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TEFL job guidance for Barcelona, Spain… everywhere!

tefl jobs Spain

Jen Whelan
Our Job Guidance Expert.

 

Hi! I’m Jen Whelan and I’m here to provide you with all the help you need to find work as a TEFL teacher after the course.

I’ve lived in Barcelona for the past 3 years, teaching English and training teachers. I also run the Barcelona TEFL Teachers Association, which unites local teachers via social networking.

Through training and BTTA, I’ve met hundreds of teachers who have taught me all about the ups and downs of searching for a TEFL job in Spain and abroad. I’m very happy to share those experiences with you and provide personalized job guidance during, after and even before your TEFL course.

If you are thinking of taking a TEFL course in Spain and have questions about the job market, please get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Our job guidance service

TEFL Barcelona is committed to empowering graduates with the unique skills necessary for job searching in today’s economy.

Details of our job guidance service...

Before your TEFL course

Before the course starts we invite you to send in your CV ( résumé ) and we study the destinations you are interested in. The information is used to help make the job guidance sessions as specific as possible. This is also a good time to tell us if you have any preferences with regards to specialization: children’s classes, Business English etc.

During your TEFL course

During the course you are equipped with the tools you need to successfully search for, and obtain, jobs in your destination of choice. Since many graduates choose to stay in Spain, TEFL Barcelona focuses on the job-search techniques that are specific for this country. However, many of the skills and suggestions can be applied to worldwide job searching. Our job guidance sessions cover:

Our CV (Résumé) service

We also offer a unique service for trainees: CV emailing to local schools.
During the third week of the course when you should start thinking about sending out their CVs, we do this for you so you can focus on teaching practice and project writing. We also provide a complete list of these schools for follow up.

Interviewing 

We’ll have a session covering each aspect of interviewing.You will be given appropriate sample interview questions to practice with, techniques to help with tricky questions, and the “do’s” and “don’ts” of interviewing with language schools.

One to One Sessions 

During the course you will be scheduled for a personalized one to one session with one of the job guidance counselors.This will give us the chance to analyze your individual needs and address in greater detail any special concerns or interests you may have.

After your TEFL course

We believe that our obligations to you shouldn’t stop just because you have finished your TEFL course. We will keep you updated on job vacancies in our network of schools, which includes over 120 different language schools in Barcelona and our network extends to Madrid, Paris and Prague to name a few cities. Our on-going (and free!) careers support also features::

The current TEFL job market in Spain and Barcelona:

Latest Update: February 2010

Currently, much of the world is experiencing an economic crisis and unfortunately Spain is no exception.The good news is that, thus far, the TEFL job market has remained fairly unaffected.

Though unemployment rates in Spain are rising, we have not seen a significant loss of teaching jobs.Although some companies have slightly cut back on their Business English classes in order to find a cheaper provider, language schools remain very busy.The need to learn English has remained a high priority for adults and children alike, and language schools have reported that their enrollments have not significantly changed.

Our graduates are continuing to enjoy a high rate of success, with 80% of them obtaining teaching positions within a week of finishing the course.

 

What employers say about our graduates

"As a Head of Studies at BCN Languages, I would like to state that IATQuO TESOL graduates show a great level of skill, development andprofessionalism. In fact, TEFL BARCELONA provides our School with a reliable source of new and qualified teachers: not only for their ability to be versatile in preparation but for their well-planned and intentional methods of teaching." 

Carmen Cidoncha, Head of Studies - BCN Languages

"I have been working with Telfbarcelona for some time now and often employ recently qualified trainees from their TEFL programme. I have found their trainees to be reliable, enthusiastic and well prepared for the teaching positions I have to offer."

Jodie Sclare - GetEnglish

"I would say that a very high percentage of the candidates from Teflbarcelona came over very well in the interviews. In general, your graduates do compare well with those of other courses, and for us this is a guarantee of professional training. You’re doing a fine job!

We took on Shane last November and he has just got 92.5% student satisfaction on a 5-month intensive course. He is diligent, co-operative and very professional. He has a very nice and calm manner. All his groups are happy with his teaching and classroom management. "

Deborah G. Watson Flindall - COMPLEMENTOS SL


Testimonials from our graduates

“I recommend the course. The instructors are well qualified and experienced. I was very satisfied with the overall quality of the course. It was more educative than other TEFL courses I’ve heard about. Job prospects are ample. The city of Barcelona is cosmopolitan and lively."

"Working as an English teacher has confirmed my initial review of the course. On the whole, participants of TEFL Barcelona seem better equipped to teach.”

Orion Jones (Cedar Rapids, IA, USA), January 2008
orion.d.jones@gmail.com

Hi Erwin! I did get that job!! Thanks a lot! And the best thing is that it's all companies in my area, Valles Occidental, so it's very convenient! My classes are going just great! The course coordinator called me to tell me all the students are very happy with the classes! :) Thanks a lot for your help!! How are things going in TEFL Barcelona?

