Monteverde has become Rome’s worst-kept secret for American English teachers. Not the tourist center where everyone fights over scraps, but this hilltop neighborhood where Italian families pay €2,500 monthly cash for native speakers to teach their kids. No TEFL required. No experience required. Just be American and speak English.
The neighborhood is packed with wealthy Roman families who need their children to pass Cambridge exams. They tried British teachers (too expensive and too proper). They tried Italian teachers (terrible accents). Now they’re throwing money at Americans who show up with a pulse and a passport.
Three language schools are hiring every American who walks in. Private families are poaching teachers with cash offers. The local international school needs substitute teachers desperately. It’s a feeding frenzy and nobody knows about it because it’s not in the tourist guides.
Why Monteverde Specifically Is Desperate
This isn’t random. Monteverde Vecchio is where Rome’s upper-middle class lives. Lawyers, doctors, business owners. Not oligarch rich, but €2,500-for-English-lessons rich. Every family has 2-3 kids who need to speak perfect English for university applications.
The neighborhood has:
- Four private Catholic schools requiring English
- American University of Rome nearby (professors’ kids)
- FAO headquarters walking distance (international families)
- Zero tourists (so no competition from backpackers teaching English)
- Rich Italians who stayed instead of moving to EUR
The perfect storm: wealthy families, education-obsessed culture, and not enough native speakers. Teachers here make more than centro storico with zero competition.
The Schools Begging for Bodies
Kids Can Academy: Just opened third location. Needs 15 teachers immediately. Paying €25-30/hour for afternoon kids’ classes. Full-time contracts available. Director is American, doesn’t care about credentials if kids like you.
Globally Speaking: British-owned but hiring Americans because parents specifically request American accents. €2,000 monthly base plus €30/hour for private lessons. They’ll sponsor your visa.
St. George’s British School: Needs substitute teachers constantly. €150/day. No lesson planning – just show up and speak English. They’re so desperate they’re hiring Americans for a British school.
Local public schools also hiring through agencies. €1,200 monthly for 12 hours weekly. Rest of your time free for private lessons where the real money is.
The Private Lesson Gold Mine
Every teacher in Monteverde has the same story: hired by school, immediately approached by parents for private lessons. The going rate is insane.
Standard private lessons:
- Kids (homework help): €30-40/hour
- Teenagers (exam prep): €40-50/hour
- Adults (business English): €50-60/hour
- Small groups (3-4 kids): €80-100/hour
One teacher from Michigan: teaches mornings at Kids Can (€1,000), afternoons private lessons (€1,500), evenings business English (€1,000). Total: €3,500 monthly. Works 25 hours weekly.
Parents pay cash. No receipts. No taxes. The gray economy that keeps Italy functioning.
The Cambridge Exam Racket
Every Italian kid needs Cambridge certification. PET, KET, First Certificate. Parents lose their minds over these exams. They’ll pay anything for native speakers to prep their kids.
Exam prep courses: €60/hour minimum. Some charge €100. Parents pay because failure means their kid doesn’t get into university. One failed exam can derail an entire Italian family’s plans.
Teachers who know nothing about Cambridge exams are googling the format and charging €60/hour. Parents don’t care. Native speaker = success in their minds.
The University Students Desperate for Help
Roma Tre University has a campus in Monteverde. Every student needs English for their thesis. Most can’t write a paragraph without Google Translate.
Thesis editing: €500-1,000 per thesis Formatting: €200 “English revision”: €50/hour
One American teacher made €8,000 in March just fixing thesis grammar. University students panicking before deadlines will pay anything.
The universities require English proficiency but don’t teach it. The gap between requirement and reality is filled with American teachers charging whatever they want.
The Families Offering Room and Board
Some Monteverde families offer accommodation plus salary. Live with Italian family, teach kids English daily, get free room and board plus €1,000 monthly.
Not au pair slavery – actual teaching position with set hours. Usually 2-3 hours daily, weekends free, August off, family treats you like educated professional not servant.
These positions never get advertised. Families ask other families who know Americans. Word of mouth only. Walk into a Monteverde bar speaking English, someone will offer you a job.
The Visa Situation That Actually Works
Schools sponsor work visas if you have a degree. Any degree. Art history, psychology, communications – doesn’t matter. Italy just wants to see bachelor’s degree for visa paperwork.
