Assistants from across the Atlantic bring English to local classrooms

Being an English language assistant is an opportunity to live abroad and discover a new culture chosen by many young people who are not quite sure what to do next after graduating from university. SUR in English spoke with Emily and Megan, both American, about their experiences with the programme this year.

Megan Thompson, 24, has lived in Texas and Las Vegas in her native US and has a degree in Astronomy and Physics.

She chose to do the language assistant programme "to have an opportunity to move to Spain and work on my own". Another reason for coming to Spain was to be closer to relatives who live in Jijona, Alicante.

Megan has spent the year at the Gerald Brenan secondary school in Alhaurín de la Torre. At the school she worked 12 hours a week teaching all year groups (ages 12 to 16) in a range of subjects. Discussing her teaching approach, she said, "Sometimes I find videos on YouTube, or I bring in my own knowledge on the subject matter; this is for Physics and Chemistry."

She described being a language assistant as "lots of fun". "It's a low stress job and I have lots of free time. I like talking with the students and teaching."

However, Megan highlighted her struggles with the paperwork required to live here. "There are not very clear instructions on how to handle the legal processes in Spain."

She also spoke about the challenges faced at the school: "It's difficult to come into a school not speaking the language and having to learn how to connect with the students." She added, "I am lucky that I have experience as a tutor." What's more, she commented that her monthly salary of 700 euros "is not enough to cover living in Malaga".

Reflecting on life in Spain, "I enjoy how much community I feel in Spain," although, "I still forget siesta makes everything close in the afternoon."

Overall, Megan has enjoyed the experience, so much so that she is renewing the programme at the same school next year.

Emily Fiola, 26, from Denver, was previously working in a secondary school in the US, but after two years wanted a change. She told SUR in English that she chose Spain as there is a large Spanish-speaking immigrant community in Colorado, and as a qualified speech therapist, she wanted to improve her Spanish to work more with this community.

Emily has spent the year working at Los Morales primary school in Puerto de la Torre, on the outskirts of Malaga. Initially she would commute on the bus, but later carpooled with a colleague.

She taught Social Science, Natural Science and English to students between the ages of five and eleven. "The activities I did would vary with each teacher," she said.

She worked 12 hours a week and had a monthly salary of 700 euros. "It's a lot cheaper here than back home," she said, but also explained that she and many other language assistants have faced issues with delayed payments.

Emily said at times it was difficult to control classes, as "the English level of students was sometimes quite low", making communication more challenging.

Nevertheless, there have been many benefits of the programme. She told SUR in English how she barely knew Spanish when she arrived. It is now at such a level that she has provided speech therapy to pupils at her school in Spanish. She also emphasised that her placement coordinator Aurora "has really made my time here".

Emily has now returned to the US and plans to continue working online as a speech therapist. "The good thing about working from home is that I can work from anywhere." The world is her oyster.