How to make money teaching English in Spain

Have you ever thought about combining work with travel?

Maybe you’ve been toying with the idea of teaching, but don’t quite know where to start?

It must be said…

Teaching English in Spain is a very lucrative business if you have the incentive and put in the groundwork.

But don’t worry, because I’ve basically set out everything you need to know about teaching English in Spain as a native English speaker!

I have to tell you…

English teachers are VERY sought after in Spain.

In some places, a native English teacher is like gold dust!

Imagine that!

I spent an academic year teaching English in the Valencian community of Spain and can highly recommend it.

Other posts you may enjoy:

How to save money for travel

Top tips to Inter railing Europe on a budget

How to come up with your realistic travel budget

For the first semester, I was working with an agency who placed me in a primary and secondary school.

They arranged everything for me before I left the UK so that when I arrived in Spain, I had somewhere to work and live.

Believe it or not…

After meeting a few different people during these first two months, I realized that I could have a much better experience if I went off on my own.

Pretty daring right?

I left the school and the agency and moved to the nearest city and set out to find clients!

Some people may feel more stable working at the same school each day, but I felt like I needed variety and MORE IMPORTANTLY, freedom!

So, how exactly did I go about setting myself up to go off into the wide world of teaching English in Spain?

I thought you’d never ask!…

Optimize your work time!

Make your own teaching timetable!

I created a blank timetable for the week and set aside the days that I wanted time to myself and the days where I wanted to work.

This way, I was already in the mindset of an entrepreneur/ freelancer, rather than an employee.

I blocked out the days that I wanted to chill and set about filling out the blank spaces.

In other words, I went on my search for schools and academies who would be interested in my services.

I gotta tell you…

This consisted of multiple phone calls, trawling the streets, going into academies to ask for work and sending emails to schools.

My timetable ended up looking a bit like this:

• Working in one school as an assistant: 3 days a week
• Working in an international school: 1 day a week
• Teaching in an academy: 3 evenings a week
• Private tuition: one afternoon per week.

(ps. In any spare hours I had, I also did substitute teaching as and when it came up.)

I still had time to enjoy myself, to visit different areas of Spain and take Spanish classes of my own.

I tell you what…

Having the variety was great and better yet, it was done on MY schedule!

If you have the right attitude, there is no reason why you can’t do well teaching English in Spain.

Here’s exactly how I managed to get work in a town I didn’t know and build up a client base.

But let’s get past those niggly questions first…

TEFL or no TELF?

TEFL or no TEFL, that is the question!

First things first, what on earth is TEFL?

Some sort of nasty virus?

TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

It is a course that gives you the qualification to formally teach English as a second language.

For some jobs in certain countries, this is a required qualification, like teaching in Japan and China for example.

Here’s the deal…

Now, in reality, for teaching English in Spain, I do not think it is necessary to have a TEFL qualification.

There, I said it!

I taught English in Spain for an academic year; I worked in multiple different schools and I did a lot of private tutoring and in all this time, I was NEVER asked about qualifications.

Thinking about it, I was never asked about teaching experience in general!

Not having a TEFL qualification DID NOT HINDER ME.

Often, all Spanish employers are looking for, is that your mother tongue is English!

If you are teaching more long term, then maybe investing in doing TEFL would be worthwhile.

Understanding the theory behind teaching and learning how to come up with lesson plans that benefit your students would be useful for sure.

I learnt on the job, which maybe isn’t the best!

And it’s not everyone’s preferred method!

The prospect of moving abroad is already daunting without the added pressure of grasping how to teach if you have never done it before!

You may find that you feel more comfortable teaching with this knowledge behind you if you don’t have prior experience.

I think, if you’re confident, know basic English grammar principles and you are creative, you will do fine teaching.

Other posts you may enjoy:

How to save money for travel

Top tips to Inter railing Europe on a budget

How to come up with your realistic travel budget

Do you need to know Spanish to teach English in Spain?

The short answer is no, but knowing some of the language will definitely help.

You may want to learn some important phrases before you go.

