What I'm Doing

I received a grant from the Spanish government to teach English in Spain for the 2009-2010 school year. Spain's Ministry of Education offers these teaching positions to US and Canadian students or recent college graduates under the North American Language and Culture Assistant program.

My role as a language assistant - or Auxiliar de Conversacion - is to help Spanish students strengthen their English skills. I'll collaborate with the English teacher at my school to plan and implement activities, make presentations, and even go on field trips!

This program also provides a unique opportunity for cultural exchange. I have a great opportunity to share American culture with students, teachers, and members of the community I live in. By living in Spain and fully immersing myself in its society, I'll definitely gain new perspectives on Spanish culture! When I return to the States, I'll have the chance to share my experiences about Spanish life with others.

Where I'll Be

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous regions; I'll be in Andalucía, most heavily populated and the second largest region in Spain.
Andalucía is then divided into 8 provinces, and each takes the name of its largest city. I'm placed in Almería, the eastern-most province. I'll be living in a small town called Albox: population roughly 12,000 people.
When you're looking at a map of Spain, just focus on the south-east corner, right above the Mediterranean Sea, and that's where I'll be!
As for my school, I've been placed in a primary school called C.E.I.P Virgen del Saliente. I get to work mostly with kids aged 5-7! Check out the link to the school's website.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

How I Got This Position

For a while I had been thinking about taking a "gap year" from school, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. At the beginning of second semester of my senior year in college, I started to really think about what I wanted to do with my life after graduation.

I've always loved traveling, and I thought it would be amazing to get paid to work abroad. I had just completed my Spanish minor, and I really didn't want to lose my Spanish knowledge. I'd contemplated applying to some sort of teaching program abroad, but never gave it serious consideration.

Just as everyone does a semester before they graduate, I found myself talking a lot with peers about my post-college plans. My friend and co-worker Tim, who was a French exchange student, suggested that I check out the study abroad fair that day where he'd be working at a booth; maybe I would find some info on teaching abroad.

I ended up meeting a girl there who had just returned from teaching in France. We talked for a long time about her experience there, and she suggested I search the internet for similar programs in Spain. Her only word of advice: go with a program sponsored by the government, most of the private programs take your money rather than paying you.

So I went home and started my search that night. I Googled "teach English in Spain" and looked for anything that looked like an official Spanish government site (ah, the power of Google). Lo and behold, I found the Ministry of Education website and discovered 1.) I actually qualified for the position and 2.) the due date was still a few months away. After perusing their page for a while, reading about past participants' experiences and what my role would be as a cultural ambassador, I started to get really excited! I decided to apply, and so my vague fantasy-of-an-idea to live abroad started to seem like a tangible possibility.

After a lengthy and complicated application process, and an endless wait for my acceptance, I'm glad I went through it all. I know it's going to be an amazing experience (frankly, I still can't believe I'm doing it) that I can't wait to begin!
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