I only have a week left teaching after tomorrow, and to be honest, it won't be soon enough! As I've said before, I've not found teaching English particularly thrilling. It's not very creative, co-operative or fulfilling in my experience. That said, by far the best thing about it are the students. I taught a couple of them their last classes today and it was pretty sad really! I've been teaching the students at my main company for two hours a week since October, and that's a lot of time to spend with people. Maybe it's the companies that I've been teaching in, but I've found almost all of them pleasant and fun to work with, and in most cases we've developed a good rapport - I even got invited to one of their weddings (I really wish I could go but unfortunately it's in July so I can't).
Just because I haven't enjoyed it that much though, doesn't mean I haven't benefitted. Since Easter I've had more hours each week and I ended up with a more or less steady 30 a week, including a couple of private classes. At €20 an hour, that's not bad money, and yesterday I transferred another lump over to my English bank account to pay off the rest of my overdraft. What I would say is don't believe a company saying they'll get you 40 hours a week. I only got to 30 by the end of the year and you spend a lot of time shuttling around between companies too, making a 40 hour week quite difficult. In hindsight thoyugh, I should have pushed to get more hours earlier on, or sought out more private classes, instead of getting the job with the worse paid 'language school', although that was good for making friends.
Also thinking about it the other day, I realised that I have picked up a few skills from this job as well. I didn't have the faintest clue about English grammar before I did this, and I've been constantly learning as the year's gone on. Valuable for anyone that has ambitions to do any kind of writing. A friend came over recently to make a presentation in a boardroom environment and commented that he was quite nervous. I realised that now I wouldn't have the slightest worry about doing something like that, no matter who I was presenting it to. You have to get over nervousness about that kind of thing teaching people older, more experienced and more important than you in their own offices. The fact that you have your mastery of English over them makes it a good training ground for gaining confidence in these situations and now I just have an automatic setting for it I think. The method used by my company is very up front and in their faces as well, with you leading the class so you just have to get used to it.
So I don't know, I can't say I fully recommend teaching English, but it certainly has some benefits, not least of which is the pay!
As I was writing the last post about the camp in Sol staying through the rain, it turns out they were voting to take it down and go home. This was mostly a tactical decision though I'm sure, and a good one too I think. People's patience seemed to be wearing a bit thin, and the businesses around Sol complaining that they were hurting their revenues wasn't helping. The movement is still very much going though, spreading out to neighbourhoods more. Walking around in the evenings, you'll see mismatched groups of all ages and appearances sitting in circles in squares debating with someone taking minutes. One indignato, however, recieved some rather good news on going home - he discovered that he'd won the lottery to the tune of €1.35m!
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Friday, 17 June 2011
Friday, 13 May 2011
A Drinker's Guide To Malasaña
Blogger has apparently been on the blink and decided to delete this post from yesterday so here it is again.
All my classes have been cancelled over the last two days, so I've had a nice little mid-week holiday to do not a lot of anything. It means my paycheck's going to suffer at the end of the month though. One of the hazards of being a self-employed teacher is that your classes can get cancelled and there's not much you can do about it. On Monday though, someone cancelled at the last minute, which meant I got paid €40 for sitting around at home for two hours. Its meant I've had some good time to sit in the sun, do some bike maintenance, and sit in cafes in Malasaña, as I'm doing now. So this seems like as good a time as any to give you a guide to the many, many bars of Malasaña, in no particular order. (Click the names for a map).
Malabar
An ideal starting point on Plaza Dos de Mayo, slap bang in the middle of Malasana, this circus themed bar has tables on the square, but don't miss out on it's cozy, nicely lit and entertaining interior and perma-friendly staff.
Garaje Sonico
Just across the street is Garaje Sonico, a dark and dingy punk dive bar with a great atmosphere and music policy taking in 60s, 70s and more modern alternative guitar music. There's a little dancefloor in the backroom too and its open late. It's not the cheapest at €3 a bottle but they have a happy hour between 10-11pm where its €7 for 2 Jagerbombs if you like that kinda thing.
