Job Discussion Forums

[RachelF13]

Hi! My name is Rachel and I recently graduated from college and will be moving to Madrid Aug. 1 where I am enrolled at EBC for TEFL certification. Right now I am trying to figure out where I will live for the month course. I am interested in staying in a flat share and have looked into several references on the EBC website. I wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions or comments about either the sources on the EBC website or elswhere. I am looking for somewhere relatively inexpensive and safe. Also if anyone else is taking the Aug 6. TEFL course through EBC let me know, it would be nice to discuss travel arrangments and what not. On a side note, I have read some of the previous posts about entering with a one way ticket but all seem to be a little outdated. Has anyone had a recent experience? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Rachel

[karen s]

Hi,

I was looking for an apartment to share in Madrid , some months back and i got these links on the forum. still sharing the apartment with 2 Spanish girls, they're not teachers though so its great for my Spanish, you can't imagine how fast I've improved! I teach a lot so I�m so happy I only speak Spanish at home.

www.loquo.com
www.segundamano.com
www.compartepiso.com/listar_contactos_ofertas_compartir.php

i found the apartment through the last one but i've heard good things about the two others.

on the ebc website, check out ven a mi casa, i know of some people who were happy with them , i did check them out, seemed good but i didn't go with them because my case was kinda different. i studied in the buenos aires school then relocated to madrid so i didn't need the other course related stuff on offer.

one thing for sure apartments in madrid are expensive if you want to go "solo" but if you share, its really not that bad. i room with 2 Spanish girls , we�re all between 25-26, and the salaries they get are so low, it makes my teachers pay look a lot!

my 2 cents ... find an apartment to share with the locals, you learn more about the local life and if you want to get your Spanish up and going , this is a good way of doing it, of course short of finding a Spanish bf with "nada de nada" of English. good luck and enjoy madrid.

[Moore]

I'd agree with Karen and strongly recommend loquo.com because the sort of people you get on there are, by definition, young and connected by the fact that they use the internet to find flatmates, and also a lot of them have pictures of the room which is really useful.

In terms of safe areas, try to avoid anywhere north on Cuatro Caminos on the line one of the metro (the light blue one), but apart from that central Madrid is pretty safe.

[alexcase]

Don't your course providers give you somewhere to stay?

The main priority for things like accomodation during a TEFL course is no hassle. You will not have the time, patience and energy to bond with flatmates, haggle over a desk, ask people to keep the noise down etc. etc. If you can't live with someone you know, I would recommend a cheap pension where everything is done for you. You don't have to worry about being lonely because the other course participants will be round you all the time

[JimRoss]

Hi Alex,

EBC helps its students find accommodation by referring them to agencies used by previous students. EBC also helps out if a student is having a hard time getting something arranged. We've found that doing it this way keeps accommodation cost to the student as low as possible as there is no middle man involved in "arranging" the accommodation.

The agencies we refer our students to plus other accommodation related services are here:

http://www.ebc-tefl-course.com/documents/madrid_accommodation.htm

Regards,

Jim Ross,
EBC