you don't know that the conversion From kilometers to miles is 0.62 In other words, 100 kilometers per hour
[06:16] Times 0.62 equals 62 miles per hour And that's the answer, 62 miles per hour Did you get it? Easy, right? Okay, now here's the real test Now, ask that very same question to somebody And give them the conversion rate and see what happens In other words, go ahead and ask some young person you know Say to them something like this If the conversion rate is 0.62 And your car is going 100 kilometers per hour How many miles per hour is your car going? Now, I ask that question down here to young people And about 90% of them give me a dead blank stare And they have no idea where to start Even if they pull out a calculator And that's what's so funny about the enumeracy down here
[07:01] Now, the average dirt-poor compassino Who's selling fruit or tortillas on the street Now, he can add and subtract just fine all day long in his head Because that's what he does for a living And even though he's got maybe a fifth or sixth grade education And adds and subtracts numbers all day long He has no idea how to do fractions or percentages In fact, if he ever brought up fractions or percentages It would be like a foreign language to him So, what are they teaching in math class in school? I don't know, don't ask me But I doubt that you'd get much better answers from kids up north In fact, an expat I know owns a few Subway sandwich shops down here And he said to me, if it wasn't for the fact that the cash register Automatically calculates the change that the customer is supposed to get back
[07:47] Well, without that function being built into the cash register The majority of cashiers these days Would never be able to figure out the correct change in their heads But then again, I don't think it's much better up in the first world Sometimes, personally, I think some of this technology makes us soft in the head And I wonder just how many of you expats and expat wannabes can do a simple fraction Here's one for you, try to figure this one out And I'll try to make this interesting for you Okay, listen up now If Tiger Woods' father was three-quarter African American And one-quarter American Indian And his mother, who was from Thailand, was a hundred percent Thai What fraction of African American blood does Tiger Woods himself have? Now, try figuring that out in your head or on paper
[08:32] And there's nothing tricky about it Well, the answer is Tiger Woods is three-eighths African American And for your information, he's one-eighth American Indian and fifty percent Thai And that's another thing How fast can you switch between fractions and percentages? Better yet, can you do it at all? For example, one-fifth of anything is twenty percent Well, the bottom line is how would you do in a world without calculators? That was a pre-1960s world So basically I'm telling you that down here in Latin America The people are much more enumerate than the people up in the first world And that's easy to prove Though little by little up north, young people especially are falling into the same trap Which begs the question, what are those kids being taught in math class up there? Well, you have to believe that a society that doesn't know much about fractions and percentages
[09:22] They're just going to be sitting ducks for whatever slick program the bank tries to offer them And if something's advertised on TV or in the newspaper They swallow it hook line and sinker Which is yet another reason why expats find it so easy to start businesses down here You got that love of everything first world and the gullibility factor going for you And for banks and credit card companies That means getting the population hooked on super high interest rates That the common man just doesn't understand Along with credit card dependency and minimum monthly payments In fact, down here I've never ever heard of anyone shopping around for a credit card Based on the interest rate It turns out that Latins are just so enamored of the fact That some bank down here has put enough faith in them
[10:08] To actually give them that piece of plastic and extend credit Well, in the end, the interest rate, no matter how exorbitant Is not much of an issue As long as they got that plastic, they're moving on up Well, to the average Latin guy or gal making a few hundred bucks a month That gives him huge bragging rights And personally, I remember way back when up in the first world When a wallet full of credit cards somehow gave you a warm and fuzzy feeling Maybe 20 or 30 years ago anyway That was a long time ago when you didn't actually realize How much of your life's blood was being sucked away on those compound interest charges Go ahead and ask any banker down here And he'll tell you that everybody rich and poor Is getting eaten alive by these killer credit card charges And what do you think the first thing a newbie does
[10:55] When he gets his very first credit or debit card Why he goes right down to McDonald's or Pizza Hut and charges it So what should expats take home from this? Just remember what Einstein said in an interview with the press When asked what's the most powerful thing in the universe His answer was compound interest So my advice to expats is to try to hang on to a first world based credit card In other words, a credit card issued by a US bank or US credit card company That's because US based credit cards charge usually less than half of their Latin counterparts And you can pay your monthly charges over the internet So you don't have to get your statements lost in the mail down here And speaking of mail Anything that comes from the states by regular US mail
