NewLifeAbroad

Hi all!

I'm interested in studying Spanish at the University of Salamanca and I was just wondering whether anyone else here has done a Spanish course there and what their experience was like?

Also, I've only got enough savings to do three months there, but if I could get a job in Salamanca, I'd love to extend this to a full academic year. Has anyone with elementary level Spanish (not a total beginner but not conversational quite yet) ever worked there? Aside from the usual teaching of English to people, are there any other jobs I could do with basic Spanish. After all, I'm going there to improve my Spanish so I would love to be able to study part-time and work part-time (enough to get by).

Any thoughts or comments are completely welcome!

adra04778

Hi
Almeria uni has a facebook page, maybe Salamanca has too, you could try it

NewLifeAbroad

Thanks for the tip.

I've just had a look but there isn't a great deal of useful info on there aside from a link to their website, which I've already looked at. I was just curious as to whether anyone could tell about their personal experiences of studying there and whether they were able to get a job (full/part-time) with basic Spanish. I assume that because thousands of students go there to study the language every year, there must be a sizeable number who have jobs, even those who are beginners, but I haven't been able to find anything on the internet, just info from different schools offering courses but nothing from the students' side of things.

siesta

Salamanca is a really nice place to study and a good university too. There's always lots of foreigners studying there so there's a good atmosphere for students, culture, language exchanges, etc. I'm not sure about finding a job though, I guess you know how the situation is. Apart from English tutoring I've only heard of students working in bars a few hours as week. A good friend of mine is studying there, I could ask her.

NewLifeAbroad

If you could find out from your friend, that would be awesome!

I think about those who come to England and study English, what they do for work and they tend to do low paid jobs, which I've got no problem doing in Spain, but I don't know if the Spanish are as lenient on language requirements as they are at home (I've worked with some people who can barely speak a word of the Queen's). I don't know of a single person from England who has gone and studied a language abroad whilst having to work to support themselves. I'm not at university anymore so ERASMUS isn't an option.

siesta

I think the language requirements are inversely proportional to the number of jobs. I know many people who have gone to the UK to study/work and as you say even those with basic level of English got a job of some kind. I don't know if people here is more flexible or not with the language but the problem is that there isn't too many jobs...for anybody. I've asked my friend, she'll be online in a minute.

Fred James

Not related to the original question but how many people know that Salamanca University is the oldest in Spain and the third oldest in the world (just behind Oxford).

NewLifeAbroad

Just been researching Malaga University as well. Any opinions on Malaga and the job market for elementary Spanish is also welcome!

fionamw

Some thoughts on Malaga, possibly the only city I've ever liked...... 1. Unemployment in Andalucia is I believe the worst in Spain.
2. Andaluz (the local accent - don't think it's technically a dialect) is probably the worst in Spain. 3. There may be (very) seasonal temporary work in bars etc on the Costa but everyone is struggling - see (1). Sorry.

I guess you might get some work teaching English, but not on a proper upfront basis because to do that, you need qualifications and to pay a lot per month - 250€ in the equivalent of NI, even if you're earning nothing.

NewLifeAbroad

Thanks fionamw!

I've got a TEFL certifcate that I earned a few years back, but my experience is very limited (six weeks only). It's something I'll consider as it seems to be the only real option for living and working in Spain. I've heard Andalucia has it rough right now, more so than the rest of Spain, so I might turn my attention elsewhere.

siesta

I've talked to my friend and I'm afraid she doesn't know much about it. She only said what I'd mentioned earlier. She know of a couple of foreigners who are working in bars, especially students bars and so. In fact, when I say foreigners I should say students in general. Many students here don't work while they're studying.

steviedeluxe

If you've got a TEFL (hope it's the certificate that takes 4 weeks with class experience) then get some teaching experience - doesn't even have to pay, just get something on your cv. Then go to study in Madrid. Here's somewhere to start looking (jobs not on the web page, but you click on the "Service guide" below that to bring back a page from their magazine. Come September/October it should be quite busy there.

http://www.in-madrid.com/jobs.html

Also take a look at this forum - contributors include many English teachers based in Spain (not just Madrid) so you will get a genuine feel for the opportunities out there.

http://www.expatriatecafe.com/forums/

Another site that may help. Edit: Does not look active, mainly old stuff from 2010 and further back

http://www.tefl-spain.com/

However this site seems more up-to-date, and there are already some teaching posts in there. Keep an eye on it as the new term starts

http://spainexpat.jobthread.com/

NewLifeAbroad

Wow! Thanks steviedeluxe, that's a lot of info I can get started on. The TEFL certificate I've got is the Trinity College one, which is the month intensive + 6 hours class experience. I got it in 2007 though and haven't really used it, so it feels like I'll be starting from scratch again. I'll definitely check out those sites.

adra04778

I think that the need for English teachers is still popular because people believe that by learning English they will better thier chance of finding a job, so maybe you will be ok