Paula Perez, November - December course 2008
paulaperezmarcos@hotmail.com

“I would recommend the course to all my friends. Very good location and course content.I already have a job and started teaching before the course ended, with thanks to Kate @ Job Guidance. The course has put me in really good stead for the future and I found the grammar lessons extremely useful.”

Katie Wright (Sheffield, UK)

Teaching in Barcelona & Spain …


"Thank you so much for the course, I work 22 hours for 2 great companies at 18 euros an hour with amazing hours so I couldn't be happier."

Jessica Tanney (USA), September course 2009
jtanney@yahoo.com

 

"Hi Erwin,
Yes. I got more hours, thanks for asking. I'm giving a lot of private lessons to people who have passed on my names to their friends. Lots of networking. It's working out well. Hope the TEFL course is going well."

Kelly Thomas (USA), September course 2009
kellygracethomas@yahoo.com

 

"Hi Erwin!
Yes, Jason found work. He is teaching at Wellington House Idiomas. He was fortunate to have his Masters in Education, Teaching Credential and experience. I've been doing private lessons – 10 students now/week.
Sincerely"

Naomi Mintzer (USA), August course 2009
naomimintzer@hotmail.com

 

"The course was very good, helped me a lot with my teaching which I was doing very successfully before. But still, I gained insight into my methods and the student's needs, which helps a lot to get good results. Also I learned some technical things, like points of grammar and how to teach them, and also phonemes of which I knew nothing. So, all in all, brilliant. (And I met some lovely people and made new friends) Thanks to all the team,
Best wishes"

Marian Fradera (UK), August course 2009
fradera@aol.com

 

"I’m working for Oxford School, Oviedo, Asturias. It is a large school for the area, with three buildings in the city. It has a nice family feel, some of the teachers have been attending the school since age 5. And everyone knows each other. The pay is fair for the area and they give me a lot of support. I teach a full spectrum of classes from the 4-year-olds to degree students taking first certificate exams this year and even one-to-one classes in a law firm. I work between 20 and 25 hours a week. Schedules are a little crazy the first couple of months, or so I am told! Only afternoons, which suits me fine. I don't really need any more hours than that, Oviedo is really cheap!

Job guidance absolutely helped me to get my job. I followed Kate's advice exactly, I emailed every school in the Yellow Pages, I printed CV's and did a tour of the city, the last school I visited asked me in for an interview right there and then and I am fairly sure that I had the job right from the first minute. (I did wear a tie!)
Take care,"

Martin Welbourne (UK), July course 2009
martinwel@hotmail.com

 

"Hello Meghan,

Thank you for the email. I am now working for BCN Languages at the Sagrada Familia school (in Barcelona!). I am just finishing my first week at the school and am enjoying it. The course was extremely useful in terms of giving me a range of teaching methods and also as a revision to grammar that I learnt many, many years ago. I have noticed that I am using a lot of the methods I learnt on the course in my job.

The job guidance was especially useful in preparing me for interviews and I was happy to have been offered a job through the same company in which I trained.

The school I work at has roughly 8 classrooms and is open for lessons from 8am until
10pm. It has a good amount of teaching resources and in my experience so far, it also has very helpful staff. I am currently teaching a 25 hour week with classes covering all levels. I am also traveling outside of the centre 4 times a week to teach business classes. This, I especially enjoy.

I apologise if this has been brief, I am due to teach in 40 minutes!

Many thanks,"

Al Bridges (UK), May/June 2009 course
albridges_san_blew_records@hotmail.com

 

"Job guidance was very helpful. I´m now working in Reus, 25 h/week, teaching kids, youngsters and adults."

Javier Torras (Spain), May/June 2009 course
torrasx@hotmail.com

 

"Hi Guys,

I have started my new job in San Sebastian & I'm *happy as Larry*!

I'm teaching both business (Which is a doddle), and children so I get the best of both worlds.

I am finding the PPP structure easy thanks to you drilling it in to me and it takes very little time to prepare lesson. I breathed a sigh of relief at that after the time it used to take during the course.

The best thing is business English lessons are 90 minutes long so I get loads of time to develop a subject and carry out the productions. I even had a couple of chemists playing hangman using the lexis from the last lesson as they were too tired after an excessively busy week!

I hope all is well in BCN,"

Jamal Tamir (UK)
March 2009 course
thefilmfan@gmail.com

 

"I currently have two contracts one with a small company who provides in-house teaching to children within a district in Barcelona, alongside this I am working for Urban school in Poble Nou teaching various classes from adults to children to Business English. I also sometimes work for an Irish pub, this is mainly just for fun!

I would have had no idea where to start without the course. The job guidance helped me to get my job. Emailing out our CV's is how I actually got my first job.