The process:
- School offers contract
- Apply for visa at Italian consulate (2-3 months)
- Arrive and get residency permit
- After 5 years, permanent residency
- After 10 years, citizenship eligibility
Or do what half the Americans do: arrive on tourist visa, start teaching, figure out paperwork later. Italy doesn’t actually deport Americans teaching English. They need them too much.
The Cost of Living Reality
Monteverde rent: €600-800 for a room, €1,200 for one-bedroom apartment
Not cheap, but you’re earning €2,500 minimum. After rent and food, saving €1,000 monthly easy. Some teachers sharing apartments save €1,500 monthly.
The neighborhood has normal prices, not tourist prices:
- Coffee: €1.10
- Lunch: €8-10
- Aperitivo: €8 with free buffet
- Groceries: €150 monthly
Living like a local, not a tourist. Shopping at the market, not eating in restaurants, cooking at home. Teachers here save more than they saved in America despite earning less.
The Schedule That’s Actually Civilized
Italian English teaching follows Italian schedule:
Morning: Kids in school, you’re free Afternoon: 3-7 PM prime teaching time Evening: 7-9 PM adult lessons Weekends: Usually free unless Cambridge exam prep
Nobody teaches 40 hours weekly. Average is 20-25 hours. Full-time salary for part-time work. Mornings for coffee and Italian lessons. Long lunches. August completely off because everyone’s at the beach.
The Teachers Already Banking
Met Sarah from Portland: quit $35,000 nonprofit job, now makes €3,000 monthly teaching English, works fewer hours, saves more money, learned Italian, dating Italian architect.
Tom from Boston: was bartender, now teaches business English to executives, charges €60/hour, works 20 hours weekly, spends rest of time writing novel.
Jennifer from Ohio: divorced, 47, no teaching experience, hired immediately, makes €2,500 teaching kids, lives better than she did on $50,000 in Columbus.
None had teaching experience. None spoke Italian when they arrived. All making more than they expected in a neighborhood they’d never heard of.
The Support Network
Americans in Monteverde Facebook group: 400 members, all helping each other find students, sharing materials, warning about problem families.
Wednesday aperitivo at Bar Gianicolo: unofficial American teacher meetup. Everyone goes. Job offers shared. Students passed around. Apartments available. Someone always leaving, someone always arriving.
The experienced teachers help newbies. Not competition – more American teachers makes the neighborhood more attractive to families who want native speakers. Everyone’s boat rises.
The Materials Scam You Don’t Need
Cambridge textbooks cost €50 each. Teachers make photocopies. Nobody cares about copyright in Italy. One person buys book, everyone copies it.
Online resources all free. Games from Pinterest. Worksheets from Teachers Pay Teachers. YouTube videos. Spotify for listening exercises. You don’t need to create anything.
Parents think you’re using special American methods. You’re googling “ESL games” five minutes before class. They pay €40/hour for your accent, not your pedagogy.
The Actual Teaching Reality
Italian kids are spoiled but affectionate. They’ll argue, show up late, forget homework. They’ll also bring you cookies their nonna made and invite you for Sunday lunch.
Teenagers are teenagers everywhere. On their phones, eye-rolling, minimal effort. Parents pay anyway because native speaker conversation is what matters.
Adults are motivated. They need English for work. They do homework. They appreciate you. They become friends. They introduce you to their single cousins.
Business English is reading emails together and fixing PowerPoints. Not rocket science. Executives need confidence more than grammar. You provide both.
The Side Hustles
Translation: €30 per page. Menus, websites, business cards. Google Translate plus native speaker editing.
Voice recording: €100/hour. Companies need American voices for ads, apps, automated systems.
Tour guiding: €150 per tour. Technically need license but Americans lead “walking conversations” not “tours.”
Proofreading: €25/hour. Academic papers, business proposals, restaurant menus. Everything needs English version.
Some teachers make more from side hustles than teaching. The American accent is currency in Rome.
The Summers in Monteverde
Rich families go to their beach houses. Take teachers with them. Free accommodation in Sardinia or Amalfi, reduced hours, beach life, still getting paid.
Or teach summer camps. €600 weekly for day camps where you play games in English. Exhausting but lucrative. Four weeks = €2,400.
Or take August off like Italians do. Travel Europe on saved money. Return in September when everyone needs English again.
