Program Reviews

I had an amazing 2½ months doing this program. Making friends at orientation day was awesome and working at my school was a great learning experience. Having the flexibility to travel on weekends was a huge perk as well. If you're looking for a way to immerse yourself in Spanish culture and language, travel a bit, and get some experience with teaching without wanting to commit to too long away, this program is perfect for you. I recommend especially if you're a recent graduate, because based on my experience that might be a lot of your fellow volunteers :)

It is wonderful to be exposed to a different culture here in Spain, as well as have an opportunity to learn and use a different language. CIEE was very helpful throughout the entire process of getting here; staff was very communicative, several webinars were held before and during my time here which were great resources of information. Most notably, CIEE was extremely helpful with the Visa process, which can be complicated. I feel the biggest area of improvement would be for CIEE to update their data for the expected cost of living in Madrid, as the housing rental market prices where much higher than what I anticipated.

Being placed in Madrid through CIEE has been the best experience I’ve ever had. I’ve made some of my best friends for life at orientation and was given all the information I needed to feel confident in a classroom at my school placement. If you have any hesitations on if you should do it or not, I suggest that you do. Truly won’t regret the beauty of Spain, kindness of the people of Madrid, and chance to say you lived in Europe as a young adult.
What is also great, is that CIEE allows you to join in January so if doing a full year seems like too much, January is an option to come till end of June. 11/10 experience!

Going through CIEE made the pre-departure process a lot easier! To have the visa guides and the orientation course on Canvas was very helpful. The private health insurance seems to cover more things than the public health insurance that auxiliares get through the ministry of education.
After your on-site orientation, CIEE gets more hands-off. For example, they don't organize social events for the Teach in Spain participants. I bring that up as an FYI, not necessarily as a con; it makes sense given how many of us there are. They do send weekly emails with updates about things like the renewal process, but I'm not renewing, so I haven't hopped on the webinars that they provide about that.
All in all, I'd say it's worth it, because CIEE was really good at providing information that made all of the pre-departure stuff seem less overwhelming.

The TEFL course has been transformative for me, particularly in enhancing my comprehension of lesson planning and bolstering my confidence in managing a classroom effectively. I'm excited to implement pre-course questionnaires as a means to personalize lessons and accommodate students' individual learning needs. Despite initial apprehensions about adapting to new cultures and mastering classroom management, I'm reassured by the thorough preparation this course has afforded me. While I'm mindful of the challenges that lie ahead, I feel equipped to confront them head-on, armed with the invaluable knowledge and skills imparted by this comprehensive TEFL program.

Going into this program, I had already experienced Korean life to some degree. However, teaching was new territory that made me feel quite nervous and out of place. However, CIEE did an excellent job providing support and resources to make the transition much easier.

My housing is admittedly one the smaller side, but I feel it is ideal for one person. Likewise, my school is very comfortable and not too far from my housing. I would say I got lucky in this respect. While it is not perfect, my program experience so far has been worth the effort and I am learning a lot very quickly.

I decided to teach abroad with CIEE because they made it so easy to get my TEFL certification and helped me with every step of the EPIK application process. Now that I’m here, I have had the most wonderful experiences exploring South Korea. I was placed in my first choice city and I’ve already been connected with several other English teachers so it was easy to settle in and make friends.

CIEE also organized a trip to Seoul for their teachers and study abroad students. They took care of everything for us from hotel to meals to transportation. 10/10

I’ve been living in Madrid for a few months now teaching English through CIEE’s teach in Spain program. Overall, it’s been a great experience, particularly in the sense of being able to make friends and a have a network of like minded people from the start. The program fee of 2k was worth it I would say, the hotel for the first week is a huge convenience and great way to meet people and makes the first few days smooth. The visa support in the application process was helpful too. All in all the CIEE program was instrumental in my experience being great so far due to it being how I met a lot of people that became my friends. I would do the CIEE program specifically again and recommend it to anyone for that reason

The CIEE volunteer Teach in Spain program is the perfect experience after graduating college. I loved this experience for many reasons; the length of the program, the location, the opportunity to learn Spanish, travel, and make an impact. For anyone who is looking to immerse themselves in another culture, loves traveling, working with kids, and has 2.5 months, this program is perfect for you! I think this program is perfect for post graduates, as this is the average age of the volunteers and is a perfect experience before entering a career.

The real value of the volunteer in Spain experience rests somewhere beneath the surface. Volunteers gain insight into life in Spain that tourists almost surely never see. The result is a rare life experience that I will continue to appreciate. Perfect for those who wish to: see the world and travel, learn about a different culture, build their resume (especially educators), career break (especially lawyers), acquire or develop foreign language skills (especially Spanish), and grow personally. At 35, for three months in between careers, this was a perfect opportunity.