Today we announce the new section of our blog, ‘Londoner Interview’.  It does what it says on the tin: this is a weekly interview of a Londoner.  But why?  I hear you ask.  So that readers of this blog, who are either thinking of coming to London or are already here, can hear about what different Londoners do for a job, what this consists of and what tips & advice they have to help you find a job in London.

We begin with Olga the Spanish Nanny, click here

If you would like to be interviewed by Answer English send me an e-mail to: james@answerenglish.com

Similarly if you have any questions about working in London or suggestions to make why not leave a comment, so that all our readers can see the pearls of your wisdom!

Name: Olga
Job Title: Nanny
Age: 28  
From: Canary Islands (Spain)
In London: Since September 2005

________________________________________

Why did you come to London?

I don’t know yet!! He he.  Mainly to improve my English, and after a very bad year (2005) it was the best moment for me to come. I don’t regret at all doing it. I love being here!

What did you hope to achieve?

A very good level of English, have good experiences and to meet as many people as possible.

What were you doing before this?

I worked as a teacher at a Nursery School and some weekends as a cook assistant at my mum’s work, a Catering Company.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

I live with a family, there are 4 children at home aged 10, 8, 5 and 2. In the morning I look after the youngest and do some housework (ironing and hoovering mostly) for 2 hours, then I’m free for a few hours till the afternoon when the others come from school. I help with the teatime and give the two youngest a bath. I finish at 7pm most of the days. I also have to baby-sit 1 or 2 nights a week.

What responsibilities do you have?

Apart from the housework, look after and play with the kids. The parents in my family just want me to have fun with their children.

What are the best bits?

How lucky I am with this family, definitely.  They made me feel good from the first day I got here, the children are lovely and the parents are very nice as well. I never work more than the 25 hours a week I’m supposed to do, and if so, they pay me every extra hour. Apart from that I can bring my family and friends from Spain to stay with me at home.

And the worst?

My timetable, it changes every week so I can’t arrange anything in time, and some weekends I have to baby-sit while my friends are having fun!! But it’s not too bad.

What is the typical package for your job?

I earn 55 pound a week + 5 pounds every extra hour. It’s not too much but I baby-sit for other families and get some extra money.  I also get board and lodging.

Do you have to have prior experience?  If so, what helped get you the job?

No you don’t have to but I think having worked as a teacher in a nursery school did help me personally.

How did you go about getting it?

I met my family through a website, www.sunnyaupair.com

Any tips you could give our readers?

Come to London!! Have no hesitation in doing it!

Anything you know now that you wish you’d known before coming here?

Not really although London as a city never stops surprising me, there is always something new on, something to discover.  Like most places it’s not perfect, but overall it’s a great city to live in.

How much do you think your English has improved?

Not as much as I hoped after five months, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist!  My spoken English is a lot better than when I arrived, as in Spain we don’t’ get much chance to talk or listen to English.  It’s all grammar.  Here I talk all day in English which is a bonus!

With this experience, what do you plan to do next? 

Sit the exams to become an English teacher in Spain.

One thing people always complain about in London is how expensive everything is.  This is undoubtedly right, London is not a cheap place to live, relatively or absolutely.  Eating out is expensive by European standards, the mayor is determined to make travel in London every more extortionate and a night out can sometime seem like a king’s ransom. 

All this is true, however that is not to say that it is impossible to eat a decent great value meal, visit museums / galleries for free and have a great night out without costing an arm and a leg.  I’d like to silence London’s critics who say it is one big cash incendiary and, starting next week, bring you some regular suggestions of places to check out. 

But I also need your help so if you know of any good places to go, eat, drink and be merry, please let me know!  Either leave a comment on the blog or e-mail me: james@answerenglish.com

Hope you all have a great weekend and look forward to the excitements next week will bring us all, James.

Can’t believe I haven’t told you yet about Hot English Magazine!  This is a brilliant magazine filled with interesting articles and practical exercises for learning English.  It provides fresh up-to-date material and focuses on the way people really speak, not what you have probably been taught in the classroom.  It also comes with a CD so you listen to English whilst reading the dialogues at the same time and improve your listening skills.

