Teaching in Spain

·      I will be teaching English in Spain for the upcoming school year (Oct-May)! I am SO excited. I studied abroad in Sevilla (southern Spain) for four months in the Spring of 2009, and I cannot wait to go back :)

Each year the Spanish Government gives several grants to Americans & Canadians to be Language & Culture Assistants (Auxiliares), so their students can learn English from native speakers. ...If you are interested in a position, check out their website: Ministerio de Educación

The position is part-time, so I will have plenty of free time to travel and explore. Many auxiliares teach private English classes/tutor on the side, so I plan to do that too. I may even look into teaching private art lessons! This will be a fun way to get to know more locals while making some extra cash.

Speaking of art, I was an Art Education major and Spanish minor, graduating in May 2010. This position will be related to what I studied in terms of Spanish and teaching, even though it is a different content area. If I also teach art lessons, I will be doing it all! …Well, I plan to keep up with drawing, photography, and painting, as well as visit some museums, so art will be part of my life in Spain regardless. 

Auxiliar responsibilities can vary a bit depending on the placement and age level. Some of my students/classes will have a better grasp of English than others. I could also be with any course taught as a bilingual subject, but even then I am supposed to tie in American culture. I am especially excited about Halloween & Thanksgiving since those are major American holidays towards the beginning of the school year. 

I know that I will learn a lot about my own country’s culture & history, in addition to that of Spain. I love studying cultures, and I am not excluding my own culture from that interest! (And I think that our culture often tends to be specific to regions of the country rather than the U.S. as a whole)

I still do not know where specifically I will end up in Spain, and I may not know for a while. But I am ok with that. Even without knowing the specific location, teaching abroad in Europe has been my top job choice for next year. Spain will be perfect for the transition into my first year of teaching because I know the language well (though not perfectly), and I have lived there before. I will receive my regional assignment this spring, and then a specific school/city this summer. …I have been looking into different areas all over Spain, and there are so many neat places! I am excited to see where this next year takes me :)

Sidenote - ESTADOUNIDENSE - How is it that the Spanish language has a much cooler word for our nationality than we do?! Sure, “American” is nice and short, but it is not really that accurate or descriptive. The Spanish word came from their word for our country: Estados (States) Unidos (United), but “United-Statesian” does not really exist. …Let’s just say I am a little bit jealous. 

**UPDATE** 
I received my regional placement of Extremadura on March 30th! 
I found out my school assignments on April 16th, also indicating I will live in the city of Mérida. I will teach at 2 schools: one C.E.I.P. (Primary) & one I.E.S. (Secondary).
My second year placement was at a secondary school in the Basque County.