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madridhibs
Joined: 23 Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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 Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:19 pm Post subject: How quiet is it? |
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After sending out God knows how many CVs, having four years experience, being in Madrid, with a BA and a TEFL - the silence is deafening. I've had about four replies - one which resulted in hours.
Normally this time of year the agencies are jumping over themselves to get you. Is it just me, or has the crisis hit? |
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El_Che
Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 34
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: How quiet is it? |
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| madridhibs wrote: |
| Is it just me, or has the crisis hit? |
The crisis has hit Spain big time.
Here in Valencia many companies are cutting back on English classes or simply going bust. Schools are employing less teachers, and private clients are scarcer than usual. This is the first September I can remember having to actively look for more work. In the past I've had to turn down more than I've accepted.
Even the British Council is feeling the pinch .... |
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Moore
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 730
Location: Madrid
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| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: |
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I know the feeling: basically it's looking very much like there will be no new classes until October. People who had classes from before summer have those re-starting, but nothing new to speak of.
It seems like everyone is feeling the pinch, from newbies to old-hands.
DOSs are all too aware that teachers are suffering badly and running on fumes financially, but they simply don't have confirmed classes to give out yet, so many are inviting teachers in for interviews to get them out there as soon as hours are confirmed, but of course this can be rather disappointing for the teachers.
On the positive side, most schools seem to think that they have already lost the volume of training they were going to lose last year and they expect the market to maintain its pre-summer levels.
Perhaps another positive aspect might be that the Spanish, for all their great qualities, lag behind the rest of the majority of Europe in their
English skills, so we might actually be better off here than in, say, Germany, as they might be able to let their English go for w while with no effect on business, wheras the Spanish badly need to increase their level (though this is possibly rather wishful thinking!)
_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com
...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender/
Last edited by Moore on Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: |
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19% unemployment in Spain - are you guys honestly surprised that there's no work about for English teachers?! Come on!
| Moore wrote: |
| Perhaps another positive aspect might be that the Spanish, for all their great qualities, lag behind the rest of the majority of Europe in their English skills, so we might actually be better off here than in, say, Germany, as they might be able to let their English go for w while with no effect on business, wheras the Spanish badly need to increase their level (though this is possibly rather wishful thinking!) |
Sorry but I think it's very wishful thinking. Here in Latvia a newbie could easily get a full timetable teaching keen, well motivated adults, in Spain it'll be mostly kids with a smattering of bored adults who are forced to be there because their company says so. IMHO Spaniards just can't be bothered studying foreign languages/don't see the value. Oh yeah they'll send little Jorge along to study but that's down to the fact that it's often cheaper than paying a babysitter. English levels in South European countries are pretty poor and I can't see that changing at any time in the near future.
Spain also has the problem that regional governments will pump money into supporting regional languages like Catalan, Basque and Galician which are useless in a world context rather than developing skills in useful foreign languages like English, French or German. The latter course, by improving the economies of their respective regions, would ironically provide more revenues for supporting their local lingos. Btw, I say that as someone who studied Catalan to a reasonable level.
Put bluntly, if Spanish adults couldn't give a toss about learning English when times were good, they're even less likely to give a toss about it when the economy's in the worst situation in 20 years and euros are tight. |
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SirKirby
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 261
Location: Barcelona, Spain
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| Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:17 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Spaniards just can't be bothered studying foreign languages/don't see the value |
Frankly, I'd say that's nonsense.
For the original poster, I'd say just sending your CV out and not actually going round schools in person is probably a mistake.
Also, is your CV a good one...?[/quote] |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| SirKirby wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Spaniards just can't be bothered studying foreign languages/don't see the value |
Frankly, I'd say that's nonsense. |
[/quote]
Frankly you can think that Michael Jackson is still alive and lording it up with Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Elvis in an underground bunker but your opinion sadly doesn't count for a lot when evidence says otherwise.
