i've lived in Spain for 3.5 years now, and my number one regret is not becoming involved in the "local" scene sooner. Many ex-pats say that it is impossible and not worth the effort, and sure, it can be fun to be in an anglophone bubble and you'll still have a great time. But befriending locals enriches the experience so much; rather than feeling like a glorified tourist, you can actually feel a part of it all. in my experience, most spainards are pretty open and excited to share their culture! a great way to do this is by going to intercambios (language exchanges) at bars, as a lot of people want to improve their english.
other miscellaneous advice:
1) idk how old you are but many museums are free/reduced admission for those under 30. there is a thing called a youth card which allows you to go to basically any museum, for free, as much as you want. this is one of my favorite parts of living in madrid especially; spending an afternoon at the prado, soaking it all in at a languid pace, knowing you can come back whenever is magical!!
2) spanish food is commonly hated on my foreigners but i love it so much now, peak comfort food. eat as much tortilla, bravas, huevos rotos, jamon, croquettas etc. as you can. drink vermut
3) working at a school is kind of a crapshoot. i've worked in two schools; one was wonderful, the other kinda hellish. like abbooo said communication and patience are really necessary— if you need support don't be afraid to ask.
4) watch spanish films and listen to spanish music. get excited!! being familiar with at least a couple almodovar films (they're amaze) (law of desire is the best) will be surprisingly useful in conversation
5) things take longer, life is slower, when it takes over an hour to get the check at a restaurant try to avoid frustration and take things less seriously
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Thank you sm !! I will be looking for intercambios and getting a youth card as soon as i touch down
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hiii i have lived in spain for a few years and it has changed who i am and how i see life so positively!! im v jealous you're just starting the whole experience
re: the job—i'm not teaching atm but did for the three years before. i didn't get a TEFOL certificate so i taught through the auxiliars program (i was a teaching assistant). in my case, it was super chill, i didn't have to plan lessons and the teachers helped me a lot. in any case, most public schools in spain run from 9-2 which is a work schedule i'll probably miss for the rest of my life. private schools generally run on a standard 9-5 schedule. the main problem you'll come across in the schools is poor organization and communication. my main piece of advice is brushing up on language skills if necessary—knowing spanish helps you communicate with the kids and the teachers a lot better. to be honest, the job had almost nothing to do with why i moved here, i just wanted to live in spain. that was mostly not a problem. my main issue with the job was being bored.
okay, work aside—life in spain is a dream. spaniards value work much less than we do in the us, and it's a more social, laid-back culture. take advantage of it!! travel around spain—it's pretty cheap and there is sooo much to see. i never experienced "culture shock" or anything like that, but i live in madrid so it's maybe easier than in a pueblo. that doesn't mean it's always easy or that it doesn't take a bit of time to adapt, but i don't personally know anyone who has moved here and had a negative experience. sooo anyways idk what else to add but rest assured you're making a great decision
Jan 25, 2025
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I think about this country every single day
reminds me of fish and wine and olive oil and good cheese/pork and just chilling out - not my native tongue unlike my parents and I want to become fluent eventually
May 10, 2024
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- I know it seems funny but they are always over emphasizing what they want to say in a very dramatic way, so it's useful for your pronunciation at first. My recommendation is Betty la Fea, from Colombia.
- Stick to a single accent. The slang is all different in Spanish according to countries, regions and even from city to city. It's better sticking to a single accent/country. It's gonna be easier in terms of technique. I recommend accents from Latin America, as they currently have a big cultural impact. A lot of people decide to go with the Spanish accent under the justification that "it's traditional" (traditional as in, they think everybody will understand them because they also think that everybody speaks in that dialect to an extent, which is untrue). The advantage of a latin American accent, depending on which one you pick, is that it could come off as more neutral, which in my pinion facilitates your learning process.
- Look up songs. Hispanics loooove storytelling and they do it mostly through music. I would listen to Shakira's old songs, Juanes, Carlos Vives. Some specific songs you can look up are: Hijo de la Luna by Mecano: it tells the legend of the personification of motherhood through the moon (Spain); Mis Ojos Lloran Por Ti by Big Boy (Latin America): this is a song that fluctuates between a ballad and rap. The rap goes pretty fast, but the idea is for you to look up the lyrics. Talks about a guy being very sad because he is heartbroken; Ella y Yo by Aventura feat. Don Omar: this song is about two guys breaking off their friendship because of a woman. It's very emotional and intense. It reads like a conversation, like a dialogue between these two men. One talks, the other responds, so it's pretty simple to follow.
- If you're looking for content creators, my last rec has the type of people you should follow in order to learn. It's a generic guide.
- I've talked about this previously, but you should activate your accessibility tools on your phone. These are tools for blind people. The phone reads the content aloud to them. With the tools, you have the possibility to select a specific paragraph/word and have the phone read it aloud to you. Obviously, your keyboard needs to be in Spanish for this. Like I said before, I recommend you choosing the Latin American Spanish. in this way, if you don't have anyone to practice with, but you have doubts about your pronunciation, you could just select the word you want and the phone will read it for you. You have the chance of repeating it as much as you want and you could also say it out loud by yourself until you get it right, which is really cool. On iPhone you can adjust the speed. I'm assuming this is similar for other phones.
Nov 19, 2024