La Via Lactea
Less the Milky Way, more UV lighting and skate-punk graffiti. Grab a booth or stand around the massive pool table downstairs, its usually pretty packed but would you have it any other way?
La Lolita
If the answer to that was yes, maybe you'd prefer the more laid back 50's bossa nova vibes of La Lolita (which I'm actually sitting in right now). Wi-fi during the day, buzzing with conversation at night, there's not a lot of seats but they include some comfy armchairs to sink into. A friend of mine refers to it as his 'pulling bar' because it's where he always takes girls on dates, the rascal.
La Catrina
This little Mexican bar plays up to all the stereotypes, covered in Mexican memorabilia, including a huge collection of Mexican wrestler action figures. You probably wouldn't spend the whole night here but it makes a nice little stop off.
Tupperware
I'd heard so much about Tupperware that by the time I went there I was a bit disappointed. It's one of the best known bars in Malasana but no better than the rest really. They have DJ's (as do most of these bars, even if it's just the barman most of the time) and a bit of room for dancing but it's nothing special really.
Maderfaker
This blaxploitation themed bar is actually pretty bare but the posters for classics such as 'Blacula' stare down at you from the wall with films playing on TV screens and a great soundtrack playing over the stereo.
Aroma
Two painstakingly made and delicious mojitos for €7 in an otherwise unremarkable bar. They even hand-grind the ice, bless 'em.
La Realidad
Far and away my favourite bar in Malasana and, in fact, Madrid, Realidad's walls are covered by a huge paint-by-numbers mural that has slowly been being filled in over the last 7 months. Otherwise fitted out as a hella-quirky living room, it does great, if pricey and pretentious, cocktails (is that a rose petal? Yes it is) and €3 doble's served by some of the coolest bar staff you will ever see.
El Perro de la Parte de Atrás del Coche
Roughly translating as 'The Dog That Nods It's Head In The Back Of The Car', this is a little bar-club which I've admittedly only been to once, and that was when I was very drunk, but from what I remember it was a whole lot of fun, playing what I'd call 'alternative cheese' (think The Monkees). Good for a laugh.
Taboo
Moving up the pretention-ometer, Taboo is all silly haircuts, tight jeans and loud electronic music. It's hidden away on Calle Vincente Ferrer, but inside you'll find all sorts kicking off. When I was there, the DJ was pumping a picture of Jesus in the air while a man in speedos, goggles and a swimming cap did some kind of underwater dance next to him.
Sideral
Crap ustairs but a lively little indie bar-club downstairs in the arched cellar. When it's full it's a fun place to go for a warm up drink and get an energy boost.
This is only a small cross-section of the options open to you on a night out in Malasaña, a must-do if you're visiting the city. There's also the big Pacha club next to Tribunal metro, a sprinkling of cheaper old man bars, Chueca just a hop over Calle Fuencarral and usually a load of botellon going on to boot.
Words Of The Day: Botellon - Street drinking
Caña - Small beer
Doble - Bigger beer
Jarra - Even bigger beer
All my classes have been cancelled over the last two days, so I've had a nice little mid-week holiday to do not a lot of anything. It means my paycheck's going to suffer at the end of the month though. One of the hazards of being a self-employed teacher is that your classes can get cancelled and there's not much you can do about it. On Monday though, someone cancelled at the last minute, which meant I got paid €40 for sitting around at home for two hours. Its meant I've had some good time to sit in the sun, do some bike maintenance, and sit in cafes in Malasaña, as I'm doing now. So this seems like as good a time as any to give you a guide to the many, many bars of Malasaña, in no particular order. (Click the names for a map).
Malabar
An ideal starting point on Plaza Dos de Mayo, slap bang in the middle of Malasana, this circus themed bar has tables on the square, but don't miss out on it's cozy, nicely lit and entertaining interior and perma-friendly staff.
