Job Discussion Forums

[agentcooper]

Hey all ! I have a few questions and I was hoping someone could help me out...

First my story...I am a 28 year old American. I'm a teacher at a junior high right now, but I'm looking for a change so I am going to try to teach English in Spain for a year. I know there is a big debate on this board about Americans working in Spain illegally, but I'm still going to try to do it (sorry Moore). I lived in Spain (Alicante and Sevilla) 2 years ago for about 6 months and loved it!

Here are my questions...I think I'm going to take the Canterbury TEFL course with my boyfriend in September or October. Do any of you have opinions about that particular course? Did anyone have a bad experience with Canterbury? Do they deliver what they promise? Will it be extremely hard for me, as an American, to find work? Will we have to stay in Madrid to find work or are there other cities that offer work to Americans?

Hmmm...those are all the questions I have right now...I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to answer them .

[Moore]

You're best off doing the course in September rather than October: work really picks up at the end of September so to maximise your chances of finding work it'd be better if you're done and qualified by then. Also, if you come just before September you'll have a better choice of decent rooms to rent as they all get snapped up really quickly by students and other TEFLers. Probably best to start off in Madrid then branch out to other places once you've got more experience under your belts.

[agentcooper]

Thanks for the reply! We're going to try to take the course in September but I suppose it depends on when they can fit us in. I've heard that they get a ton of applicants (since they actually do guarantee work) but I feel that I have a pretty good chance of getting accepted with my teaching background. I'm not sure about my boyfriend, though...he has a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic and no background in teaching.