Lady in Spain

When looking for information regarding the Auxiliares de Conversación you definitely want to go outside the manual for the program. While the manual does have a lot of great and useful information, I find that for programs like this it is best to speak with people who have already participated or are currently participating in it.

To find current auxiliares de conversación, I can NOT recommend the Expatriate Cafe forum enough. There you will be able to read posts written by current auxiliares, as well as posts from other applicants who are going through the same thing as you. It’s a great way to start making friends and connections before you even arrive in Spain!

Another valuable place to find information regarding current auxiliares is facebook. There are a plethora of groups on there for the auxiliares in various regions. A very quick search for auxiliares de conversación on their search bar should give you plenty of groups to sift through.

Lastly, I’ve found that one of the greatest resources for finding information regarding current auxiliares is to find their blogs. Many auxiliares start blogs (such as this one) to document their experience and to be a source of information for others interested in the program. The ExpatCafe forum that I mentioned is a great way to find such blogs. Many of the auxiliares link to their blogs in their profile and many have started threads on the forum for people to leave their blog links for others. I’ll leave the link to my favorite blog here.

Hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask any questions 🙂

I’ll be writing a post soon about another program similar to this one for those who are interested in exploring their options.

Edit: I forgot to mention that wikipedia is invaluable when it comes to looking up the various regions to see which ones you feel best suit you when it comes time to list your regional preferences on the application.

There are two VERY important things that you will need when applying to this program. The first is the guide they provide online for registering and completeing the online application. Believe me, this guide will be your best friend. Know it. Love it. The link for this years guide is here. It should be noted that the guide and manual for the program can be found on the site that I linked to on my first post that has the site for the program in English. You will definitely need to look at both when applying.

The second thing you will need is patience. Lots and lots of patience. The application process can get very confusing and extremely frustrating. It will all be okay in the end, I promise.

With the guide, registering and going through the application online (using a program called profex) is actually fairly simple. What can make people fall behind is the documents required. You are going to need: official transcripts OR a copy of your diploma, resume, letter of intent (1 page and it should be addressed to the person in charge of the consulate that you are emailing- this information can be found in the program manual), 1 letter of recommendation (this letter MUST be on official letterhead and signed. It must also be from a former professor UNLESS it has been 5 years since you graduated, in which case, you may use a supervisor), and a scanned copy of the first two pages of your passport.

ALL OF THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS MUST BE UPLOADED IN PDF FORMAT!

The recommendation letter is the ONLY document that is exempt from this. I would HIGHLY suggest getting your recommender to give you a PDF copy, however, to upload to the application. Otherwise, the recommender has to mail out the document themselves to the consulate. This can be a bit tricky and often causes it to take longer for your status application to change online.

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This blog is mainly to document my own experience applying to Auxiliares de Conversación and to have a way for friends and family to keep up with my adventures once I go abroad. Of course, I’d also like to be a helpful blog those who want to apply to the program in the future and would like to read something from someone who is currently in the program.

(Side note: I am also applying to BEDA, which is a very similar program. I’ll write a separate post dedicated to that later).

I won’t be leaving for Spain for another 5 months or so, but I wanted to start documenting my experience with everything in this program early. This is why I have opened this blog months before even departing for Spain. Also, I feel like information regarding the application process is just as important.

I hope to be informative for people interested in applying to the program and please feel free to ask me questions you may have. I’m going to write a post tomorrow all about the application process. First, however, I want to talk give information regarding the program. This is straight from the program’s site:

Cultural Ambassadors: North American Language and Culture Assistants

This program aims to:

• Promote cultural, educative and scientific knowledge exchange.
• Support Spanish teachers in teaching and students in learning the Spanish language.
• Foster understanding and appreciation between different cultures.

The Assistants get a grant in Spain to provide support to the English or French teachers in language and culture classes and also  have the opportunity to learn about the Spanish language and culture and use their experience upon their return to the United States or Canada, thus developing cultural understanding between the citizens of Spain and the United States of America and Canada.

In other words, you are a teaching assistant helping students learn English. This does not mean that you will be a teaching assistant in their English class. You can be assigned to any course (english, science, history, art, etc.). You are paid a stipend (roughly about 700 euros), given health insurance, and work, generally, a few hours 4 days a week. You may be assigned to either a primary or secondary school (you may list a preference in the application but there is not guarantee that it will be adhered to). The exact location of your placement is also up to the program (the greatest number of openings are in Madrid. However, that is also a very popular preference for applicants so not everyone who wants Madrid may be placed there).

It should also be noted that the program does not require any teaching experience and you do not need to be fluent in Spanish.

I know that I had a bit of an issue finding the site for the program in English when I was searching, so I’m going to post it here for others to have (http://www.educacion.gob.es/eeuu/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/auxiliares-conversacion-eeuu.html.)

The site also has a manual to the program that I HIGHLY suggest people read. I’ve noticed that a lot of the questions people have regarding the program can easily be answered by reading the manual.

So that’s the gist of the program, if you have any other questions please feel free to ask me 🙂