[11:41] Has a good chance of never getting here But we'll talk about mail services on a future show Which brings me back to that good old Latin sense of humor Which I talked about on one of my earlier shows And I said much of their sense of humor doesn't translate very well back to English And that's why when expats go to Latin American comedy clubs or comedy shows And yes, they do have those kind of clubs down here But they're not recommended for expats, believe me Anyway, if you've ever been to one Just see if you can spot an expat That is, if he hasn't dozed off already Believe me, I've been through this torture And expats will just sit there stone face So if you like dumb adolescent sex jokes And stereotypical racial put downs You'll love Latin humor In fact, the only thing you can really say about it
[12:27] Is that it's spectacularly lowbrow But once in a while, they come out with a few gems like this Which I wouldn't doubt was lifted from a first world comic Anyway, here goes Two guys walk into a McDonald's They both order And one of the guys offers to pay He pulls out his wallet Then he blurts out My credit card, it's not here Oh no, I hope it hasn't been stolen Then he says Wait a minute, let me think Maybe I just left it at home And the other guy says to him Yeah, you know My wife's credit card got stolen about three months ago Then the first guy says Is that right? What'd you do about it? And the guy says Nothing, I never reported it And the other guy says Never reported it? Why not? And the guy says Because whoever stole it Is spending less each month than my wife ever did Well, there it is, that's the joke
[13:13] Alright, so let's move on to something else Now, last week, I spoke about how easy it was for expats To get English teaching jobs down in Latin America I explained how private school administrators feel That having a real live expat teaching English Is very good for business And I talked about the pay and the benefits and the time off And the requirements and the work permits And what kind of kids you'll have to deal with And what kind of parents you'll have to deal with and all that Now, the thing I didn't talk about in the last show Was how to find these private high schools and grade schools Just how do you locate them? Well, one very easy way is to go on Google And go on the American Embassy website For whatever country you think you might want to teach in Well, the site has a very detailed list Of places and services and businesses
[14:00] That expats might want to use in that country They have listings of medical doctors and dentists And hospitals and schools and social organizations Even beauty parlors, barber shops and churches Not that the U.S. Embassy recommends any one of those in particular But they do offer that information for anyone who's interested So just type in, for example, in Google U.S. Embassy, Ecuador, English language schools Now, you don't have to go on the U.S. Embassy website To search for some of this stuff You can search English language schools or private schools or whatever Doing a regular Google search But you might get stuck having to read through a lot of Spanish on these websites At least when you go to the U.S. Embassy website, it'll all be in English But private school English teaching is not the only alternative
[14:46] If you want to come down here and teach English And if you don't want to get pigeonholed into a year-long contract Which you most certainly will if you work in one of these private schools Well, instead, if you want to work on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis You could always work at one of the private English-speaking institutes Like Berlitz or Kaplan or Harman Or in any one of the dozens of local language schools that exist down here In practically every city with a population of over 50,000 And to find out about these schools, all of them have webpages So all you have to do is put in your Google search The country and the city and the words language schools Or just the country and the words language schools or the words language institutes And you can do your Google search in English Because obviously, schools like that specialize in teaching English
[15:33] So naturally, their webpages will be in Spanish and in English And as far as expats I know that do this kind of teaching Whether it's at Berlitz or wherever The big advantage besides being able to work by the hour Is that you're not teaching kids but adults who actually want to learn You're not going to be facing day in and day out A bunch of blockhead adolescents screwing around with their blackberries So what do these private language schools pay their teachers? Well again, you're going to be disappointed, really disappointed The way the market is down here You're probably not going to make much over $100 a week So unless you have an available stash of cash Be prepared to live better than the average local But not much better than a college student in a dorm or a backpacker In other words, you're going to be rough in it And if you want to make just a little more money teaching English
[16:21] This time in a business or corporate setting You could always get a job at one of the call centers down here And those kind of jobs are available in almost all the big cities All you have to do is look in the classified ads almost any day of the week And those ads will stand out because they'll always be in English And don't worry, you won't be hired as one of those call center telephone operator flunkies No, you won't be one of those But instead, you'll be hired as the guy or gal who teaches those flunkies how to use proper English When they're dealing with customers Because you see, a big percentage of those flunkies Are wetbacks that the call center has hired After being caught as illegals in the United States And then being deported back to their home country And when they do come back, they know a lot of unpolished street English and slang But they don't know enough English to deal on the phone with clients in a professional way