Garaje Sonico
Just across the street is Garaje Sonico, a dark and dingy punk dive bar with a great atmosphere and music policy taking in 60s, 70s and more modern alternative guitar music. There's a little dancefloor in the backroom too and its open late. It's not the cheapest at €3 a bottle but they have a happy hour between 10-11pm where its €7 for 2 Jagerbombs if you like that kinda thing.
La Via Lactea
Less the Milky Way, more UV lighting and skate-punk graffiti. Grab a booth or stand around the massive pool table downstairs, its usually pretty packed but would you have it any other way?
La Lolita
If the answer to that was yes, maybe you'd prefer the more laid back 50's bossa nova vibes of La Lolita (which I'm actually sitting in right now). Wi-fi during the day, buzzing with conversation at night, there's not a lot of seats but they include some comfy armchairs to sink into. A friend of mine refers to it as his 'pulling bar' because it's where he always takes girls on dates, the rascal.
La Catrina
This little Mexican bar plays up to all the stereotypes, covered in Mexican memorabilia, including a huge collection of Mexican wrestler action figures. You probably wouldn't spend the whole night here but it makes a nice little stop off.
Tupperware
I'd heard so much about Tupperware that by the time I went there I was a bit disappointed. It's one of the best known bars in Malasana but no better than the rest really. They have DJ's (as do most of these bars, even if it's just the barman most of the time) and a bit of room for dancing but it's nothing special really.
Maderfaker
This blaxploitation themed bar is actually pretty bare but the posters for classics such as 'Blacula' stare down at you from the wall with films playing on TV screens and a great soundtrack playing over the stereo.
Aroma
Two painstakingly made and delicious mojitos for €7 in an otherwise unremarkable bar. They even hand-grind the ice, bless 'em.
La Realidad
Far and away my favourite bar in Malasana and, in fact, Madrid, Realidad's walls are covered by a huge paint-by-numbers mural that has slowly been being filled in over the last 7 months. Otherwise fitted out as a hella-quirky living room, it does great, if pricey and pretentious, cocktails (is that a rose petal? Yes it is) and €3 doble's served by some of the coolest bar staff you will ever see.
El Perro de la Parte de Atrás del Coche
Roughly translating as 'The Dog That Nods It's Head In The Back Of The Car', this is a little bar-club which I've admittedly only been to once, and that was when I was very drunk, but from what I remember it was a whole lot of fun, playing what I'd call 'alternative cheese' (think The Monkees). Good for a laugh.
Taboo
Moving up the pretention-ometer, Taboo is all silly haircuts, tight jeans and loud electronic music. It's hidden away on Calle Vincente Ferrer, but inside you'll find all sorts kicking off. When I was there, the DJ was pumping a picture of Jesus in the air while a man in speedos, goggles and a swimming cap did some kind of underwater dance next to him.
Sideral
Crap ustairs but a lively little indie bar-club downstairs in the arched cellar. When it's full it's a fun place to go for a warm up drink and get an energy boost.
This is only a small cross-section of the options open to you on a night out in Malasaña, a must-do if you're visiting the city. There's also the big Pacha club next to Tribunal metro, a sprinkling of cheaper old man bars, Chueca just a hop over Calle Fuencarral and usually a load of botellon going on to boot.
Words Of The Day: Botellon - Street drinking
Caña - Small beer
Doble - Bigger beer
Jarra - Even bigger beer
Monday, 28 March 2011
Spaniards Say The Darndest Things
Far be it from me to ridicule other people's attempts at learning and speaking another language... But that's basically what I'm gonna do for the next couple of paragraphs, so if you don't like it, look away now.
