Looking for work - we have basic spanish

Hi Matkym1,

Welcome to Expat.com

I advise you to post an advert to the appropriate section > Jobs in Spain to boost your research.

Good luck

Stéphanie

Hi have you tried teaching english as a second language jobs? There are plenty of them all over Spain. One of you could do the TEFL course.....only takes a weekend and if you pass you have the certificate which means lots of work! Good Luck:)

Tabithalovelock wrote:

Hi have you tried teaching english as a second language jobs? There are plenty of them all over Spain. One of you could do the TEFL course.....only takes a weekend and if you pass you have the certificate which means lots of work! Good Luck:)

Hi there, I've been toying with the idea of doing a full TEFL course for a year or so, and have zoned in on Valencia as where I'd like to live. Are jobs teaching English really that abundant? I'd love to think so, as that really would tip the balance in going for it! :-)

Thanks,

Chris

Here in Galicia English teaching jobs are in high demand, but poorly paid (10-15 euro per hour and usually not fulltime, often seasonal). Parents here put together money in parental associations and pay privately for group lessons in English since their kids are required to be conversant in that language, but there are no good teachers.

Construction related jobs are unlikely to appear for you. There are plenty of Spaniards who are unemployed and available in those trades. Fundamentally, unless you can be an independent contractor, you will be out of a job in Spain. No one also takes on people with poor Spanish skills and it is also a matter of knowing the culture, not just the language. If you are unemployed, you have no business coming here. Spain is mainly for retired people, people on benefits and independents with their own business. The unemployed Spanish flee this country! It is comparable to Greece right now.

Thanks for the info paperdetective, sobering stuff! 

Hi Chris,
Yes there are plenty of academies sprouting up everywhere. But like Paperdetective said, they don't pay that much, the going rate is usually 12 Euros per hr for most academies. But then you can top that up by doing private classes for which you can charge more....as high as 20 Euros an hr sometimes. Especially if you have got the TELF to show them you are qualified..
Good Luck!

Thanks Tabitha, that is great info. :-)  I'd be interested to find out what sort of market there is for online teaching (Skype or whatever) as that could potentially be very lucrative, and be done from anywhere. Any thoughts/experience in that?

Thanks again,

Chris

Hi,
Personally I don't have any experience with teaching on Skype. But I know a friend who was doing it last year and he was doing very well from it. He was actually doing both teaching with academies and on Skype coz he couldn't travel to clients. I have a car so I could travel to both companies and do lots of privates in people's houses so I was always fully booked. I think you can find a lot of info on google.
Best of luck!

Brilliant, thanks again Tabitha. :-)

Chris I used to be a foreign languages teacher and I still do professional translations, being fluent in 5 languages. Online teaching of languages is largely a pipe dream. It cannot be done. The sound quality is awful for the very refined sound one needs to hear in a foreign language from a native and one also misses the body language. Because of these limitations and the fact that so many unqualified people offer 'online courses', that market only provides 'cheap' customers with low qualifications for learning the language in the first place. Only the poor will try learning that way and that means they pay little. So it is very competitive, bottom of the market and low rates. There is nothing lucrative about that. Lucrative, if one could talk about that at all in Spain, is the one-on-one live private tutoring or group lessons for professionals. IT also depends what language you teach and how your skills are. A rookie teaching English, without any teaching skills and vats knowledge of available materials, will not make much. He was little value to offer, so he can at best ask 12-15 euros. A pro can make at least up to 2 times what he makes. Still, the languages bsiness is a low paid job regardless of where one is. Only the best make a good living out of it.

paperdetective wrote:

Chris I used to be a foreign languages teacher and I still do professional translations, being fluent in 5 languages. Online teaching of languages is largely a pipe dream. It cannot be done. The sound quality is awful for the very refined sound one needs to hear in a foreign language from a native and one also misses the body language. Because of these limitations and the fact that so many unqualified people offer 'online courses', that market only provides 'cheap' customers with low qualifications for learning the language in the first place. Only the poor will try learning that way and that means they pay little. So it is very competitive, bottom of the market and low rates. There is nothing lucrative about that. Lucrative, if one could talk about that at all in Spain, is the one-on-one private tutoring or group lessons for professionals.

Thanks again paperdetective. Always good to hear all perspectives. I still think I'll go ahead and spend the £300 or so for the full TEFL course. Does anyone have any experience of cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/teaching-qualifications/ as an alternative to TEFL.org?

Thanks,

Chris

Hi!have you and your fiance find job already?

Hi,

As a carpenter you could work in anywhere but you need to improve your Spanish.

Good luck!

I seems that you don't pay much attention to the international news.  Unemployment is running at record breaking levels in Spain so you will need to have some unique skills in order to obtain work here where millions of young people are desperately seeking employment.  My advice is stay where you are until the Spanish improves.

Hi
First of all I don't agree that TEFL jobs are poorly paid at 10-15€ an hour considering the average salary in Spain is around 1000€ per month for a full time 39hr week. Even for a qualified teacher with a degree the salary is around 1500€ per month which works out at about 15€ per hour ( with a university degree !)
There are almost no part time jobs in spain that pay 10-15€ an hour.

Teaching English in Spain is a great option and still in great demand in most regions. Regarding the TEFL course I would recommend
http://www.star-tefl.com/which-course.php
I could assist you in receiving a substantial discount on the online course, reducing the cost to £49. Some of our teachers have done this course and it seems very complete. If you require more information please contact me personally on
elcentrodeingles@yahoo.com

We have an English language School in Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia and could be looking for English teachers for both children and adults. Our teachers are paid 10-12€ NETT We do official legal contracts, which a lot of academies do not, and so pay the social security and tax on top of that rate. The class sizes are max 6 students so we consider this rate to be very fair. But as for some carpentry kind of work, sorry can't help you there.

dear,
how to pressed Spain work permit. and help how to get it.

This is a poor country. It cannot afford 20-25 Euro or more like in many other European countries. Plenty of jobs in the languages sector (teachers and translators) here are 1000-1100 Euro a month, even in expensive Barcelona.
In Galicia it is even much worse.
Also, only the very few can find a full time job in the languages industry. Most will have to settle for part-time.
Here is an example what a substitute teacher fro English or German in Madrid can earn (15 euro) if paid legally.

http://es.jobdiagnosis.com/listing/list … ;feed=true

Just remember living cost in Galicia is cheap. Therefore your wage is comparative to where you live. Obviously in a place like London you will make more money per hour but it's VERY EXPENSIVE.

Of course. I rent a huge house here with sea view for 400 euro. Not a chance you get that in the UK. Low wages is no indicator that you cannot live a better life in Spain than in your home country. I save 50% on housing, services and food here and get better weather and far better quality and much fresher bread, fruit, vegetables and fish. People are also often nicer and have more time. You just have to adapt to the cultural quirks.