By Luke Fisher

In this article, Luke Fisher discusses the life of the English teacher in Spain:

There are a wide variety of TEFL course options available in Spain leading to TEFL jobs for those with TEFL certification. Spain has such a tremendous amount regional diversity that one is almost dealing with this country as a mini continent. The Costa’s – Spain’s huge coastline – differs greatly from the geographic nature of the big cities, which in turn differs greatly from the environment of the thousands of picturesque rural villages, which is again is different from the mountainous regions of Andorra or Granada. Dispirit locations and circumstances are united in a profound love of life. Hence it is very easy to get swept up in a seemingly constant round of festivals and fiestas, dancing and music – eating well and drinking well being all part of pursuing the good life in the best of all possible worlds. Few who have lived in Spain for a spell would disagree with the idea that, in terms of quality of life, Spain is a world leader. There is a high demand for English language skills in all walks of life generating a vast market of TEFL jobs for those with TEFL certification.

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Spain is a big country with a varying climate in different locations to suit all tastes. The country is very hot in the south with temperatures getting into the 40s, cooler in the north, and snowbound in the Pyrenees. The official language is Spanish, though Catalan, Basque and Gallego are the official languages in the Autonomous states. The population is approximately 42 million, and while there is plenty of hustle and bustle in the larger cities the rural areas leave one with the idea that no one has been there for years.

TEFL jobs for those having completed a TEFL course in Spain are excellent. Teachers of English have long been sought after with language schools catering to the needs of high school and university students seeking to shore up the tuition they get at their main place of study. Spain has undergone a huge period of economic growth during the late 20th century, and continues to be Western Europe’s fastest-growing economy. The result of this is that more and more employers in Spain require that their prospective employees have good English skills. Business-specific academies have sprung up almost everywhere to meet the needs of multi-nationals seeking to improve the language skills of their employees.

The large cities of the south such as Seville, Cadiz and Granada offer an array of medieval and Moorish architecture – often together in the same building – along with flamenco dance and music. The Costa’s range from Benedorm, where you will find it difficult to escape the idea that England has somehow been transplanted into the Mediterranean, to the beautiful and un-spoilt Costa de la Luz – coast of light. There are also many amazing locations that fall somewhere in between. Barcelona, in Catalonia, prides itself on its cosmopolitan environment, and has fabulous architecture, not least by the cities most famous son Gaudi. Madrid has everything that you would expect of any European capital city: Art and architecture abound in an air of cool sophistication. In Galicia you are greeted by mountains and mile after mile of spectacular, haunting forest.

For those wanting a TEFL job within a state or private school, employers require applicants to have completed a TEFL course in Spain, or in another country, and have full TEFL certification. Teaching experience is an advantage but often not a pre requisite. With language institutes, or acadamias, expect to find yourself to be teaching university or high school students – sometimes in the same class. Specialist business colleges and schools aim to provide for the needs of large multinationals, in this case a business background is an advantage. Enthusiasm for English is continuously increasing and there are moves to bring English into the school curriculum at an earlier stage. In many cases you will find yourself teaching students of varying ability, sometimes in the same class. Fortunately a great deal of time within the Spanish education system is spent on learning Spanish grammar which is a great help when learning English grammar. So with grammar a Spaniard will tend to know what they are talking about. As a result preparation for teaching classes is very important.

When researching TEFL jobs in advance a useful contact is the British Council in Madrid. They will be able to advise you as to where in Spain the British Council has offices and they keep a list of language schools, both private and state. In addition, the on-line Yellow Pages are a good resource for those with TEFL certification. Within the UK, The Guardian newspaper has a special edition on Tuesdays for TEFL courses in Spain and TEFL jobs. The vast majority of TEFL jobs and TEFL certification courses in Spain can be found on the net on websites such as TEFL.com and the eslcafe. With this said, the vast majority of teaching positions are filled on the spot and it is important to remember that timing is a very important issue. Many language schools close for the summer, thus September is good time to arrive for your TEFL certification course also to look for TEFL jobs. In addition, there is often a spike of recruitment activity in January and generally TEFL jobs are available all year round. Month to month September to June there are constantly TEFL job opportunities available.

A good idea, before setting off, is to contact your local Spanish Embassy to see what information they have available. Most consulates have a document entitled ‘Teaching English in Spain.’, and the consulate in the UK has a list of teaching institutes. It is also useful to contact the Federation Espanola de Centros de Ensenanza de Idiomas (FECEI) which is an organization of the better, more established language schools.

About the Author

Teaching English in Spain with TEFL International. TEFL International provides TEFL certification and TEFL courses in Spain with TEFL jobs. Teach, travel, live and work in Spain with TEFL International.

By Anthony Gore, with a response from Diarmuid Fogarty

The difficulties of working in Spain’s private ELT market

I have been teaching English in southern Spain for almost two years. During that time I think that I have either experienced or have heard about all the possible pitfalls that can befall a teacher working in private academies. Spain has for a long time been a popular destination for native teachers of English and because of this native teachers are not exactly at a premium. There is work but not the kind of work where your ability to speak natural English means that the work will be well paid or your contribution appreciated. This may sound cynical but the truth ( at least about my area of Spain ) is that English is valued as a language, while teachers and to most extent students are seen as the unfortunate consequence of having an academy.

