For those of you who have been here longer than I have I'd like your thoughts on living long term in Madrid as an English teacher, can it be done. A little backgound is in order first. We moved here when the project that Chris was working on was relocated to Madrid from Munich and she was offered a permament postion, so far so good, like everyone else we've fallen in love with Spain and have no desire to ever retun to Germany. But here's the problem, the project isn't going very well, they are having problems getting staff, the German's don't want to move here and the Spanish don't want the killer hours or the traveling (the project is very child unfriendly typical German thinking) the boss is already complaining about how the Spanish are allowed to work shorter hours during the summer. (9,5 hours a day 9 months of the year and 6 hours a day for the summer) Part of it is cultral, Germans are used to the idea you don't hire until you are doing the work of 2 people and the Spanish are used to when you hit 70% work load you hire someone else (alot of that is due to lower wages here they can afford more staff) Anyways the point of all this is that we expect that the project will be back to Germany in a year or two and we don't want to go back.

If they do relocate it we will be faced with a choice, I give up my job and we move back or Chris quits and joins me teaching English. As we really don't want to go back And we really really don't want to go back. So leaves us with only one choice, Chris quits her job and joins me. Main problem is the cost of housing/rent, it's way out of whack compared to what people earn (Chris just had a co-worker an Admin assistant just spent 400.000 - cheap I'm told- on a new apartment her mortgage payments will be 2000 a month for next 40 years how the hell do you do that) When we were looking for a place to live we couldn't find anything under a 1000 a month.

I went throught the numbers and both of us working 24 hours a week we make 3000 a month in the hand or a bit less if your an employee. while that is very good money it's the 3 months off that worries me. I figure after rent we'd have 12000 left over per year, or a 1000 a month to live on. While you can live on that it doesn't leave much for savings or emergencies (like car repairs or new TV ).

So like I said for those of you that have made Madrid you home how do you do it.

thanks in Advance Rob

or to put it another way, do you ever get tired of teaching English? Do you ever desire to give up teaching and go back to the 9-5 grind, or 9-9 with a 3 hour lunch?

Tim,

I think it can be done. Take into account that there will be lean months, especially the summer months, August in particular, where you will have to live on savings, and that's unless you want to teach in a summer camp (July and part of August), which is always an option. It will mean budgeting, but that's something that people do anyway.

As far as geting tired of teaching English is concerned, this applies to any job. It's not just teachers that get burnt out. I am tired of teaching Spanish and found my passion with teaching English. Through English teaching, I have learned about my own language and some of the strange sayings that we have and where they came from. It's fun to hear the different accents now.

I like my freedom as an English teacher and I am not cooped up in an office. I am out and about and even on the rainy days, I tend to enjoy it. I am not an office person at all.

Only you and your wife can ultimately make this decision in the end. If you two can live off what you wrote in your post, then what's stopping you? I understand about the money concerns, but if you truly want to stay in Spain, you will make a way.

Shawn

Tim,
Of course it can be done. I know quite a few teachers pulling 2-3K a month.....(excluding July, Aug. and Sep). They are able to do this because they are dedicated teachers and not just doing it because they can't do anything else in Spain. They love their job. As a result, they approach it as a business, build relationships with clients, work on improving their own skill, stay up on what is happening in the english world, etc. Now, you must be aware, not one of the people I speak of is working for an academy. They are all autonomo and paying the appropriate taxes.

If you are making this kind of money 9 months of the year in Spain, you have enough to plan ahead ...and you must plan ahead, whether that means putting aside money every month or taking on Summer Intensives or Camps.

However, Redwood has a very good point...it is a job and with any job, boredom and aggravation will arise from time to time. In my opinion, the difference for me and the professional teachers I know is that we actually love doing it. I find that people I know who don't love it or who do it only because the money is good or who do it grudgingly because they can't get work in their field of training, they tend to have more problems with it.

