New guy with questions

[haje]

Hola. I just found this site and think it may be very important and helpful. Good job to those responsible! I am 29 and currently at [!-- BBcode auto-mailto start --][a href=\"mailto:UNC@Chapel\"]UNC@Chapel[/a][!-- BBCode auto-mailto end --] Hill majoring in psych and minoring in spanish. I\'m graduating in May and thinking about moving to Spain. I was in Spain last year for only a week and fell in love with it. The questions: How good does my Spanish have to be in order to teach english? What other kinds of jobs can one get? Is my dream of living and working in Spain going to be extremely difficult to realize? I\'m sure all of this has been covered on the boards already, so if anyone could link me to the appropriate post(s) that would be sweet. Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and I look forward to your responses.  [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif\"] [addsig]

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[Tracy]

Hi Haje! Welcome to the Cafe. Your questions are difficult ones mainly because everyone has such different circumstances. If you look like Jack the Ripper, are notorious for slacking off and beat your students into submission when they mispronounce words, then the answer is YES, your \'dream of living and working in Spain\' is \'going to be extremely difficult to realize.\' On the other hand, if you look like a normal guy/girl, are incredibly charasmatic and persistent (in a good way) about finding work and happy to take a minimal amount of classes and money, then your chances are slightly better.



I will say, more objectively, that you should have EXPERIENCE teaching English as a second language. A college degree from the US is no longer worth much, in Spain anyway. There\'s far too much competition. And no, your Spanish doesn\'t have to be perfect. It can be minimal, but you should be able to know enough to get by. I would also strongly suggest taking Spanish classes while there. This way, you\'re always learning. Whatever the case may be, you need to be prepared financially incase you cannot find work.



Search around the site. I cannot really pinpoint any one bit of info that would benefit you. If you don\'t have any experience teaching, try Literacy Volunteers of America. They even train you for FREE.



Good luck![addsig]

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[mlwalton]

Hi Haje,



Welcome to the board.  I too am moving to Spain, in September \'03, to Barcelona.  I am reading a book that you might also be interested in by David Hampshire, it\'s entitled [!-- BBCode Start --]Living and Working in Spain: Survival Handbook[!-- BBCode End --].  Also this site has a "links" page that is really great, well organized and extensive.  Are you an American? I ask because it\'s much more difficult for Americans to get legal employment in Spain (I\'m American).  I\'m actually researching how to start my own business in Spain so that I can go the legal route.  Do you have any idea yet, where in Spain you\'d like to go?



I would also recommend getting TEFL certified.  I got certified at [!-- BBCode Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.itc-training.com\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]ITC Language School[/A][!-- BBCode End --] in Prague, last year.  They also offer job assistance.  There are other schools to check out as well.  You can go to [!-- BBCode Start --][A HREF=\"http://www.tefl.net\" TARGET=\"_blank\"]tefl.net[/A][!-- BBCode End --], it\'s a great site with lots of info.  Hope this helps...



Salud! [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_beer.gif\"]

Michelle [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_cool.gif\"] [addsig]

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[Candela]

Hi Haje!  Yes, you are right, there is tons on info exploring these exact questions all over this and other boards.  I am also totally head over heels in love with Spain, especially Madrid (though Cadiz is a close second!).  I am moving to Madrid on January 6th and have been also concerned with some of these questions, even though I lived there before and have been all through this.  I did stumble across a great posting on [!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.madridman.com\" target=\"_blank\"]www.madridman.com[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --] from another Americano in love with Spain.  He had some great practical advice and amazing links.  Here is the link to his posting:

[!-- BBCode auto-link start --][a href=\"http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000203\" target=\"_blank\"]http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000203[/a][!-- BBCode auto-link end --]



I cannot possibly emphasize Tracy\'s advice strongly enough.  Get some English Teaching basics down.  I showed up in Madrid with no clue about teaching, though many well-meaning friends said it would be no problem since I am a native speaker.  WRONG.  I spent two weeks visiting academy after academy with my sad little padded up cv and got nowhere.  I completely failed two English grammar tests.  Gerund Who I remember thinking.  Finally while interviewing with a lovely New Zealand head of studies I actually broke down into tears.   [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_redface.gif\"] Crying.  During an interview.  It was tragic, I ran out of there.  When I got home there was a message from her, she was offering me a bright and early Saturday class (obviously she felt sorry for me.)  



Anyway, then the real difficulties started.  Before each and every class I had to cram for hours to make sure I understood the lesson before I could teach it.  I cringe in shame thinking of how many times I answered a student with, "Hmm, that is a very advanced point in English grammar, we\'ll need to review that in detail next week."  It was a total pain, but somehow I made it through.  Soon I could fling past perfects and subjunctives and misplaced modifiers around like a pro.  I also discovered that I adore teaching!   [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_love.gif\"]



Please learn from my mistake.  Get a grammar/ esl teaching book now and start boning up.  Do it for yourself, and for those whom you will teach (why my students were always so obsessed with whom I will never know  [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_laughing.gif\"] .)  There are tons of ESL teaching sites all over the web.  Get to it and good luck!



Candela



[addsig]

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[haje]

WOW!! Thanks so much for the responses and suggestions. I looked around the site and found answers to my questions. I do plan to teach english to mexican immigrants once I graduate next spring. I figure I\'ll work my arse off in the exciting world of unskilled labor, save money, learn to teach and start really planning the following year for the move. I want to live in either Madrid or Barcelona, those being the 2 places I visited in Spain last year. I liked Madrid for its energy, and Barcelona for its beauty and elegance. Also, is there a community of us expatriots over there so that me and my future wife won\'t feel alone? Thanks again for the info, advice and links. J   [IMG SRC=\"modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_nod.gif\"] [addsig]

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[Sibsie]

I\'m going to put in a word for the Costas.  My local paper has ads every week for people to work at English Language schools yet everyone flocks to BCN, Madrid and sometimes Valencia and that\'s about it.   True we don\'t have any Americans here but there are some beautiful places outside of the big three.  I really think you\'d have more luck looking in some of the smaller places.[addsig]

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[silo]

The Costas are awesome...I like Platja D\'Aro personally. One thing I don\'t understand is why Americans or Brits or what have you look for other expatriates to hang around with. You would think if you are going to live in a foreign country, you would want to get away from these people.[addsig]

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