The December Bonus
Every family gives Christmas bonus. Cash in envelopes. €50-200 per family depending on wealth and how much kid improved.
Teachers with 10 private students getting €1,000 in Christmas bonuses. Tax-free. December is basically double salary month.
The Long-term Reality
Some teachers stay forever. Marry Italians, have kids, become part of Monteverde life. Others do 2-3 years, save money, move on. Both are fine.
Five years gets you permanent residency. Ten years, citizenship eligibility. EU passport. Suddenly you can work anywhere in Europe.
Or build a teaching business. Some Americans now run their own schools. Started with one student, now have 200. Making €10,000 monthly managing other teachers.
The Problems Nobody Mentions
Italians pay late. Sometimes very late. Invoice says 30 days, might be 90. Budget accordingly.
Families cancel constantly. Kid sick. Family vacation. Random saint day. You show up, nobody’s home. Still common.
No job security. Contracts mean nothing in Italy. School might close. Family might hire someone cheaper. Always need backup plans.
August is dead. Zero income unless you planned. Everyone disappears. Rome becomes a ghost town. Budget or teach camps.
Italian bureaucracy is hell. Getting codice fiscale, permesso di soggiorno, bank account. Each takes multiple visits. Bring books to read in waiting rooms.
Why Monteverde Over Trastevere or Centro
Tourist areas are saturated. Every backpacker with a TEFL fighting for €10/hour jobs. Monteverde has real families with real money and real need.
No tourists mean no distractions. You’re living real Roman life. Shopping at local markets, drinking at neighborhood bars, becoming part of community.
Cheaper rent than centro. Better quality of life. Actual Romans not international transplants. You learn Italian because you have to.
The commute to anywhere is 20 minutes. Bus to centro. Train to Vatican. Tram to Trastevere. Central but not touristy.
The Application Process
Don’t apply online. Show up. Walk into schools. Speak English loudly. Smile. You’ll have interviews immediately.
Bring:
- Passport
- Degree (any degree)
- Printed CV (even if thin)
- Professional clothes
- Enthusiasm
They care more about personality than qualifications. Can you keep Italian kids engaged for an hour? You’re hired.
September and January are hiring seasons. But teachers leave constantly. Jobs always available.
The Qualifications You Don’t Need
TEFL certificate: Helpful but not required Teaching experience: Nice but not necessary
Italian language: Actually better if you don’t speak it Master’s degree: Nobody cares Teaching license: This isn’t real school
You need: American accent, patience, energy, basic human decency
One school director: “I’d rather hire an enthusiastic bartender than a burned-out teacher.”
The Money-Making Strategy
Start with one school for visa and base income. Add private students slowly. Build reputation. Raise rates. After one year, you should have:
- School job: €1,200-1,500
- 10 private students: €1,500-2,000
- Occasional extras: €300-500
- Total: €3,000-4,000
Work 25 hours weekly. Save half. Live in Rome. Travel Europe on weekends.
The Exit Options
Teaching English in Rome is a gateway drug. It gets you to Europe. What happens next is up to you.
Some transition to “real” careers. Some teach forever. Some start businesses. Some marry Italians. Some use Rome as base to explore Europe.
The point is getting there. Monteverde needs English teachers now. Today. This month.
The Final Reality
Monteverde families will pay €2,500 monthly for native English speakers. No experience required. No Italian required. No teaching certificate required.
Just show up. Be American. Speak English. Collect money.
While Americans pay $50,000 for master’s degrees to earn $40,000 teaching in Ohio.
The jobs exist. The neighborhood exists. The desperate families exist.
Kids Can Academy is hiring this week. Globally Speaking needs teachers for January. Families are asking everyone if they know Americans.
Rome. €2,500 monthly. 25 hours weekly.
Your excuse for not doing this?
Monteverde is waiting.
The families are desperate.
Pack a suitcase.
Book a flight.
The teaching jobs aren’t going to Italians. They’re going to whoever shows up.
Why not you?
About the Author: Ruben, co-founder of Gamintraveler.com since 2014, is a seasoned traveler from Spain who has explored over 100 countries since 2009. Known for his extensive travel adventures across South America, Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa, Ruben combines his passion for adventurous yet sustainable living with his love for cycling, highlighted by his remarkable 5-month bicycle journey from Spain to Norway. He currently resides in Spain, where he continues sharing his travel experiences with his partner, Rachel, and their son, Han.