The school I work for is a small local school, it has a good demand in the area for a range of classes. I prefer this to a more corporate environment. The school is very helpful and close, they helped organise private work for me throughout the summer. They’re always offering advice and guidance if needed.

I have done a range of classes from children to adults, Business to conversation. This year I am hoping to teach some first certificate classes to learn more about the structure of this exam.
My schedule is tricky as most classes are in the evenings so once you have filled this time up its difficult to find more hours. I top myself up with some private classes to university students which are often more flexible for times later in the year. Businesses also seem to want some afternoon classes. I’m always busy between 5pm and 8pm. TEFL-ing is great – there are so many opportunities once you get going!"

Michelle Dale (UK), March 2009 course
michymoo100@hotmail.co.uk

An update from Michelle (November 2009):

"I’m still in Barcelona and have no intentions of going else where for a while-feeling like quite a home from home :-) I'm trying some different positions at the moment, gone a little more freelance to gain more freedom-although thinking of trying to get a school position again for the stability-good experience though! Hope things are good for you and Geoff.
Regards Michelle."

 

"Hi Erwin and Meghan,

Right now I'm teaching two intensive classes at BCN Ramblas. I'm teaching an intermediate and an advanced class. I feel the course prepared me to teach, although I still have a lot to learn.

The job guidance helped me get a few interviews, but in this case I got the job because Erwin recommended me.

The school that I work at is great. There is fantastic support for teachers.

In my intermediate class I have 9 students. Most of them are from Spain but there are a couple Japanese students. I also teach an advanced class with 8 students. All of them are from Barcelona.

Right now I work from 9am-1pm Monday through Thursday.
Thanks"

Evan Stockdale (Ireland), March 2009 course
evans2@u.washington.edu

 

"It was a great course and felt very personalized. I enjoyed it being such a small class with teachers who were hands on and able to improvise and make it more interesting."

Katrina Logie (UK), March 2009 course
klogie@gmail.com

 

"I have been working at a small language school in Mataro since March. I have 8 different classes of various ages and levels. Class levels range from second year elementary to seventh year FCE preparation, and the ages range from 12 - 25 years old. My first day, I was given a 2 minute briefing (how to work the copy maching, where the chalk was stored etc.), attendance sheets, a stack of books, and was simply instructed "to teach”. Without TEFL, I would have freaked out. The TEFL course definetely prepared me for teaching. The TEFL course gave me the foundation to build my own teaching style and methods. Every day is a new adventure in the classroom. The job guidance at TEFL helped me prepare my CV, and I used www.lingobongo.com to send it to hundreds of schools, which is how this particular school found me. The schools director is very busy, and doesn't give me much guidance, so I am very much on my own, but I like it this way. I teach for about 3 hours a day, and it is plenty of work to live the good life here in Barcelona...– Jeff"

Jeff Davis, (CA, USA), January 2009 course
Jdavis4321@gmail.com

 

"I would recommend the course. We all really enjoyed it! I am working about 18 hours a week at the moment between Language and Kingsbrook and there are hopefully a few more in the pipeline too which is good. It’s nice to have the feedback about my lessons. That's really good :-). I have really enjoyed them so far although 4 9year olds are an interesting group!"

Emma Emma Barlow (UK), November 2008
duckie22@hotmail.com

 

"Hi Erwin!
Sorry about the delay in my response! Things are going well- I am working about 12-13 hours a week and hopefully will get some more). They are in with the same company I started working for before the course ended. Many of my classes are with children in their homes, but I also have a few classes in a law firm and I also teach teachers at a school. I really like the variety of classes I have. I've been getting some good feedback from the parents and students too, which is always nice.

Espero que estes bien!"

Amber Sellers ( USA ), November 2008
leigh.amber@gmail.com

 

"Hi Erwin,
I have found a job teaching with Forum Idiomes (Castelldefels), and they send me every evening Monday-Thursday to teach in IPS. It is a company which makes software for gambling machines, of all things... it is a good position, and I teach all levels from Elementary to Advanced. I will be preparing some students for the Cambridge exam too.

I do still need more hours, however, so I will be phoning up many language schools in the coming days. If possible, I am also planning to take up a bar job or a waiting job somewhere - good Spanish practice!
Great to hear from you sir, and thanks so much for your help and support! "

Tywi Roberts (UK), November 2008
tywiroberts@gmail.com

 

"Since the course 3 years ago, I haven’t been doing any ¨TEFLing¨ whatsoever, but instead followed my heart to become a trainer in the Gyrotonic method of exercise (my longtime hobby and passion!).

However, the TEFL course still did benefit me and provide me with certain skills, even if it isn’t for teaching English.

