Name: Maria Rivas
Job Title: Teacher
From: Salamanca, Spain
In London Since: February 2004

Why did you come to London?
I actually went to Bath at first for a two week language course to learn English.  I loved it so much I ended up staying for 9 months there before I moved to London and have been here for a year and a half now.  I never thought I would stay for so long, I guess I just wanted to have a change of lifestyle and experience something else.

What did you hope to achieve?
Learn English properly!  Now with time I now know how much I enjoy teaching Spanish.

What were you doing before this?
I was working in the administration team of the University of Salamanca.

How do you find teaching as a job?
Very tiring at first!  London is a big place, and I was moving about a lot, with not a lot of experience of teaching, working hard.  Now I know more people, are more selective where I work, it is a lot easier!

What does your working day consist of?
12-15 hours a week typically, although now in summer it’s dropped down to just 3 hours!  I give classes in colleges as a part-time lecturer.

What are the best bits about teaching?
When you teach students who really want to learn.  Or when you finish the course and they show real interest, there are visible results and they then go and book a language course in Spain or South America.

And the worst?
Some people just choose to complain about everything!  The you’ve got a real challenge to maintain the interest of the other students.

How did you go about becoming a teacher?
I studied for a teaching degree at university.  Then I worked as an assistant teacher for kids with learning difficulties.  When I came here it was quite easy.  I just typed ‘learn Spanish’ or ‘Spanish classes’ into Google and all sorts of language schools and agencies come up that are looking for teachers.  Cactus Languages, Spanish Machine and Spanish Express are some of the biggest firms in the UK.

How have you found living in London?
London has a load of opportunities, it is a great place to come for an ‘experience’ like after university but to be honest after a couple of years I’m looking for a new adventure somewhere else in England.  I’ve had a lot of fun, but it’s time for something else.

How much do you think your English has improved?
At first I met a lot of English people and it really improved, but now with my work I end up speaking a lot of Spanish, so not as much as I would have liked. 

With this experience, what do you plan to do next?
I plan to set up some classes of my own.  I’d like to have my own little business and teach Spanish to people in my local area.  If anyone is interested in Spanish classes they can mail me on: rilopez04@yahoo.es

Thank you Maria for talking to Answer English.  We wish you the best of luck with your project.