Job Discussion Forums

[emilydulla]

Hello! I am looking to take a TEFL course in Barcelona in the next few months. I was wondering if any one could make a suggestion of a very good one- I know there are quite a few programs in Barcelona. Also, any other advice you may have for an American looking to move to Barcelona to teach and work would be greatly appreciated! When is the best time to start looking for a position? What is the working situation for someone for non EU workers? Any tips on making the move?

Thanks so much!

[mozzar]

The general advice to non-EU teachers is that it will be very difficult/impossible for you to get work in Spain. It's discussed in this thread:

Link.

[Moore]

To be fair, difficult / very difficult is probably the situation, rather than impossible: from the number of Americans living in Barcelona I met this year, and the number I see in Madrid right now, some Americans definitely have work.

As always, the golden rule is: arrive with a ton of cash/credit cards, and maybe see teaching more as a way of reducing the money haemorrhage over 9 months in Spain, rather than something that would allow you to save up much cash.




_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender/

[spiral78]

I think it's also fair to point out that if you overstay your legal 90 days inside the Schengen zone (google it for a list of member countries) you face a risk of being caught having overstayed when you leave. The penalty is a ban from entering the zone again for 10 years.

Working under the table used to be a safer option than it is this year.

[SirKirby]

I agree, difficult to very difficult, but not impossible for an American to find work in Barcelona.

Come with cash, be prepared NOT to find work, but there ARE still places (illegally) employing people without EU passports.

Best time to look, NOW, September.

As for which course, take either Trinity or CELTA, but don't take any course which is not one of those two. Those are the ones (a) with international recognition and (b) with some guarantee that you're actually going to learn to teach well...

[greycats]

A good website to look at is www.btta.es . It's the Barcelona TEFL Teachers Association's website. They may be able to answer some of your questions. Good luck!

[SirKirby]

I've just looked at Btta.es...

Perhaps I've just been in Barcelona too long (30 years+) or else I'm getting cranky in my old age, but any site that says on it's home page "Welcome to Barcelona. Take a breath. Grab a glass of sangria (...) Barcelona is a great city to teach and live in, but it's not like any you've known before. From the siesta store hours to (etc)" looks like a site I'd avoid.

I've yet to meet anyone actually from Barcelona who either drinks sangria or takes a siesta; I don't in fact know any English teachers who drink sangria much beyond their first weekend in the city.

The school and course ranking pages also look distinctly dodgy and open to abuse to me.

If greycats has a vested interest, I think s/he should declare it...

[Moore]

Definitely agreed on the Sangria and siesta thing: in many ways Barcelona is closer to southern France than it is to Spain, although here in Madrid it's also pretty hard to se anyone other than a tourist drinking Sangria, though locals do drink "tinto de verano" which isn't far off.

To be fair, I've met Jen, who runs BTTA several times and she is a very genuine person and I do think her monthly meetings for (mostly new) teachers are a good starting point for new arrivals in Barcelona, in terms of advice and general morale keeping-up.




_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com

...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender/

[chenn0]

[SirKirby]

Not after 30 years in Spain, I'm not

[chenn0]

Haha . I guess not then!