silverfootprint

Hola!

New to the area and wondered how many people out there on the forum lived in or close to Seville/ Sevilla? Are there any English-speaking groups around here?

Ta.

Fortaleza

There are plenty! To get yourself in with new people you've got to go initially to places that maybe in the future you would refuse to go to. I'm talking of the Irish pubs. The easiest place to start is Flaherty's next to the Cathedral on c/ Alemanes http://www.pflaherty.com/. This is the Macdonalds of all Irish pubs - loved and loathed in equal measure! It is however an easier place to start as it is more open and less cliquey. The main one for English speaking residents is The Merchant in c/ Canalejas http://www.merchantpub.com/en/. This is great BUT as a newbie it can be a bit intimidating. My advice would be to get in with people at Flaherty's who will then introduce you to Merchant. A new place worth checking out and is a good halfway house between the two and the staff will help you out in terms of getting into circles of friends etc is Phoenix Riverside in the Plaza de Cuba right on the river at the gateway to Triana.

Veleta

I lived in Seville for a while before moving down to Jerez. I was near the cathedral.

You could go to the intercambio groups (better than the one-to-ones) to meet people....it would require you to have at least a few words in Spanish though.

silverfootprint

Great / thanks for the suggestions. Does anyone know where or how to find out where the intercambio groups meet? My Spanish is only along the 'I have two brothers and one sister and I like music' lines at the moment / but I am learning!

Hasta luego

Veleta

Walk into the reception areas of some of the big language academies...CLIC or LINK or Cactus....and take a look at their notice boards. There'll be lots of one-to-one intercambios advertised which are fine, but I always preferred the group ones just in case I didn't like the person I got paired with!

Veleta

On second thoughts, why don't you just spend a week or two doing a Spanish course in one of these academies?....you'll be put in a class with a group of foreigners who, like you, don't know anyone in Seville and will want to go out and socialise in the evenings. Even if you don't click with anyone in your group you will inevitably meet people from all the other groups as well...they organise social activities (cookery class, dance class, museum visits, watching films, etc) every evening you would get to know a lot of new people, all outsiders. And you get to improve your Spanish of course.

silverfootprint

Thanks - I'm all signed up with Estudio Hispanico so I'll see how it goes.

JOBO99

hey, my name is joe and moved to live in madrid a month ago. However i went to sevilla for the weekend and loved it and now going to also move there. im from ireland but lived in the UK for 4 years before i moved to spain. has anyone any advice on best areas to live that do not cost too much or how much I should expect to pay. I want to live in a shared flat with someone that also speaks english as I am just starting to learn spanish. Also any advice on english teachign jobs ? I am not TEFL qualified but am native english obviously so is there much teaching work available ? appreciate any advice
cheers
joe

sjjs

You should get qualified - usually the basic requirements are a degree and a TEFL certificate which you can get online for a few quid.

There is teaching work available and now is the time to find it (beginning of the school year). Since you are living in Spain it's a matter of going round knocking on doors - that's my suggestion!

TEFL in Spain

jdr

Everyone and their auntie do it, but not many make enough to live on.

lynnxa

and really & truly an internet TEFL doesn't prepare you to actually teach!!

If you already have some teaching experience of any kind it helps - but I know people who have done a 40 hour TEFL internet course or a one month face to face course who just couldn't hack it when they actually stood in front of a group of students

Veleta

Ouch! If you walked into a job interview with an "online TEFL qualification that cost a few quid" you'd be laughed out through the door again. Well, you probably wouldn't get to the interview in the first place....no self respecting academy would entertain the idea.

There is quite a lot of work around of this type (of course I can only speak for my area) and now is the time to job hunt. Depending on the type of classes you do and where you do it you can earn a good wedge. Although if you are just starting out and don't have any experience that probably wouldn't happen for a while.

MikeQuigley

Advice for Joe re flats in Seville. My partner and I took a 2-week course at CLIC in Seville in May and had the opportunity to look for a flat. One of the CLIC tutors had a cheap flat to rent in Triana, 2-beds, €550 pcm - a bit cramped, a bit grubby, but adequate. We looked at one in Los Remedios, close to Parque de los Principes, well-kept, modern, clean, 2-beds, access to swimming pool, €750 pcm. Finally we rented one in Triana close to Plaza de Cuba, 2-bed, modern, spacious, well-kept, for €850 pcm. It had been on the rental market for months and if we had offered immediate occupancy we could probably have bargained it down. However we didn't want to move in for 3 months, and the owner agreed to reserve it for us, rent-free, until September, provided we stuck to our promise to stay here till end-June 2010. We moved in a week ago and are really enjoying Seville !