1. It gave me far more self-confidence in my skills and knowledge
2. It helped improve my communication skills, to be very clear in what I am saying (both the content and how I deliver it!).
3. It helped with my patience and problem solving skills as an instructor, and how to tailor my teaching to each student so they get the most understanding out of it.
4. It showed me that I do really love teaching, and the reward of enriching someone else’s knowledge (in my case now, enhancing body awareness and overall well-being!) and of course having happy students/clients!
5. And finally (and funnily enough) I learned that I don’t always have to have all the answers,that it is okay to say: I don’t know... but let me find out and get back to you on that. :-)

I opened my own studio just over a year ago and teach sessions by appointment only Mondays through Saturdays (sometimes Sundays if requested), so my schedule is always changing… but because I work on my own I still have a lot of freedom, plus I love my clients, and they are all so different, so each session is new, fun, and (with the achieved results) very rewarding.

Wishing you, Erwin and the rest of the team continued success!
un abrazo enorme."

Amanda Greene
amandaygreene@yahoo.com

 

"I undertook the 4 week intensive TEFL course in May-June 2008. The course concentrated on teaching English as a foreign language to a variety of people with different degrees of English comprehension, including elementary, pre intermediate, intermediate and upper intermediate. You are also taught how to teach private and in company lessons as part of the course. The course incorporated 10 hours of teaching practice as well as writing various assignments on specific areas of teaching, such as empathising with the student’s situation and understanding their needs.The course was heavily structured around revising English grammar and thoroughly incorporating this into each lesson, alongside teaching new vocabulary and practicing pronunciation techniques which included phonology.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for new challenges and perhaps a new career, which I had been.Not only have I gone on to work over 25 hours a week in an English school in Barcelona, but I have made many good friends and have set up a great life out here, which was exactly what I was hoping for before arriving.And if you don't already speak Spanish, then this job is the perfect way to allow you to learn at the same time as working.After completing the TEFL course I was slightly apprehensive as to how I might actually cope with teaching alone, without supervision and guidence, but as soon as I started, I realised that the TEFL course had fully prepared me for what to expect, and even what not!"

Ros Morgan (UK), May 2008
rosalind25@hotmail.com

 

"Hi Erwin,
Yeah, I’ve been working for Cambridge school ever since! I work in the classroom next to Barbara Stern who trained with you as well. I really like the job but I’m going back to the U.K in September to do my masters; then to South America, I think .Thanks for all the help. I hope the course and all is going well. This is such a great city!!

Thanks again,"

Rebecca Price (UK), April 2008
martha.norton@googlemail.com

 

"Hey Erwin!
So life is going pretty well! I am still in Barcelona, found a new place near Sagrada Familia and its fantastic!! I started teaching at a language school in Placa del Sants on October first and that has been really good. The people there are soooo nice, and incredibly helpful. I teach two elementary adult classes, one that is intensive and 3 days a week so that is a little crazy. I also teach an Upper Intermediate adult class, and so it is nice to have at least one class where the students know a little more English and it can be more conversational. And then I teach a class of 8 yr olds with about 5 students, and then a class of 9-11 yr olds that have about 10 kids. I'm really glad I got an opportunity to teach kids, its been a long time since I have done it and they are so funny! So I work about 17 hours a week there, and then also have another company that offers me private lessons that they find, and so I work a few hours a week for them as well. That one

I actually found searching through the internet. And I definitely use my TEFL knowledge, it really helps to know a lot of the things we learned for when questions randomly pop up in lessons. And I think the experience of it made me ready to just jump right into teaching. And the job hunting didn't take too long either. Although, it was intense and exhausting to walk the entire city, and then walk into language schools asking if they needed a teacher. I learned extremely early to look really nice, but wear extremely comfortable shoes while on my daily trek. But everything has worked out really well! Thanks Erwin!!"

Megan Heinley (Texas, USA), August 2008

 

"Hi Erwin,
I found work in two schools in Gracia. One is called IEI Formació, where I teach for a company 5.5 hours per week. I have the following groups:
- advanced: 7 students
- intermediate: 3 students
- beginner: one student
- First Certificate candidate: one student
- German intermediate: 1 student

Furthermore I work for "Kingsbrook". There I have one group of 2 beginner students (2 x 1,5 hours) with whom I practice German.

Then I have one private student at home. He is a lower intermediate student and we practise English together.

I am very happy with my groups and particularly German helped me to find work very fast and easy. In fact: I could work full time if I had the time to do this. With my students who I am supposed to prepare for the FC exam I felt a little bit lost at the beginning - I didn't know the requirements for the exam and started to search the internet for information. (Of course, now
I am fully equipped with exercises).