I’ve known the Editor Andy and the Managing Director Thorley for years and know the hard work they do in making it such a great product.  If you are a teacher looking for ideas for classes or a student wanting to practice your English at home, Hot English Magazine is for you.  Check out their website to see where to buy a copy: www.hotenglishmagazine.com

We are also pleased to announce that all students that enrol on a course with Answer English will receive a copy of Hot English Magazine for FREE. 

Thanks Hot English!

One thing that was apparent at the two educational fairs I went to in Spain (Aula in Madrid and Estudia in Barcelona) was the amount of people that want to come to London to not just study english but to live & work as well.

Answer English wants to make life easier for language students that come to the UK to find work. So from now on any student that enrols with Answer English in a two week or more language course we will be including for FREE: a CV Correction service - to make sure that there are no mistakes and that each CV is set out correctly; a Practice Interview - so that you are better prepared for the English used and the typical questions asked in interviews; and advice about how to get a UK National Insurance Number and places that are looking for employees.

One thing we must make clear is this is that we cannot guarantee work, nor promise any language student success at finding work.

We hope that this service will be of interest. If you would like more information on how we can help you, please drop me an e-mail: james@answerenglish.com

This month has been a great month for Answer English and me personally.  Finally after 6 months of preparation, I could take Answer English on the road and meet literally hundreds of language learners at both Aula in Madrid and Estudia in Barcelona.  For those of you that aren’t from Spain, Aula and Estudia are educational fairs for Spaniards looking for advice on the next stage of their lives.

The reaction of language learners was very positive and it was a pleasure to meet so many of you!  Now I’ve got to get my head down and reply to the 450 English learners that wanted more info.  If you want more info, why not click round the main site: www.answerenglish.com or send me a mail: james@answerenglish.com.  I hope that I can help you learn English better and that we see you soon in London. 

In this section I will be giving you tips and advice on how to go about getting a job in London, writing a CV, preparing for an interview etc.  You can also check out the Londoner interview where I will be interviewing a different Londoner every week about their jobs.   This will give you an insight into different lines of work, so you can hear about the opportunities out there and learn from other people’s experiences.

We hope this blog provides an informed insight for language students into London Life, Learning English and Finding Work in London.  Although much of what is written will be from experiences in London that is not to say it is not applicable to Language Students in other parts of the UK or the world.
 

My name is James and I hope to hear from you.  My aim is to make posts on a regular basis and invite you to let me know your opinions of the blog, London life, Learning English, Finding Work or anything else you may wish to share with us.  If you wish to contact me direct you can e-mail me at: james@answerenglish.com
 
Why am I writing this blog?  My real inspiration in life is learning languages.  Never a natural linguist at school, I took great satisfaction from studying Spanish in Malaga for four months when I was 19.  This experience has stayed with me ever since.  I had a wonderful time, making friends from all over the world from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Copenhagen, Denmark.  Learning a language is in my opinion one of the most satisfying things you can do. 
 

To be able to communicate with other people from another country in another language is not just fulfilling but it opens so many doors to you, be it from ‘getting to know’ people you meet whilst abroad, understanding different cultures, to getting a job.  Certainly all that I have been able to do in life stems from learning Spanish.
 

I want to be able to reach out to people who want to learn languages so they can share my experiences.  If this blog and the services we offer at Answer English help people in that quest, then I will be happy!
 

Enough of me, like I said this blog will comprise three parts:
 

London Life – this is the main blog, where I will talk of living in London, amusing anecdotes on the city, things of interest coming up, events I have been to and so on.
 

Learning English – Advice on learning English, news from the industry, answering the questions many of you pose.
 

Finding Work in London – Tips and advice on how to go about getting a job in London, writing a CV, preparing for an interview etc.  Also in this section I will be interviewing a different Londoner every week about their jobs.   This will give you an insight into different lines of work, so you can hear about the opportunities out there and learn from other people’s experiences.
 

Tomorrow I will make my first postings in the Learning English and Finding Work in London sections.  But for now I hope you enjoy this blog and look forward to hearing from you soon.
 

James