Vedruna Artés has joined the Programa Auxiliars de Conversa for the first time this year. They are hosting Josh, who comes from the UK. He and his tutor Imma have written to us to tell us a little about this new experience for both of them. Thanks a lot!!
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We, at Vedruna Artés school, have had the chance of having our first conversation assistant ever. He’s Josh Hall. He joined the school team in January. He is a young, active man with loads of adventures in mind. He came directly from his native land, Cornwall, in the south- west England, to Barcelona; bringing with him his great passion: Running. He used to compete and he plans to go into competitions again in the near future. At the moment, he is planning to keep on travelling the world after his days in Artés. His next stop? Vietnam, the south of Asia, Australia and who knows what next. He feels good here but he is also very enthusiastic about seeing the world and undergoing the most fascinating adventures the world can offer. All the members of the school are enjoying his company and lessons. We can not wait for his postcards from around the world.
(Imma)
And now, Josh:
After I finished college with my qualifications in engineering/operating and an athletics ambition in the pipe works I decided to try something new with teaching, believing that teaching would allow me to travel the world whilst gaining great knowledge from different cultures, I picked up a TEFL qualification and went from there.
Apart from this the experience is allowing me to travel around the world. It also enables me to gain an understanding of the different cultures and see life from a different angle.
In general my time here in Spain has been a varied one full of different experiences which will stand me in good stead for the future.
I started school here worried about living with a host family after being independent outside of family life for so long and as to what to expect from the program and whether I would like it or not.
However, from day one I instantly felt like I should belong here and never felt more welcome. I have had 2 host families during my stay here and despite having the usual time to settle in an environment that you’re not used to I felt at home (even if the family need to make sure I’m safe every 5 minutes).
I have been put out of my comfort zone having never been in an education environment before and this presented many challenges that I didn’t think I would overcome in less than 6 months!!
Peace Day
The most interesting for me is the Spanish culture, food and traditions!! Paella, Calçots, Sangria and the Mediterranean diet to name just a few.
The family I feel like I could go to for any problem no matter what it might be which made me feel more reassured about the stay in Spain.
Before arriving here I was nervous about only knowing a small amount of Spanish and having such a small understanding of the Spanish language questions started to arise …”How are you going to understand what they are saying”, “How are you going to get your point across”,
These are all the questions I used to hear at the start and the questions I used to debate with myself before arrival.
But as soon as I arrived at the school, seen the teachers and seen the students my attitude changed fast…
Having the right attitude and energy (sometimes being crazy silly) made the young learners for the most part easy to work with and easy to teach.
Also the program has opened up options to teach in private academies to supplement income whilst also gaining even more experience in my case 8-50 year olds which I found in the 1st couple of weeks which made the stay a lot easier and a lot more comfortable for me financially especially when you consider the lack of expenses.
Multilingual Day
One of the highlights from the caps course for me was when I arrived in Barcelona and had a whole team of people from opposite ends of the world all with unique cultures and differences and speaking with them about what lies ahead. I still keep in contact with these people even if it is sometimes more difficult to see them if there further away from where I am or Barcelona.
I have been living in a small town called Artés; the town is only 50 miles from Barcelona and I have been working in the school which is called Vedruna, just a 5 minute walk from my house. I work with pupils aged from 4-16 year old and was like a big family. From the first day, I felt like part of a team!
I have now been here almost 6 months and still can’t walk around the school without students attempting there best English greetings with smiles bigger than dinner plates!!!
The school I work at is small thus enabling you to get a real connection with the students which may not be so easy with a bigger school, so this was a huge bonus and something that made the experience so much more special.
The students here are full of energy at all times and are always willing to make your day!
I have been taking small groups of students from the class to do some conversational classes.
Patxi is loved by eveyone in the school, not only by the children. The teachers are really happy to work with him. He is very enthusiastic, he wants to do his work the best he can and wants to participate in all the celebrations and activities organized at school.
I was given information about the School and the Governing Body that owns it, as well as more information about other FEDACs around Spain and the World. This allowed me to research a bit more about their curriculum and what kind of work they did, so as to get a better picture of how I could help. Getting to know the school wasn’t hard; a small five floor building/church which was originally inhabited by nuns. The teachers were very friendly and welcoming, and very soon I was settled in and ready to teach.
