So for anyone who only follows my blog and isn’t my pal on fb, twitter or insta (which is probably nobody) I NOW LIVE IN LANZAROTE. Yep, that’s right. Where have I wanted to live since 2003? Lanzarote. And now I’m here. So weird.
What not many people know is that between finishing uni in May up until receiving my nombramiento at my school in Lanzarote in July, I’d decided I didn’t want to go. I moved home and my anxiety skyrocketed and I just wasn’t able to do really anything without having a panic attack. That was a great time. After a discussion with my parents we decided that moving to a new country where I knew nobody would just be too much, and they totally supported that decision. I’d started writing my application to do a Masters in Translation at Durham University but couldn’t send it off until after graduation. But then I had a great week when I found out I’d be graduating with a first class degree then I saw James Bay at Tynemouth castle and then found out that I got Lanzarote.
I was lying in bed having only just woken up scrolling through my emails and there it was. All in capital letters. LANZAROTE. That was it. I knew I had to go. How could I turn down an opportunity to spend a year in my favourite place? My school was even near enough that I could live with my grandparents. Ideal. I was still nervous as shit but I knew I had to go. So I graduated, got all my certificates and sent off my Masters application for the academic year 2017/18 and what do you do, Durham accepted me. WOO. Plans for the next two years sorted.
So, what’s it actually like being an English Language Assistant in Lanzarote? It’s not the standard ELA experience I don’t think. Most people go to mainland Spain where there are quite a few other auxiliares nearby. When I showed up to our introductory meeting up in Arrecife, there were three other English Language assistants. Not in my school. On the entire island. It’s hard. I’m starting to see Lanzarote purely as a holiday spot. The young people just don’t stay here. Particularly where I live down in Puerto del Carmen. The only people here full time are people who work in bars or retired oldies. Which is fine. But I want some pals. The last four years I’ve had a constant circle of like minded uni pals and it’s hard to go from 24/7 pals to 3 who live bus rides away. Oh well, hopefully it’ll get better. Dear any 20-25 year old English/Spanish speakers in Lanzarote, be my friend please.
Anyway, back to what it’s actually like doing my job over here. I work 12 hours a week in a primary school in San Bartolomé, a town a little further inland. I am lucky enough to have to lift to school from one of the other English teachers, Esperanza. She's the best, honestly. I work Monday-Wednesday, all day Monday and Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday. I say full day. The school day is 8:30-1:30. I go home at 11:10 on Wednesdays. I know, don't hate me. This week though the Consejería sent out a request for us auxiliaries to do extra work so I've signed up for 4 extra hours a week, doing conversation practice with English teachers on the island. Not sure what or where or when that'll be but an extra 200€ each month will help me out loads lol. The school day has 5 lessons with recreo in the middle, which is fab. Just enough, I think. I teach years 4, 5 & 6, essentially the ones who have the best chance of understanding and communicating with me. Mainly what I do is help with pronunciation, play games to help introduce and consolidate vocabulary and generally just acting as an extra pair of eyes to make sure the kids are working. I work with 4 different teachers and they each have different styles and methods but I think I fit in with all of them.
The first few days were a bit repetitive, I can't lie. I teach in 12 different classes which meant introducing myself 12 times. "I am Katy. I am from England, the bit at the top. It's called Newcastle. It's cold there and it snows at Christmas! I am 22 years old. I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I like One Direction. I like to swim and to read. My favourite colour is pink. My favourite animal is the whale. I like pasta." I had to say all that very slowly and clearly which isn't easy for a Geordie.
One of my first 'real' lessons I had to count from 10-100 in tens and I genuinely had my pronunciation corrected because I didn't pronounce the 't' in the middle of 40. I thought I knew the strength of my accent when I went to uni in the south but you really can't realise until you're speaking in front of a room of 25 kids who know the "British" accent off their school resource tapes and you know you sound completely different. It's okay though. It's led to various discussions of accents which were fun. A lot of the time I end up repeating the structure of a class 4 times over but in some ways it's really good because it becomes really familiar and second nature and you can relax into it. However since it's basic it can be quite boring.
As I mentioned earlier, Lanzarote is a holiday island but for some Brits it is the dream. That means there are a fair few British kids up at my school, and I teach most of them. It's so biased and bad but they're some of my favourites. It's just nice to have a bit banter with them! There are a couple who have only just moved over so their Spanish is quite basic so I can tell English is one of their favourite classes and their faces light up when I'm in the room because they know they'll understand and can chat to me, something which is quite a luxury for them and the best part of their school day. The rest have been in Spanish school the entire time and watching them switch from English with me to Spanish with their friends so effortlessly is amazing, and something I'm really jealous of. If I ever have kids, I want them to have an experience like that. I mean, fair enough, it's not ideal. Their English at this stage isn't as progressed as their peers back in Britain, and in particular one of my kids at school struggles with spelling, but all it'll take for that to improve is reading in English and they can do that and it'll get better as they get older. I also have favourites in each class who are Spanish because I think it'd just normal to have favourites. They're so cute and adorable and still innocent because they're in primary school and I love it. I got really lucky.
