Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before I Became an Auxiliar de Conversación
For the 2022-2023 school year, I served as an auxiliar de conversación in a bilingual primary school in Andalusia, Spain. As an auxiliar de conversación (or auxiliar or aux, for short), I taught English as an assistant teacher in academic and extracurricular courses for first, second, and third grade students.
Looking back, it’s truly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made to move to Spain and teach English. That said, there are definitely a few things I wish I would have known before embarking on this major life transition.
In this post, you’ll find a list of the top things I wish I would have known before moving to Spain as an auxiliar de conversación. If you plan to move to Spain and teach English, you might find this list to be helpful in preparing for your move.
1. When school starts, bacterial and viral illnesses often start going around.
As is typical in the United States, as well, at the start of the school year large groups of students reunite, and unfortunately, this makes for rapid transmission of pathogens.
In October (one month into the school year), it seemed that around half of the students and teachers were sick at the school where I worked. Throughout fall, each of the auxiliares I knew in the area got sick at least once. I had a cold once a month during my first three months in Spain.
Working in environments with so many people—and especially working with young children who are often still learning about good personal hygiene practices like covering their mouths—it’s important to take every necessary precaution to avoid illness. Be sure to drink lots of water, get lots of rest, and take your vitamins!
2. You can request days off in exchange for making them up—but whether your request is granted will depend on your administrators.
At the orientation for auxiliares de conversación in Malaga, the director of the regional aux program explained that we language assistants are allowed to ask to take days off in exchange for making up the hours we miss. That means, if you want to have an extra long weekend to travel every now and then, you can ask the bilingual coordinator at your school if they will permit you to miss a day and make up the hours another time.
That said, the director of the regional aux program also explained that whether or not our request for time off is granted will depend on the administrators at our particular schools. So, he advised us to build good working relationships with our administrators so they’d be more inclined to help us out.
3. You might get paid late—like really late.
First off, as auxiliares de conversación, we get our paychecks at the end of the month. In other words, since the program starts in the beginning of October, auxes aren’t generally paid until the end of October or even early November.
But unfortunately, many auxes have reported not receiving their first paycheck for the first few months. Facebook groups and subreddits I’ve read report Valencia paying their auxes several months late, for example.
So, if you’re planning on teaching English in Spain as an auxiliar de conversación, be sure to bring enough money with you to sustain yourself for the first few months at least.
4. Your classroom experiences may vary widely depending on the teacher you assist in teaching English.
As a student, I’ve always been keenly aware of the fact that my learning experiences could vary widely depending on the teacher who taught me. Now, as an auxiliar, that same principle rings true in terms of my experiences teaching English.
According to my experiences and what I’ve heard from numerous other auxes, teachers have a wide range of approaches for using auxiliares de conversación in their classrooms. Some teachers stay very involved during the whole time their aux is in the room, while other teachers view the time the auxiliar is with their class as an opportunity to grade papers. Depending on the teacher the aux is assigned to, the aux’s responsibilities could range from planning an hour-long lesson to simply showing up that day and following the main teacher’s instructions.
All of that said, it’s important to remember that auxiliares de conversación are assistant language teachers. The main classroom teachers are not supposed to leave auxes to their students alone.
5. Teaching elementary schoolers can be exhausting, but it’s really rewarding.
I’ve absolutely loved teaching English in a bilingual primary school in Spain. Day to day, it can be a bit exhausting to teach first, second, and third grade students, because it takes a lot of energy to maintain their attention. Still, I find teaching these age groups to be really fun!
With younger elementary school students, I think that teaching a second language is best done through songs, games, and other interactive activities. These sorts of non-traditional teaching methods help keep young students engaged. And let’s be honest, singing songs, doing dances, and playing games makes teaching and learning more fun for everyone!
Teaching English in a Spanish primary school has been especially rewarding for me, because my students repeatedly express their gratitude for me through hugs, simple sentences in English, and pictures they’ve drawn. I’ve really, really enjoyed teaching English as an auxiliar de conversación in a primary school in Spain.
Are you interested in learning how to teach English abroad in Spain? Click the button below to check out my article on the best resources I’ve found for learning how to teach English in Spain.