According to the European commission, Spain ranks 6th out of the 27 EU countries in terms of the percentage of people who are monolingual.
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf
Of course when you consider that the Spanish bilingualism more often than not involves speaking Basque or Catalan, Spain's status is worse than that. Ireland and UK were top but they at least have the luxury of being English speaking countries.
In the same publication, Spain ranked 24th out of 27 in terms of those who could speak English well enough to have a conversation. In terms of German, the second largest EU language, Spain was 27th. The % of those planning to improve their language skills in Spain was just 17% with only Portugal, Greece, Italy and Ireland having lower figures.
Or how about figures from Spain's own National Statistics Institute?
http://www.euroresidentes.com/Blogs/2008/04/knowledge-of-english-among-spaniards.html
"According to figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) only 5% of adults aged between 25 and 74 years old have an advanced level of English, that is, a little more than a million people; 16% have an average knowledge of English and 8% admit to only having a basic knowledge of the language."
So yeah, if you want adults who can actually be bothered to learn, Spain definitely ain't the place. |
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madridhibs
Joined: 23 Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| SirKirby wrote: |
| Also, is your CV a good one...? |
Four years experience, including three positions as inhouse teacher, with a TEFL qualification, a BA in English and a jobs history of professional English at a managerial level. Yes, I'd say my CV is a good one.
I've now got a full timetable, so sending out my CV obviously worked, but it was a lot slower than in previous years.
But I agree, it's nonsense to say the Spanish don't want to learn English. I've met very few students who haven't wanted to improve their levels. What's that quote, there are lies, damned lies and then statistics ... |
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Moore
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 730
Location: Madrid
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:36 am Post subject: |
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All the schools I've talked to have said the crisis seems to have bottomed out and they have the same orders for classes, if not slightly more, but that there is almost nothing starting before October: they also mentioned that they are jumping on the oppotunity to hire much better teachers than were available when there was a teacher shortage, so any teacher with a decent c.v. should be fine (but quite possibly broke after 3 months with no paycheque until the end of October)
_________________________________________________________________________
...Jobs and language exchanges in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com
...send your c.v. around ALL the schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Rome, Lisbon, Porto and Buenos Aires... www.lingobongo.com/cvsender
Last edited by Moore on Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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jonniboy
Joined: 18 Jun 2006
Posts: 751
Location: Panama City, Panama
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| madridhibs wrote: |
| I've met very few students who haven't wanted to improve their levels. |
A sentence as nonsensical as saying that "I've met very few priests who aren't interested in religion." Of course they want to improve their levels, that's why they are... well... students innit?!
| madridhibs wrote: |
But I agree, it's nonsense to say the Spanish don't want to learn English. |
People who "want to learn English" (as opposed to those who actually learn it) never put food on my table nor paid my bills. It's the people who put their hands in their pockets and put their money where their mouths are that did. Sadly in Spain there are too few adults prepared to do that. I wish I was wrong about that believe me, I'd be back in Spain like a shot, but in 2 years there that simply wasn't my experience. If I'm wrong then why were you in the situation where you were
| madridhibs wrote: |
sending out God knows how many CVs, having four years experience, being in Madrid, with a BA and a TEFL - the silence is deafening. I've had about four replies - one which resulted in hours. |
?? Okay you got hours in the end but doesn't it suggest to you a lack of interest/enthusiasm? To contrast from the end of this month, I've up to 35 clock hours, all with adults, available here if I want them and this is a country where the crisis has been as bad as Spain and where the average wage is about 400 euro a month, so no, I think it's a question of motivation as much as economic factors.
| madridhibs wrote: |
What's that quote, there are lies, damned lies and then statistics ... |
A quote trotted out again and again by people who don't like what the facts say but who are unable to produce any of their own. The EU commission or someone with a vested interest in the Spanish teaching scene? I know which I'd believe. But it is a moot point anyway since you've admitted that Madrilenos are not that bothered at the moment, so I rest my case. |
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