Eight months ago I stepped off the train in Tortosa, freshly graduated from university and with very little idea what to expect from this small Catalan city, or my new job as an English Language Teaching Assistant. Immediately met by the head of the English department, Jesús, and the headmaster, Joan, I learned very quickly that any nervousness I had about moving almost 8000km around the world was completely unnecessary. Regardless of my foreigner's status, my nearly non-existent Catalan language skills, or the fact that I have a tendency to wear short sleeves in winter (it gets down below -40 degrees celsius where I’m from), everyone here has welcomed me with open arms, going over and above to make me feel at home.
One of my 2 BATX classes
One of the fantastic things about my job as a language assistant is it combines the knowledge and experience of the incredible English teachers at my school, with the lived experience of a native speaker. Students have been able to therefore benefit from not only years of teaching practice, tried and proven methods, as well as the advice of people who had learned English as a foreign language themselves, but simultaneously hear native pronunciation, up-to-date vocabulary, as well as natural speech. My students were brave souls learning along with me as I tried new things. We played language games, had intense debates, did plenty of practice for the Cambridge exams and much more while working on fluency, pronunciation, and vocabulary. I’ve learned so much from my students- sometimes I feel much more than they learned from me. I’ve worked with students all the way from 1 ESO to 2 BATX, and even a fantastic debate team for the Tortosa English Festival. Every age and every class were a bit different, but all have been fantastic. Seeing the students’ speaking improve over the year and watching them gain not only knowledge but also confidence has been incredibly rewarding; I am in awe of how well so many of my students speak and how hard they work. I do not have the words to describe my pride at seeing them come back from their KET, PET and FIRST exams saying ‘that was easy’, in the middle of an intense class discussion or onstage at the university for the debate competition. My students are bright, motivated and manage to keep a sense of humour through everything that keep my classes a pleasure to go to every single day.
4ESO Senior High Debate team at the Tortosa English Festival
Along with language, another thing I am here to share with my students is Canadian culture. From something as obvious as the difference in the climates to differences in the types of school systems, cultural values and holidays, it’s been wonderful to be able to teach about where I live, as well as learn about Tortosa and Catalonia. Hearing about my students lives, hobbies, and where they live has been very interesting and I feel very lucky to have had them share it with me. A difference I continue to be amazed by, however, is the amount of activities available to the students at the school. There are exchanges to multiple different countries and it seems like every week or two I have another class of students off on some adventure. I was fortunate enough to be able to offer a workshop to the students for St. Thomas’s day- a holiday for which we have no equivalent in Canada. I taught two sessions of how to do theatre makeup to create different types of injuries for movies, Halloween, Carnival, or acting. A lot of fake blood, wounds, and bruises later, I was able to walk around and see other students performing on stage, cooking crepes, doing henna, and much more. I also had the chance to make my very first paella for the staff alongside a few fantastic staff members.
Left: Two of the teachers and myself cooking paella Right: a fake wound made during the theatre makeup workshop
In February, I had the opportunity to work with visiting students from local primary schools, in an English cupcake-making workshop. Teaching cooking verbs, instructions, and ingredients in a very practical manner to the students was an incredibly fun (and delicious) experience. It also had the added benefit of me getting to know the amazing teachers from the cooking school as well as the rest of the staff and administration team a bit better as I searched for willing people to eat the extra cupcakes.
I I wasn’t the only visitor to the school during my year here either. Student exchanges with Germany, France, and the Czech Republic brought foreign students to the school and into my classrooms. These were fantastic opportunities for the students and I was lucky enough to be invited along on trips to Tarragona and to CREO- the local chocolate factory in Tortosa. Having such amazing opportunities to travel so young is another big difference between Canadian and European schools, given the cost of travel as well as the distance, and is one I am so glad my students here have access to. Having participated in several study-abroad experiences as a university student I cannot express how life-changing they have the potential to be. Additionally, as the Czech students spoke better English than Spanish or Catalan it was a fun change hearing my students speak so much English outside of class as well.
Students from the Czech Republic and JoaquínBau during the CREO chocolate factory tour
Overall it has been an incredible year. I cannot fully express how thankful I have been to be at this school, or in Tortosa. I often say that there are approximately 2000 language assistants like myself with the Spanish government program, and that I am by far the luckiest. Never did I think I would have a school so incredibly welcoming and supportive, where I think every single teacher or student I’ve talked to all year has had a smile or some kind words for me. My tutor, Jesús, has been a force of nature, for which I’ve been deeply thankful for. He’s helped me from my first introduction email before I even arrived, and every second since then. Whatever I’ve needed, whether it was help finding an apartment, help with documents, questions about the school or Tortosa, or whatever else, he’s made sure I felt comfortable and was supported every step of the way. My success here is entirely due to him. A huge thank you to the incredible team of English teachers for sharing their classrooms with me- you have all been fantastic and I have learned so much from all of you that will no doubt continue to help me grow as a teacher for years to come. Your friendship and guidance has meant the world to me.
I am also so grateful for the rest of the teachers making the time to get to know me and their patience in speaking Spanish with me. Whether it was the bike excursion or a chat in the teachers lounge or cafeteria they always made me feel welcome and accepted here. I feel very lucky to be included in such an incredible group of educators, and have received more kindness and help than I could ever possibly hope to repay. To the cooking school for making this school by far the most delicious one to teach at, your food and your kindness has been deeply appreciated. Thank you to the administration team for helping me with each and every one of my questions and for always being there to support me- you are amazing and keep this school held together. And finally to my students. Thank you so very much for letting me have the privilege of teaching you. I have been in constant awe of how talented, intelligent, funny, hard-working and incredible you all are. You inspire me so much, and I truly believe each and every single one of you has so much potential to do fantastic things. I hope you continue with your English, and I encourage you to travel, to explore, and to
never stop learning. I will miss you all so very much, and I look forward to visiting soon. Thank you all for making this year one of the best ones I’ve ever had, and for making Tortosa home this year for me. All my best, Ely