Here are some of the most frequent questions that I recieive from people when they hear that I teach English in Spain or if they are interested in doing something similiar. I hope these can help you on your journey!
WHY TEACH ENGLISH IN ANOTHER COUNTRY?
There are numerous benefits to teaching English in another country. I found myself looking into this option when I was about to graduate from university and wasn´t quite ready to leap into a full-time job or graduate school. I had always known that I wanted to travel to other countries and maybe even live abroad for a longer period of time. I started looking into the various options and I officially decided on Spain, because of my minor in Spanish.
HOW CAN I PREPARE MYSELF TO TEACH ABROAD?
Now, since I wasn´t a teaching major in university, I decided that going into to teaching English with very little experience wasn´t exactly the best idea. So, I decided to take 150-hour TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Course. This was so helpful and really prepared me for starting my job as an auxiliar. I took this course through CIEE and it was online, but there a many more options out there. If you don´t feel like you need to take a course, I would still recommend getting experience. I volunteered with a TESOL course and that really helped me understand how foreigners learn English. It also allowed me to see how I teach, and what I can do to improve.
WHICH AGE SHOULD I TEACH?
This is completely dependent on you and your personality. I originally thought that I might teach older kids, but eventually decided to teach primary students. The truth is that each age has its own difficulties, The older kids are able to understand more, have a higher level, and often speak well. But they can be unmotivated, and the grammar is more complicated for you to teach. The younger kids have simple grammar and the lessons are mostly vocabulary and simple sentance structure (depending on the grade you teach). But they can be very talkative and sometimes will not understand anything. It is important to know which age group you would feel comfortable teaching. I chose primary because I love younger kids and I knew that I would be able to help them improve their English. But that doesn´t mean it has been easy. Every week is a new challenge. However, I absolutely love it. WHAT SHOULD I DO ONCE I KNOW THE NAME OF THE SCHOOL I WILL BE TEACHING AT?
Most people say that once you find out the school you are assigned to, you should contact them right away. However, I say if you are teaching in Spain. wait until the beginning of September. I say this because the teachers and the faculty don´t return to the school until September, so they won´t contact you back until beginning or even middle of September depending on the school. I contacted my school through email. I introduced myself and asked if I could come see the school before my first day. They allowed me to come about a week before and I was introduced to the teachers and they helped me to understand my role in the school. We also went through all the official things such as, paperwork and bank information for direct deposit.