Teaching English in Madrid, Spain

I just finished my first month working as a teaching assistant in Madrid and it has been a good experience so far. The main classes I teach are English, Social Science, Physical Education and Technologies. The level of my students can vary greatly, with some possessing a good level of English while others are just beginners.

Working with so many different levels at the same time definitely has its challenges. Directions, instructions or presentations given in an advanced section won’t have the same effect in a beginner section. There are also different class sizes, with the smallest one consisting of 10 students and the biggest with 31.

One of the biggest challenges I have faced, particularly in classes where there is a lower level of English, is getting students interested in the language. Given that taking English is compulsory in school, students can appear disinterested at times. I can relate to this, as I was required to take Spanish in high school as well. Back then, I couldn’t understand the importance of learning a new language and the positive effect it could have on my life.

One way I tried to get students interested in learning English is by making it as relatable to the context that they live in. For example, when the students were learning how to order food, I tried to create a ‘class menu’ rather than use the one from the book. This meant having to learn the English equivalents of their favorite Spanish meals (as well as having the pricing in euros rather than pounds). I felt it made the activity a bit more interesting and relatable for the students. The students then had to pick a role - either waiter or customer - and have an impromptu dialogue using the class menu as a reference. I noticed more of the students were now interested, even if it was just a way for them to get to stand in front of class and talk. Some of the waiters even got ‘tips’!

For my advanced students, I have been assigned the task of working on a project called Global Classrooms Model UN. This involves not just teaching students English but also preparing them to simulate a United Nations session with other secondary schools in Madrid. So far, I have worked on their public speaking skills. Almost all of the students have not given speeches in front of an audience before (some even became teary-eyed the first time they went up to speak :/).

In order to build confidence when speaking in front of an audience, I decided to make public speaking a “team activity.” This meant that anything we would give a “speech” about, all students would have to say the exact same thing. Rather than speaking from the front of the room, they would have to stand at their desks and speak. The “topics” were just one sentences they all had to repeat, related to a topic elicited from the class. After each round, I would point out to them one thing they should work on as a group. I would also emphasize the fact that although everyone was saying the exact same thing, they all had their own unique ways to saying it, which was good! By the end of the class, some of the students actually volunteered to come up and speak in front of the entire class – some of whom had earlier been reluctant to do so.

While my experience working as a teaching assistant is relatively new, I only started a month ago, I feel that having been in Spanish classes for almost seven years, I have a fairly good idea of what is effective and what isn’t when learning a language. Of course, given that I am a teaching assistant, I work alongside the main teachers and help them execute their lesson plans and work to achieve their goals for the classes. I have been fortunate that the teachers work hard to ensure that there is a positive learning environment. As a new teacher, it has definitely helped receive guidance from all the teachers I work alongside. I can now truly appreciate all the efforts my own teachers made all these years.

Thanks for reading! 

Hasta la próxima,
Raza