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Tapas savored with good wine; bullet trains flashing through Moorish landscapes; beautiful people lounging on glistening Mediterranean beaches or queuing at nightclubs before dawn. Many equate the idea of teaching English in Spain with vacationing in Spain. They are in for a rude awakening. Finding work here, and living comfortably once you’ve found that coveted teaching job, are hardly trivial. But don’t get discouraged—get informed!
Spotlight on Spain Spain has advanced dramatically in the past 30 years, recently surpassing Italy in per capita income, attracting millions of immigrants, and grabbing evermore headlines in architecture and urban planning, banking, gastronomy, transportation, and biomedical research. Tourism remains an economic mainstay. Nonetheless, Spain suffered tremendously from the global recession and is only slowly recuperating: unemployment is hovering around 19%, construction has nearly screeched to a halt, the real estate bubble has long since burst, and newspapers regularly decry cases of corruption or political impasse.
English usage in Spain Compared to northern Europeans, most Spaniards, especially those over the age of 35, have relatively poor levels of spoken and written English. Historically, this stemmed from poor language education, bad translation, and a tradition of dubbing foreign TV programs and films, among other factors. Quality English instruction is always in demand, especially for high school and university students, and for adults in international business, academia, technical professions, tourism, and the service industries. Although British English (the standard variant for the EU) dominates, Spaniards are regularly exposed to American English through pop culture, technical literature, international business and conferences, personal relations, and increasingly, in schools.
English education in Spain Educational laws differ regionally and are constantly changing, but all Spanish public schools must now start teaching English to students aged 3 to 8 years old. Formal certifications/exams (e.g. Cambridge First Certificate) are commonly taken by high school and university students. Spanish universities are adding Master’s and PhD programs in English, as they adapt to new EU standards and to increasingly competitive job markets.
Outside of public education, English courses are provided by large, well-established private schools; government regulated language institutes, which are often university-affiliated; small private academies and agencies; and individual tutors. Language schools vary by structure, target learner audience, reputation and teaching methodology. Some emphasize a particular variant of English (e.g. British), and consequently, hire only teachers that are native speakers of that variant, whereas other schools foster linguistic diversity. Cities are plastered with flyers for private classes taught by native Anglophones, who may or may not be certified, may or not have legal residency, and who range from terrible to top notch. Attracting and keeping students is often down to word of mouth.
Finding legal work in Spain I cannot tell you how many clueless foreigners—especially Americans—stumble into Spain with little more than a backpack and a sense of entitlement: “Dude, my buddy said I could easily find work here teaching English.” Well no, dude, you can’t. Non-EU residents, such as Canadians and Americans, require a work visa—unlike the thousands of instructors from the UK and Ireland, who can work anywhere in the EU without one. There is clearly a Catch 22 here for new arrivals: you need a work visa to get a job, but you can’t get one until you’ve been offered employment! If you are not already legally entitled to work here, finding legal work will be a Herculean task.
Your options?
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Consider getting a student visa first: for example, you can do additional teacher training at a language school, many of which have job placement programs. Switching from a student visa to a work one might be easier than starting from zero.
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Endeavor to find a job—any job—for which the employer will sponsor your work visa, and then later transition into teaching. These jobs are rare, and therefore, you should exploit any professional contacts that you have here.
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Alternatively, start a company with colleagues (Spaniards or legally established foreigners), who can then hire you into Spain. This will probably require an attorney (abogado/a) and an accountant (gestor/a). The company will have to justify a work visa for you by proving to immigration authorities that no legal resident of Spain could fill the position in question.
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Lastly, consider applying for the Spanish government's Language Assistant program, to work part-time in Spanish public schools. Lara Nylander has written a terrific article on her experiences in Barcelona with this program.
Preparing to find a job from home Non-EU residents without a work or student visa are allowed 90 days per year to be in Spain (i.e. to find a job). Maximize your time at home. Before coming here:
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Learn about employment and immigration laws online and by contacting your nearest Spanish embassy or consulate.
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Establish professional contacts by emailing schools and teachers and by reading teaching blogs or websites.
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Research jobs and classified ads online.
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Acquire practical and cultural information on the city/region where you’d like to live.
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Plan ahead by allowing yourself at least 1 year to actually start working here.
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Set-up a non-resident account at a Spanish bank before coming here; some banks will let you do this online or by fax.
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Calculate your projected income, cost of living, and available savings.
Make yourself as strong a candidate as possible by amassing teaching experience at home or abroad:
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Maximize your total teaching hours.
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Practice lesson planning and resources development.
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Teach different learner groups (e.g. children or adults) and at different levels.
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Teach private classes and groups of different sizes.
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Develop expertise in a specialized area (e.g. business English).