[17:11] And polishing those rough diamonds, well, that'll be your job And the expats I know that do that kind of corporate English teaching work Well, they do make more money Anywhere from 600 to a thousand dollars a month Which is about double what those call center telephone operators make But I've heard complaints from expats who do that kind of job They say it's not like teaching English to kids and adults in regular schools It's more like assembly line work And there doesn't seem to be much job satisfaction in it So the only positive thing about the job that I can see is that you do make a little more money Though nothing to write home about, that's for sure Which brings me to what some expats say is the most rewarding English teaching job there is down here And that's private tutoring one on one There is a huge demand for that too
[17:57] And here's how it works Turns out that many, many adolescents and college kids Would like nothing better than to hire a private tutor To help them really learn their English the way it's properly spoken up in the United States And actually, I don't know what that really means myself Because I don't speak proper English In fact, every day of the week in every newspaper classified ad section You'll see people actually advertising for private tutoring sessions with an English teacher That's how big the demand is down here So what that means is there are students out there so desperate to learn proper English That they've actually spent money to put an ad in the paper and they're looking for you And you might wonder why that is Especially when a private tutor has to be more expensive And there are so many cheaper alternatives Like those private grade schools and high schools we talked about
[18:43] As well as internationally known language schools like Berlitz And all the other local language schools Not to mention all those DVD and CD-ROM interactive programs that they sell down here And just an aside here on those DVD programs like that Again, every day in the classified news section you'll see people selling those DVD programs And they sell what seems to be the genuine article All those DVDs in the box set You might know what I'm talking about Those interactive software programs you put on your computer All you have to do is do a Google search and see what I mean But the problem down here is If you buy one of those award-winning programs like that You'll find that every one of those interactive DVD or CD-ROM sets is pirated And that's why they can sell the complete set for something like 15 to 20 bucks
[19:31] When the retail price, if you look it up on the official website Could be anywhere from 2 to 500 dollars Which reminds me what happened down here a few years ago When Microsoft was still selling their interactive encyclopedia called Encarta You remember it had 3 or 4 discs that came with it And I think it cost around 100 dollars or so Well I remember every single year when the new Microsoft Encarta came out I could look in the classified ads down here And get the very same thing for about 12 dollars Pirated of course But that's another subject for another show Anyway, how do you become a private English language tutor down here? Well, first of all, unlike teaching at a private school down here You don't need any special degree at all Not a bachelor's or a master's or anything But you probably will have one
[20:17] Because the fact is I would say 90% of all the expats I've ever met down here Have at least a bachelor's degree and something or another And back to that reason Why people almost always prefer private tutors when they can afford them I mean when there are all those other cheaper options available Well it turns out you run into a lot of Latin people Whose English is very poor Yet they've taken a whole series of English courses From a university or a grade school or a high school Or a private language school like Berlitz And yet their English still sucks And it kind of reminds me of those puffed up kids Back in my high school days Who took 3 or 4 years of Spanish or French or German Who belonged to the Spanish or German or French club and all that And thought they had the world by the ass Until they went on that senior trip to France, Germany or Spain
[21:05] And they came back tail between their legs and utterly disappointed Because they could barely communicate with the locals Even with 3 or 4 years of the language under their belts Because the fact is And you know this You really have to practice that language with a native speaker Not some college professor or high school teacher That learned it out of a book And if you don't You'll never pick up the nuances, the accents and the street slang And that's why down here everyone seems to prefer To go to a private English tutor Preferably with a 100% dyed in the wool stereotype gringo Because basically there's nothing like one on one instruction with a native speaker And what I've also found out about expat English teachers down here Is that the more Anglo-Saxon you look The more popular and in demand you're going to be as an English tutor
[21:50] You see the Latin's down here do have their prejudices In other words the people down here prefer a milky white blonde blue eyed gringo or gringa With let's say a degree in geography Over a very Latin looking tutor Even if he or she's got tremendous language credentials For example if you want to learn Mandarin Chinese Wouldn't you prefer to learn it from a Chinese person Rather than from a blonde blue eyed guy from Norway And I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense And if they're equally qualified what's the difference, right? But you get my point The bottom line is If you look like a stereotype gringo or gringa You're halfway there So how do you get jobs like that? Well one way of course is to put an ad in the classified newspaper And you wouldn't believe how cheap the ads are down here You could probably run an ad like that three times for ten dollars