Ok, I hope I could provide you with all the information you asked for and let me say one more time "thank you" for the great time and personal gain in
the TEFL course :-)"

Elke Schmitt (Germany), August 2008
schmitt.elke@googlemail.com

 

"Hi Erwin
Good to hear from you again. I am now living and working in Cardedeu.I am teaching 4 levels, N1, N4, UINT and FCE, with a few Business classes, a Speaking and Listening class and a one to one student. The age groups are from about 7 yrs old up to late middle age, though the majority are KFCE - 15-16yrs.

Although I have a 20 hours a week contract, I actually teach more hours than that and including offsite travel, this amounts to about 25 hours a week

Life in Cardedeu is much quieter than in Barcelona but I really enjoy that. Too old for all that night club nonsense! I am about 10 minutes walk from the school.

We get extremely good support from our Director Julia Cross and from level leaders in the Granollers School with weekly seminars and level meetings so we are certainly not abandoned to our fate.

As the weeks go on I see things beginning to get a little less frantic and I am slowly gaining confidence.

The TEFL course was useful, relevant and appropriate and I have used many of the lesson plans, hints, tips and tricks that you and Geoff gave us."

Barbara Stearn (UK), May 2008
b_stearn@hotmail.com

 

"Hello Meghan, Erwin, Geoff and TEFL Barcelona!
Right now I am working at Williams English in downtown Terrassa. I still live in Barcelona, so I take the train there Monday-Friday. I currently have 19 class hours a week with a spectrum of different learners. My youngest students are 4 years old, and my oldest is a 60 year old beginner. I also have 3 groups of teenagers, ages 10 -13, (just four students per group) and one private class with a 13 year old boy. The other classes are private and groups with adult learners, intermediate and advanced, and I aslo teach 2 company classes in north Terrassa. All of my students are Catalans. The focus of this school is conversation practice, but I feel my TEFL training is really put to the test with my beginner student and the children. We act things out, draw them, mime - anything to get the message across while keeping everything in English.

I am so grateful to have had practice with different groups at TEFL Barcelona, and cannot imagine having started this job with no TEFL training at all! I also feel, when speaking with other TEFL trained teachers, that TEFL Barcelona offers something special, more personal, that other programs do not. I often recall Erwin´s Russian lessons when trying to imagine English as an unknown language for my students. It would be impossible to learn everything there is to know about TEFL in 1 month, but I feel that TEFL Barcelona covered a little bit about a lot of topics and I feel very confident and prepared."

(Name and email of this student available upon request) USA (June course 2008)

 

I am currently working at BCN Languages, but applied for a summer ESL job at a private academy inSwitzerland and got it so it looks like I'll be heading there in late June.As far as testimonials: at the moment I can't put into words how swelleverything was. I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested. I would tell prospective students that the trainers are highly-skilled and dedicated to their work. The work is intensive yet rewarding."

Cormac Alexander Symington (Key West, Florida, USA), February 2008
Sacmym@gmail.com

 

“Anyone who has ever taken a TEFL course can tell you that the courses are intensive, and potentially overwhelming. It's almost like a year's worth of learning crammed into one month. I wavered before taking the course; I knew several people who were working as English teachers in Spain without having taken a TEFL course. Yes, they had long, sometimes horrific tales of adjusting to teaching, re-learning grammar, cut-and-pasting full time work out of meager contacts, but they were working . . .

Still something told me to participate in the course. I scored a full-time position right here at BCN Languages as my month at TEFL Barcelona ended. Erwin absolutely did not pay me to say this: I couldn't be happier with my decision to take the course.

 The instructors are experienced and knowledgeable not only about teaching English, but also about living and working in a foreign country.Even beyond the course, they care about each student as an individual and the course is designed so that everyone feels personally attended to.All have 'been around the block’, so to speak, and have shared invaluable advice, encouragement with those of us trying to create lives abroad. The small class sizes allow for the maximum amount of personal attention and guidance. Coupled with the sheer number of teaching practice hours, I graduated with the tools and techniques to be able to plan and execute creative, fun classes with relative ease. I'm getting much more job satisfaction (as well as free time to enjoy life in Barcelona) than I'd anticipated.

That intensive month in the classroom has made my transition into teaching, nothing short of seamless. The course was not only one of my most fruitful educational experiences, it was one of the best investments I've ever made.”

Khalilah Ieishah Clelland (Springfield Gardens, NY, USA), February 2008
Khalilahi@hotmail.com

 

“I would recommend this course because, through its intense nature, I feel fully prepared to start teaching English (in what’s only been a month’s time).”

Brieanne Friedman (Brookfield, IL, USA), January 2008
Bafriedman22@hotmail.com

 

"I'm teaching for two different schools in Barcelona right now. One is Communicative People and one is Luke's friend's school (it doesn't have a name yet). I'm teaching a bunch of teenagers privately, an FCE class, an intermediate class and a group of adult beginners. This leaves me with lots of time to plan lessons, go on runs, chat with people in the park, go to bars, etc. I'm also starting to write for a few English magazines in BCN.

