Studies Abroad in Madrid, Spain

Erin decided to follow her dreams and move back to Europe. She studied abroad for a semester in Spain and realized it was time to give it another go. She and a friend decided to return to Madrid, Spain during the summer before graduation. We had a chance to catch up with her in Retiro Park to see what she had to say.

Check out our interview as she explains teaching English as a foreign language and what happened while she studies abroad in Madrid, Spain.

Welcome to dreams abroad Madrid! We are here with Erin and today we are going to talk about teaching English as a foreign language.

Erin what brought you to Madrid?

“I studied abroad there last year and still had a semester left of college to finish when I went back. After I went home, I finished college. I was just missing Spain and my friend and I decided we both wanted to move back this past summer. We graduated and I worked for a few months to save up enough money and then I moved back at the end of July and she got here.

Awesome, so what would you say with teaching English as a foreign language would be the difference with teaching English as a foreign language in person or online, in your opinion?

“For the course, I chose an in-person course. I think for me that was really important because I am terrible at motivating myself in schoolwork. Doing an online course I would probably have not gotten as much out of it just because you don’t have the interaction with teachers who have done it. They know how to do it. Whereas I was in the classroom every day way too many hours and was there just like all my peers were motivating me working just as hard. I was working really hard to learn. It helps the time.

What were some of the things that you did were you doing lesson plans what were you creating?

We had a lot of classes at the beginning that taught us lessons and what classes would be like. From there we started in our second week preparing lesson plans for classes and teaching those classes to actual students in person. We did some projects profiling students learning abilities.”

For our final question today what would be the difference because, I’m presuming that your class was taught in British English, what would be the difference in taking the course in British English as opposed to an American English course?

“We had a mix of students from everywhere. There were Americans, British, some non-native speakers and Australians too. It was taught in like British English which is surprisingly different for being the same language. I think it was good being a teacher in Europe. When I go to a class if I say the word vacation that’s a very American term whereas the rest of Europe goes on holiday. I kind of learned those terms. They told us to teach what you know, so I’m still teaching my vocabulary and I spell color without a “U” still. But, I think to learn that is what is expected here was really helpful.”

The British English course is helped you to understand the spelling and also cultural differences?

“The other day I almost corrected a girl spelling.”

Thank you for tuning in and we will catch up with Erin’s like some other point through her one-year stint yes one year stint here in Madrid. Thank you for joining us in Retiro Park in Madrid. Have a good day. If you are interested in learning more about dreams abroad click on our link.