I have said in the past that I'm getting a bit bored of teaching English, and part of that is definately hearing the same mistakes repeated over and over again by different or the same people. You have to be very patient sometimes. Missing the 's' when using the third person, mispronouncing 'work' and 'walk', 'v's and 'b's, and, worst of all, would ("gould"). These are the bread and butter of the English teacher in Spain, and by god do you get tired of them. The worst thing is when you start doing it yourself. I've said 'do a mistake' a couple of times over the last couple of weeks - its catching!
Sometimes, you do get some good laughs out of it though at least. The number of times someone has sat opposite me and told me with a look of intense concentration on their face that they are "shitting in this chair"... There was also someone who didn't believe in goats (ghosts), someone pondering how long it would take to get to New York by sheep, as well as many unintentionally hilarious uses of the phrasal verbs 'to make out', 'to get off', 'to come out' and 'to turn on'. Their attempts at swearing aren't much better. I once asked a young student how the weather was and he enthusiastically responded "It's fucking!". Better get a brolly then.
Still, at least I'm not teaching as many hours anymore, for the same, if not more, money. In the end, I only got one private class from my ads, but that was more because of my schedule being full than lack of interest, and I actually passed on a few classes to friends. The agency company has given me more hours, so I've now got 28 a week, which at €20 an hour, is plenty. Mind you, I've still got a bit of a way to go before I actually break even on coming here, but I will definately have by the time I go back for summer in June. (I have a budget for the first time in my life).
I had a fun weekend, including going for a good Senegalese meal (I think, it was my first) in Lavapies and going back to Pantera near Plaza de Espana, which is one of the better clubs I've been to here, playing crunchy electro from about 2007 (pretty cutting edge for Spain) and of course going on til about 7am. I've not been too impressed by Madrid's clubs so far actually, but that said I still haven't been to the biggest, Kapital, which is supposed to be pretty impressive, or Sala Heineken about which I hear good things too, although I'm sure they're both quite pricey. (I said I had a budget, I didn't say I was going to stick to it).
I also became an admin for this facebook group called 'I know this great little place in Madrid...' this weekend too, which is well worth having a peep at if you live over here.
I have said in the past that I'm getting a bit bored of teaching English, and part of that is definately hearing the same mistakes repeated over and over again by different or the same people. You have to be very patient sometimes. Missing the 's' when using the third person, mispronouncing 'work' and 'walk', 'v's and 'b's, and, worst of all, would ("gould"). These are the bread and butter of the English teacher in Spain, and by god do you get tired of them. The worst thing is when you start doing it yourself. I've said 'do a mistake' a couple of times over the last couple of weeks - its catching!
Sometimes, you do get some good laughs out of it though at least. The number of times someone has sat opposite me and told me with a look of intense concentration on their face that they are "shitting in this chair"... There was also someone who didn't believe in goats (ghosts), someone pondering how long it would take to get to New York by sheep, as well as many unintentionally hilarious uses of the phrasal verbs 'to make out', 'to get off', 'to come out' and 'to turn on'. Their attempts at swearing aren't much better. I once asked a young student how the weather was and he enthusiastically responded "It's fucking!". Better get a brolly then.
Still, at least I'm not teaching as many hours anymore, for the same, if not more, money. In the end, I only got one private class from my ads, but that was more because of my schedule being full than lack of interest, and I actually passed on a few classes to friends. The agency company has given me more hours, so I've now got 28 a week, which at €20 an hour, is plenty. Mind you, I've still got a bit of a way to go before I actually break even on coming here, but I will definately have by the time I go back for summer in June. (I have a budget for the first time in my life).
I had a fun weekend, including going for a good Senegalese meal (I think, it was my first) in Lavapies and going back to Pantera near Plaza de Espana, which is one of the better clubs I've been to here, playing crunchy electro from about 2007 (pretty cutting edge for Spain) and of course going on til about 7am. I've not been too impressed by Madrid's clubs so far actually, but that said I still haven't been to the biggest, Kapital, which is supposed to be pretty impressive, or Sala Heineken about which I hear good things too, although I'm sure they're both quite pricey. (I said I had a budget, I didn't say I was going to stick to it).
