According to recent data only 20% of Spaniards consider themselves fluent in English and this only increases to 30% in a large city like Barcelona . Compared with English speaking levels in the rest of the European Community this percentage is quite low- ranking only above Italy. A recent study found that English is the most commonly used language in the EU- used by 47% of respondents . As Spanish companies must increasingly compete internationally and with the free movement of European Union members, English is becoming the norm for day-to-day interactions in many businesses.

This bodes well for English teachers seeking employment in Spain- especially in Barcelona and Madrid- its largest cities. Barcelona in particular, with its large tourism industry and its increasing foreign population has become a hot spot for English teachers. They are being sought out as companies have begun to provide their workers with in-house English language training as a part of workers benefits packages. This ranges from the tourist sector- restaurants and airlines to multi-national corporations with Barcelona office branches such as advertising agencies and financial services.

I have personally worked in-company for many different types of businesses, ranging from an exotic plant import company, a chemical and natural resources organization to a graphic design company. I also have friends working with flight attendants, art-gallery owners, furniture manufacturers as well as doctors and lawyers. Many times people go into English teaching expecting to work with children in a typical language classroom with textbooks and a lot of grammar. However professionals are increasingly seeking more specialized and custom-tailored courses designed by EFL professionals who can do more than just teach them grammar but can focus on business and their work in particular. Thus the EFL teachers can move from teaching the past and future verb tenses to discussing the newspaper, creating lesson plans based on industry trends and can themselves learn a lot in the process. English teaching is now becoming more individualized and intellectually stimulating for all participants. Such experiences in companies can be very rewarding and stimulating for the short-term gap year English teacher.

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(1) The national statistics office for Catalonia, IDESCAT
(2) Eurobarometer, European Commission, September 2005

Melinda Richardson
Director of http://www.teachinginbarcelona.com