Job Discussion Forums

[gsbcn08080]

This is my personal opinion ( I may be wrong). When WSI and Opening started they offered a new teaching approach. You could go any time you wanted ( it was the best because most people are very busy), they said you'd learn perfect English in a very short period of time or get your money back!, they spent tons of money adverstising all this. Having to sign a loan of course was bad and it would put people off so what they did was not tell the students they were signing a loan ( most people were not told and it was written in tiny print so that people would not see it), but after a few years people realized they were signing a loan and not learning much. So numbers went down and since they had huge expenses before they lost all the money they left( with the money and leaving the students with no classes and loans that they are still paying for), the other schools that closed down Brighton and Oxford were doing the same ( making students pay for the full year). The small schools survive but as I said before in BCN English is taught everywhere and in any possible little room that exists so it is hard for them. I think it might still be a good business if you are in a small town were competition is not so fierce. But this is only my opinion, an economic expert might give you another explanation.

[SEndrigo]

I seem to be a bit late but here it goes:

Good things about Spain:

1. kind and cultured people
2. weather (for the most part, this also depends on where you live)
3. food (not the best in the world but still quite good)
4. nightlife
5. scenery (north coast is breathtaking, as is most of Castilla y Leon)
6. hearing people speak Spanish (the way it's meant to be spoken!)
7. many opportunities for cheap and interesting travel within Spain
8. close proximity to France, Portugal, and Northern Africa
9. excellent and cheap public transportation (Madrid metro is one of a kind!)
10. fantastic international scene (Barcelona especially, you can meet all kinds of people)!
11. Affordable real estate (especially when compared to other European countries)


Bad things about Spain:

1. high unemployment
2. too much pickpocketing
3. low pay (at least in TEFL)
4. bureaucracy (to be fair however, this exists in every country)
5. high cost of petrol (same story in any European country)

I might be biased, but Spain does offer many advantages....it's easy to get bitter when living in a foreign country but once you leave you realise just how wonderful many of the things are.

best wishes

[grahamb]

Affordable real estate? In the countryside, maybe, but Madrid's a nightmare.

[gsbcn08080]

Affordable real state for foreigners. Not for Spanish people or foreigners living with a Spanish Salary.
I agree about the public transport, cheap and very good.

[SEndrigo]

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