The TEFL course really helped me figure out how to organize lessons and motivate students.

In other news: I started my Catalan classes today. It’s interesting comparing my teacher's teaching methods with what you taught us. You would have totally failed him! Too much TTT. I'm also learning Catalan from my three Mennorcan roommates, so it's not such a bummer!"

Nadia El Yousseph (USA) , October 2007
nadia.elyousseph@gmail.com

 

"I work for Let´s Learn Formación y Cambio S.A. I have 6 hours/week with Sol Barcelona Language Services and I have 7 hours/week with Humbolt Comunicación Intercultural S.A. The course really prepared me for these jobs. And the job guidance service helped me get a position at Aston Summer camp in July. I like my groups and the company is very flexible and friendly. I have 3 and 4 hour seminars. These are in-company classes but in the school’s classrooms. The school practises a new method called Blended Learning. It seems to be interesting. All my classes are in-company. The level of the students is from elementary (2 groups) to advanced (4 groups). And I teach classes a few hours in the mornings and afternoons."

Alfia Bogmiakova, (St. Petersburg, Russia), August 2007

 

“Hi Erwin, I just wanted to write and tell you how things have been going. I started work in October with Institut Europeu d'Idiomes. I like it a lot and the resources are wonderful. The directors, James Burnie, and his wife Montse are amazing and the 12 or so other teachers are also nice. I hope you are doing well and that classes are continuing as usual with you. I really appreciated your sensitivity with me and felt very comfortable during my time doing TEFL. I feel that you and Geoff adequately and perfectly prepared me for what I am working with now. Thank you for everything”

Francesca Galicki (Texas,USA) July 2007
efgalicki@gmail.com  


“I think Jane did help us quite a bit with job guidance. I used my resume that we worked on together in class and fancied it up a bit more. The sample interview questions were awesome to go through since I had an interview that asked some of the EXACT same questions! The best thing though was to come back from a long summer vacation (not thinking at all about English) and go through all my TEFL notes before looking for a job. That way I was refreshed with teaching methods, grammar points, class management notes, and ideas for different games/practices before doing an interview. Hope all is well. The TEFL course helped me a lot! Thanks Erwin, Jeff, and Jane,”

Sarah Catchot ( California, USA)
sarita-cat@hotmail.com

 

“Hello Erwin,
So, as you now know I will start teaching here at BCN Languages in October.

I would definitely recommend our TEFl course as I think it must be one of the best ones around. Some of the other courses don’t prepare trainees as thoroughly as TEFL Barcelona does. They only have 6 hours of teaching practice for example, they don’t always go through the grammar thoroughly.... 

I felt really well prepared at the end of the course and I felt confident and comfortable about teaching. The methodology I learned seemed to please when I did a couple of demo lessons.

Having the certificate definitely helped me get job offers and interviews. TEFL Barcelona seems to be well known and respected amongst other schools. Getting a good grade helped too of course!

As for working at a school, I couldn’t think of a better school to recommend than BCN Languages, but I am really biased here! Top marks for friendliness, efficiency, organisation and professionalism in my opinion!”

Nathalie Busin (UK)
whismith@yahoo.com

 

“I have been teaching in a language school for three months. I was lucky enough to be recommended for the job by the Course Director, Erwin Ebens, and actually started teaching before I had completed the TEFL course. I could not have taught without having studied TEFL, the techniques we were taught have proved invaluable, and I still regularly consult my notes for ideas and games. The grammar section has helped tremendously too, equipping me with the skills to teach complicated grammatical rules. I would certainly recommend this course to people considering teaching English in Spain, it is a great starting point.”

Louise Mackay (UK)
ljlmackay@hotmail.com

 

"I am working as a Mathematics teacher in Sanchez-Casal's TennisAcademy, I also teach one class of English to a lot of Russians! It’s a fantastic school and I love teaching so much. Also hoping to improve my Tennis! Hee hee! But seriously, I would have never got this job if it wasn't for TEFLBarcelona! You helped me a lot… with everything! I am very grateful!

I love Barcelona, especially when we have a day like today and in Scotland it is miserable and dark! I think that I will remain here in Barcelona for a year or so more, also I have a fantastic new flat and my friends have moved over from Scotland so life is pretty good at the moment!

Well… that's it really!

Hope you and your family are well!! 

I repeat, thanks for all!"

