Job Discussion Forums

[William.]

Hello, I am a 23 year old American, about to graduate with a BA in history/spanish. I have lived abroad in a spanish speaking country and would really like to make a living working as an english teacher in spain in the coming fall. I will probably only have about 2,000 or so dollars to get on my feet when I ship out, not nearly enough to pay for a TEFL/TESOL certification course. By the time I graduate, I'll be 11k in debt for college loans, and will need to start paying them back within 6 months of graduating (Ideally, I'd love to have them paid off by summer of 2009!). I'm wondering if Spain is even an option for me in my situation?

Lately, I've started considered going to east asia instead, as the $$ seems much better for people who dont' have their TEFL/TESOL certification, or EU citizenship for teaching in EU countries. This is definitely a second choice for me, but it's starting to seem like a way better option.

Does anyone have anything to say regarding this? Do you think there's ANYWHERE in spain where I might be able to make money at all comparable to what is offered in places like Korea or Japan? Is it riskier though?

Any thoughts/suggestions/etc. would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Marcoregano]

Hi William,

In my post below (Beyond private langauge schools), poster elemaricano mentions the following, for US and Canadian citizens: the North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain program. Here is the link: http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml

In your situation, and given the fact that you don't have an EU passport, etc. this program might be your best bet in Spain - tho I of course couldn't say for sure.

One thing I am sure of, you have no chance of making as much money teaching in Spain as you would in Asia. In EFL terms, Asia ain't what it used to be in the goldrush years of the 80s and 90s, but there's still plenty of work. Making pretty decent money out here is relatively straightforward.

[spiral78]

There are literally zero newbie jobs in Europe that would allow you to pay back your debt, with or without certification and EU citizenship.

[Marcoregano]

I suspect Spiral 78 is correct. Actually, without full teaching credentials (which means you won't be eligible for the best Asian jobs) you'd be hard pushed to pay off US11K even in Asia, over a period of a year. But perhaps not impossible.

[William.]

Thanks a lot for the responses.

It's definitely looking like spain is no longer going to be an option for me, at least not by this coming fall (hopefully later on!)

It seems that in Japan and Korea the average job pays 1.8k - 2.5k per month, and many of them pay for your rent/airfare over, and I've had a lot of friends who said that they easily made 35 dollars/h teaching privately in addition to that, so I think I SHOULD (hopefully) be able to pay off 11k after a year if I am frugal, disciplined, don't party a lot, etc. Even if I don't, if I were just to pay off half of that by the end of the year, I would be happy though.

At any rate, spain is starting to look like just another idea I'll have to put back on the shelf for now!

[jr1965]

William,

A few years back, I was in a similar situation as yours. I was in grad school with about $3,000 in debt and had the choice to teach in Madrid or Seoul. Madrid was my first choice (although I'm American, I'd been offered sponsorship through a school based in Madrid), but thank goodness I decided instead on Korea. The money I made and the experience and contacts I gained in Seoul were invaluable. Never would have happened in Spain. I've also just returned to San Francisco, CA after living in Spain for 3 years (am married now to a Spanish guy). Trust me: you will not be able to pay off an $11,000 debt and live well teaching English in Spain.

Get certified and teach in Korea, China, or Japan. Then visit Spain on holiday.

JR

[jr1965]

[William.]

Jr, thanks a ton. I'd say I'm 99 % decided that Korea is the better option than spain then... Spain will have to wait for when I save up some money and am ready to travel

[PamK]

yep, you are crippled if you have to make payments home. follow the money, that means japan, korea, taiwan.