Escola Ramon Pont – Terrassa

Ramon Pont is an infant, primary and secondary school located in Terrassa. They have been in the Program for two years. Their conversation assistant for this school year is Rachel, who comes from the US. She is having a great time in Terrassa and in Ramon Pont, and her presence there benefits both teachers and students. Thanks for writing to us, Rachel 🙂

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My name is Rachel Lane and this is my first year as a conversation assistant with CAPS.  I’m currently in a school in Terrassa, about 40 minutes away from Barcelona, called Escola Ramon Pont.  Terrassa has been a great place to live so far; you are close enough to Barcelona to be able to hop on a train whenever you want, but you don’t always have to deal with tourists in Barcelona.

At the school, I work with ages 3-16, which has been interesting in that there are obviously varying levels of English, and that I get to do things such as sing English songs with the young kids, and go into more in-depth conversations with the older kids.  My day-to-day work here consists of taking small groups from classes and doing various speaking activities.  I really enjoy doing this because I get to know the kids and their cultures, as well as discussing my culture and life in America.  Since the school I work in is small, I’ve gotten to know all of the teachers and students on a more personal level.

Another interesting aspect of the program is living with a host family.  I am currently with my second family, and I think that this is the main way that I have become more integrated with life and culture here in Spain.  Being so far from home, I am happy that I get a family atmosphere; we all have meals together, we go on outings in and around Terrassa, and I’ve even participated in family gatherings which have been great fun.

Overall, moving to Spain to be a conversation assistant has been one of the best experiences of my life.  My two pieces of advice to anyone considering is 1) Start saving your money!  The process can be expensive, and it’s good to have a cushion of money to fall back on in case you need it while in Spain. 2)  Even basic knowledge of Spanish is extremely helpful while living here.  I studied Spanish in college so I know a good bit, but I would imagine it would be much more difficult to do day-today things here without any knowledge of the language.