The grass is always greener...

As I said a few days ago, my blogging buddy has moved on to another teaching job in another European country. I won't say where -- I'll leave it up to him to decide if he wants to write about his new life in his blog -- but I do want to point out some of the differences between where he's gone and where we've been...

I think I've made it pretty clear that I think EFL teaching in Spain (or at least in Madrid) can be great for a year or two. It's a good way to make some cash while you use Madrid as a starting point for travel to Spain's other regions (almost all of which I prefer to Madrid, but that's just me). You can get to pretty much anywhere else in Spain in just a few hours by plane or train or take advantage of overnight buses to save money without wasting a whole day of sightseeing. You can also find lots of cheap flights to other places throughout Europe -- though if you're in Spain illegally, you may not want to risk it. You can learn a lot (though often biased) about the history, culture, languages, and food of Spain through your students. You can take advantage of loads of free photo and art exhibits in the city, as well as some free or low-priced museums, and also enjoy the pricier stuff that's on offer.

The problem is that eventually you have to start thinking about your long-term future. If you're living in Spain illegally, you have to face the constant possibility (though admittedly not a probability for most English teachers, at least for now) that you could be discovered and kicked out of the country. Not just that, but they can ban you from re-entering Europe for five years. It's a pretty scary thought. Plus, if you're illegal, you're definitely not paying taxes in Spain and contributing to social security, so you're not putting anything towards a pension. Granted, you probably wouldn't get much of a pension even if you were legal and contributing, but something's better than nothing. You may think, as I did, that you could just put some extra money aside each month and then transfer it over to your private retirement fund back home. Great in theory, but since you're not able to collect unemployment in the summer and don't have paid vacations, most of the money you save up during the year ends up carrying you through the three-month dry period from July-September.

And what if you're legal? While a lucky few make a very good living out of English teaching in Madrid, the majority of teachers working in the typical Madrid language academy do not. They may make a good wage on a full month of teaching, but it's rare to have a full month of teaching due to the many holidays and cancellations by students. Plus, there's the issue of contracts. I recently read an interesting debate/discussion about contracts for English teachers in Spain on the Spain forums of Dave's ESL Cafe. An academy owner explained some of the legal reasons why academies can not and do not give 12-month contracts to all of their teachers. While it's nice to have some light shed on the subject, it doesn't change the harsh reality for legal teachers who want to make a living and career out of teaching English in Madrid. Some will get lucky and find a place that gives them a 12-month contract and thus some stability. However, most will not. (By the way, check out Troy's recent blog entry on the different wages and contract terms in Spain -- very relevant.)

And so, for me, Madrid's not a great choice for people who intend to make English teaching a career, but it can be a fantastic place if you want to spend a year or two living abroad, traveling, and experiencing another culture. I have a lot more to say on this, but in the interest of keeping things short, I'll stop here for now. And eventually get around to my initial point -- comparing EFL in Madrid to EFL in other places.