[seanaway]

According to a recent survey (can't remember where I read it, sorry!) the poor oral performance in English of Spanish graduates is costing the Spanish economy somewhere in the region of €1billion.

All the above comments are spot on. Teachers spend 80% or more of their time speaking L1 in Spanish schools. How can a student possibly be expected to learn a foreign language? I had the same experience when I was learning French at school and was so angry when I visited France because after 5 years of lessons I couldn't hold a two minute conversation.

I may be wromg, but I heard the Spanish government has lifted the barriers to native speaker teachers obtaining employment at state schools. Anyone know if this is true? It would certainly help deal with some of the issues, however, if a student doesn't want to learn there isn't much even the best teacher can do.

My own experience of teaching in Spain was that students seem to have been trained in completing the task as quickly as possible rather than trying to learn from it. Entertainment had to be part of every lesson, too.

It was a frustrating year for me. One Intermediate group got through just 4 units of Headway in 9 months! My all time record low.

that said, the students who wanted to learn were a joy to teach. They learned too. I suppose the point is, if you want to learn you'll find a way.

Good luck with your lessons