Spanish teacher in Italy: who was going to tell me? <

Spanish teacher in Italy: who was going to tell me?

I would never have imagined that I would just be about to finish a course for Spanish teachers, but I can already see the benefits it can give you in life.

I have studied a scientific career and for a year all of my work experience has been inside the chemistry laboratory. But fate had me move to an Italian town in the region of Marche in search of work. It is not a very industrial area, and despite the fact that I continued to send CVs to laboratories throughout Italy, it occurred to me that I had something which no one else in the area had; I was a native Spaniard!

So, I started to advertise to give private Spanish lessons and to participate in language exchanges with Italian people so that I could improve my Spanish. I really liked this experience; even though I recognize that being a native speaker and then being able to teach your native language are two very different things. I had to revise a lot of Spanish grammar to be able to explain it to the students the material that they were given in class, which was also handy for me.

After a few months, a great opportunity appeared thanks to my decision to train myself as a Spanish teacher and to try to open up other professional pathways. I was offered to do a Spanish course for young people. I accepted straight away and prepared for it for a long time. I had never had any experience teaching to a large class, neither in Spanish or anything else and I was really nervous. But in the end it was a very enriching experience and I have to admit that the internet really helped me to find didactic materials.

Following this, I proposed some Spanish courses in the university for adults in the town where I live and I got a place. So I decided to train myself for these future occasions. The course has served me well, and above all it has made me reflect on the fact that being a native speaker is not enough to be able to teach it, other things have to be taken into account to be a good teacher. Also, I think that to be a good teacher one can never stop learning and that you learn mostly through experience.

I decided to take this course because I realized that I needed more training for my CV. I hope with all my heart that one day I will be able to work as a Spanish teacher, although I know that this is only the first step and I still have a lot to learn. At least now, I am more confident in preparing a course and I can consider things which I wouldn’t have considered before.