Teaching English in Spain - TESL / CELTA / TEFL in Spain

Needless to say we jumped at the opportunity and handed in our long awaited notice with absolute joy. My friend Damien from Ireland had been teaching English in this prestige summer school for the last three years and his Spanish employer, the headmaster of the school, put the request to him whether he knew of any female teachers,(as they had sufficient male teachers), who would be interested in joining the team that summer. So on the 2 nd of July of this year we boarded the plane at Glasgow, Prestwick airport and headed for sunny Barcelona with the aim of making our way down the coast to Valencia.

We picked up Damo along the way,(he was busy holidaying with some friends), and reached Valencia where we were met by Pedro, our new employer. After the usual acquainting and welcoming we were driven to Iale English school in Valencia. Here we met the other English teachers and here is where we spent the rest of the week organizing books, posters, cassettes and various other materials which we would need for the following week when the teaching began.

On the weekend we began the long journey by bus over the winding mountain roads, deep into the heart of the Spanish countryside, to the outskirts of a small town called Requeana, where Calvestra school was situated. You could say it was in the middle of nowhere but the countryside and it was very beautiful. Teaching was to begin on the Monday.

The school grounds covered a vast amount of land. It consisted of a main building in which there was a canteen, six classrooms, a reception area and some dorms for sleeping. Throughout the grounds there were twelve wooden cabins, nine of which were used to sleep students,(approximately 20 students to each cabin), and three of which were used as classrooms. There also were five impressive basketball courts, rock climbing facilities, an animal farm and a swimming pool.

Students usually stayed in the camp for two weeks, sometimes three, and new students arrived after the two weeks to replace the old students.

Although Rachel and I had completed a weekend tefl course in Ireland some time back, we never actually had the experience of teaching and were beginning to feel a slight sense of anticipation, especially as all the other teachers seemed to know exactly what they were doing. However there was no time to panic as we had so much work to prepare for- our timetables consisted of 8 classes per day; reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar.

In my opinion no amount of instruction or research can prepare you for your first day of walking into a room full of teenagers. Of course advice from those more experienced than you is valuable but it is entirely up to you to develop your own technique in teaching, to develop your own rapport with the students. It is your responsibility to gain control of a classroom, nobody else can do this for you. In saying all that, the first day is always the hardest and you gain confidence with experience.

The majority of the students in this school came from reputable backgrounds. They knew the importance of the English language, and were there with the purpose of learning, therefore making it a pleasure for us to teach them.

In conclusion my first teaching experience was a very wholesome one. Even though the hours were long as there was a lot of work and helping out to be done outside class times;7 days a week,the free time for sunbathing minimum, the social life non-existent and the mass produced food undesirable at times it was indeed a very satisfying experience.

I was able to breath in the pure country air in the midst of a breathtaking landscape. I developed inner strengths I never knew I had, i.e the ability not to be greedy at meal times and eat what I was given and not what I wished for. I certainly appreciated cuisine a lot more after. I developed friendships with the children and felt real job satisfaction for the first time in my life in the event of watching the children learn from me.

I also came away financially well off as payment was given at the end of the contract, this included travel costs. Food and accommodation were all inclusive in the deal, and excluding the rare nights out we were allowed when we were driven into the town for dinner or a night out, the only pennies I spent were on the pay phone or the vending machine.

I would definitely recommend teaching abroad to other aspiring travelers.