Or even better, make the effort to learn the language while you’re there and apply it to your everyday situations.

I found that having a background in speaking Spanish helped me in the classroom. If a student did not understand something, I could explain it to them.

Generally though, in the classroom, the schools prefer YOU NOT TO SPEAK any Spanish to students, only English. Therefore being able to speak the language is a bit redundant.

You should not, however, let your lack of Spanish language ability affect your work.

You can get by without knowing the language.

How to get prepared to teach in Spain

Make sure you get a few things ready before you start teaching English in Spain or looking for work.

Get your CV or resume up-to-date and looking good.

If you’re looking for the perfect teacher resume template, then check out this CV template which can be edited to add all your details to WOW an employer: RESUME TEMPLATE.

If you want a few different options of resume templates then take a look at this RESUME TEMPLATE BUNDLE!

Along with getting your CV and cover letter ready, it may be a good idea to gather some useful teaching tools.

For instance, find some teaching resources like English books, flash cards, lesson plans, game ideas, because you’ll need them when coming up with teaching ideas.

How to actually make money teaching English in Spain

This is the main question, how do you actually go about getting teaching jobs?

As I mentioned previously, when I lived in Spain, I initially went through an agency company, which set me up with a school and a local family to live with.

After a few months of working with the school, I decided to go off on my own and find freelance jobs teaching English.

I preferred this because it gave me more freedom, I could work when I wanted, and I was able to earn more money in the process- perfecto!

Yes, you read right- I earned more on my own!

There are multiple ways of earning money from teaching English in Spain.

…And I suggest you try a few or all of these methods and continue to have MULTIPLE streams of income.

This way, if one client cancels or lets you down, you are not relying on that one job.

Bear in mind…

When teaching English privately, you are not on a contract, so your student could cancel on you last minute- annoying!

Similarly, when working in English academies, your contract hours are often short.

In many cases, you have zero-hour type contracts, which means your employer could lay you off easily.

If you have multiple sources of income, you’re more likely to create a stable income and won’t need to worry if your lesson gets cancelled.

On the other hand…

Saying this, it is not likely that you will be laid off, because you will be SO valuable to your students and employers, they won’t want to let you go.

Remember…you are gold dust to them!

Especially if you teach in a part of Spain that is less well-known, or not a big touristy city.

There will be less English people there and subsequently the demand for native teachers will be WAY higher.

Let’s get into the different methods of finding work then!

Private tuition

Private tuition is my favourite type of teaching.

I prefer the 1:1 approach because you’re not having to control a group of students.

You can focus your attention on one student at a time. AND, you can often earn more per hour this way too!

How much can I charge?

You can charge between 10- 15 euros per hour with private tuition.

It’s worth noting…If you try and charge more, you are unlikely to attract interest.

Although, you could probably charge more in bigger cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.

TOP TIP: You can use online platforms such as Tus Clases Particulares, Mil Anuncios and Wallapop to advertise your private classes.

This is SUPER important…

TOP TIP: I would recommend writing your advert in Spanish in order to attract attention to your ad.

The majority of Spanish parents who are looking for tutors for their child are unlikely to be able to speak English.

In this sense, they will feel more confident if they can clearly understand your advert.

It will also set you apart from those English ads.

You could write something simple like this:

Hola, me llamo [add name] soy Ingles/Inglesa / soy de Estados Unidos

Me ofrezco para dar clases de inglés a todos los niveles.

My name is X, I’m English/ I’m from the US

I am offering to give English classes to all levels.

With private tuition, you can then choose who you want to teach and which levels you are suited to as a teacher.

I organized my private classes to be on the same day and tried to arrange them back-to-back. This way, just one of my days was dedicated to this.

English academies

In Spain, there are English academies everywhere!

These are basically after school centres where children go and have extracurricular English classes.

You can also find academies for maths, science and other subjects too.

In a way, they are like after school schools.

They typically open around 5pm and close around 8pm.

Listen to this…

Academies are probably better places to work than normal schools because this is where you find those children who are more serious about learning English.

And dare I say it… often better at English!

How can I find jobs in academies?

