Type in “Teach English Jobs” on a search engine and you will find tons of website advising you to take the TESOL (Teach English to Speaker of Other Language) or TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) or CELTA as that is the key to a teaching English job not just in Spain but everywhere else in the world where English is hardly spoken.

Despite the economic downturn, the demand for Clase Particular de Ingles (private English class usually conducted at a student’s place) in Madrid, has not seemed to shrink.

When I arrived in Madrid in 2006 to join my Italian husband who is a PhD Physics researcher at one of the public universities, I found out too quickly that his monthly stipend of over EUR 1,000 was too little for us.

As we have to spend about EUR 600 on rental, EUR 200 on utility and groceries every month, his allowance was gone as soon as it arrived in his bank account and it was essential that I looked for a job.

My grasp of Spanish was so poor that I could hardly do anything but teach English. Yet, it was not all so easy to start with.

Choosing between small or big academias
Teaching in either a small or big academia does not make much difference, but I started out with a small academia as my working documents had yet to be sorted out back then.

No, I wasn’t working illegally, but the truth is looking for a job in Spain without being invited by a local company can be quite the hassle.

I was told by the administrative officer at the police station where I presented my family unification visa in exchange for my legal residency status that I would need to wait for a couple of months. It was exactly six months before I was told to collect my NIE (physical residency card) which allow companies to employ me.

Before I turned to the smaller academias, I still bore the big city dweller’s mindset that working for big companies is always better. I tried to secure interviews with some big language schools only to realise they are unwilling to contract me even though they seem pleased with my curriculum as I do not have my NIE.

However, not all big companies are difficult.  I came across one that was less strict in terms of bureaucracy matters

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