Julie Gill from Australia. I built a strong relationship with both the parents and the children in my host family. My host mum always gives me great advice and I find her very inspiring.

Julie Gill

Australian, Irish

Tordera

I very much enjoy doing different tasks with the age groups as I teach aged 2-15.

In early years and early primary I focus on running games, storytelling and teaching new vocabulary. Whilst in the secondary school the work is based on the goals for the students in the class.

The students across all year levels are very friendly and eager to talk. I like to give positive feedback and also explain next steps e.g I want you to use verbs next time with support.

The family has made me feel a part of their family by spending many hours socialising and involving me in their weekly activities.We do everything from joining in local events and  going on day trips. At home we love playing mario kart together, dancing, cooking and watching movies. I built a strong relationship with both the parents and the children in my host family. My host mum always gives me great advice and I find her very inspiring.

I expected to be involved in family and community life and the experience has been like this. As someone who has spent most of my life in cities It’s a rewarding experience to be part of a community in a town.

One reason I chose to undertake this program was to develop my skills in teaching English as a second language to students. Over the years, I have had multiple students who are EOSL and felt I didn’t always know how to best support them. This program has enabled me to learn about pedagogies, curriculums and materials to support me in this program. It has also given me a chance to teach all ages which has been so beneficial for my teaching career. I always wanted to try different year levels.

Personally I think I have also learned a lot about family life. Working with children is very different to living with them and I learned a lot about what it’s like to have a family.

-Many great places for running – You can run in the forest, by the river and mountains and many parks

-Lots of cafes here to explore. You can watch football at some of them too.

-Tordera is close to costa brava so make sure you jump on the train and explore the nearby seaside towns as well.

-The town has many local events to attend. Ask the teachers or family about these.

My tip would be that it’s very beneficial to know some Spanish. I would recommend at least knowing basic phrases as in this town you won’t be able to get around without knowing basic phrases like how much is it, do you have etc. Only a few people in this town I have met can speak English outside of school so If you do some duo lingo before you arrive in Spain this would definitely go a long way.

-Spend time talking to the teachers. They are so helpful and give great advice.

-Ask the English teachers how they want you to be involved. Some teachers will give you the freedom of planning tasks and others require tasks in order to help with the targets and goals of the cohort.

-Talk slowly when giving instructions and asking questions! Check in with students to see if they understand

-Encourage the students and give them lots of praise.

Get involved in it all. Ask questions about local traditions, try out all the different foods etc. Spend lots of quality time with the family as that’s how you will build relationships and feel comfortable in a different environment.

Make sure you be yourself, share with them your culture so they get to grow too. I like to cook once a week for my family so they can try foods from around the world and they love eating what I make! When it was the Rugby World Cup, I told the family how much I love watching Ireland play, so my host family decided to watch the match with me. Before that they had never seen a game of Rugby.

Also it’s good to plan fun activities for the family as well as sitting down and planning day trips. For example, I see what the kids are interested in and plan things around that as well. We are having a Japanese night soon as the 10 year old loves sushi! On other hand the 3 year old loves baking so I have planned a few simple recipes from Australia for him!

-I really enjoyed the conversations I have had with the secondary classes as they have been very engaged and interested to share about their lives.

-Cultural Presentations- I created a cultural assignment for Secondary Class 4 where they get to present about Cataloian foods, Spanish sports, festivals etc .

-Laughs and chats with the teachers at lunch every day

-Adventuring with my host family. We even went to Madrid.

At first, I found it difficult not earning an income and also not working full time hours as a teacher is something that I have been used to for many years. I definitely recommend having enough savings as It’s nice to have money to spend on activities and trips. A month into the program, I realised that only helping for 20 hours has allowed me to undertake more study such as Spanish classes and a level 2 course. I also have more time to exercise and do things I enjoy. I definitely wouldn’t regret this experience and so glad I have taken the time of full time work to be enriched into a new culture and experience even more of life!

As someone who has lived and taught abroad for many years, I think this a great first program for someone wanting to live overseas. The hardest thing about moving to a new country is if you have to build up a support network which takes time. When you do a program like this, you have a support network from day one so it means you have more energy to experience the culture and learn new skills.

I feel it’s a great stepping stone for a teaching English career as it gives you time to learn the skills without being thrown in the deep end with a full time workload! As you’re only doing part time hours you actually have the chance to study, observe other teachers and reflect which are all necessary for being a teacher.