In addition to freelancing/autonomo, there is the possibility of setting up your own academy as two board members have done. This is a major commitment of time and money, but it will assure you a future here.

Good luck,
Candela

thanks, I really enjoy teaching english (most days anyways), really the biggest issue is housing. I know from previous posts that thier is cheaper housing to be found but it's usually found by word of mouth. I don't think it will be an issue for a while but it's nice to have other peoples perspective. When the time comes we'll make a choice, perhaps we'll make the move for a few years and then return. No question that even if we move our home is Spain.

hey Rob, great new thread!

quote:

the Spanish are allowed to work shorter hours during the summer. (9,5 hours a day 9 months of the year and 6 hours a day for the summer)...

ena (my wife) has an average paying job and works 7 hours a day (8:30am to 3:30pm). also, not all (in fact not many) jobs here provide for summer hours (the reduced you are referring to).

9.5 hrs a day is a 47.5 hour work week and i am pretty sure that the labor laws here provide for the 48 hour work week so that is pretty on.

so, granted ena works less (35 hours a week) than the 48 stipulated.

i have read that the eu wants to raise the hours per week above and beyond 48 hours

if i were your wife, i would do everythign in my power to try to get a permanent job here with her current company, even if it is in a diff. dept at siemens for slightly lower pay. in my opinion, at least one of you should have a steady gig.

and what happens if she quits and begins teaching english but hates it?

also, Chris is german right? it will NOT be as easy for her to get english teaching work as it is for you (a canadian).

i left a good paying spanish teaching position in the u.s.a. 9 years ago to move to spain and teach english. while i only did the english teaching thing for a year (10 months actually) before i moved to greener pastures, i have never looked back nor regretted my decision. as a spanish teacher, i simply did not like teaching english and that is that so i began other business ventures that have worked out well for me.

yes, the cost of housing here is EXAGERATED to say the least. while we have a very low rent and can save a lot of money for the future, we do not own our own home (yet). i do look once in a while but it is depressing to see the cost of apts. here.

by the way, on the news thhey just said that the average spanish salary is 1,500 euros/month but they added that MANY people make only 1,000 and it is next to impossible for them to make it to the end of the month with that salary.

i must say that if i earned the same money as ena, we would be able to get by but would not be able to permit ourselves a lot of the things we do now such as travel (domestic and international), eating out a lot at restaurants as well as many other types of going out/entertainment. and i could forget about my toys and gadgets as i do spend a lot on "toys" since i am addicted to technology.

saludos,
jer...

Tim,

Everything that has ben said here is nothin' but the truth. Especially when Candace talks about people earning a lot during the 9 months. I could earn about 1,700 on a good month, but then again, I had to depend on academies and privates, since I didn't have papers and I couldn't go to the academies that paid about 20 - 35 an hour.

Like Jer, I don't regret my decision one bit to move to Spain. I enjoy teaching in general, so you can give me a cooking class and I would love teaching it. Your wife can also teach German classes, but I am not sure how much German, as a language, is in demand in Spain. There is a German School on Concha Espina and Serrano (close to that area) and I'm not sure if they will have openings in the future. But like Jer says, if her Spanish is good, why can't she transfer to the Spanish company here. It would still be a secure job, as far as pay is concerned.

Housing is really exaggerated and I was paying 650 for a studio and many people would say that's expensive, but I had 3 metro stops and about 12 buses to get home, and it was in the center (Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz) when it came to getting to English classes, so that was a bargain to me and I would do it again.

You also realize that two people can make it much easier than just one. Let's face it, it's hard to do everything as one person. So, I can see how people choose to have roommates and not only because of the company, but because they don't have all of the responsability of paying everything.

Spain will also be my home too, no matter where I am.

Shawn

Sorry should clarify my comments slightly. I thought of this after I posted my question

She's an employee of Siemens Spain and so it's not a problem finding another job here or else where should they move the project. But it's more that she's getting tired of the corporate tread mill and we've both been talking of looking for greener pastures else where. Up to this point it didn't matter. Now English is a serious option/

I was curious for those who come to Madrid to teach English and end up staying long term do you stick it out, move on or what do you do.