Kirsty Yoxon (Scotland)
kess29@aol.com

 

“I am a twenty eight year old literature graduate who decided a year ago to apply for a tefl course; my choices were narrowed down to Prague and Barcelona. I was already leaning towards Barcelona when I noticed that the organisation seemed to be keener in Barcelona (email responses were helpful, friendly and clear) and so I decided. I have now been in

Barcelona for nearly a year!The course itself was fantastic and extremely valuable as not only training for teaching, but as an analysis of the learning process in yourself and your peers as well (pretty handy!).We were a small group of trainees and the atmosphere encouraged was one of relaxed focus; the work load is heavy, but the trainers are so approachable you very rarely feel overwhelmed, though challenged certainly.Following the course I was eager to start supporting myself and seeing if I could stay on.I now have a good job teaching an after school English club an hour and a half a day (Mon. to Thurs.) which I supplement with private classes.Barcelona is a fantastic city to live in and I have no inclination to move on yet. I feel like a key factor to my staying here is the support network that I was supplied with through the course, which gave me a foundation and that initial sense of being part of a new city.

I couldn't recommend this course enough. I am delighted by all the doors that continue to open to me here and how it really is possible to develop a teaching career from this short period of qualification. Enjoy!”

Laura Smith
laura_smells@hotmail.com

 

And teaching TEFL in other countries…

"TEFL Barcelona was very helpful in guiding me and helping find available positions. Geoff Harwood and Kate Williams were particularly helpful in giving me guidance and I ended up taking a job in Debica Poland with Brytania English Academy for 2 months where they provided me with decent pay (10 American dollars/hr) and a free apartment. They also helped me attain a work permit and visa. I taught mostly adults at a local Goodyear tire factory, and a few after school teen age classes. This was a 22 hr/week job, which was a good work load when you calculate in lesson planning. The adult students were excellent, and I really enjoyed working with them because they had a drive to learn English well. My supervisors were very impressed with how I led classes, which I owe to the training I received from TEFL Barcelona. The experience taught me a lot about a culture I never expected to be in, but I was glad I gave it a try. I had ample time to travel on the weekends to other countries like Sweden and back to Spain, as well as around the Poland. I then attempted to find work in Sweden, but decided to return home and pursue my career in health care which I am currently doing. I still use my certification to volunteer teach for local Hispanic/Latino immigrants in the Minneapolis area of Minnesota. I was hired immediately because of my experience and certification, and required no training to start as the other teachers did. It has been enjoyable to use my skill once a week and assist the underserved community of immigrants in my hometown. TEFL Barcelona prepared me very well to plan classes quickly and effectively."

Tim Lamanna (USA), September course 2008
tlamanna@live.com

 

"Hello!!
I am now teaching English in Athens. I think TEFL Barcelona fully prepared me for this role, even though the way of teaching here is very different, TEFL Barcelona provided me with a good grounding to develop on. Without the course I wouldn't be where I am now. I think this TEFL course gives you the perfect opportunity to combine work and travel.

The course not only gave me the ability to teach, but also the passion..

I teach for 28hrs hours a week in a private language school. Students are age 12 up and are between upper intermediate to proficiency."

Kate Matthews (UK), April 2009 course
katemat86@yahoo.co.uk

 

"I work for Wall Street Insititute, It's the largest language school in the world, with
over 400 centers across 28 countries. They are the only language school in the world to guarantee the students that they teach will learn English.

I teach anywhere from pre-int to advanced and I teach only adults, ranging from
18-70 years old I don't have to lesson plan, as Wall Street Institute has all the lesson plans made already! I work roughly 30 hours a week. I love my job, I have so much fun working for Wall Street Institute.

Life in Russia, I love it, it's the most beautiful country in the world! The people are very warm, friendly, and quick to welcome and help you whenever you need it! The culture has everything you might want to offer, the history is unbelievable, so many things to see and do in Moscow I can't even start to tell you. The night life is amazing.

Teaching in Moscow: What I love about teaching Russian students, is that they strive to learn, they focus, are dependable and have a desire to increase their knowledge of the English language. They are great people, very friendly and kind-hearted!

Job hunting: Wall Street Institute is hiring in Russia, they pay very well, well over the
Russian average, they also pay for housing (I have a giant apartment to myself, very close to the school) they pay for metro, full medical coverage and all Visa and plane trips are reinbursed. They also offer you a nice end of the contract bonus. The management is very friendly, helpful, and actually cares about the students, and the people working for the company. They take the time to get to know all employees and students.

So if any future teachers are interested, you can send them my way or have them visit wallstreetinsititute.com"

Brandon Lusby (MA, USA), September 2008
brandonlusby123@yahoo.com

"I'm moving to Daegu, Korea in a month to finally start teaching.I'll be working with middle schoolers, 26 teaching hours a week, and living in a studio apartment rent-free.My tefl certificate got me a salary bonus, too.The company (called YBM) owns, like, 30 schools all over Korea.I'm pretty pumped!"

Matt Smith (USA), May 2008
mattsmithga@gmail.com

 

"Hello Erwin! I hope you're doing well and enjoying the current group of TEFLers in training.I have wonderful news: I was hired (today) by an international school in Lima, Peru! I am incredibly excited and I'll be moving there mid-July before classes start in August. Part of my job, as well as teaching, will be to help with the language assessment process for incoming students. I'll also be helping to integrate the ESL students into their other classes (math, history, etc). Thanks so much for your help and your encouragement throughout the program!!!"

