Two aussies moving to Spain - HELP!

[rkat]

Hi,

My partner was last night offered a FANTASTIC job in Spain, which means that in August-ish we are off to live in Seville for a year!

;D

As my background is in admin/sales we are not really sure what type of work I could get, but I would love to get something in hospitality or teaching English - any suggestion on which would be better/more plentiful in Seville?

We will also have to rent a unit while there, and need to live on the Northern side of town. Can anybody recommend a suburb/area?

And finally... I can't speak Spanish! I was going to spend an hour a night learning from a computer based program which I know is not ideal, but may provide me with some basics? And I thought I could contact my local refugee centre and see if there are any Spanish speakers there who would like to swap conversation in Spanish/English? Any other tips?

Ok, I think that is enough. I shall throw my questions out there and see what comes back!

Thanks in advance,

Rkat

[gtappend]

My partner was last night offered a FANTASTIC job in Spain, which means that in August-ish we are off to live in Seville for a year!

[...]

And finally... I can't speak Spanish! I was going to spend an hour a night learning from a computer based program which I know is not ideal, but may provide me with some basics? And I thought I could contact my local refugee centre and see if there are any Spanish speakers there who would like to swap conversation in Spanish/English? Any other tips?


I think how you go about it depends a bit on what other language skills you have. Can you speak any other European language really well, so that the transition to Spanish may be easier? Or can you only speak English, and are really starting from scratch.

When I needed to learn Spanish fast (although not quite so quick as you are trying to do) I took a intensive crash course at the Adult Education centre - 40 hours in one week with two different teachers, both of whom were native speakers, and only 4 other students. This was approximately the equivalent of 6 months of evening classes and I was really proud of myself when I was able to hold a short conversation with someone in Spanish the following weekend.

I then carried on with normal evening classes and some private tuition after that...

However, I have to warn you - it was a very good week but it was also hard work. 8 hours of tuition per day, with homework, and then learning vocabulary each night. I even started revising the vocabulary in the lunch hour. I also had the advantage of speaking French and German before I started, so I was making connections between the languages in terms of vocabulary and grammar (ie. what's similar, what's not?) Some very basic latin and an understanding of TEFL helped as well.

If you haven't got that background, then I can imagine that things are going to be a lot harder. My experience with CDs/tapes and computer programs has not been that good. What I do find useful are the calendars that you can get here with a little bit of Spanish each day. But all this requires the absolute basics, and I don't think there is any real alternative to a proper teacher.

[djS]

listen to the ipodcast from here and try get tve and watch the news and few off the programs

you love it and in time you have no problems

jurdy

[richardksa]

Michel Thomas Spanish Course will give you the basics really quickly. Linguaphone "All Talk" Spanish is also very good. Buy a dictionary and study words at random.

Browse your local bookstore. The languages section will be sure to have what you need. Get a phrase book and try and learn complete phrases.

Other than that, just read and listen to anything you can. It will seem like total gibberish at first, but very soon bits begin to click into place.

[SuziQ]

In August :eek: Be ready for the heat man :cool: . Stay out of the sun & dont booze up during the day :rolleyes:

[Tartesos]

Hello! I have lived in Seville for 7 years now so I know the city quite well. If you need help, please write to carlosmcardenas@hotmail.com and find out if I can be of any assistance. Seville is a very beautiful city with a very hot summer but the beach is only 45 minutes away and the weather is very warm the rest of the year. Also there are a sky resort 2 hours away.

[rkat]

Thank you to everybody who has replied with advice!

We should find out this week if they can also offer me a work visa - our move over there is really depending on this as Seville would be a long daily commute to work for me from North Queensland!

I am getting more and more excited - I have emptied the section on Spain at the local library ;D .

[José Miguel]

More info on Spain at:
www.spain.info/TourSpain (http://www.spain.info/TourSpain)