Molly Crane is a Conversation Assistant at Escola Infant Jesús (Barcelona). She is helping teachers in both primary and secondary school, and doing really well so far.

We thank her and her tutor Núria for writing to us about Molly’s experience!

My name is Molly Crane-Newman and I am 19 years old, I was born in San Francisco California and have lived in Dublin since I was 2 years old. I finished school 2 years ago and then went on to study Journalism in college.

I came to Barcelona on Sunday the 26^th of September this year to start working as an English teacher the following day in Infant Jesús. It was my first time in Barcelona, I didn’t speak Catalan or Spanish and did not know one person upon arrival, so as you can imagine I was very nervous!

I am staying with three families over the course of nine months. I left my first family at the end of the first term. I was living a stone’s throw from the school and living with a three year old and a ten month old. As the little boy was so young we didn’t practise English during ‘homework time’ as he is in P3 and isn’t given any homework, so we would play games etc. and myself and his parents would speak in English (as I don’t speak Catalan!) and he began to pick up a little vocabulary. I now collect him once a week from school and stay for a few hours playing and talking in English!

Up until this term I had been working with children 5-12 years old. With the smaller ones (so up until 3^rd grade) I took groups of 4-5 out of class and we practised role plays in English (Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs) and they absolutely loved it. Their scripts were tiny and it took a few classes to get some pronunciation but it’s a really lovely activity and I’ve even over heard them practising in the playground! With 3^rd and 4^th grade I also took them out in groups and most days we did little side activities related to what they were doing in class at the time. So one week for instance it was numbers, and a few weeks before it was the alphabet. With the 5^th and 6^th graders (who I still have this term) I have divided them into groups based on their level of English as a few of the children are practising English outside of school and their communication skills are amazing whereas some of the children will not speak a word. I have ‘The Badgers’ ‘The Monkey’s’ and ‘The Wolves’ and then at the beginning of class I’ll take one group for a half an hour and then another for the last half hour. I come up with different ideas of what to do with each group and I can then use the same activity with the rest of the classes.

This term I started with 1^st and 2^nd of ESO. They are very enthusiastic and I haven’t had any problem with bad behaviour (which I was nervous about!), the only problems I’ve had is the occasional shy pupil but after a few classes they open up a bit! The teachers I work with from ESO have helped me with my materials and basically what we’re doing is conversation related to what they’re studying in class at the moment. This week for 1^st of ESO it is school (so favourite subjects/sports activities etc) and with 2^nd of ESO, sports (teams they support, sports they play themselves etc.) I start off with a few questions, and then they complete a role-play activity related to the topic and the activity is finished with a picture description (again all related to the topic we’re discussing). They seem comfortable with the activity and I think it’s a great way to get them talking!

Working in Infant Jesús is amazing. Everybody has been so welcoming and friendly and I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity. Moving to a different country for the first time is terrifying but I really could not be less scared at this point.. Of course it’s still difficult meeting new people and learning the language but everyday it gets a little bit easier and I’m meeting some really lovely people who I know I will remain in contact with. I have fallen in love with the city and intend to stay here for a few years. I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who has an interest in teaching it is a fantastic experience.

Molly Crane Newman