I also became an admin for this facebook group called 'I know this great little place in Madrid...' this weekend too, which is well worth having a peep at if you live over here.
Friday, 25 February 2011
A Day In The Life
I had a relatively quiet weekend that included a failed trip to Alcazar de San Juan to see a friend of my girlfriend who turned out not to actually be there... I can tell you however, that they will exchange train tickets without charging you again, which would definately hit a wall of officiousness in the UK. Alcazar? I wouldn't bother.
I thought it might be useful, for anyone planning on moving to Spain to teach English, to hear what a typical weekday is like for me at the moment now that I've settled into some kind of routine. I suppose in some ways it hasn't lived up to the ideas I had and in other ways it's exceeded them.
So, I usually wake up around 9am, apart from Tuesday when I have to be up at 6 to go teach at 8. This has been pretty horrible until recently as it's still been dark and freezing cold on leaving the house and I have to trek across town on the packed (and still starey) metro, to the heavily concreted area near the Bernabeu to teach for 2 hours in the imposing Torre Picasso. Most days though, I spend the morning messing around, catching up on emails, planning lessons or doing the various things that life demands and when it's warm enough, having breakfast on the roof. Then from Mon-Thu, at 11.30 I have to set off for Aravaca where I teach 4 hours of classes at a friendly little company in the 'suburbs' (theres a little stretch of countryside between them and the main city). I go via the underground Moncloa bus interchange with another massive city gate sitting on top of it, often stopping off to photocopy some pages at the shop there where the two women are perenially amused at my foreigness.
These are classes that I get through the 'agency' company I work for, for which I have to prepare a lesson plan and lead the class in quite an intense way. On the bus there and back there are snatched views of the Sierra and the 4 huge towers that I keep meaning to go have a look at in the north of the city. After I finish I have an hour and a half to get some food and get to my other job at a language school near Plaza de Espana. I don't have to prepare anything for this and its pretty much a case of sitting and chatting to people in English for half an hour at a time. It doesn't pay nearly as well though! (€7 an hour compared to €17 an hour!). Still, it's handy extra income and being an independent teacher can be a bit of a lonely experience sometimes, so working in a language school has a nice feeling of actually working with other people.
This finishes at 10pm so its usually home for dinner and to relax or out for a couple of drinks (or more on a Friday). I have to say, I don't like working evenings and I'm hoping I can cut back on that soon, but I don't fancy getting up at 6 every morning much either! I don't know why they all want to start at 8, but I've turned down several offers of classes up by the airport at 8 because I just didn't think it was worth my while (an hour there, 2 hour class, an hour back) and I thought I'd just tire myself out. Anyway, all this is earning me around €1800 a month (although I have to pay €178 social security p/m) for roughly 35 hours a week, which is more than I need but is paying off some debts slowly but surely.
In other news, I found an English speaking dentist in Prosperidad, who told me I need to have some dental surgery done. I won't go into the details but it's going to involve stitches in my mouth (shudder) which might make teaching quite interesting for a week or so. It's quite a complicated proceedure and its costing €400 (its not covered by social security). It feels kind of masochistic to be paying all this money for someone to do horrible things to my mouth but I suppose its necessary. That's happening a week on Friday anyway so we'll see how it goes.
A strange thing happened to me on Sunday, I was cooking a vegan paella at my girlfriend's new flat (which is incredible: opposite Principe Pio, newly decorated, with a view over the river and the forest and not too expensive), when I forgot the English word for something and could only remember the Spanish - "do you have any...er, cominos?" Cumin! I'm feeling a lot more confident with my basic Spanish now and will happily break it out in shops. I do wish I'd had this level when I'd arrived though. Still weighing up moving, I've got some numbers that I'm going to call tomorrow (in Spanish) but on the other hand it is very cheap here (€230 a month) and the terrace is looking like more of a reason to stay now it's getting warmer.