The way you can find jobs in academies is by simply approaching them in the area that you want to work.

Send emails asking for work, or even better, if you are in Spain, go into the academies and ask for work.

If one academy doesn’t have any vacancies, ask them if they know anyone who is looking for an English teacher.

I would be surprised if you didn’t get work this way.

Schools

As I have mentioned with the academies, do the same with schools!

In most schools, your role would be that of an assistant or in teaching very small groups of children.

You shouldn’t be expected to teach full classes if you don’t have a teaching qualification.

English is on the curriculum for every school.

So, even if there are no current vacancies for an English teacher, a school will probably try and make a vacancy for you, because who turns down a native English teacher?

Imagine if Spanish was a mandatory subject for every UK school from Primary through to High School…

There would never be enough native Spanish teachers or assistants!

The demand would be way higher than the supply!

It’s the same in Spain.

If a Spanish school has a native English teacher working there, they want to showcase this to the parents.

Summer schools

Most international schools and normal schools will have English summer schools, where you teach and do activities with children throughout the day while their parents are working during the summer holidays.

These are good to do if you want the experience of teaching English in Spain but don’t want to spend a full year there, or if you want a taster.

Again, look on websites for the schools in the area and contact them.

Word of mouth

Believe it or not…

This is actually the most successful way that I managed to secure work!

Once I had met one person in the teaching industry, the word spread that there was a native ‘Inglesa’ in town, and I was inundated with work.

I met this one woman who introduced me to another woman, and then that woman introduced me to another woman.

I met a hairdresser who told every person who walked into her salon about me!

TOP TIP: In Spain, word spreads like wildfire!

This is probably the best form of getting work because you have the best possible thing- a reference and… a Spanish speaking reference at that!

Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth.

Although don’t rely on it.

You may have a load of people who know you, but if the word doesn’t reach the right people, then it can’t help you!

So, surround yourself with the RIGHT people and TELL EVERYONE you’re a teacher!

Who are the “right people” you ask?

These are your target market!

If you want to teach children, target parents.

If you want to teach adults business English, look for companies?

You get the picture.

The lesson here is to be kind and professional with everyone you meet, because you don’t know where that person could get you.

Facebook groups

Join relevant Facebook groups of communities of English teachers in Spain, you can find connections here.

Again look for your target market here too…maybe there’s a Facebook group for parents in the area?

…Or you can set up an account on the Spanish version of Facebook, Tuenti.

How to legally make money teaching English in Spain

Once you have found work, you need to know how to prepare for teaching English in Spain.

Visa

Depending on which country you are coming from, you may need a visa to be working in Spain.

At the moment, there are visa requirements for UK nationals to live in the EU which includes Spain.

There is a specific process you need to go through to get a visa, so make sure you check the guidlines.

NIE

Once you arrive in Spain, you will need to apply for your NIE number.

This is the same as a National Insurance number or Social Security Number.

You should apply for this through the local police station which deals with immigration applications.

Although, check these rules have not changed at the time in which you go.

You will need to fill out some immigration documentation and provide your passport and visa.

The NIE number is vital in order to work legally in Spain, so it’s important to get this as soon as you arrive.

Understand the education system

Before you go or before you start applying for jobs, you will need to get a grasp of how the education system works in Spain.

Spanish schools will assume that you know the different year groups.

So, I would suggest getting accustomed to this, for when you are discussing teaching opportunities.

Infantil/ preescolar = Nursery/infants

Primaria = Primary school

Eso = Secondary school/ high school

Bachillerato = College level/ 6th form/ junior college

Universitarios = University

To conclude…

The hardest part of finding teaching work in Spain when you’re starting from scratch is finding your first client.

In reality, there is plenty of teaching work out there, you just need to find it.

I can almost guarantee that once you find one opportunity, the rest will come flooding in.

As I say, almost all of the job offers I got were generated by word of mouth recommendations.

I attended one interview, and from that, I got multiple job opportunities by people just recommending me to each other.

In fact, I had to turn work down.

So, be positive, be enthusiastic, and you’ll go far!

Yours

Holly