jurdyr - 04 May 2008 06:52 PM

Spanish: Learn Before You Land go to the link


http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/forum/viewthread/2819/

that was my original plan, but I was offered work with a family member, who for multiple reasons couldn’t have me anymore, I wasent to bothered as I was only really learning the work and it was purley english people at work. instead of going back and learning very slowly ( i always learn wuicker from conversation not tv or books) i decided to stay and find work. (although thats proving hard as i need to insure my bike and ive lost my licence :( ill fix it all though because its so worth it.

Hi all,

First post here, have been reading through this thread and agree with alot of it. I have only been here two weeks but I have been trying hard and find that I am picking it up quick and can have the most basic of conversations( a little more fluid with a few beers). I purposely avoided english speaking tourist areas and I have learned out of neccesity aswell as desire. However, I am now near the end of my honeymoon period in spain and if i want to stay here(and i do) then I need to find work now.

My dilema is, I´m not yet confident in my knowledge of the language to find work in spanish, and my most obvious options are to work somewhere tourist orientated, this would put me in a situation which is too easy not to speak spanish.

I would like to live somewhere only spanish is spoken, but what options do I have.

Any advice anyone can offer on good places to be and possibilities for work would be greatly appreciated. I´m twenty two, eperienced barman and chef, with a TEFL cert.

I´m in the south near Almería now and really don´t know where to go next!

I lived in Spain for three months and worked in a children’s summer camp during the day and in a bar during the evening. It was the best experience to learn the langague quickly.

Recently i’ve found a social networking site called Ning.com.  It’s brilliant if you want to learn Spanish at home.  There’s lots of groups where you can go and speak Spanish- providing you’ve got a headphones and people are very patient and encouragin.

It’s an option.

Ive been out here for 3 months (as I said) and did work temporialy for an office out here for about a month and a half, now Im awaiting my bike documents and other bike things to be resolved, which does make the search for work harder, I have worked in the uk at McDonald’s for 6 months and spent a short time working for Systematic computer company, my Spanish is no where near fluent but with facial expressions and the Spanish I do know I can hold a conversation. My problem now is where to look for work and what sort of work, most bars want experienced people, and Fast food restaurants would probably want you to be fluent in spanish.

im 19 I have a BETEC IT Practitioner qualification from college, 2 Bs in English laungage and litriture , 2 Cs in science 1 C in graphics and a C in German as well as a C in Geography. I have a full C.V written out displaying previous work hobbies and skills as well as qualifications.

So any ideas or help on work areas or types with that info? It would be very helpful as im living with a friend and not paying rent as hes helping me out but I do need to move out soon and find work, luckily my family will fund for a small apartment near to my place of work.transport could take a while as there is alot of issues with my moped.

ANY ideas would be so so helpful as this is the quickest way for me to learn the language, and if im successful i can assist my family moving here for there retirement.(cold UK is affecting some of peoples health)

hi jimmythenoob, why not ease yourself in by working in Gibraltar - I think there are opportunities there for people with IT skills, meantime work in Gibraltar in English and live in Spain and do ur best to learn spanish - mind you the salary and opportunities you get in Gib will be much better than in that part of Spain.

Jimmy, did you see our article on the best ways to learn spanish?

I have been taking local authority Spanish classes for the past year (in UK) and now they have ended for the academic year, our class is still meeting up Monday evenings as a study group taking it in turns to prepare and present revision lessons.  Trying to sort mine out for next week I came across some surprisingly good resources on youtube of all places - interactive lessons posted by native speakers etc, as well as lighter stuff (surely everyone’s seen Spanish Mike, gives us all hope for our communication skills!)

Thanks everyone for all the other links above though I fully intend to check them out, and I am saving up for Rosetta Stone as that seems to be one of the most recommended successful systems for learning when you are not yet living/immersed in the language and culture.  Just costs a fortune when you are also saving up for a big relocation..!

Cx

Hello everyone!

I’m a language student from Malaga. The best way to learn a language is practicing, isn’t it? Anyone here would be interested in a language exchange with people learning English? I have a group on yahoo and its main goal is gather people in one place so we all can find someone to practice the language we’re learning.
It’s a great way to learn about culture too. I’ll leave the group link here just in case someone is interested:

http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/language_exchange_malaga/

See you soon!!

Pilar

One of my friends has recommended Rosetta Stone’s online service to me. I’m not sure how useful an online language service will be, due to the lack of human interaction, but he insists it is really good. Has anyone used it in the past?

Hi Nathalie,

It’s difficult to answer your question without knowing more about your circumstances. Are you living in Spain? How long are you staying for? What level of Spanish do you need? Can you afford classes? Where in Spain are you, in Madrid? 

If you are in Madrid indefinitely then I would start off by doing an intensive Spanish course in one of the well known academies such as International House and then I would make it my mission to hang out with only Spanish people in order to practice my Spanish as much as possible. 

Good luck

Paloma