Job Discussion Forums

[Saigonjack]

Hi....just a question...Whats the IELTS Teaching situation in Madrid or throughout Spain?..I have been teaching ESL for 16 years, and IELTS for the last 5/6 years. Thinking of relocating out of Asia!! What do people think? Is there work there? Or should I rely on my Business English teaching experience to get a job?..TKS

[Saigonjack]

WOW ..over 50 views BUT no answers/pointers/info...does ANYBODY live and work in Spain??

[grahamb]

Try the British Council:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/spain/en

[spiral78]

Assuming you have a passport from an EU member country, there is work. It is not usually found from abroad (simply too many teachers around on the ground for schools to need to take a chance on someone sight-unseen), and peak hiring season is Sept/Oct. Very little work around over the summer.
Your experience in Asia may not be highly valued by employers; European students can be markedly different.
Most teachers here on the market have a CELTA or equivalent; if you haven't, you'll probably want to get one.

[Saigonjack]

grahamb..thanks but the British Council for IELTS is a no-brainer
spiral78...haha 16 years of experience may not be 'highly regarded' by employers..I can walk into any ESL situation and function thank you..AND if you looked at my question it was PURELY IELTS related - "Whats the IELTS Teaching situation in Madrid or throughout Spain?.."..and thats all I require. I am well aware of the hiring situation and peak hiring times thats why I didnt ask about that...and also I am Scottish so still an EU citizen

SO are there any IELTS Teachers out there in Madrid?..even a simple answer like 'yep IELTS is popular' or "nah forget it" ..would suffice.

[grahamb]

According to the IELTS website, the BC is the only test centre in Madrid.

http://www.ielts.org/test_centre_search/search_results.aspx

If that reflects the level of demand for IELTS, you'd do better to offer business English classes.

[Saigonjack]

grahamb..thanks for that but there is NO relation between the number of Test Centres and the demand for IELTS..I work in Saigon, Vietnam. and we have 2 Test Centres here. However there is NOT an English school that doesnt offer IELTS/TOEFLiBT/TOEIC..At many schools there is a large number of students studying IELTS. The school I work at has 5 week classes at 3 levels, and every 5 weeks we open 3 new classes ..thats about 100 students. This is a small school, with a good reputation for IELTS. The big-hitter here is ACET with probably about 400-500 students every 5 weeks signing up. The demand for IELTS is so large that myself and many others basically specialize in IELTS and thats all we teach...and we get bigger $$$ ..
So only 1 Test Centre isnt really indicative of demand . Prague which is a huge market for ESL has also only 1 centre. Seoul has 5...and thats a huge city....
SO all is not lost in Spain as I gave a wide experience of Corporate and ESP experience...16 years opens up a lot of avenues and I've gone down many of them...

[spiral78]

[Saigonjack]

spiral..English is obviously your first language..so do you see any answer here to my question?....ps I dont..still waiting on someone with a bit of knowledge or who actually teaches IELTS in Spain to add to the thread..
Lastly, yeh you did point out some missing experiences - I should try - kiddies classes, large classes, and I gotta find the classes with the students that dont have any specific learning goals ...OH wait I had the last pne during my 3 and a half years at the Korean International High School here in HCMC.((...the ONLY students IN Vietnam who DONT know that knowledge of English will get them a better job.
Unlike many places in Asia, Thailand, and Korea for example, Vnese students dont see English as a school subject, they see it as a stepping stone to a brighter future...and that why IELTS is an important step in that future, and thats why us IELTS teachers rake in the big bucks. Oh yeh one last thing, when I hire a teacher I look at their experience and their demo lesson and thats what I hire on...new CELTA or TESOL teachers rarely get the job...just dont know how to do the job .....they need time...

[GKD]

I am interested in why you want to move from Asia to Europe? Is it a long-term move or just for a while? And why Spain?

In my experience, IELTS, whilst growing here, isn't a very big market. Cambridge Exams still dominate here. Guess there are academies and private students who want IELTS.