Getting your work visa Once you’ve been offered a job, you must return to your home country (with written proof of the offer) to apply for the visa through your closest Spanish embassy or consulate. The application process is paper-intensive (birth certificate, criminal records, medical records, notary-stamped translations of diplomas, etc.), can cost over €200 in fees and related expenses, and will take up to 1 year, possibly more. While waiting for a decision on your visa application, you cannot legally be in Spain (see above).
For legal and tax purposes, work visas are qualified as either “a visa for working for someone else” (visado de trabajo por cuenta ajena) or “a visa for being self-employed” (visado de trabajo por cuenta propia); self-employed people are known as autónomos (freelancers). Switching between the two types requires a formal application, meaning more time, paperwork and fees!
Returning to Spain with your new work visa Once granted your visa, you can return to Spain, where you’ll have to do more paperwork to get your national ID card with your unique NIE (Número de Identificación para Extranjeros), an ID number given to foreigners, and to sign up for public healthcare & pension (Seguridad Social).
You will have to apply for renewal for your visa as follows: after the 1st year (valid for 1 more year); after the 2nd year (again, for 1 more year); after the 3rd year (for 2 more years); and after the 5th year (for 5 more years). After your 10th year in Spain, you can apply for permanent residency.
Income tax (IRPF) for most teachers will range from 10 to 20%. Annual tax returns are filed every June. Freelancers must pay for Seguridad Social (approx. €210 per month) or for private health insurance.
Sharpen your language skills Do not come to Spain without knowing any Spanish (spoken everywhere) and, if needed, any regional language (e.g. Basque, Catalan or Galician), which may be the mother tongue of your students/colleagues. That would not only be rude and ignorant, it would be a professional shortcoming and impractical for long-term living. Sadly, many native Anglophones make little or no effort in this area. Although for immersion’s sake I strived to avoid using Spanish or Catalan with my students, on certain occasions I had to, especially with total and false beginners; other teaches have told me the same.
Speakers of American English are typically ignorant of British English, and therefore, unqualified to teach it. If this means you, I encourage you to study British grammar, spelling, vocabulary and expressions and to familiarize yourself with diverse accents; otherwise, your student who did an internship in Manchester may end up teaching you English! Michael Swan does a nice comparison of British and American English in his book “Practical English Usage”. Plenty of British press, TV programs, and radio shows are available free online, for your own education and for your lesson plans.
Working for a school Schools demand a BA in English or ESL/EFL certification (e.g. TESOL, Trinity or Celta) and typically, 1 to 3 years experience. They may seek expertise in areas such as business or law, or with specific student groups (e.g. young learners). You will teach on-site or off-site, either in private lessons or in groups of 2 to 20 students having similar levels of English. Some schools even offer one-on-one classes by phone or Internet. You will be expected to adapt to the school’s philosophy, methodology and structure, and may be required to develop teaching materials. Most schools will have you teach in blocks of 2 to 6 hours. You may need a valid Spanish driver’s license to teach off-site; this is especially important in suburban or rural areas.
Contracts usually stipulate 20 to 25 hours/week of teaching (not including other tasks such as resources development) and last from a few months to a year. Monthly salaries can be relatively low considering the cost of living (see Table 1 in part two of this article, publishing soon). Living alone will be difficult; you will probably need to share an apartment. As a legal resident, you’ll be entitled to public health care & pension (Seguridad Social); however, if your contract does not cover this, you will have to pay for it or for private health insurance. Employees on contract will enjoy roughly 15 days of paid vacation and 10 paid bank holidays. Benefits vary, and may include free Spanish lessons, career development courses, and compensation for cancelled classes. Lastly, schools pay lower hourly rates to teachers hired on contract with benefits than to freelancers.
Freelancing Freelancing still requires a work visa, though many tutors work illegally. You can teach for a school (without a contract; see above), or completely independently, at your home or at the student’s home or workplace. You’ll probably earn 14 to 28 €/hour (pre-tax) for private classes that typically last 1 to 2 hours; you may earn more for small groups. The greater your teaching experience and your knowledge in specific areas (e.g. law or business), the more you can charge. Establish a clear cancellation/modification policy (preferably, in writing), otherwise you stand to lose income from no-shows or unexpected schedule changes.
Freelance tutors may develop strict lesson plans, improvise each lesson completely, or find a happy medium. Some students will demand highly structured classes and have clear linguistic or professional goals, whereas others—especially intermediate/advanced speakers—may just want to “chat” and be corrected only periodically. The latter might seem easier, as these freeform classes would require less preparation, but they can be frustrating, and often impede any linguistic progress. Assembling a roster of regular students may take up to a year; success is usually based on recommendations.
Most students will pay you in cash, although getting paid under the table is both common and illegal, and does not entitle you to legal residence or to non-emergency public health care. If you are serious about long-term residency as a freelancer, I suggest getting a lawyer and an accountant to settle immigration, billing, income tax, healthcare/social security, and other issues.
-The second part of this two-part series on teaching in Spain appears at ESLFocus here. |
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