Job Discussion Forums

[RabbitWho]

hi, I'm looking at some towns and cities around the north of Spain, namely Burgos, Vigo and Santander so far, anyone know much about them and what it might be like to live there? What the teaching market is like?

Any other recommendations would also be appreciated:

Preferences:
1. Somewhere where it's possible to speak and learn Castilian Spanish (I need to learn Spanish for college)
2. Somewhere with an Airport nearby that does flights in and out of Ireland and England
3. Somewhere where it does not get above maybe 25 degrees in the summer.
4. Somewhere with a good cultural life, art galleries and that sort of thing.
and of course...
5. Somewhere when I can actually get a job, have Spanish classes, and pay the bills.
6. Somewhere that doesn't require more than an A1/A2 level of Spanish (if this is impossible I can give up Czech and start learning Spanish and get to B1 by next September, but without living there I doubt I'll get any higher than that)

In the Czech Republic language schools outside of the big cities pay their teachers much more, is this true in Spain?

[/u]

[RabbitWho]

Guys, if you don't know all the information I need that's okay, but can someone at least answer me this:

How important is it to Spanish schools that the teacher can speak Spanish?
Are my chances of getting a job seriously damaged because I can't speak it? Should I start learning now?
What level will they want minimum?

I really can learn languages at a good speed.... But like I said, realistically I don't see myself getting past B1 before next October.

[Moore]

In my experience it's always a good thing, anywhere in the world (this has been discussed many times on the main general forum of course)

In terms of Spain specifically, peoples level here is really pretty low on the whole, so chances are it will help in class (depending on your teaching philosophy).

For getting private classes, which a lot of teachers depend on to supplement their income, obviously it's important to be able to be able to speak to parents and/or low level students without the help of a school/agency.

Basically, the higher the level you have, the more it will open doors for you. Nobody would expect you to be an expert, but a good grounding can't hurt and will also help hugely in your social life and getting a flat and getting set up here with your basic necessities, especially if you plan to live outside Madrid or Barcelona.






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[RabbitWho]

Okay cool, that makes sense really.. I guess I've been spoiled in the Czech Republic because even though almost no one speaks English (outside of Prague, which isn't really The Czech Republic), no one expects you to speak Czech.
I'm not a big fan of bi-lingual teaching, seeing as how it is the reason that 15 years of Irish got me to a B1 level, but I can see how in emergencies it is useful.. and for life.. I've only had to use it once so far.. with a 6 year old very confused by the sentence "My name is" because in Czech you literally say something like "It is to me named myself..." She understood it out loud as a phrase but couldn't recognize it written down because the individual words were just nonsense together like that.

Okay anyway so I'll start learning Spanish more seriously.. I think I can learn Czech and Spanish at the same time.. they are different enough that I won't get them mixed up
It sure would be nice not to go through the stress I had last time, arriving here and only able to say my name and ask directions.