The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with school being cancelled from excessive rain warnings (yeah I know, as an English person this is just ridiculous), with días festivos, with teachers being off and with timetable changes. Last week 2 of the 4 English teachers I work with were absent. It's okay though because when I miss one of my lessons I just go with Esperanza to either a year 4 class I already know, or to year 3 who are even cuter. This week I actually spent two hours with the infants! I had to dance and sing incy wincy spider and humpty dumpty and it's really not for me but they were adorbs. They were just too much. So so so cute. I could barely concentrate because I just wanted to cuddle them all. I'm not really allowed to though. BUT!! I get cuddles off the kids I actually teach and it's so nice. And they give me artwork too. I can't cope I almost cry with it hahahaha.
One of the hard bits of my job is keeping from the kids that I speak Spanish. I think some of them are starting to twig because they ask me questions in English and I answer and then they ask me questions in Spanish and I still answer because in my head these are just words I know and I really need to stop. I understand the reasoning behind telling them I only speak English because it means they won't just fall back on Spanish but it'd make a lot of things easier if I could use a little bit to explain things. When I slip up I just tell them it's because I'm learning but I know the older kids are starting to realise and the English kids I think DEFINITELY know. It's okay.
To sum up, I have been doing this job for about 7 weeks now and I love it. I am thinking about doing it again after my Masters but that's for future Katy to deal with.
Thank you for coming back to my little space on the internet, I do love it. I hope I'll get back into the swing of things but like I say, I tend to only get the bug when I'm sad or alone. Lol.
Hasta luego, chums.
KB x
The first few days were a bit repetitive, I can't lie. I teach in 12 different classes which meant introducing myself 12 times. "I am Katy. I am from England, the bit at the top. It's called Newcastle. It's cold there and it snows at Christmas! I am 22 years old. I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. I like One Direction. I like to swim and to read. My favourite colour is pink. My favourite animal is the whale. I like pasta." I had to say all that very slowly and clearly which isn't easy for a Geordie.
One of my first 'real' lessons I had to count from 10-100 in tens and I genuinely had my pronunciation corrected because I didn't pronounce the 't' in the middle of 40. I thought I knew the strength of my accent when I went to uni in the south but you really can't realise until you're speaking in front of a room of 25 kids who know the "British" accent off their school resource tapes and you know you sound completely different. It's okay though. It's led to various discussions of accents which were fun. A lot of the time I end up repeating the structure of a class 4 times over but in some ways it's really good because it becomes really familiar and second nature and you can relax into it. However since it's basic it can be quite boring.
As I mentioned earlier, Lanzarote is a holiday island but for some Brits it is the dream. That means there are a fair few British kids up at my school, and I teach most of them. It's so biased and bad but they're some of my favourites. It's just nice to have a bit banter with them! There are a couple who have only just moved over so their Spanish is quite basic so I can tell English is one of their favourite classes and their faces light up when I'm in the room because they know they'll understand and can chat to me, something which is quite a luxury for them and the best part of their school day. The rest have been in Spanish school the entire time and watching them switch from English with me to Spanish with their friends so effortlessly is amazing, and something I'm really jealous of. If I ever have kids, I want them to have an experience like that. I mean, fair enough, it's not ideal. Their English at this stage isn't as progressed as their peers back in Britain, and in particular one of my kids at school struggles with spelling, but all it'll take for that to improve is reading in English and they can do that and it'll get better as they get older. I also have favourites in each class who are Spanish because I think it'd just normal to have favourites. They're so cute and adorable and still innocent because they're in primary school and I love it. I got really lucky.
The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with school being cancelled from excessive rain warnings (yeah I know, as an English person this is just ridiculous), with días festivos, with teachers being off and with timetable changes. Last week 2 of the 4 English teachers I work with were absent. It's okay though because when I miss one of my lessons I just go with Esperanza to either a year 4 class I already know, or to year 3 who are even cuter. This week I actually spent two hours with the infants! I had to dance and sing incy wincy spider and humpty dumpty and it's really not for me but they were adorbs. They were just too much. So so so cute. I could barely concentrate because I just wanted to cuddle them all. I'm not really allowed to though. BUT!! I get cuddles off the kids I actually teach and it's so nice. And they give me artwork too. I can't cope I almost cry with it hahahaha.
One of the hard bits of my job is keeping from the kids that I speak Spanish. I think some of them are starting to twig because they ask me questions in English and I answer and then they ask me questions in Spanish and I still answer because in my head these are just words I know and I really need to stop. I understand the reasoning behind telling them I only speak English because it means they won't just fall back on Spanish but it'd make a lot of things easier if I could use a little bit to explain things. When I slip up I just tell them it's because I'm learning but I know the older kids are starting to realise and the English kids I think DEFINITELY know. It's okay.
To sum up, I have been doing this job for about 7 weeks now and I love it. I am thinking about doing it again after my Masters but that's for future Katy to deal with.
Thank you for coming back to my little space on the internet, I do love it. I hope I'll get back into the swing of things but like I say, I tend to only get the bug when I'm sad or alone. Lol.
Hasta luego, chums.
KB x
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