How to Supplement Your Stipend While Teaching in Spain

Teaching in Spain offers a great work/life balance!  With a 4-day work week and only 16 hours of classroom time, you will find yourself plenty of free time to explore your community and beyond. 

Your monthly stipend can go a long way with some smart budgeting, but if you are expecting to save money for traveling or savings, you might need to get a little creative. 

It's worth noting that as a language and culture assistant through CIEE, you are working in Spain on a student visa rather than a work visa, therefore, working outside the placement school, in a bar, restaurant, library, etc. is not legally feasible.

Dont fret! There is a great, option for supplementing your income if you'd like some more pocket change for trips, tapas, or savings; private tutoring.

Disclaimer: Tutoring is a suggestion to supplement your monthly stipend as a participant in the Auxiliares program in Spain and should not interfere with your primary role and responsibilities.

As a native English speaker, you are in high demand for tutoring opportunities! Tutoring can come in various forms from helping the students at your placement school with homework, to working with adults on their conversational skills. 

When I taught in Spain with CIEE, parents approached me and the other language assistants at my school with tutoring inquiries within the first week! It's good to think about how you'd like to fill your schedule outside of school early on because opportunities will present themselves before you know it.

How you can find tutoring opportunities: 
1. Tell your bilingual coordinator or school colleagues that you are available outside of school hours to help with homework or conversation practice. They can make an announcement to the parents. 

2. Wait for parents of your students to approach you. 

3. Use Facebook groups - large Facebook groups such as Auxiliares de Conversacion en MADRID have thousands of members based in Madrid and post updates and opportunities from tutoring to vacant housing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/madridauxiliares/ 

4. If you participate in the Immersion program, you will be with a host family for 2 or 4 weeks before you start teaching. They are locals! Ask them if they have friends or family members who need help with their English. 

Tutoring can help you further develop your teaching skills, observe different learning styles, and create closer connections with your students.