Reflecting on life in Seville

Our students are coming to the end of their 3 month internships here in Seville. They will be packing their bags and leaving the city in the next 2 weeks. Here are their accounts of how life has been for them and what their plans are next.

Emily has been working as an English & Sports Teacher at Kids & Sports;

Photo taken by Emily of Emily and Alex in Cadiz for carnival

'My placement has introduced many new things to me, like how physical language learning can be to how to be a good sport coach to how important great colleague relationships are to the workplace. Sport wasn’t something that I thought I would go into work wise but its been very enjoyable, particularly in the ballet and gymnastic classes as I used to do them when I was little so teaching kids that are in a similar position to what I was at that age is very rewarding.

I definitely consider Seville to be my home right now, I walk around the city as though I’ve been here for a lot longer than I have as I know it so well. I’ve got such an established routine that it’s created a familiarity like you get at home, the only things that are different are the languages and the weather- which I am 100% going to miss. This internship has given me such a great opportunity to explore a great city but I’ve also explored the cities close by, like Cadiz for the recent carnival, Granada, and Cordoba which I wouldn’t have done if this was a holiday. My Spanish vocabulary has been improved significantly, as I’m only a beginner it’s the best place to start, again another opportunity I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t do this internship, the immersion has allowed me to learn a lot more than I did in a year at secondary school. I am looking forward to my family summer holiday returning to Spain to impress them with what I’ve learnt. My brother also visited recently and showing him around the local historical sites made me feel more like a local than a tourist, I think I did a great job being his tour guide for the weekend.

When I return to the UK I have a job lined up for a teaching assistant in a secondary school, this internship has given me the opportunity to work with an age group that I had never worked with before which has surprised me, in a good way. Previous to this I had a lot of experience with primary aged children and some with teaching adults, and although this internship has mainly focussed on younger children it has sparked an interest in working with teenagers- something I never thought I would be interested in let alone enjoy!'

Photo taken by Sophie - The gymnastics room at Kids & Sports

Alex has been working as an Teaching Assistant at Colegio Britanico de Sevilla;

'I absolutely love my work placement. Before coming here, I was wavering about becoming a primary school teacher but now I have no doubts. I've been trusted with a girl 18months behind her development stage and am responsible for her literacy and numeracy. She has come on leaps and bounds since I first met her and its so so rewarding knowing you are helping in that progress. I'm so sad to be leaving soon but it was been an amazing experience and it is such a lovely, small school to work in.

Again, living in Sevilla is a dream. Having the lake just a short walk makes planning lessons so much more enjoyable than it would be otherwise. I have a 40 minute walk to the bus stop in the morning and the amount of smiles and good mornings you share with other locals gives you a cheery start to your morning everyday. I can imagine living here long term even though I don't speak a lot of Spanish everyone welcomes you to try and is so happy when you do. It's a lovely friendly place to spend your time and there's so many other places nearby where you can spend your weekends. It's perfect.

I am keen on coming back to Seville eventually, but I already have a job lined up for 6 months starting April. I'll be teaching primary in Madagascar and am so much more confident in planning lessons and managing classroom behaviour following my placement at CBS.'

Imogen who works as Assistant Project Co-ordinator at 3Si;

Photo taken by Imogen of her at work during a meeting with a student.

'I have found my work placement at 3SI incredibly rewarding. Not only have I learnt the ins and outs of an Education Management business, but I have gained experience - and a lot more confidence - in managing groups of young students. One of my favourite parts of the job has been giving tours to students of the key tourist spots in the city (which, incidentally, is the part that I was most intimidated by at the beginning of my placement). It's a great feeling to know Seville so well know thanks to my job. I will be very sad to leave the team at 3SI as I now feel very much part of the company!

Seville is a lovely city to live in and I am very comfortable here. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to make the most of it by going to lots of gigs, soaking up the sun and going to a ceramics class in Triana, the centre of artistic pottery and ceramics.

When I return to the UK I will be starting a summer job at another Education Management company in a similar role to the one I have here in Seville - it is thanks to this internship that I got the job!'

