It comes as no surprise that the laid-back life of an English teacher in Madrid lures many people to want to stay for a second year. It’s even better the second time around: the nerves of being a new teacher, lesson planning, gaining rapport with your students and juggling teaching English while learning Spanish will have become child’s play. You’ll have got your foot well in the teaching door and you’ll be clued up as to what type of classes you want to teach, who you want to teach and what type of schedule you want. Here’s how to get the most out of your second year in Madrid.

Work

Scrub up your CV! You now have a whole year’s experience and a ton of new skills to get down on paper. Do this regardless of whether you plan to change academies; it’s a great confidence boost getting this down on paper.

Make sure to keep the academies you’re currently working for in the loop as to what you plan to do next year. The most important reason for doing this is that more often than not you’ll have first dibs on jobs that come up with them the following year, and therefore will be able to have even more control over your timetable.

Spanish

You might feel like your progress has been slow in the first year as you’re busy adapting to the pace of teaching and getting to know your materials but you’ll be able to take everything in your stride in your second year so make improving Spanish more of a priority. Madrid is one of the best places for learning Spanish in Spain, due to there being no other languages used in the region, the typical Madrileño accent is relatively clear, and there are simply endless languages interchange activities happening every night of the week in different places.

Friends

You may be waving goodbye to some great friends after your first year but there’s plenty more fish in the friendship sea. Do you remember clinging to anyone that came your way in your first few months of living in Spain? In your second year, you’ll be able to take your time and be more picky with who you make friends with as you’ll already have people around you from your first year. You can also start branching out and use your improved Spanish to get some local friends too.

Travel

The second year in Madrid is perfect for discovering more of what Spain has to offer, and travelling that bit further afield than Toledo and Segovia. Spain is a melting pot of culture, from the contrasts of Andalucía to Asturias, as well as Portugal which is only next door but provides a whole other cuisine and language experience.

For EU passport holders, the transition to the second year in Madrid is seamless. For those who are non EU, it’s unfortunately another round of Spanish administration for VISA renewal. The good thing is though that here at Tt Madrid, we are here to support you with this process. Karmen and Helen have lots of options for how to extend your time in Madrid. Simply email [email protected] for more info!