English Language Assistant Programme in Spain

Joe222 · 03-01-2012 6:53pm #1

Hey all,
Has anybody taken part in the above scheme? The pay is about €700 pm. Is this ok to live on, especially if you are in somewhere like Madrid. Do you need a college level of Spanish or need to be doing Spanish as part of your degree programme? The Dept application form seems to need forms to be completed by college stating proficiency in Spanish etc.
I'm a qualified teacher. Are there other better options to teach in Spain? I know there are various forums out there but you can't beat first hand accounts from people.
Thanks in advance.

kingofburt · 04-01-2012 12:58pm

Are you looking to teach in a Spanish state school or a language academy? If its a state school I wouldn't know too much about the qualifications but €700 per month will not leave a lot of money for anything after rent and daily living expenses have been paid for.

However, if you are simply looking to work in a language academy then I would imagine that being a qualified teacher will open up a lot of very good opportunities where a 30 hour week will pay approx €1700 per month, which is a pretty decent salary (in Barcelona anyway).

If the language academy is something you're interested in then I'd definitely recommend the CELTA qualification, it is expensive but there are so many EFL teachers that, in my opinion, this is the easiest way to have you CV considered, plus it really is very useful, especially if this is your first time teaching a language or teaching student is a foreign language.

As for Spanish, the more you have the better for you to understand what the students are trying to say, however, in the academy I work in it is pretty much forbidden to speak Spanish. If you can learn the basics you'll be amazed at how much you can understand when listening, although speaking is much more difficult!

If you have more questions about language academies feel free to ask. Good luck.

Joe222 · 04-01-2012 2:55pm

Thanks for replying. Can you tell me more about the language academies? I think these are what I'm looking for. Where can I find employers? I have taught in Spain before in summer camps. This should help me getting work?? Do I need a CELTA if I have my teaching qualification here. I also have the ACELS qualification here to teach English..the conversion course for qualified teachers. Will this do?
Also where would you recommend one to go? I believe Madrid is the big destination work wise?

Fuinseog · 04-01-2012 3:01pm

Joe222 wrote: »

Hey all,
Has anybody taken part in the above scheme? The pay is about €700 pm. Is this ok to live on, especially if you are in somewhere like Madrid. Do you need a college level of Spanish or need to be doing Spanish as part of your degree programme? The Dept application form seems to need forms to be completed by college stating proficiency in Spanish etc.
I'm a qualified teacher. Are there other better options to teach in Spain? I know there are various forums out there but you can't beat first hand accounts from people.
Thanks in advance.

it does not seem like a lot, especially for the capital. I worked 12 hours a week in German secondary school and got paid 1,000 and was free to work elsewhere in the afternoon.

Joe222 · 04-01-2012 3:16pm

Yes I noticed that the pay in Austria and Germany appeared to be higher but I guess that reflects the standard of living. Was accommodation included in your package?

I know the pay is low but you are free to do private lessons as well. It also gives plenty of time to explore the place.

Fuinseog, did you have German in your degree??

Fuinseog · 04-01-2012 3:26pm

Joe222 wrote: »

Yes I noticed that the pay in Austria and Germany appeared to be higher but I guess that reflects the standard of living. Was accommodation included in your package?

I know the pay is low but you are free to do private lessons as well. It also gives plenty of time to explore the place.

Fuinseog, did you have German in your degree??

accommodation was not included. I did have German in degree, but only used it to socialise with colleagues. otherwise it was frowned upon. i can imagine the Spanish would appreciate someone with their language but in Germany I was there to speak English and it was expected that I only ever use it and not German.
language schools will take you without a TEFL of CELTA. it depends on how many native speakers they have.

chippers · 04-01-2012 3:43pm

Hi Joe, I'm teaching in Madrid and that wage sounds really quite low. You would have to supplement it with extra private lessons quite a lot to have a decent standard of living. Your probably looking at €400 for your rent and then you'll have bills on top of that. Your monthly transport ticket will cost between 40 and 80 euro approx. depending on where you are working and need to get to. There does seem to be a good bit of work floating about for private lessons though so maybe that could be a way to get by without living on bread and water.

I don't know about the scheme your looking at but if your a language assistant I wouldn't think you need to know a lot of Spanish if at all. I would imagine they are looking for a native speaker who can speak English all the time. The more the pupils hear english spoken the better it is for them. Obviously knowing a few phrases will be helpful 'Take out your books', 'Stop talking' etc.By the way,are you an English teacher?I'm a geography teacher but i've done some assistance in english classes before and i find it quite unsatisfying. Reading a story to thirteen year old's and explaining how to pronounce words etc. Not really my thing but I had to complete my timetable with these type of lessons.

