IdentityCrisis9001

I was born in Bulgaria, grew up and currently living in the US, and want to work in Spain until I'm eligible for free movement in the UK, most likely 2014. I have about 8000 euro saved up for the move but I don't know anyone in Spain and I'm not fluent in the language, I only took a couple classes back in high school. I'm desperate to leave the US quickly but my choices are limited without a diploma (I can't afford college in my situation). Am I going to end up on the streets if I make this move? Some words of wisdom, please.

jay01

Should you make the move is really only an answer that you can provide and follow through with.

The employment situation in Spain is not good and there is a very high unemployment rate here so the chances of finding legal work very slim, more so because you do not have the language but that said you may be lucky .

Depending on where you lived, lifestyle and type of place you lived in would depend on how long your savings last you but always keep enough back so you can go home (where ever that is, where the family is), if you have to take your flight out of the savings as well then you really would be struggling.

In my opinion if you do not have to leave where you are, you are legal where you are and you have the most important thing there, family then I would maybe stay there for a year or 2.

As a Brit I do not understand why people see Britain as the Holy Grail of Europe, why not consider France, Germany or one of the smaller countries where work maybe easier to come by or even try Bulgaria, they have an emerging market as far as tourist destination goes.

DO not look as Spain being the gateway to Britain or Britain being the be all end all destination.

Dxf

Hi

No No and three times NO. The UK has a safety net. Spain does not. Be clever, do some research and claim asylum in the UK

Davexf

Domino

"Asylum is protection given by a country to someone who is fleeing persecution in their own country. It is given under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. To be recognised as a refugee, you must have left your country and be unable to go back because you have a well-founded fear of persecution."

why should someone born in Bulgaria, a so called "friendly country", currently living (and presumably working) in the US be told they can claim asylum in the UK. There is no reason to assume they would ever get it.
The Daily Mail and the Express would be down on you like a ton of bricks for making such a suggestion

On the face of it this would appear to be an economic migrant thing, the OP appears to have been brought up in the US so would have family there. Unless he is desperate to get out for legal reasons I would have believed it would be more conducive to a happy life staying in the US.

One day the UK will be full of illegal and economic migrants and there will be no one left to pay the benefits because all the Brits will have left for pastures new - such as Spain

agoreira

Do France, Germany and the rest have such generous handouts as UK? They certainly don't come to UK for the weather, so it must be all the freebies.

steviedeluxe

I was under the impression that Rumanians and bulgarians could already work in the UK from this year. But be careful, it's not been great for all

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/h...00/9300207.stm

If you speak Bulgarian, may be best to research any forums they have. I know there are a lot of Rumanians, and a fair few Bulgarians who live and work in Madrid. Your best option is to network to see where the best place to find accommodation and work would be.

To be honest, if I were you I'd take a month (or even 2 months) language holiday, and start to learn the language. Shouldn't cost you too much, and you can spend your free time asking around for opportunities (or lack of them) yourself. A monthly course with 1 and a half hours daily lessons will cost just 125 Euros here (Madrid) (plus 20 registration fee) Of course you have to add on accommodation to that, say 400-500 euros for a room for a month in Madrid.

stuboy

To be honest, if I were you I'd take a month (or even 2 months) language holiday, and start to learn the language. Shouldn't cost you too much, and you can spend your free time asking around for opportunities (or lack of them) yourself. A monthly course with 1 and a half hours daily lessons will cost just 125 Euros here (Madrid) (plus 20 registration fee) Of course you have to add on accommodation to that, say 400-500 euros for a room for a month in Madrid.[/QUOTE]


This sounds like very good value,do you know anyone that has attended there

stuboy

Do you have dual nationality?

steviedeluxe

This sounds like very good value,do you know anyone that has attended there[/QUOTE]

Well yes, lots - but on the English side (one of the places I worked many moons ago when I taught in Madrid)! They teach several languages there and are located very close to metro Bilbao. They keep costs down by employing recently qualified teachers, and making sure each class has a minimum subscription (although they don't over-crowd classes either). Apart from that, most of what happens is similar to other schools, and the material is generally up-to-date. Actually there are quite a few language schools in Madrid that offer very good prices for those learning Spanish - they have to, as other cities like Barcelona or Granada are deemed more glamorous for the would-be student
Probably not the best option for Brits wanting a language holiday (assuming they want a resort town), but Madrid would be the best destination (I feel) for the OP to look around for job opps, whilst learning the language.

Domino

as I will be in Granada from the end of the year and want to really start from some basic point - Michel Thomas I find tiring and the Linguaphone scenarios I have some difficulties with - I would like to really get to grips with it.
So can you recommend any school to attend ??

OH's co paid for her to attend 2 evening sessions a week but didnt arrange it until the course had been running for abt 6 weeks then when work got in the way on the odd occaision there was no catch up. The tutor was continually mentoring those who could already speak Spanish and continually wondering why she couldn't keep up. There were some muslim girls there who were perfect but the supposition was they wanted to get the certificate at the end of the course to help with employment.

anonimouse

In a word, Yes, and minus your €8000, with that kind of money, Bulgaria I think, would be a smarter choice.

steviedeluxe

Nearly 20 years since I was last in Granada, so I'm probably not the one to ask. I did do a course with Cegri, and they were very good, but looking at their web site now it appears they only do longer-term courses, and so expensive.
To be honest the best option may be just looking around once you're there and signing on with the school that appeals to you most. I know Don Quijote have a school there, so they may be worth looking into.

Domino

thanks for the reply, have googled the schools and started to have a look round. I believe the only way to learn is to immerse yourself into it and listen because Spain like UK has regional differences which are not picked up when using the Madrid standard.
But then they said the same about Paris standard when I learnt at school but I have managed to get by.

It doesn't matter if a guiri or gwailo its all Dutch to me

steviedeluxe

You haven't told us what job you do (if any).
If you have a job in IT already, and you have the relevant IT skills, you have a better chance of getting somewhere, even if only as a junior programmer. Take a look on Infojobs.net or this new jobs portal
http://www.wiseri.com/
php (especially mvc), java and general web admin/programming seem to be in demand.

agoreira

Normally an intensive course will be 20 hrs a week, five days at 4 hours a day, a superintensive, 30 hours a week. If you're a beginner, serious about learning and only going for a month or two, I don't really think for an hour and a half a day you're going to learn a great deal.