I thought it might be useful, for anyone planning on moving to Spain to teach English, to hear what a typical weekday is like for me at the moment now that I've settled into some kind of routine. I suppose in some ways it hasn't lived up to the ideas I had and in other ways it's exceeded them.
 |
| Torre Picasso in the early morn |
 |
| The gate at Moncloa |
This finishes at 10pm so its usually home for dinner and to relax or out for a couple of drinks (or more on a Friday). I have to say, I don't like working evenings and I'm hoping I can cut back on that soon, but I don't fancy getting up at 6 every morning much either! I don't know why they all want to start at 8, but I've turned down several offers of classes up by the airport at 8 because I just didn't think it was worth my while (an hour there, 2 hour class, an hour back) and I thought I'd just tire myself out. Anyway, all this is earning me around €1800 a month (although I have to pay €178 social security p/m) for roughly 35 hours a week, which is more than I need but is paying off some debts slowly but surely.
In other news, I found an English speaking dentist in Prosperidad, who told me I need to have some dental surgery done. I won't go into the details but it's going to involve stitches in my mouth (shudder) which might make teaching quite interesting for a week or so. It's quite a complicated proceedure and its costing €400 (its not covered by social security). It feels kind of masochistic to be paying all this money for someone to do horrible things to my mouth but I suppose its necessary. That's happening a week on Friday anyway so we'll see how it goes.
A strange thing happened to me on Sunday, I was cooking a vegan paella at my girlfriend's new flat (which is incredible: opposite Principe Pio, newly decorated, with a view over the river and the forest and not too expensive), when I forgot the English word for something and could only remember the Spanish - "do you have any...er, cominos?" Cumin! I'm feeling a lot more confident with my basic Spanish now and will happily break it out in shops. I do wish I'd had this level when I'd arrived though. Still weighing up moving, I've got some numbers that I'm going to call tomorrow (in Spanish) but on the other hand it is very cheap here (€230 a month) and the terrace is looking like more of a reason to stay now it's getting warmer.
Monday, 13 December 2010
Jobseeking 2
As someone pointed out to me, I haven't said much about getting a job and working in Spain yet. This is partly cause I'd been a bit concerned about talking about employers etc but I'll just speak generally.
What it boils down to is this: if you are a native English speaker, you will be able to survive in Madrid. Even if you´re American, and don't have a work visa, you should be able to get by with particulares, or private classes. There are plenty of websites such as www.tuclasesparticulares.es that you can advertise on and by far most of the responses I've had are people looking for conversational English classes, so no training necessary. Theres also plenty of people looking for native speakers to look after or tutor their kids for cash in hand. However, if you don't have paperwork, expect no more than €10 an hour (which still isn't bad!).
If your a native English speaker with an N.I.E. number, in terms of employability and pay expectations, this beats a degree hands down! The demand for learning English is huge here and there are a load of companies and language schools competing for the various strands of business this produces, all seemingly always looking for teachers. You can expect between €10-€20 an hour for these jobs but some will want you to be autonomo, or self employed, which entails paying your own social security (€178 a month).
If your legal, a native English speaker and are fluent in Spanish... what job would you like? Every company wants more native speakers and you should just be careful not to undersell yourself!
I don't know why the demand for learning English is quite so high but in recent years I think there's been a lot of outsourcing to Spain and mergers with UK companies, and it certainly improves your job prospects as a Spaniard if you have good English.
My personal experience has been starting off at a kind of business English agency that sent me off to be embedded in various other companies to teach their staff, which involved some very good, if intense, training. However, they´ve only been able to give me 12 regular hours a week, which really isn´t enough, so I´ve just started wroking evenings at a language school as well. This is much more relaxed than the business side of teaching, and doesn´t involve any lesson planning which is a big bonus. I´m also working on contract for them which means they pay my social security, which works out very well for me! (Although I imagine I´m going to have a nightmare when it comes to filling in a tax return!).
