An Interview with Lucy Cattermole who gives helpful, practicle advice on the best way to study English abroad.
Una entrevista con Lucy Cattermole y consejos imprescindibles sobre como estudiar y mejorar su inglés en el extranjero.
Transcription
Can you tell me a bit about yourself an..and your job? What exactly do you do?
Er..yeah, I am a…well, I’m a history graduate..erm..talking about my job at the moment, I..erm..I..first of all, I live in Spain..erm..I’m English, but..er.. I..I came across Spanish in Spain really from travelling in South America, which I did just after university. Erm…and after that, after I’d had some fun there I moved to Spain with the British Council, doing a teaching, kind of a teaching training project.
Whi…Which British Council school did you work at?
It…oh…it was called the Intxixu Ikastola which is in Basque, not Spanish in fact,...erm..which was a great experience for teaching. It was small kids, it was kind of 5-year-olds to 10-year-olds. Erm…but I decided teaching wasn’t quite for me, and that’s when I got into working er..in a language school. Erm…which was a group of language schools with schools in the UK, the US, Australia..erm..and from then I’ve just I’ve..I’ve.. carried on really ever since that. I’ve moved from that school to a different school, and I’m now working in EC which is a group of ..er..schools; UK, US, South Africa and Malta.
Did you do any teaching when you were travelling around South America?
I didn’t actually, no. At that stage it was only a short trip and I just kind of fell in love with the Spa..well, you know, the Latin culture and that kind of thing, and..er.. basically enjoyed that. So I didn’t do any teaching there, but I applied for a placement with the British Council whilst I was travelling, and they placed me in Spain rather than South America. Th..they choose basically…erm..which turned out to be Bilbao.
So what made you decide t..to stay in Spain permanently?
Erm…oh..everything really. Compared to ..er..Sheffield, where I’m from, in the North of England there’s not much choice. Er..the weather, the food, the people…
How long have yo…how long have you been here?
Since 2001 nearly 10 years now.
About the same as me.
Yeah. No it’s lovely. I miss home. I do miss home. I love things about England, but..erm..I think I….
What do you miss….what do you miss the most?
Er…English breakfast..erm…pubs, my family, my friends..erm..TV, which I can get over here apparently, but I haven’t managed to fix that up yet..erm..but no I’m having a good time over here as well.
Ok so erm..why is it a good idea for Spanish students to study English abroad?
Oh..erm..loads of reasons, I would say..erm..personally, well s...speaking from my own experience learning another language and ..er..managing to kind of communicate everything and anywhere that you need is just…it’s amazing, it’s really rewarding..erm..apart from that obviously English with the majority people now and of course Spanish it’s kind of a vital element of your CV..of er.. working life..eerm..and apart from that of course, it’s great fun and I think it’s mind..er..I don’t know, it op..opens your mind a lot, it makes you much more culturally aware..erm..I definitely have become a much more er..open person than I was before..erm..and..well..no..I de..I definitely definitely recommend it..erm…
So if a…if a Spanish person..erm..living in Spain were thinking of going to study abroad, where would you recommend? Wh..what destinations are popular for Spanish people?
Erm..at the moment it.. it’s more European based I would say, the UK..Malta’s also a very popular destination in the summer time…erm…a lot of people don’t even know that Malta’s English speaking I don’t think but..erm..it definitely is, ..erm..and that’s become much more popular in recent years.
Erm…the US is on the up because I think, well prices, because of the weaker dollar in the last few years have er…have been much better. Air fares are much cheaper..erm..and then