Facts about Teaching in Spain (and Other Random Thoughts)

In one class alone where I teach, there are three boys named Javier. Besides that, there is at least one Javier in every class.

The three Javiers are nothing compared to the three boys named Jorge Martínez in another class. No, I am not kidding. They are all named Jorge Martínez and they are all in the same class. Thankfully in Spain everyone has two last names (father’s and mother’s), so they call them by their second last name.

Usually British English is taught here, and in a couple classes we are reading British books. Well, this phrase appeared in one of the books the other day: “She’s chuffed to little mint balls.” Do I speak this language? I had to go to wordreference.com to look up an English word! I found out that chuffed means “happy”. Then I posted a question in the forum asking about the phrase. I found it strange that my first post on Word Reference was regarding an English phrase, not a Spanish one. Well, someone British replied and it means “really excited/happy about something”. Apparently “chuffed to bits” is more common, though. Want to see if we can make it catch on in the U.S.? Go ahead and throw it into a conversation. Let’s see what happens.

Speaking of starting trends, my friend Julie and I decided that we want the term “turkeys” to catch on in the U.S., too. In Spanish “pavos” or “turkeys” means “bucks” (as in money). Try that one, too. Here’s what you could say, “I’d be chuffed to little mint balls if I won a million turkeys.” Ha…they may send you to the funny farm.

Back to school… maybe you already knew this, but in Spain high schoolers stay in the same class all day. The teachers switch classrooms. Yes, this means the students are with the same people all day long. And, yes, they know each other way too well. It also means that when I did a Power Point I had to unplug and then reset-up the laptop and projector between every class. Annoying!

My favorite students, though, are the kids I give private classes to three times a week: Miguel (5) and María (3). They are ADORABLE. I could just eat them up! Miguel is as smart as a whip and wants to know everything and remembers everything.

I hope you all are doing well. I am still staying with my generous friends Julie and Paco. I need to find a permanent home!!! The search has been harder than I had anticipated.