{"id":72983,"date":"2016-08-14T17:07:07","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=72983"},"modified":"2021-10-13T18:51:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T16:51:04","slug":"language-assistant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/language-assistant\/","title":{"rendered":"Working as a language assistant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One of the easiest ways to live and <strong>work<\/strong> in Spain for young adults is to become a <strong>language assistant<\/strong>, or an <em><strong>auxiliar de conversaci\u00f3n<\/strong><\/em>. For many, this is the easiest way to get a <strong>long-term visa<\/strong>\u00a0and to work for a year or more in Spain. There are several programs in which you can apply to be a language assistant with the opportunity to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/job-nie\/\">live and work <\/a>in <strong>Catalonia<\/strong> and other regions of Spain.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/language-assistant\/#Meddeas\" title=\"Meddeas\">Meddeas<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/language-assistant\/#NALCA\" title=\"NALCA\">NALCA<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/language-assistant\/#British_Council\" title=\"British Council\">British Council<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/language-assistant\/#The_takeaway\" title=\"The takeaway\">The takeaway<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Meddeas\"><\/span>Meddeas<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_72985\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72985\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-72985\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Auxiliar-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by: susivinh via Visual hunt \/ CC BY-ND\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-72985\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by susivinh via Visual hunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.meddeas.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Meddeas<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is a privately-owned Spanish organization that places <strong>native English speakers<\/strong> in <strong>private schools<\/strong> across Spain. As a language assistant in this company, you are expected to work <strong>20 hours<\/strong> a week in the classroom, working with other teachers to plan activities and games to enhance students&#8217; English. There are different plans available;\u00a0for example, you can choose to live with a <strong>host family<\/strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\">on your own<\/a> or if you would like to work at a public or private school. The majority of schools are private Catholic schools, but there are some secular ones as well. As part of the program, you need to complete a <strong>professional development course<\/strong>, either working towards a <strong>TEFL<\/strong> or <strong>CLIL<\/strong> certificate. <strong>Meddeas<\/strong> is a great way to find a job working in or near Barcelona, especially if you don&#8217;t have experience teaching since training is provided. For non-EU citizens, this also provides you with a year-long student visa to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/barcelona-is-a-diy-happiness-factor\/\"> live and enjoy life in Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"NALCA\"><\/span>NALCA<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sponsored by the Ministerio de Educaci\u00f3n, Cultura y Deporte, the North American Language and Culture Assistant program is the <strong>most common language assistant program for Americans<\/strong>. This program is <strong>free<\/strong> to apply for and the only requisite is a <strong>college degree in any discipline<\/strong>. You will have the opportunity to work in various regions of Spain in <strong>public schools<\/strong>. The role in this program is more relaxed as you will only be required to work <strong>12 hours a week<\/strong>, usually splitting time between two different schools. This program doesn&#8217;t require any extra professional development or work and you will never be left alone in the classroom. This program doesn&#8217;t pay as much as private programs and doesn&#8217;t offer the same level of support. However, for North Americans, this program gives you <strong>flexibility<\/strong> and <strong>free time<\/strong> to travel and explore Spain while<strong> immersing<\/strong> yourself in the culture.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/teach-english\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to be an English teacher in Barcelona<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"British_Council\"><\/span>British Council<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_72986\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72986\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-72986\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Books-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by: m_shipp22 via VisualHunt \/ CC BY\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-72986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by m_shipp22 via VisualHunt<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For UK citizens there is the opportunity to work as a language assistant through the <strong><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.britishcouncil.org\/language-assistants\">British Council<\/span><\/strong>. They require that you have at least an <strong>A2 level of Spanish<\/strong> before starting the program, as well as at least <strong>two years of university completed<\/strong>. They place assistants in schools as well as the <strong>Escuela Oficial de Idiomas<\/strong> all across Spain, so there are many <strong>different possibilities<\/strong>. While you can request to work in Barcelona or Catalonia, it is <strong>not guaranteed<\/strong> where you will be placed. The role in the classroom, as well as the pay, are comparable to the NALCA program as well.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_takeaway\"><\/span>The takeaway<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the end, whichever program you choose will allow you to <strong>live<\/strong> and <strong>work in Spain<\/strong> for a year, giving you ample time to learn the language, immerse yourself in the culture, and learn valuable skills. All of the programs give you the opportunity to <strong>develop as a teacher<\/strong> and a professional while having the experience of a lifetime!<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"72983\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 150px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">1<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            vote        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the easiest ways to live and work in Spain for young adults is to become a language assistant, or an auxiliar de conversaci\u00f3n. For many, this is the easiest way to get a long-term visa\u00a0and to work for a year or more in Spain. There are several programs in which you can apply [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":72984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4599],"tags":[4871,3696,4877,4876,4870,4917,4918,4919],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72983"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109766,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72983\/revisions\/109766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}