Anyways first proity is learning Spanish, once your fluent you have a lot more options open to you. We've talked about it and I figger at some point an oportunity will open up and we'll take advange of it. That's how we got here.

Also Chris is Canadian with a German passport thanks to her parents. I usually say German to keep it simple.

Salary was in reference to working 24 hours a week (20 with cancellations) at 16 an hour in the hand cash. That's what I get at Tandem (of course holidays are unpaid)

I agree Siemens hours are unusual.

Rob

quote:

I was curious for those who come to Madrid to teach English and end up staying long term do you stick it out, move on or what do you do.

weeeeeellll, i for one (as i said above) did not like teaching english.

after 10 months or so of that, i moved to doing translations and then about 1 year after that, i became a house-call pc tech to the ex-pat community here. that was more fun for a techy like me but it was not steady work as it came in bursts. then i started my cell phone rental business ( www.onspanishtime.com ) and it really took off. i have since expanded to SIM card sales ( www.spainSIM.com ) and began renting all types of tech stuff (GPS, mobile internet cards, walkie talkies and even laptops), not to mention the eurodirect calling card sales ( www.europhonecards.org ).

as i am always thinking of new and fun things to do, i started the virtual photography biz ( www.spain720.com ) which is more of a hobby that i make money off of.

so, in short, NO, i did not stick out the teaching thang. i moved on to jobs that are more interesting to me.

saludos,
jer...

Tim,

Remember that only you can make the decision of when it's time to do something else in life. Do you see yourself teaching English for the rest of your life? If the answer is a resounding NO, start thinking of some things that you would like to do later in life that will bring in money and still make you feel good at the end of the day. That's the key. As jer stated in his post, he found a way to earn money and love what he does everyday.

I love teaching and it keeps my brain stimulated. Do I see myself doing it for the rest of my life? Not really, but I am looking at other things to do in the future.

Shawn

Tim,

I can relate in part to your post - I'll be giving up a stable year-round job as an administrative assistant here in the US to go teach English in Spain this year.

The key thing that makes me confident is that I prepared myself in terms of work skills. Having certification (I got mine during my last trip to Spain a few years ago), and the willingness to give clients the instruction they need, are both necessary.

My expectation is that finding better housing and work will come through being settled here after having developed relationships with others. Like lots of people on the forums have said, Spain tends to operate via enchufes. The quicker one adapts to this, the more opportunities become available. It just takes time.

instantrejoinder,

You too bring up good points about enchufes. That's what makes the world go round in general.

I think that you will do fine once you get here. If you have done your research and have a positive outlook, all will work out for the best.

thanks, some very interesting replies. Right now I'm really enjoying teaching, not too worried if I get the odd cancelation, but that might be different once my paycheque is all we have. I've also been asking those that all have been around for a while and they all say it's pretty quiet during the summer nice to have the time off if you have money saved!

quote:

I've also been asking those that all have been around for a while and they all say it's pretty quiet during the summer nice to have the time off if you have money saved!

Tim,

This is only if you want to have the time off. Summer of 2005, I worked or 6 weeks in a summer camp and earned a good chunk of change (1,500) and that carried me through the summer and I had more than enough for rent and other things.

There are also the possibilities of residentials and other intensive courses. I did one the summer of 2004 with Tandem and that was added to a residential course and that was (790). I've always survived during the summer because I always saved and thought ahead about employment.

I rarely traveled during the summer and it was because of those English teachers who wanted their summers off, that I had work. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. So, all in all, there is summer work to be had, if you want it, but you must apply early, for these positions fill up quickly.

Shawn

Does it have to be teaching? If not, do a search on Infojobs.com with ¨ingles¨ as your keyword and see what comes up. At least you can compare what other jobs are paying.

Good luck!