Teach English in Spain with CIEE

My experience in Granada has been incredible so far! I enjoy working at my school as an auxiliar and getting to know my students and colleagues. I have formed friendships with my colleagues outside of work, and it has been wonderful. It helps that I have teaching experience and am a licensed teacher, but if you are passionate about helping kids learn, are open-minded and patient with yourself, you will definitely enjoy the experience.

I wake up every day feeling so blessed to be living in the beautiful city of Granada. I finished my masters thesis just last week and have much more time now to fully enjoy the experience, immerse myself in language learning and pick up dance classes. Spain, and particularly, Andalucia, is full of warm, friendly people and a rich, fabulous culture. I cannot imagine living anywhere else at this point in time and cannot thank CIEE enough for placing me here!

If you are considering taking the plunge but are unsure, go for it! You will not regret it and will grow from each and every experience and challenge you meet along the way. I have never been so happy or grateful to be in a foreign country and truly feel blessed each day!

Phenomenal opportunity for people to explore a new country, learn a new language, and make a real impact all while receiving 24/7 support from a dedicated local and global team. Spanish bureaucracy can be quite time consuming and frankly very confusing, but CIEE walks you through the entire process and takes care of nearly all the logistical questions for you. Part of the two-week program, I also got to live with a Spanish host family and take Spanish lessons for two full weeks. Another wonderful benefit of the program that I didn't anticipate: amazing community of other CIEE participants with whom I've become very close friends and can always rely on during my year here in Spain. We can share ideas, ask each other questions, and even live and travel together. Overall, a fantastic program that I would recommend to anyone looking for a enjoyable global experience!

I loved teaching English in Spain through CIEE. Their help in the visa process was excellent and they made it much easier to get set up over there. Spain is an incredible place to live and travel, and you also have Europe at your fingertips to explore. I met one of my best friends through CIEE's group Facebook pages, which made it not only easier to go over there knowing someone ahead of time but also made my time there more enjoyable having such a good friend to go through the experience with.

I taught English in Madrid through CIEE and was very pleased with the program. The most valuable aspect of the program for me was the level of support that I was given. There were some delays getting my visa and I was late getting abroad, but CIEE was in touch every step of the way and walked me through the whole process. They were very understanding and helpful and made a stressful process much easier. I would definitely recommend this program.

I found CIEE to be very helpful in getting me established for my first year in Madrid. It is a tough process moving to another country and they were here to do some of the hard work for me and make sure that I had everything in order for the move. Once here, during the orientation, I found that they were quick to ensure help and make sure that simple things like setting up a bank account or getting your residency card was taken care of.

I worked in a bilingual secondary school in Alcobendas, which is a suburb just outside Madrid. My commute was not very long and easy to manage, and my school also had 6 other auxiliars whom I got to work alongside. I lucked out that my coworkers were good company and were dedicated to helping the students.

The school’s facilities were not bad. There wasn’t any WiFi, but each room had a functioning computer and projector. A few didn’t have adequate audio systems (makes videos unhelpful). My bilingual coordinator (my supervisor) was extremely qualified, consistent, and organized—and I’m sooo greatful. I have had a few problems with some of the teachers (lack of organization/experience), and my concerns have been heard and addressed.

If I had planned better, I would have renewed for a second year in the program. Unfortunately, I’ll be heading back to the States. It’s been a fun ride though. :)

Teaching English in Madrid is a great experience whether you want to be a teacher or not. It has been great to understand the Spanish culture and get to know the children and families that your teach. CIEE did an amazing job bridging us into the program. It was more expensive but worth it , in my opinion. They guided us through all the paperwork and made sure we had friends and connections in Madrid so we were very confortable when they set us free to teach. I would recommend CIEE to anyone who is trying to teach English in any country.

I went to Cacabelos , Leon, Spain for three months to teach English to grades 7-12. I got the chance to stay with a host family who took the absolute best care of me. My host mom and dad were amazing cooks and fed me all I could eat. My host sisters and I got rather close as well, and even let me come hang out with their friends on several occasions. I met so many people at the school I worked at. So many of them went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and happy. I loved getting the chance to teach students of another language what it is like where I am from. you could tell they were baffled by anything I said because the USA is so interesting to them. I miss them and think about the experience I had every day. I wouldn't change it for anything and am so thankful that was what I decided to do once I graduated.