I´ve really warmed to teaching English, I didn´t think I was going to be that suited to it, but now I really enjoy it and have become a bit of a grammar geek. The students are usually quite fun, especially if you have them week in week out at their work - its like a break for them. Spanish people have a good sense of the ridiculous as well so your often laughing your way through a lesson with them. I find it seriously satisfying when I see them improving as well.
So basically, if your a native English speaker, you´ll have no problem getting a job in Madrid (1st Conditional by the way), and if your an EU citizen with the right to work here, the pay is pretty good too. Not a bad way to ride out the recession I´d say, although I am very aware that the Euro may take a nosedive soon, while my debts undertaken to come out here are in Sterling...
I´m actually having all kinds of headaches with various bank accounts at the moment, due to various reasons, but the main one being that I´m in debt in one country and living in another! The caviat I´d add to what I´ve just said is not to expect to get paid instantly and bear in mind the start up costs like apartment deposits etc. I´m only just getting my first full pay cheque now, having moved here in mid-October but hopefully by mid January things should have levelled out a bit!
What it boils down to is this: if you are a native English speaker, you will be able to survive in Madrid. Even if you´re American, and don't have a work visa, you should be able to get by with particulares, or private classes. There are plenty of websites such as www.tuclasesparticulares.es that you can advertise on and by far most of the responses I've had are people looking for conversational English classes, so no training necessary. Theres also plenty of people looking for native speakers to look after or tutor their kids for cash in hand. However, if you don't have paperwork, expect no more than €10 an hour (which still isn't bad!).
If your a native English speaker with an N.I.E. number, in terms of employability and pay expectations, this beats a degree hands down! The demand for learning English is huge here and there are a load of companies and language schools competing for the various strands of business this produces, all seemingly always looking for teachers. You can expect between €10-€20 an hour for these jobs but some will want you to be autonomo, or self employed, which entails paying your own social security (€178 a month).
If your legal, a native English speaker and are fluent in Spanish... what job would you like? Every company wants more native speakers and you should just be careful not to undersell yourself!
I don't know why the demand for learning English is quite so high but in recent years I think there's been a lot of outsourcing to Spain and mergers with UK companies, and it certainly improves your job prospects as a Spaniard if you have good English.
My personal experience has been starting off at a kind of business English agency that sent me off to be embedded in various other companies to teach their staff, which involved some very good, if intense, training. However, they´ve only been able to give me 12 regular hours a week, which really isn´t enough, so I´ve just started wroking evenings at a language school as well. This is much more relaxed than the business side of teaching, and doesn´t involve any lesson planning which is a big bonus. I´m also working on contract for them which means they pay my social security, which works out very well for me! (Although I imagine I´m going to have a nightmare when it comes to filling in a tax return!).
I´ve really warmed to teaching English, I didn´t think I was going to be that suited to it, but now I really enjoy it and have become a bit of a grammar geek. The students are usually quite fun, especially if you have them week in week out at their work - its like a break for them. Spanish people have a good sense of the ridiculous as well so your often laughing your way through a lesson with them. I find it seriously satisfying when I see them improving as well.
So basically, if your a native English speaker, you´ll have no problem getting a job in Madrid (1st Conditional by the way), and if your an EU citizen with the right to work here, the pay is pretty good too. Not a bad way to ride out the recession I´d say, although I am very aware that the Euro may take a nosedive soon, while my debts undertaken to come out here are in Sterling...
I´m actually having all kinds of headaches with various bank accounts at the moment, due to various reasons, but the main one being that I´m in debt in one country and living in another! The caviat I´d add to what I´ve just said is not to expect to get paid instantly and bear in mind the start up costs like apartment deposits etc. I´m only just getting my first full pay cheque now, having moved here in mid-October but hopefully by mid January things should have levelled out a bit!
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