Working in Spain

So this is my third year of living in Spain and I´m still doing what the majority of anglophones do when they arrive to Spain with the idea of financially supporting themselves whith their meager Spanish skills: I am teaching English as a foreign language, preparing students for their Cambridge and TOEFL exams, reviewing grammar with adolescents, playing with toddlers, conversing with middle agers. It´s the story of an English teacher´s life.

I´ve been putting up advertisements on the University website to try and get my classes rolling this year but as the entire country is sleeping/vacationing/not thinking about the "real world" during the month of August, it´s been a rough few months with no steady income. This being half-way through the month of September, FINALLY, I´m getting some responses and inquiries. As I do have experience teaching in an academy, am a native speaker, and usually travel to these people´s homes I do not offer "economical" prices. I have had many people e-mailing to ask about prices and then I never hear from them again. I´m not nervous. Yet. Last year, between the work I was doing at the academy and my own private classes I was working about 60 hours a week. It´s a little early to lower my prices just to fill up my schedule. In the mean time, I am enjoying my free time trying to get some wedding planning done and my house in order after a huge kitchen remodel. (I´ll post the after pictures this week!)

Bottom line, things are starting to look up and the Spaniards are finding their motivation to learn English as the new school year starts... but it takes patience and a lot of self-assurance that things will pick up and I will be able to pay my bills at the end of the month! Good luck all of you out there putting yourselves in this situation. I´m here to tell you that you can make it on your own offering private classes in your home, their home, or even a cafe. After you make some contacts and keep your students happy your name will start to spread throughout their circles and you will get more contacts. Keep your head up!

How was your experience when you first started working as an English teacher in a foreign country? Or if you have never been there, what are some of your biggest fears that hold you back from moving abroad and living your dreams?

Besos,

Tara