Top tips for new teachers in Spain

1. Get some experience before you start as many places ask for this. You could start by volunteering in your local community if there are no jobs available.

2. Ask about the holidays, you want these included in your wage.

3. Learn some Spanish before you go.

4. Be professional and don't think it will be a walk in the park.

5. Enjoy it as much as possible, it's great if done properly.

Perhaps you should also check your health conditions. A doctor will surely assist you in this case and give you important informations. The weather is totally different from Germany for example!

1. Choose where to go carefully. Check out the weather in Galicia (on practically any day of the year) to see that Spain is not always sun, sun, sun.

2. Take a phrasebook/learn some Spanish. The idea that 'everyone speaks English in Spain' might be almost true in a tourist area, but will be completely wrong everywhere else.

3. Be prepared. I was told by the head of my new school that the (Spanish) children in my class (7 year-olds) were 'fluent' in English. Guess I might have misheard, could have said 'effluent'.

4. Look after your health 1. Sort out your Spanish health registration procedures, the health service in Spain is free and very good quality.

5. Look after your health 2. If you return to the UK for holidays, you'll need a Spanish IHIC card (Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea) issued in Spain (at the Social Security office, Oficina de Seguridad Social) in order to get NHS treatment in the UK. You've probably had an E111 for holidays in the rest of Europe if you lived in the UK, well now you need the Spanish version for holidays in the UK (or other European countries).

The most obvious one, which has been mentioned already, is to learn some Spanish. TEFL courses advise you not to speak in the mother tongue, but it does really help you when you first meet your students, especially young kids.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Great tips, thanks.