Job Discussion Forums

[_kojak]

Ive been reading through most of the board and have not seen an answer to this question...

...how much spanish do you need to be able to speak in order to get jobs, open a bank account, get an apartment, etc?

My spanish is currently okay...I could get by fairly well, but I dont know the vocabulary for specific purposes, like the ones mentioned above. If it is anything like Korea, where I have just recently finished 2 years of work, it is not very necesarry. Will I have a similiar experience?

Im looking forward to moving down. Im planning on going to Trujillo in January if anyone has experience there. Thanks.

[nineisone]

You will benefit most by speaking at least an intermediate level of Spanish. Develop contacts for wherever you end up and they can assist with housing, jobs, etc.

Having taught in both Peru and Korea, I would suggest it much easier to function in Korea without the local language due to English being taught and spoken prevalently(in Seoul at least). In Peru, outside of Cusco and some other tourist areas, encountering English speakers is more rare.

[naturegirl321]

To get a job, you won't need Spanish and they'll expect you to only use English with the students and some teachers will also want to practise their English on you.

To open a bank account and stuff like that, Spanish helps. Some people might speak English or you might be able to get friends to help you out. BUt speaking the language in Peru will help. I'm in Korea now and find that I don't need Korean, everyone from children to older people like vendors, speak English.

Try contacting Keepwalking and Luna Chica, they're in Trujillo. Are you planning on working at Fleming?

[_kojak]

Thanks for the replies.

I saw a post on here from Luna Chica about an available position at Flemming, but it's already been filled. I'll still check it out though...maybe they'll need someone when I get down there. Basically my plan is to go from school to school asking about positions and handing out CV's....hopefully someone, a good one, will bite.

Im practicing my spanish daily using my old college texts and the pimsleur audio series. Im up to lesson viente-uno and feel like I could communicate pretty well so long as I improve my vocabulary. One thing Im confused about...when do you use me voy vs just simply voy?

[naturegirl321]

You could try the National Universityl. And there's some more places on the LA JOb List.
Me voy, is like when you're at a party and you say, Bueno, me voy. Like, Ok, I'm leaving.

Voy, like voy a ir a la tienda, I'm going to the store,

Though I'm sure there's more differences, I still get traer and llevar confused and I've been studying Spanish for 13 years. I tink I've reach a stage where my Spanish is stagnant. I'm not going to get any better unless I study, from a book or class or something.

[sistaray]

I was a pimsleur-er, and it�s nice if you have limited access to natives, but you just need to hit the streets, listen and speak, watch TV in Spanish, and your level will skyrocket a lot faster than with the CD�s.

I had a coworker who didn�t bother to get past ��cuanto cuesta?�, �no hable castellano,� and lots of miming and he �survived� for 8 months. I thought he was a fool for it, but he was able to do it.

[naturegirl321]

[sistaray]

Pimsleur is a company that has (in my opinion) startlingly effective listen-and-repeat language CDs. A lesson is 30 minutes long. Rarely is something explicitly explained in grammatical terms, instead you piece things together on your own, e.g. �oh, so after this preposition it�s always like this.� The most common languages have either 90 or 100 lessons, less-spoken &/or economically disadvantaged languages seem to have either 10 lessons or 30 lessons.

The content, at least the versions I had, seemed a little outdated but heavily focused on restaurant, meeting people, asking directions.

The price of CD�s or files is unspeakably expensive. I was able to check some out from my public library. They�re also downloadable.

[sistaray]

What�s missing with Pimsleur: vocabulary.


Naturegirl: I�m still in Lima.

[naturegirl321]

Sounds a bit like Berlitz. Had any luck finding ajob outside of Lima?

[_kojak]

Pimseleur is helping me out quite a bit, mostly it's refreshing my memory of what i learned before. Im really excited to finally be able to use the Spanish that I know and improve upon it...hopefully a lot...I'm getting really psyched to be moving down

The Spanish television suggestion was a good idea, in fact I was just watching a wacky gameshow which was quite entertaining.

[keepwalking]

I spoke virtually no Spanish when I arrived here and it made life a little confusing. Now I can do pretty well, argue with people, talk to doctors, bank staff etc and life is no less confusing! I think that confusion is some kind of national characteristic: it makes life great fun too!

If you have a background knowledge of Spanish you will pick up the vocab you need very quickly. The beauty of Spanish is that with its Latin roots if you have a decent vocabulary in English you will be able to recognise most words that are new to you. At the least you'll be able to make an educated guess.

Trujillo is a good place to look for work: we are full at Fleming now but in January I'm sure the other institutes will start hiring. Knocking on doors is the best way to find work. Take your CV in and then go back a few days later and hang around till someone puts you in a classroom. It doesn't take long if you are persistant.

If there's anything specific you need to know about Trujillo, PM me.