Claire Ohlsen (USA), March 2008
claire.ohlsen@gmail.com

Update from Claire (November 2009):

"Hi Erwin,
I am happy to help out. I have been contacted about 4 times about the TEFL Barcelona course and I've responded to each giving some detailed information and impressions of the course. My experience there (and with Barcelona as a whole) was so great that I can't help but encourage others to do the same.

As for me, I'm on my second year of teaching at the International Christian School of Lima and I've just been contracted for a 3rd year. It has been quite a challenge to adjust to an academic setting vs. an "institute" but I'm growing to love my job, my "kids" and the work environment here. There are so many International Schools around the world who are in need of ESL teachers and they typically require less formal schooling than if, for example, you tried to teach ESL in the U.S. And, they more often than not provide all the visas you need :)

I hope all is well with you and the school."

 

"The course helped a great deal.When applying for a teaching job here in the United States it allowed me to apply for many different jobs.With an elementary education degree it definitely helped.I will be teaching a mix of students ages 9 to 11 years old (4th and 5th grade beginning August 2008.I will be able to “substitute” for ESL as well."

Natalie Nelson (Missouri, USA), July 2007

 

"Hello Erwin, I spent the rest of last summer teaching private students in Toulouse and Paris and have already had one job at an adult education college teaching Adult literacy to native speakers in the UK who were never fortunate enough to learn to read. This was an extremely challenging and rewarding job as many of my younger students were from very deprived areas and many lacked (previous to my employment if I may say so!) aspirations or even the realisation of just how fun and useful reading can be.

 I am currently working in Manchester teaching several private groups while searching for opportunities abroad.I am running a small private practice and occasionally cover at a literacy school in London.I’m teaching various types of classes and most of my students are business clients, though I also teach several young learners.

During the course the emphasis on job guidance and hours of supervised teaching practice were priceless! And the course helped me to source my clients. Also has helped me to secure work teaching Adult literacy to new deal clients in the UK which has been immensely rewarding.For these experiences and for many others to come I will be continually in your debt! All in all the course has opened the world to me in exactly the manner in which I had hoped, indeed just this week I have had many positive responses from many schools all over the world since I started sending out my CV for summer programmes.

At this moment in time teaching has become a new obsession for me! I'm learning a lot about myself as a teacher and a person and developing skills which will be with me for the rest of my life, so once again Thank you."

Daniel Bonner (Manchester, UK), May 2007
dabster1979@hotmail.com

 

“Hi Erwin, 

I hope all is well and TEFL Barcelona is prospering, I have very fond memories of my roller coaster ride that month in Barcelona. 

I am currently teaching in Ecuador. I have a job working for an NGO targeting sustainable Eco tourism in Indigenous territories, called the Pachamama Alliance. I am currently living deep in the Amazon jungle in a community of Achuar Indians. It is what you could call extreme teaching, as not only are you teaching people from a completely different culture but you also have to contend with jungle life. No electricity, running water and all that that entails. I am however enjoying it very much and it is a great challenge. I am planning on returning to England for Christmas, and want to get a job teaching, preferably in London. I was wondering if you could offer my any advice, or you knew of any job opportunities teaching in England.

Best wishes,
Daniel Combes”

Daniel Combes (UK)
unzappo@googlemail.com

 

“I'm working for a company in Sweden with their English education and also with their Swedish education for employees from other countries. Right now I have the CEO from Germany and the financial director from France for Swedish classes and for English classes I have 2 groups with 6 people in each. So I do TEFL in both English and Swedish and it works really well. I also work as a freelance teacher and just rent myself out by the hour. I really do like it. I really think it works to use a TEFL course to teach other languages as well, not just English. Next year I hope I can teach in Barcelona, probably both English and Swedish.”

Lisa Kjellme (Sweden)
 liselottekjellme@yahoo.com

 

“Hi Erwin,
Hope you are well, thank you for the group email. Just thought I'd let you know what I'm up to - I'm in a small indigenous village in the mountains of La Sierra Norte, outside Oaxaca, Mexico. I'm teaching at the high school, I have 125 students aged between 15 and 18. Their English is very basic and the classes can be quite rowdy but it’s a lot of fun nevertheless! I'm also running a youth centre in the village in the afternoons. I'm leaving here end of December and then traveling down Central America, and may look for work in Buenos Aires, but still not sure! Hope you are well and enjoying life in Barcelona! I do miss the city a lot (living here we are four hours away from the nearest cinema or any other sign of civilisation) and hope to come back to Barcelona in the near future.
Best wishes
Lucy”

Lucy Scales ( UK)
lucy_scales@hotmail.com

 

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