Tefl.NET Forums

Hello,

I am a final year International Communications student with the intention of doing a 4 week CELTA or TRINITY course this summer so that i can tefl in Spain come September. I am bilingual (English being slightly stronger than my Spanish) and i am a Spanish national, although i have lived in England since the age of 5. I have been educated in England but maintained my Spanish by speaking it at home.

My main concern is that i will find it difficult to find a tefl job in Spain because i am technically not an English native. (Although my English is perfect both oral/written). Do you think this will be the case? Also, if i did my CELTA/Trinity course in july for example... would this give me enough time to find a tefl job in spain for September when school starts?

I would really appreciate all the advice you could offer me regarding tefl in Spain, including any recommendations of course providers, whether to do the tefl course in the UK or abroad, etc.

Look forward to hearing from you.

In Spain, it is generally best to hide your Spanish background as with the youth unemployment level there schools get literally thousands of CVs from Spanish looking for work as English teachers, and the wrong name can find a CV quickly in the bin if a DoS is busy!

July is a bit late, but not impossible. Some schools will need extra teachers or find that their teachers don't turn up in early to mid October, so if you can fly out instantly there are some options. Better, though, to get qualified by July and get some job experience in a summer school in the UK while you apply for jobs in Spain

I worked there for two years in 2000-2002, so some of that might be different if the market for teachers is (even) more competitive now. Anyone else know?