More On LanguageCorps: Cool Feature No.1

One feature of LanguageCorps, the TEFL Logue sponsor, which sticks out to me is the role of the Corps Advocate. Each flagship program participant is matched up with a Corps Advocate, whose job it is to help participants from the day they arrive in country to approximately six weeks after their departure. This person is generally an American expat with extended experience in the target country and fluency in the local language. In the words of Anna, a LanguageCorps participant in Oaxaca, Mexico, “Everything was simply taken care of, and if it wasn´t, or if I was confused, all I had to do was ask, regardless of the time of day or night, and within hours I would have an answer.” (See Anna’s blog – including links to photos of Oaxaca – here)

LanguageCorps itself explains the role of the Corps Advocate as: to secure an acceptable paid teaching job, negotiate a fair contract, obtain appropriate accommodations, and tackle health care issues.

As Corps Advocates often also have local contacts and assistance, they are in a good position to help participants achieve their goals throughout the year, which may well include getting insight or volunteer experience connected to careers outside of teaching.

I’m not a LanguageCorps participant, but having worked abroad in a number of countries I can definitely vouch for how useful it is to have someone familiar with not only the local language but the local circumstances and the hurdles foreigners are likely to experience. While I think that some difficulties are part of what makes living abroad such a remarkable experience…after a certain point these challenges lose their novelty and you just want to get things done. And there will usually be enough challenges to go around, so you won’t miss out on the because you have local help from a Corps Advocate…but you will be able to rest assured that you won’t be left out in the cold if a difficult problem comes up. For more information on Language Corps, check out their site.