Photo taken by Imogen of ceramic tile painting.

Flora works at OneWay as English Teacher;

'I've really enjoyed my time in Seville and couldn't recommend my work placement enough. I've been working with OneWay language school in Nervion and I have gained so much from this experience. I have taught seven classes; two adult conversational classes (one focusing on pronunciation and the other on business English), three A2/B1 classes of 11- 14 year olds and two elementary classes of 4-6 year olds. I have really enjoyed the variation in my classes and believe that this has enabled me to develop a large variety of skills. Furthermore, Adriano and the whole team at OneWay are so lovely and really made my experience enjoyable.

In terms of my life in Seville I've really enjoyed getting to know the city and exploring the surrounding towns and countryside. Recently I have been camping near San Nicolas at Batan de las Monjas which was a great experience and I would definitely recommend! There are waterfalls which you can swim in and you can hire bikes and cycle through the mountains. I have also enjoyed visiting the community gardens in Seville and walking around exploring the different neighbourhoods. There's loads of cool things to see inside and out of the centre so its worth just having a wonder about and seeing what you discover.

Next for me after Seville is teaching in Hanoi Vietnam! I will set off in September to teach English with Apollo international house. I am really excited for this next chapter and think that my internship here in Seville has set me up with skills and experience that will enable me to get the most out of my next position in Hanoi.'

Photo taken by Flora

Georgia works at FACUA as a Translator;

'My work placement at FACUA has been very useful to me. I have gained professional experience in translation further to my studies, and have translated on a range of different topics, which has led me to research and learn about a number of different issues. It has also been very useful to keep track of the number of worlds I am translating, as I have been able to work out the number of words I am able to translate on average per hour, something which is of great use when applying to translation jobs

Life in Seville is laid back, and has a lovely feel to it. My only complaint is that the past 12 weeks have flown by! I feel that through work, my writing and reading skills in Spanish have improved a lot, and are almost back to the level they were when I left university 4 years ago. My speaking has not improved as much as I would have liked, despite looking for opportunity, but I am now able to understand the thick Andalusian accent, which is an achievement!

My plan now is to explore some more of Spain, before heading home and planning my next move. I’m going to be returning to complete my Masters degree in Violence, Conflict and Development, and hope to use the skills I have learnt on placement to find freelance work whilst I do so. The experience has already proven very useful in this respect, and I have been able to pick up a few freelance translation/interpreting/editing projects whilst being in Seville.'

Photo taken by Immogen of her, Georgia and Richard in Seville.

Eduardo works at Hombre y Territorio as Social Media & Marketing Assistant;

Photo courtesy of Eduardo

'My time in Seville has been better than i could ask for. I have to say I have been very lucky with my placement at "Hombre y Territorio". They are absolutely fantastic and "buena gente", making me feel welcomed right from the start. There was lots of work to do but not in an overwhelming way, making time pass quicker than I wished.

Experience in Seville has been a great place and I have met amazing people and had amazing experience: as I joined the gym right at the beginning, I made friends that even invited me for a yoga class at the park, made the Caminito del Rey, which is this hiking through this canyon that has breathtaking views (literally) and tried all sorts of food. I went to Italica, which is this Roman ancient archaeological site with its own coliseum, and of course, sightseeing a lot. Being here and talking to people, I had the opportunity to be interviewed in a local radio in Andalusia regarding our work, as well as being the interviewer when they needed a translator, but the latter was due to other contacts and the ability to speak decent Spanish. I traveled to Bilbao for the bank holiday, and as a group we went to Cadiz, karaoke and even a escape room!Coming back to Brighton will be difficult but luckily with winter behind us, and I have already had some talks with recruiters in the Marketing field so hopefully it won't be long until I am hired.

Do I recommend Seville? Absolutely 100% yes.

Any advice? A few: join a local gym and talk to people, use the Meetup app for networking events and tours, make sure you include your groups and let them know you want to be included, and especially, do not be afraid to talk to people, they are absolutely thrilled to talk to you. !Disfruta!'