lormar

Hi there,

First post from me on here, so please be patient with me...!

I'm hoping that someone out there can help me find out about teaching English in Palma city itself as a full-time job.

As I am currently freelancing in the Netherlands, and have been for over 7 years, I'm not sure whether to find work via an existing agency or language school for Business English, or should I just set up as a freelancer once we move to Palma?
Our actual moving date is as yet unknown, but we will be in Palma for a week at the end of the month to suss things out a bit, and so I would really appreciate any tips or info any of you can give me - even if it's only to do with the best way to learn Castilian/Catalan Mallorquí - or which I should focus on learning first
I'm Irish by the way, and my husband is Scottish...but of course if any of you think being fluent in Dutch might be of an advantage, then please let me know about that too!!

Hope someone can help!

Many thanks!
Lor.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

lormar

Hi Rosemary,

Thanks for your message! I'm looking forward to hearing any tips I can get for the current work situation in Palma just now.

I've been doing so much reading on loads of different sites and forums, but the problem is most of them don't seem to be very active anymore - apart from BE that is! Hence my posting on here, in the hope that there are still some active forum members who might be willing to give a girl a bit of advice...

amideislas

Welcome in advance

Unfortunately, there isn't likely a lot of good news for you. The market here is flooded with English teachers, and the money you can make is pretty low. There is a demand, however, as increasingly, young Mallorquins seek professions elsewhere in the world, and fluent English is at least one important step in that direction.

Most of the English teachers here are native Spanish or Mallorquin, which gives them a distinct advantage when applying for such positions with an existing firm. Otherwise, as a self-employed TEFL, you have the burden of marketing yourself in an already saturated market.

The Dutch market is small here. Dutch make up perhaps less than 1% of the population, so offering anything Dutch isn't likely to result in a spectacular response.

Cost of living in Palma isn't the cheapest (but it's not London). Outside the city is much cheaper.

I'd suggest you contact the various private schools and offer your skillset, but perhaps look for IT startups - tourism services and the like - they usually need multilingual people for all kinds of things from website translations to sales.

Last but not least, the advantage of fluency in Spanish or better, Catalan, cannot be understated. If you are fluent in at least Spanish, you have a lot better chances. German is also important - perhaps equally so - here in Mallorca anyway.

Look on the German radio website inselradio for good job listings.

Good luck.

ami

z0s0

Native Spanish & Catalan speakers have an advantage over native English speakers in the English teaching market? That strikes me as more than a little odd.

In Barcelona last year I never met a single Spanish-born English teacher with work there - whereas I met a lot of English/Canadian/US/Turkish English teachers living there making quite a decent living.

amideislas

No, Spanish nationals have an advantage in the employment market.

Employment law prioritises Spanish nationals first, then EU nationals. And especially for non-EU nationals, employers need to produce evidence that the job requires a skill set that cannot be performed by a Spanish or EU national.

Having said that, for TEFL, I reckon sufficient evidence can be produced that a native English speaker is best suited for that job - still, a TEFL job here normally requires fluency in Spanish/Catalan as well. You will, after all, be teaching mostly Spanish/Mallorquin students, and fluency in the native tongue is a big advantage.

But as gainful employment is rather scarce in Spain, more and more young Spanish/Mallorquins are seeking employment elsewhere, and thusly are becoming fluent in English early-on.

So when "employed" by an existing school, Spanish nationals fluent in English will be preferred - by law if not simply employer "comfort" - unless of course, you're self-employed, but then you have the burden of selling/marketing yourself into an already saturated market.

cricketman

Where did you pull these "facts" from? Your backside?

1. It is absolutely not Spanish law to have to prefer Spanish nationals to EU nationals
2. It is a massive advantage being a native English speaker within the English teaching industry. Students and schools always prefer English native speakers to Spaniards who speak English. It is a good idea to speak Spanish well, for all kinds of reasons, but native speakers are always preferred. It is something that schools advertise proudly

Domino

in my limited experience I have to agree.
I have met a number of students who say it is nice to talk with me as it is "real English" where I am relaxed in my language whilst their Spanish tutors are on edge all the time and try imposing Spanish language ways, making it more difficult for them to progress.

perhaps this is why an expat who has opened an English language school in the village is doing so well

z0s0

If that were true, it would most certainly contravene EU law.

lormar

Hi Everyone,

First of all - thank you all so much for your responses! Very interesting indeed!
Also, my apologies for not being on since my last post, but have had little internet access lately.

Anyway, I've already started trying to learn Spanish, and intend to keep it up for as long as it takes. I've been living in the Netherlands now for the best part of years and, although highly fluent in Dutch, I'm still learning new words and expressions on a regular basis - and I still really enjoy it!

That said though, I have to add that the majority of my TEFL teaching experience has been with A2 speakers and above, mainly specializing in Business English for a wide variety of industries, yet I rarely, if ever, use Dutch during my lessons, so that shouldn't be much of a problem for other learners either, as that's the point of TEFL, right?

Well, my hubby and I will be in Palma in two weeks time for a short visit, but I hope to try to scope out a few possible prospective employers whilst there...
Are there any I should definitely visit/avoid, as there seems to be a longer list than I think I'll have time to visit..?
I don't plan on immediately starting out as self-employed there, though it may be an option for the future once we get a bit more settled.

So, are there any teachers out there who'd be willing to meet up with us for a cuppa and a chat sometime between the 26-28th? if so, cuppa's on us!