Work in Spain

Dogs_Body

Hi

I was thinking of working in Spain in Feb next year. Gonna go to Oz but don't really have a desire to go there, last resort regarding the language problem.

I have no Spanish at all. Would it be possible to work over there? maybe barcelona? any idea what job I would get? or if I got lessons b4 i go, how long would it take to pick it up?

how's the standard of living over there? apartments etc?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!

BuffyBot

Moved to Abroad

BarryCreed

advice: do a crash course in Spanish and a TEFL course, and you'll be sorted. Went to Italy for 2 years, with basic Italian, and a TEFL cert, got a job no hassle, and learned italian to boot, which got me another job after that..

BarryCreed

more advice: go to a smaller city...

RIRI

Hi

I lived in Alicante, Spain for 5 years between 93 & 98. I had leaving cert spanish and did a TEFL before I went.
Even at that I found it difficult to get a job but you will always pick up private & conversational classes for cash in hand. Get some experience doing prvate lessons before you go as many schools don't want to take on inexperienced teachers.
No idea how rents compare now but spain is generally very cheap to live in, obviously bigger cities are more expensive.
I wouldn't recommend Barcelona if your aim is to learn Spanish as many people speak Catalan. As BarryCreed mentioned a smaller city would be much better.
Get lessons before you go, try Instituto Cervantes - anyone I know who has done their courses has advanced quickly. Spanish is easy enough to become conversational in, but as with anything practise makes perfect.

Hope this helps

Buena suerte!

Afuera

Dogs_Body wrote: »

I have no Spanish at all. Would it be possible to work over there? maybe barcelona?

I have been living in Barcelona for the last two years or so and there are definately jobs out there for native English speakers. Obviously you are going to be able to cope much better if you can speak a bit of the lingo though.

Dogs_Body wrote: »

any idea what job I would get? or if I got lessons b4 i go, how long would it take to pick it up?

You do not say whether you are qualified in a profession or trade; it would help a lot if you were. Febuary is too early for the tourist season so the other two options that a lot of guiris (foreigners) go for are teaching english classes or call centre work.

Dogs_Body wrote: »

how's the standard of living over there? apartments etc?

Speaking about Barcelona in particular, it is a good quality of life but very different to Ireland so may not be for everyone.

First some of the bad/annoying sides to it:
Some apartments can be quite old and in need of modernization (no lifts, butane gas bottles used for heating/cooking, no double glazing or air con, etc.). The days are longer than back home so there are periods where you may find yourself going on about 4 or 5 hours sleep a day. Wages are pretty low (people in casual work are happy to get about 1000 a month). Getting paperwork and any other offical documents can involve a lot of bureaucracy. Higher density living means more noise.

There are lots of pluses though:
Great food, very pleasant climate, wide variety of places to eat/drink/party, very sociable locals, cheap and widespread 24 hour public transport system, easy access to beaches/skiing/mountain trails etc. ,high density living means you have all the shops etc. you need with a few metres of your home.

Personally I find the pluses outweigh the minuses and have no intention of leaving just yet. Each to their own though. Some of the smaller cities, such as Valencia for example, are much more laid back.

Dogs_Body wrote: »

Any advice would be appreciated!

Check out www.loquo.com to see the going rate for rents in the different parts of Spain. They also have the odd jobs advertised there are well.

Sign yourself up for some Spanish classes now!

mise_me_fein

I´ve been living in Spain two months now. I also had no Spanish.

I´ve been listening to some mp3 files I got off the internet and I´m surviving but I´d recommend doing an intensive Spanish course for a month.

i´m teaching but i´m thinking of packing it in. I have two interviews in other jobs next week.

I´m in Madrid, where they do speak Castillian spanish, which is what is spoken in S. America. Don´t go to Barçalona if you want to learn proper Spanish.

Well if you want, give me a shout and I´ll sort you out with work in the teaching.

An Citeog

mise_me_fein wrote: »

I´m in Madrid, where they do speak Castillian spanish, which is what is spoken in S. America. Don´t go to Barçalona if you want to learn proper Spanish.

Eh what? Castellano (or español) is basically the universal version of Spanish. They speak it all over Spain, although the dialects differ hugely, but I just find your point about it being the language spoken in Latin America quite strange. Spanish and Latin American Spanish have major differences in words, phrases, pronunciation and obviously dialects.

OP, I'm studying in Barcelona at the moment and really love the city. That said, it's not the best place if your sole intention is to learn Spanish. You can easily find work with little or no Spanish here in the hospitality/tourism sector. Pay isn't great but you'll get by. As for rent, you're probably looking at around €250-400+ a month for a room in a shared flat in a decent enough area.