ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSISTANT IN MADRID
Live and teach in Madrid
HI THERE! I'M AMANDA AND I'M A LANGUAGE ASSISTANT
Who am I? What do I do?
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ABOUT ME
Amanda Torio |Â London, United Kingdom
Hello there! My name is Amanda Torio and I was born and raised in London, United Kingdom. I studied at Royal Holloway University of London and have recently graduated in a BA Comparative Literature and Culture. My main hobbies and interests are travelling, photography and art. At the moment I live in Madrid, Spain working as an English Language assistant at a public primary school (CEIP Virgen del Cortijo) as well as a private English tutor outside of the school. Alongside work I’m also currently studying to gain a TEFL qualification which works hand in hand with the role as a Language assistant as it immerses you into the classroom environment (find out more about the role and our responsibilities on ‘The LA Programme’ page).
MY BACKGROUND
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Copyright © 2018 Amanda Torio. All rights reserved.
Coming from a family of bilingual speakers, Spanish, Filipino and English, I have always had a passion for language learning. I grew up in Camden Town in London, where there is a high diversity of different cultures, so I have already had the privilege of being exposed to different languages and cultural perspectives from a young age. This has raised my cultural awareness and my interest in language and culture. However, as much as I love London, growing up in the city is not easy. Because of the high diversity and therefore division of sub-communities within my area (both culturally and financially), not everybody is offered the same opportunities in education. This could be because of cultural background or social upbringing or lack of resources (e.g: not enough qualified teachers) and therefore it has opened my eyes to the importance of teaching and providing quality education in inner city communities. This sparked a passion in me to go into the field of education, and therefore joining the LA programme was a great start for me to gain experience in the world of teaching.
WHY I CHOSE TO DO THE LA PROGRAMME:
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Copyright © 2018 Amanda Torio. All rights reserved.
Because of my lack of direct experience in the field of teaching I was not confident enough to proceed with the steps to get into the profession (gaining a PGCE/masters or joining a grad scheme). The Language assistant programme (Auxiliares de conversación) offers the opportunity to teach and live in Madrid without the need for prior teaching experience. This was a perfect opportunity for my freshly graduated self as it offered me the opportunity to explore the world of teaching in an open and new environment. I chose to join the programme for this very reason because I wanted to find out if teaching was the right path for me by gaining experience in the classroom where support and guidance are at hand for newbies like myself. I was also keen on improving my Spanish and have always wanted to live abroad so moving to Madrid, which as Spain’s capital city is not too far of a stretch from London, was the perfect option for me. I love Madrid and I love working as a Language assistant and if you want to become a teacher, or even if you just want to take a break from what you are currently doing, then this is the perfect programme for you [Find out more about it on 'The LA Programme' page].