Teaching English in Spain- Teacher Tales

			Teacher Tales I’ve always had an interest in Latin cultures and have wanted to visit Spain for years. When I graduated from university, I thought it would be nice to take a trip there, but then I saw an opportunity to get even more immersed in the culture by getting a teaching certificate and working for a year. Since I was really interested in Andalusian culture (flamenco, sangria) and warm weather, I chose a program with TEFL International in Seville. The course finished after a month and the director there found me a job in the city centre that paid well (around €1,200 for 20 hours a week). I found a shared apartment with some of my graduating colleagues. I did the program in April and at the end of June I returned home to spend summer with my family. I had so many wonderful stories to tell about my life in Seville – the Spanish nurse I met and fell in love with, the Sevillana dance I studied, my trip to North Africa and the Sahara desert, the street dancing every weekend and great food I was eating and learning to cook! I loved it so much, I returned after summer, in October, and decided to work in Madrid this time. I’ve been here in Madrid now for five years and I love it. I have loads of Spanish and expat friends. I ski in the winter and laze by the pool or head to the beach in the spring. I eat a lot of ham and seafood and of course I prefer a nice Rioja wine to go with it, before taking in the bar-to-bar festivities. I teach from Monday to Thursday at a small neighborhood school in Embajadores, about a 20 minute walk south from the center. The owners, and Englishman and a Spaniard are really helpful and nice. The teachers all get along great and we’re all from different countries. We start work around 5 pm in the afternoon and finish at around 10 pm – and on Thursdays we all go to the neighborhood pub, play darts and swap stories. The students are groups of six or eight kids around 10 or 12 years of age until 7 pm, then after that I teach a class of four adults (until 8.30) and a small class with a young couple named Jorge and Esther (until 10 pm). They’re great and will take me out for tapas sometimes after class. I truly recommend teaching in Spain!