Kenzilala

I am planning to move to Barcelona with my boyfriend in the new year.

Is this a good idea? How much does accomodation cost? What kind of jobs can a non-spanish speaker expect to find? Any tips?

I plan to teach English but have no experience and am currently unable to speak Spanish or Catalan.

I would be so grateful of any advice that anyone would be kind enough to give me!

steviedeluxe

Hi. You plan to teach English? Why not start now (if you're in the UK)? Look around and you should be able to get somewhere, even if it's just as a volunteer working with the Refugee Resource organisation. Plus, there are loads of language schools if you're in London - ok so the pay will be dire, worse than Spain, but you'll start to build up experience (I'm assuming you've already done a Tefl or Tesol course ?) Experience of teaching English will be the factor in getting this type of work, although you're right in suggesting that learning Spanish will be important. You should have started learning the language "yesterday" - I'm afraid you're not going to be fluent in just 2 or 3 months, although every little will help.
Is your partner Spanish, or does he have work in Barcelona? If not, and you don't have experience in the vocation you're seeking, it does seem a bit reckless.

cricketman

Hi Kenzilala

I recently lived in Barcelona for a year and a half. Its a great city, but not easy to establish yourself in:
- rents are high. 750-1200 euro a month for a decent 1-2 bed flat
- if you dont speak Spanish and Catalan (even if you did!) there are almost no jobs. And certainly no good jobs. Teaching English, telesales or handing out leaflets to tourists are your best bets

steviedeluxe

I've just done a search on Infojobs.net for jobs in Barcelona using the search word "English". 289 vacancies brought back (I can't vouch that all of them are genuine jobs, if it was a UK jobs site the majority would be bogus in my recent experience). Although a majority of them seem to be in the IT field, there may be some you'd consider looking into - Good Luck!

cricketman

Yes by all means go for it! You can line up job interviews for when you arrive, that will calm your nerves.

There would be nothing worse then getting there, having no leads for jobs, not understanding the language and not knowing anyone. It could get lonely

steviedeluxe

Funnily enough I've been inspired to apply for a couple of jobs there myself. It gets monotonous applying for 100s of roles here in the UK and never getting any feedback. Why not widen the job search and get ignored in Spain too (although to be fair my last two telephone interviews were for roles in Madrid) !

meauxna

Hi all, just passing by.. over here in the US we'd default to craigslist. I know it's expanding, so I had a look.
http://barcelona.en.craigslist.es/jjj/
In Spain, you get your choice of an English language version or Spanish!

No idea how well it's taking off over on your side, but I heart craigslist.

(I used to live in Barcelona when Catalan was outlawed )

JLFS

I like that little touch of irony ( it really tickled my missus too), about getting ignored in Spain too.......but why stop at Spain, there are loads more places.

If you play your cards right, you could be ignored nearly all over the world...........