Hola, buenos dias, my name is Ellen.
I'm really excited to be taking over.
ITA's Instagram today and showing you a day in my life here in Seville, Spain.
Um, a little bit about me before we start.
I'm from the United States.
I studied education at university there and was a teacher before
completing it's online course, um, and moving to Seville, Spain.
Here I teach with the NALCAP program in a primary school.
So I'll be showing you a little bit of that too.
Um, I'm gonna leave a question box on the next slide.
If you have any questions for me, I will be answering them throughout
the day and showing you around.
So I'm on my way to school right now.
Um, I have to take two buses to get there because my school is in
La Puebla, outside of the city.
Um, but the bus and metro system is very easy here, really well connected.
Um, I have three classes today, English and two science classes, so I will
catch up on a break or after school.
So this really depends on your school and the schedule, but my
classes are one hour long and, um, I'm always with another teacher.
There is a curriculum for science and for English, the classes that I
teach, um, I tend to plan cultural activities and speaking activities based
around the books and the curriculum.
Okay.
That being said, I should also mention that with NALCAP , it
is only 12 hours of work a week.
So 12 hours of direct teaching time.
I do have some breaks in there for planning.
Uh, I'll share my schedule on the next one.
Yes, all of my co-teachers speak English because they are also teaching in English.
Um, the job of an aux is to provide a native level of English, uh, speaking in
the classroom and conversation practice.
So, um, That being said, it's still important to know some Spanish
to get by, maybe not at your school, but just for daily life.
Um, you also have a coordinator at your school, which is like
your boss or your go-to person, and they will speak English too.
So there's a lot of other programs in Spain other than NALCAP . Um, I'll
list as many as I can on the screen here that I can think of or know of.
Um, but other than that, Most places, most schools, companies
don't really sponsor work visas here.
So you really have to come in through a student visa, um,
with some sort of a program.
All right, I am done with work for the day.
Um, you can head to the bus and go to my second job.
I think that's a good segue to start talking about finances.
I got a lot of questions about that, so I'm gonna post my monthly budget breakdown
and then kind of elaborate on that after.
So right now in Seville, auxes are getting 700 euros a month and that
is definitely livable if you budget.
Um, but I would say most, if not all auxes have a second job either tutoring, working
at an academy, something like that.
Uh, teaching online.
So there's definitely time for it, and it's always good to have some extra cash.
Congrats, that's so exciting.
Um, placements are coming out soon, so good luck.
Um, so how much do you recommend having saved pre-move?
It's recommended to have about five thousand in savings for, um, accommodation
while you're trying to find a place or, you know, startup moving costs.
Um, but I would honestly check and do some research on your region
because if you're in a place where the cost of living is higher, you're
probably gonna need a little bit more.
But they tend to recommend 5,000.
So I'm with my friend Sarah.
She's also a language assistant here and she taught at a primary school
last year and now she's in high school.
So what do you think is the difference between the classes
or anything else notable?
Sarah: Um, I think the main difference is the variety of classes that you can
teach in a high school is a lot more.
For example, I teach PE and philosophy rather than just
English and science, and most.
Of my students speak a very high level of English, so that's a pretty big
difference, um, from primary school.
So if you don't speak a lot of Spanish, I would definitely recommend going to
a high school your first year cause it's a lot easier to communicate with
the students and with the teachers.
Ellen: So here's my bedroom.
Um, the whole apartment came furnished, so I didn't have to buy any of this
furniture, which is really nice.
Um, I do have a double bed wardrobe here and a desk area.
Here's my view.
Um, I do have three other roommates.
This is a four bedroom apartment, um, and I share a bathroom with two of them.
So definitely have enough space and for 200 a month, this is really good.
Yes, you absolutely have time to travel around Spain or other countries
in Europe, um, while you're here.
You normally have a three day weekend, so a lot of people will
leave, for example, Thursday after school, whenever you're done.
Then you have Friday, Saturday, come back Sunday and then back to school on Monday.
Um, it can be tiring, but that's part of the experience of coming here and
living, working and getting to experience.
A different way of life and a different culture.
Alright , this is a really good question.
How honed were your skills in English grammar?
Um, honestly, I was kind of worried about this at first too, since, you
know, as a native English speaker, you don't really think about the
grammar structures that you're using.
You just speak, but it's really not something you
need to worry about too much.
Um, you know, when you're planning for the week, my suggestion would be
to collaborate with your co-teachers.
Um, ask them what grammar is gonna be taught or used in these lessons,
and then just, you know, give yourself a little refresher if you
need to, and you should be good.
That's what I've done and I've honestly learned a lot
more, um, just doing this job.
So if it's something that you're really worried about though, I know that, um,
ITA does offer a grammar course, um, in addition to the TEFL certification, so
that could be something to look into too.