Joe222 · 04-01-2012 4:17pm

Chippers, are you working in the programme. The pay seems small but I presume accommodation would be included.
http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=10900&ecategory=32241&language=EN
The above is the link to our Dept of Education with info on the programme.

chippers · 04-01-2012 5:25pm

Joe222 wrote: »

Chippers, are you working in the programme. The pay seems small but I presume accommodation would be included.
http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=10900&ecategory=32241&language=EN
The above is the link to our Dept of Education with info on the programme.

No Joe i'm on a private contract with the Communidad de Madrid to teach Geography and History in public schools. There are a few Americans in my schools that seem to be on a similar programme to you though. Unlike you though, they are not necessarily qualified teachers. They're a mix of college students and people wanting to become teachers in the future. They assist the spanish teacher's giving English lessons - basically they do whatever the teacher's need them to do. They do moan a bit about lack of money so i know it can be an issue. I had a look at the info and it's 700e for 12 hours. If accom is included that's not bad at all.

Joe222 · 04-01-2012 5:54pm

Cippers, how did you secure your position? Did you do it yourself or was it advertised as part of a wider recruitment process?
Does anyone know if accommodation is included in the package?
If it isn't the money is v small and would limit you. I think I'd prefer to work a full week, having the extra pay to do things and travel etc.

kingofburt · 04-01-2012 6:08pm

At €700 for 50 hours per month that is €14 per hour, not bad for a teaching job, especially one which would reuire very little prep work so I'd be very surprised if accommodation was included.

The benefit of that government position is that you would be available to work in the evenings when the academies are busy or simply just take on private classes and supplement your income.

To get a good idea of available positions in Madrid (or anywhere in Spain) check out this website http://madrid.loquo.com/ce/jobs/education-teaching/508

Joe222 · 04-01-2012 6:13pm

If you were living in Madrid, for example, I would say accommodation would be quite expensive. I know you could do private classes but from what I've heard from people doing them, it takes a good while to build up clients. Thus you would want some money going out to keep you going for the first few months.

Any other info would be great. As I said it's much better to get info from people working on the ground.

Fuinseog · 04-01-2012 8:26pm

chippers wrote: »

Hi Joe, I'm teaching in Madrid and that wage sounds really quite low. You would have to supplement it with extra private lessons quite a lot to have a decent standard of living. Your probably looking at €400 for your rent and then you'll have bills on top of that. Your monthly transport ticket will cost between 40 and 80 euro approx. depending on where you are working and need to get to. There does seem to be a good bit of work floating about for private lessons though so maybe that could be a way to get by without living on bread and water.

I don't know about the scheme your looking at but if your a language assistant I wouldn't think you need to know a lot of Spanish if at all. I would imagine they are looking for a native speaker who can speak English all the time. The more the pupils hear english spoken the better it is for them. Obviously knowing a few phrases will be helpful 'Take out your books', 'Stop talking' etc.By the way,are you an English teacher?I'm a geography teacher but i've done some assistance in english classes before and i find it quite unsatisfying. Reading a story to thirteen year old's and explaining how to pronounce words etc. Not really my thing but I had to complete my timetable with these type of lessons.

the language assistant assists the teacher, which means discipline, giving orders and homework is not their remit.
I was never alone in the classroom with pupils.
being a language assistant is great if you are still at college or just finished your degree. as a fully qualified teacher however, I would agree with you when you say it would not be satisfying.

chippers · 05-01-2012 11:13pm

Joe222 wrote: »

Cippers, how did you secure your position? Did you do it yourself or was it advertised as part of a wider recruitment process?

The Communidad de Madrid were looking for teachers last year. They contacted the Irish Consulate who then contacted the AGTI (Association of Geography Teacher's of Ireland). A colleague of mine who is in the AGTI told me about it. In total they employed 8 Irish teachers, half for Geography and History and half for Science.

playedalive · 16-03-2013 12:28am

Just thought I'd bump this thread as I have applied for this scheme. Would like to know if anybody has done the programme? I applied for Asturias, Madrid or Andalucía. Does anybody have any insight?

demar · 16-04-2013 12:16pm

I'm also interested in this scheme, but going to read up a bit first as I really have very little idea about what it entails. If I find out more I'll be back to share!

Morzadec · 25-04-2013 11:00am

Best website for getting jobs in Madrid (also useful for other stuff):

http://www.lingobongo.com/madrid/

There are tons of private classes out there, but it's all about making contacts. Most of these private classes are with kids.

Once you get to know one or two families and the kid likes you then you end up getting referred to friends, friends of friends etc... until you eventually have to start turning away work. You could charge about 20e an hour for these classes, and if you timetable them well you could fit in 3 a day.