[22:37] And that might be all you'd ever need to fill your schedule Especially if the city's over a million in population But if you want to teach English Make sure you stay out of the high volume tourist areas Because there'll be so many English speaking gringos down there The competition will be so fierce that all bets are off Anyway, once you go down to the classified ads department Don't worry if your Spanish sucks Because there'll always be someone in the classified ads department Who speaks perfect English And that's true of any ad you might want to place in the classifieds And the classified ads down here Work exactly the same as they do in big newspapers in the first world So you'll have your own box number And you can pick up all your mail down at the newspaper office And believe it or not One of your best sources of tutoring clients
[23:23] Are students that come from the public universities down here I said public not private Because the private schools themselves Do a pretty good job of teaching the kids English And that's because so many of them have an expat or two Teaching English on staff So my advice is to put your tutoring notice On the bulletin boards on campus In all the public universities Especially in the language and science departments Because like I said in one of the past programs English is the language of math and science And all the Latins in those careers Want to learn as much English as they possibly can And what can you charge? Well I've seen people charge anywhere from five to ten dollars an hour And you know that might be chicken feed in the States But that's big money down here in Latin America The fact is at about ten dollars an hour
[24:10] You're making twice the average Latin minimum wage for a day In just one hour Imagine if you only work 20 hours a week That would be two hundred dollars Or eight hundred dollars a month For a half time job And there's the fact that you can do your tutoring from your house If you want it that way And who wouldn't? But there is a big pitfall in that And it's the fact that Latin people in general Are late for practically everything So if you schedule a tutoring class at eleven o'clock in the morning That person might just show up at twelve And there's really no way to stop it Because it's endemic in this society And it's been going on forever And worse yet Every once in a while The person just won't show up at all And they won't call you in advance either to tell you so And yet they'll probably show up next week at the proper time
[24:57] And not even mention it And that's the real problem of tutoring people at your place And the only solution to that Is to arrange your tutoring to be done at your student's house And the problem with that of course Is your transportation costs And the time lost getting around especially if you're in a big city However, your student won't be late And he'll never skip out on you Not if the lesson's at his or her house And Latin America isn't like the first world Where some professionals will charge you when you miss an appointment Well you'll never be able to get away with that down here But one expat I know Has solved the problem of chronic lateness and the manana mentality At least in his case By locating his own apartment Very close to a large university down here And because most of his students spent a lot of time on campus
[25:42] They were very close by So they almost always showed up for their lessons And then there's that case of another expat Who had his own plan to stop the manana mentality What he did was he had two prices If you made it to your class on time It was five dollars an hour If you came late it was seven dollars an hour Well needless to say the plan backfired Because the people who knew they were going to be late Just didn't come at all And showed up the following week right on time And paid only five bucks for the lesson So you live and you learn And now I bet you're wondering if you're giving private lessons Do you have to know some Spanish? Well I can tell you right now When your students get a little frustrated They'll often slip into Spanish Expecting you to understand what they've said of course So it is a good idea to know some Spanish at least
[26:29] But I know some expats who have done pretty well in the private tutoring business And they started out not knowing a lick of espanol So don't be discouraged And just as a funny aside Some expat English teachers I know Have said the majority of their students came to them Because they said they were frustrated They'd taken a number of English courses Even at some of the best and highly rated schools But still they just don't understand a lot of the dialogue In English speaking movies And to top it off Many of these kids love English language music And they sign up for private English tutoring And the first thing they say is My goal is to learn my English well enough So that I can understand the words In all the popular English songs Now when I hear things like that It always makes me laugh
[27:14] Because one of my favorite songs is Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones Now I've heard that thing ten thousand times And I still don't know what Mick Jagger's trying to say And if you were to ask me To figure out what any tattooed faced rap or hip hop guy is saying I'd never pass that test either You've been listening to the Expat Files Living in Latin America And don't forget you can email me On anything at all about Latin America The Expat Files at gmail.com That's theexpatfiles at gmail.com See you next time Nos vemos