#teachinginspain

6th Grade field trip to The Royal Palace of Aranjuez

Diary submitted by Mathilde S, Erasmus+ internship in Madrid “What motivates you to learn English?” sounds like a straightforward question. Yet, when I asked mystudents, their answers varied. While some of them are studying out of personal interests and love for the language, most of them mentioned external motivations, notably regarding work. Either for their current job, or for career prospects, all agreed that knowing and mastering English is now very significant in Spain. English has undoubtedly become the lingua franca, that is the language used for communication between two people whose mother tongue and cultural background are different (Cogo, 2012). English is also the primary international language of reference in many domains, including economy, trade, politics, diplomacy and media. Spain has been going through a serious Economic recession for more than ten years. The 2008 crisis has dramatically affected the job market, including young people. So now people want to secure a good job and make everything possible to increase their human capital. Because younger people tend to have higher academic skills, knowing English is a way to distinguish oneself. In addition, companies often have branches in other countries, so it is necessary for employees to communicate in English. Inother words, there is a high “economic value” to learning English in Spain (Robbins, 2015). I haveindeed encountered some students who are taking lessons because they are planning to go to the UK to improve their English, work in the meantime and hopefully come back to Spain with a valuable experience in a foreign country and with reliable language skills. Furthermore, tourism is one of the biggest industries in Spain at the moment, so in this sector, knowing English is preferable if not required. “Without even considering the millions of other visitors who travel to Spain each year, the necessity of knowing English as a Spanish citizen is a useful and necessary skill to interact and perform business transactions with the foreign visitors coming from the United Kingdom and Germany.” (Robbins, 2015: 30) Besides the economic argument, the current significance of English in Spain can be explained by historical facts. Under the Francoist dictatorship, the nationalist rhetoric enforced unity around the Castilian culture, at the expense of regional dialects and English. As a result, Spain was not part of the trend of other European countries which opened themselves to English becoming the lingua franca in a globalised world. Another consequence is that the Spanish school system lags behind in terms of language learning. So after Franco, the Spanish government launched partnerships with British schools, notably the British Council. The focus was mainly placed on grammar, so now they lack speaking and listening skills. In 2005, the Barcelona Objective, a European initiative promoting multilingualism, forcefully encourages the learning of two foreign languages, in addition to one’s mother tongue.Similarly, the EU program ‘Education and Training 2010,’ promotes lifelong learning and notably encourages adults to learn foreign languages. Yet, Spaniards who are currently in their 30s-40s didn’tbenefit from such programs and now lack English skills. These factors explain the growing market of English teaching and learning in Spain. Only in Madrid I was struck by the number of English academies. Private language academies are indeed a flourishing business in Spain. The clientele of such schools includes working adults who wish to improve their human capital, and teenagers whose parents picture English as a crucial tool for academic prospects. Passing a Cambridge exam or having any B1 or B2 certificate has become truly important for Spanish people. In conclusion, it is safe to say that in the current context in Spain, being an EFL learner and speaker is highly valued. Sources: Robbins, Molly M., (2015). "What is the 'Economic Value' of learning English in Spain?". Scripps Senior Theses. Paper 691. 1-55. Cogo, A. (2012). English as a Lingua Franca: Concepts, use, and implications. ELT Journal, 66(1), 97-105. Read the full article

Diary submitted by Julia A, Erasmus+ internship in Valencia    As a teacher, it becomes quickly obvious that the native language of a student can have a strong impact on their ability to learn English as a Foreign Language, and therefore requires important cultural awareness. Knowing the tendencies of students stemming from different languages can really help to narrow down the focus of certain classes and be more effective as a teacher.  This reflective diary will present the main errors which have stood out in class, in terms of pronunciation and grammar. These mistakes are all common for students which know Spanish as a first language. It will also make a comparison between native Spanish students and native French students, and their common mistakes tied to their first language.      What stood out the most in class were the common pronunciation errors. Firstly, Spanish students have trouble distinguishing between the y and the j sounds, as well as between the b and the v sounds. This is because the Spanish language makes no distinction between the first two sounds. The same occurs in the case of the last two letters. This means that both pairs of letters will be pronounced the same, while in English they have very distinct sounds. Another tendency of Spanish students is to place an -e in front of any word starting with an -s. This is due to the fact that, in Spanish, words will always begin with -es; examples which were common in class were  -Espain and -stay. Lastly, in terms of grammar, a very common mistake amongst Spanish speakers is in the use of the preposition -to. The Use of English classes revealed that prepositions misplaced or misused very often. This is because prepositions in Spanish are already very complicated, and therefore having to adapt to a second language in which prepositions are also quite numerous and complicated becomes harder than usual. In comparison with native French speakers, it becomes clear that common mistakes tied to the first language is a concrete reality. For example, the -th sound does not exist in French, making it very hard for French people to pronounce words such as thorough, think, this and that. Instead, they often pronounce it as a -z sound. Another pronunciation problem often encountered when French students study English is the -r sound, which in French is pronounced very differently.      In general, many of the difficulties produced by the native languages of Spanish and French in the study of English stem from the fact that English is a West Germanic language while both Spanish and French are Latin languages, also known as Romance languages. For this reason, both tend to have similar problems regarding pronunciation and grammar, in particular in regards of short and long vowels. What is important to emphasize is that being aware of these tendencies and common mistakes tied to the mother tongue of the student can be of great help for a teacher preparing lesson plans. In my case it was! Bibliography: -“Pronunciation Problems For Spanish-Speaking Learners Of English.” TEFLnet Pronunciation Problems For Spanish Speaking Learners Of English Comments, www.tefl.net/elt/articles/teachertechnique/spanish-speaker-pronunciation-problems/. - “Common Problems For French Learners Of English.” The TEFL Academy Blog, 19 Feb. 2018, www.theteflacademy.com/blog/2018/02/common-problems-for-french-learners-of-english/. Read the full article

Nice day for a stroll #teachinginbilbao #Bilbao #expatlife #Spain #teachinginspain (at Bilbao, Spain)

I lack the understanding of how I can go to work every day, see the director of the department and sit in the work room with my co-teachers, and not one person feels the need to tell me my schedule has been changed. I find out when my B2 students arrive instead of my B1 students, for whom I have prepared my lesson for.

Why? #skateboard #teachinginspain #expatlife #expatinbilbao #Bilbao (at Bilbao, Spain)

Bilbao's one skyscraper with the one mall, on the right, next to it😐 #Bilbao #expatlife #teachinginspain #expatinspain (at Bilbao, Spain)

I decided to take a picture of the sheep I pass by as I walk from the Feve train stop to the school. However, this beautiful animal saw me and started walking my way, as to say “Me first.”. It appears she even smiled for the camera.