To give you an idea of cost of living in Madrid:

Apartment - 400e max for a nice room in a shared apartment. Be careful because if you are foreign and vulnerable someone may try to rip you off. I saw people living in rooms for 500e that were nothing special. 350e or so is a normal price to pay for somewhere central enough.

Food - Generally cheaper than in Ireland. Depends how often you eat out etc... but you might spend about 100e a month on you shopping.

Transport: Really excellent value for the service you get. If you're living relatively centrally it's just over 50e a month - and as a teacher you will be availing of the service a lot.

Going Out: This can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. Alcohol from the shops are cheaper and generally street-drinking (while not legal) is something you can often get away with. Normal bars are cheaper. If you're going out to clubs often you will obviously spend a fair amount, like in Ireland. You rarely need to get a taxi due to the excellent transport service. Restaurants would be a bit cheaper than Ireland in general. I would spend about 100e or so a month, though I'm probably not the most party animal.

There are loads of miscellaneous expenses that I've left out, coffee, clothes etc... But basically in a normal month I often won't spend more than about 7 or 800e and I'm not deliberately scrimping.

Bare in mind you may not have work in the summer months (also Christmas can be a lean period too depending on what type of contract you have.)

If you can get your salary to about 1300e a month then you should be saving a little bit for holidays etc... while living a nice lifestyle in Madrid. SO much of what is good about doesn't cost much anyway.

Obviously this is about Madrid - other Spanish cities would be considerably cheaper from what I've heard.

Morzadec · 25-04-2013 11:10am

Left out bills in previous budget. This will depend as some places will include bills but maybe 30e a month on average

playedalive · 25-04-2013 11:27pm

Morzadec wrote: »

Obviously this is about Madrid - other Spanish cities would be considerably cheaper from what I've heard.

Thank you so much for the info. I would love to teach English in Spain at some point. I have heard a fair bit that work is very thin on the ground (as there are already a lot of English teachers). Would you agree?

Morzadec · 26-04-2013 9:50am

playedalive wrote: »

Thank you so much for the info. I would love to teach English in Spain at some point. I have heard a fair bit that work is very thin on the ground (as there are already a lot of English teachers). Would you agree?

To be honest, not at all.

From my impression, demand far outweighs the supply.

I haven't heard of a single case of somebody coming here and leaving because they couldn't find work. Some have left because they were homesick/decided teaching wasn't for them etc..., but none because they couldn't find work.

This would include people with no teaching experience, no TEFL course, and even in some cases, no degree. (Although all of the above would be useful and would make you more likely to land a good teaching job).

If I was running an English academy here and was hiring, the number one thing I would be looking for in a candidate is someone who is confident, outgoing, friendly, good social skills and look like they would have some sort of passion about teaching (or at least seem to have a professional attitude towards it).

If you are a good people person you will have no problem teaching English in Spain.

lanamcghee · 29-05-2014 1:42am

Hey all ðŸ˜Š I just found out last week that I got this programme and I'll be starting in October. I was just wondering if anyone has recently done it and been placed in Madrid? My main thing is money, I took down that it would be 800 per month, but then I saw in an old hand book 700 and now as I've researched more , I'm hearing 1000 for Madrid (as you work 16 hours not 12) just wondering if anyone can confirm. Also just wondering what the holidays ie Xmas, Easter etc are like and do you get paid for them? I was on Erasmus near Valencia before so delighted to be going back to Spain but just wondering about the fine details as I've been told I won't hear anything back until mid July. Oh also, for anyone who was in Madrid, were you placed in one school or two and were they in the city or the outskirts...thanks in advance!

demar · 02-06-2014 11:03am

Can't help much as I have no experience of programe but know you could be placed in any part of the Madrid region and Xmas hols usually 22nd Dec to some date after 6th of Jan. Easter Week is just that, at a push ten days including weekends! No mid term breaks, a few long weekends though.

rossj · 16-06-2022 11:44pm

Buenas a todos,

This ELA scheme is still running now in 2022, and after just being accepted as an ELA in Spain

I have many queries that someone might know

Have you been an ELA in 2018 or 2019 or 2020 (before Covid)

What is the pay really like for Communidad Valenciana?

Im an experienced teacher with years of experience both in Ireland and Spain, so as previously stated, would this role not be satisfying for me or did it open doors for those who have recently done it before?

TIA

tapasandtinto · 02-11-2022 11:39pm

I Hope you have the best time there. I did my ELA year from 2018-2019 I think. It’s such an amazing experience. It is what you make it though. The pay is on but you should definitely offer to reach extra English classes on the side to make some more money, especially because you can be in the middle of nowhere so transport costs can be expensive but it’s so worth it

English Language Assistant Programme in Spain

Comments