After graduating from college, I knew I wanted to move to Spain to teach abroad. There are a number of programs, but after doing my research, I found CIEE to be the best choice for me. I know the cost may make many participants hesitate, and it is a lot of money, but the support I got from CIEE was worth it. Especially as a first year Language and Culture Assistant, there are so many things to do and so many unknowns. From answering emails about the visa to making the process of getting our residency cards simple and streamlined, I was so happy to have CIEE there to help me with what would have otherwise been an overwhelming process. I knew I always had someone to turn to for accurate and timely information. For me, that was a weight off my shoulders! The other great thing that CIEE led me to were some of my very best friends in Spain. I made incredible friends during orientation! I'm so happy I chose CIEE for my teach abroad experience. It made moving abroad a much easier transition, and I couldn't have asked for a better year in Madrid.

I didn’t think about it twice or about what I would be missing back home. I thought about what I would gain and how after I have completed the year I could say that I said I wanted to teach abroad and I did. You can apply for the program on your own but since it was my first time living abroad I appreciated the support given by CIEE. The two week housing they provided along with the general information presentations were great and I’m glad CIEE took care of most of the paperwork.

Pay is pretty low since it comes through the Community of Madrid, and I truly lived paycheck to paycheck but it was a great experience. I didn't love it so much for the work aspect as I did from the perspective of living in Madrid. It's the kind of program where you go to your job and tolerate it (at least that's how I felt), but in my opinion most people enroll as a means of living in Madrid. I did this program the year after graduating college as a break of sorts, but by the end of the year my long commute, high cost of living relative to salary, and feeling kind of useless and bored at work made me decide not to renew.

Use the ministry instead of the other programs to teach abroad. It costs less. Save up as much money as possible before you go so you can spend time exploring europe. I made it a goal to go to 1 new country a month! This program will benefit me in the future because I had to learn how to deal with issues such as the language barrier, how to work in the same class with another teacher simultaneously, and challenged me to grow personally. It was the mist difficult year of my life but it's also been the most life changing and rewarding!

I had studied abroad in Spain and was really hoping for a way to live abroad again after graduating. Teaching in Madrid was the perfect way to do this. It was the perfect experience for a recent graduate. I got to do something totally new and it gave me time and perspective to plan what I would do in the future.
CIEE was very helpful throughout the application process and facilitated a very smooth transition for me when I arrived in Madrid. I met so many great people, was able to immerse myself in Spanish culture, traveled all around Spain and around Europe and really enjoyed my job as a language assistant.

As I recent grad, I knew I needed something different than the typical 9 to 5 drag. I wasn't ready to jump into a career and I had always wanted to travel so this was the perfect fit. The past 10 months have been some of the best of my life. I made lifelong friends, traveled to a bunch of new cities and really immersed myself in Spanish culture. This program allowed me to discover things about myself that I never would have thought were possible which I know will help me when it comes time to actually re-enter the "real world."
I would definitely recommend teaching abroad with CIEE but I would also caution those that choose to do so. CIEE was fantastic when it came to pre-departure details. They helped with my visa and passport as well as preparing to apply for my temporary citizenship card in Madrid. They realy helped me feel comfortable with leaving the US for 10 months. However, CIEE made it sound like there would be a lot more support upon arrival which was only a little true. I had never left the United States before coming to Spain so this was a big reason why I chose CIEE. After a four day orientation, I still had no idea how teaching worked, where to open a bank account, how to find an apartment or where to buy a cell phone plan. They glossed over alot of key points that I think would have really been beneficial to me and my fellow teachers.
Overall, CIEE is a fantastic company to travel abroad with but I would hope that anyone who signs up under the same impression that I did, asks around before paying their program fee.

I loved my experience teaching in Spain and I'm so glad I did it. My goal was to travel, become more fluent in Spanish, and "clear my head" from the grind of my previous office job. I was definitely able to do all of these things, and make friends along the way thanks to the CIEE orientation and 2 week immersion program. The school I was placed in treats me very well, but CIEE did not do a good job of helping me out with the location and, as a result, I commute 3 hours a day, and it costs me 90 Euros/month (most people who are closer to the center pay only 20/month). Money is tight but because Spain is so cheap, it's enough to get by. Definitely happy I made this move.