One is left in no doubt that the first aim of any academy is to make money, while the second aim is to save money with teaching students to read and write in English a poor third. I say read and write because many academies don’t bother to teach students to speak English and at least one that I know of tells teachers NOT to speak English in class ! It is easy to understand this emphasis on the written word. Spanish schools do not test their students orally at any time during their education ( until that is you take an English degree at university ). It is common to find students who are unable to speak any English despite finishing higher education and achieving good grades in English exams. These students are unable to make any connection between the written and spoken word and they often return to academies once they realise that they need to be able to speak English for their work.

As a teacher in a Spanish academy you will be faced with several likely situations with unmotivated students being your biggest class headache, I believe in a learner centred approach but students who refuse to be interested in anything, including music and popular culture, present a real problem when trying to prepare a class around their interests. Some of you will be saying that I must have chosen the wrong music or topics, you would be wrong; on one occasion I offered the class a blank cassette to take home and record the music they would like to work on in class, no one took up the offer. At other times I have offered them a choice of video to be viewed in class only to be told they didn’t care which they saw. These classes are frustrating the only advice I can give you is don’t get depressed, don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find the solution, but equally keep trying and if you find an answer email me !

Your employers are likely to cause you an equal amount of frustration; I have never experienced any form of formal teacher development or assessment while working here. I was once given a “school policy” which stated that teachers were “empowered to do their jobs”, this meant that you were left to sort things out on your own. In my experience employers will also change your hours without notice, refuse to tell you if you will be hired again the following year ( 99% of contracts are for nine months, it is unlikely that you can earn enough in that time to survive the three months of summer without work ) and if you are unfortunate enough to be a non-native teacher generally treat you without any consideration at all.

Perhaps all that has put you off, I hope not because I’m sure there are good schools in Spain and if you come you will find many students who have a genuine desire to improve their English; a population who are warm and forgiving even as you murder their language in an attempt to communicate; a climate that has three months of mild winter rather than two weeks of British summer; an unequalled selection of fattening foods and a culture styled on a passion for enjoying the worst as well as the best that life has to offer. The Spanish say “Work to live, not live to work” it’s a philosophy that worth remembering before you face that class of teenagers.

A response

What a bleak picture Anthony Gore paints of working in Spain, and one that rang few bells with me after having worked there for five years. I began teaching in the Basque Country in 1996 and encountered groups of students who covered the range of enthusiasm from poke-her-to-see-if-she’s-still-breathing to gag-him-and-tie-him-to-the-chair. From his description of activities offered to his students, I am assuming that most of them are teenagers.

It is true that teenagers are notoriously difficult to motivate, and so it seems unfair to suggest that this is a characteristic of the Iberian adolescents. Neither do I find it likely that they ‘refuse to be interested in anything’. It’s worth remembering that most students in the academies are not consulted about whether or not they wish to go there, nor are they given much time to get on with being adolescents. Parents thoughtfully package every minute of their offspring’s day into ‘meaningful learning experiences’ such as facing a tired, underpaid and increasingly cynical teacher in a language academy.

Whilst Anthony is to be commended for his attempts to make the language more meaningful by relating it to what he perceives as being of interest to his captive audience, he might find it more rewarding if he asks his students what it is that they would like to be discussing in English classes. It may well be that their real interests go a bit deeper than pop songs and videos. And he shouldn’t get too disheartened if his pleas for help are met with silence. Teenagers in most countries are not used to their views being solicited by figures of authority. It might be a case of softly, softly, catchee monkey.

I think that the Spanish education system also needs defending (loathe as I am to be the one to do it…). For two years I travelled around Spain working as a teacher trainer. My work brought me into contact with many colleagues who are working in very unfavourable conditions in the State system. Despite these conditions, there are a great many teachers who are trying out new and, dare I say it, revolutionary approaches to the teaching of English as a foreign language. It is no coincidence that some of the more refreshing voices in the world of EFL are to be found living and working in Spain.

Finally, I do share his opinions on the working conditions that teachers are forced to work under. Even the British Council is guilty of the exploitation of teachers by employing them repeatedly on short term contracts, which mean no summer pay and reduced social security contributions. However, once again, I think that this is a problem experienced by teachers on a global scale and it seems unfair to present it as a typically Spanish problem.

However, I can assure him that there are good employers to be found in Spain (including several in the south). Another alternative might be to join with some like-minded individuals and form a workers’ cooperative. After all, Spain has favourable laws for doing such things and the Mondragón cooperatives flourished (and continue to do so) in the north of the country.

In conclusion, I would like to encourage readers not to be too disheartened by Anthony’s description. Spain is a wonderful country to live in and work in. Of course, there are problems with greedy bosses and unresponsive students, but as the Spanish also say, No se puede nadar Y guardar la ropa – You can’t go swimming AND look after your clothes.