During my work and study internship at Spark Languages, I will become confident and competent in learning and using Spanish by making the most of the culture and people that I am surrounded by.
I will also develop a can do attitude towards any tasks that I am expected to carry out, in order to improve my independence skills and my value as an employee and colleague.
I will approach my work with a positive outlook in order to do the best I can especially with any challenges I face.
I will push myself to improve my communication skills in order to help the rest of the Spark team in whatever way I can.
I will make myself aware of my mistakes and use them in a constructive way so that I can learn and progress.
Aoife McHugh
Hola, today I will tell you a few reasons why staying with a Spanish Host family is a good decision!
First of all, during your time in Spain, you’re a part of this family so you will definitely notice the different way of living and get to know the culture in a much more personal way!
“What are the benefits of living with a Host family?”
- You’re never alone! You always have somebody around you and maybe you get a Host sister or Host brother at your age who would love to do something with you!
- Your Host family will show you many places in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz or Sevilla just as mine did – and it was wonderful!
- You always have the opportunity of practising your spanish skills – and not only that – you will learn words and phrases which are only known in Spain
- Just as I said you will get to know the Spanish way of living for example eating habits! Spanish people eat a little bit late but the Spanish cuisine will make you always Hungry – Tapas, Paella.. ¿Tienes hambre?
….Last but not least..
5. You will have a really close relationship with your host family that will hopefully stay for years – and let’s be honest – it’s really nice to know someone or a family from an other Country!
I hope you have enjoyed reading my Blog entry and hopefully you will love your host family just as I do!
During my three-weeks Work and Study Programme at Spark, I want to work on being more independent regarding to work and learning Spanish.
My Mission statement is about how I will accomplish my goals during this weeks.
I will take every task that I get serious and try my best, even if something doesn’t work how it should – I will ask my colleagues and learn from my mistakes.
I will be open to improve my Spanish skills by speaking with my staff and other Spanish speaking people without being scared – if I do not try, I will never learn.
I would like to be open and friendly with everybody I meet here during my time in Spark- I will take my chance to introduce myself and hopefully make new friendships.
I chose this opportunity to get a view of a different culture, a different workplace and learn from this experience as much as I can.
Finally, I want to be able speaking Spanish properly, being less bashful regarding to work/class and will hope to improve my self confidence.
I know that if I achieve all that I have listed above , then I will really enjoy my time here in Spain.
Stephanie Stojadinovic
Hello everybody!
During my three-week work and study Spanish experience in Spain, I didn’t just want to get some work experience but also wanted to combine that with getting to know the Spanish culture. Therefore, I decided to stay with a host family, which turned out to be a wonderful decision!
Living with a Spanish family has lots of advantages, for example always having someone around you, who you could spend time with. When I arrived, I didn’t know anybody, so I was really glad to have such a nice host family and especially, having a host sister, who is my age. So instead of sitting at home all day on my first day, we went to the beach and by doing that, I also got familiar with El Puerto de Santa María.
Another great thing is experiencing real “Spanish” life for the three weeks I’m here. The food, the routines and the complete lifestyle are totally different to what I was used to, back home. Personally, I don’t think there’s a better way of experiencing and getting to know a foreign culture. Also, due to my host family being locals, they show me around and I get to see lots of places without being worried about getting lost or missing out some nice places!
The probably best thing about living with a Spanish family is that it’s an easy way of improving your Spanish, because you are speaking and hearing it basically all the time, you are with them! Besides that, you’re also picking up phrases without really learning the vocabulary, like you would in school.
These points are basically the first that came to my mind, when thinking about the great advantages you have, whilst staying with a spanish family!
Hope this post inspired you to think about going abroad!
Mark Boyle: MISSION STATEMENT on my work and study programme in Spain
During these first few initial days at Spark I have really began to consciously think about what I would like to get out of this six month work placement, and what goals I need to set in order to achieve this. I have set several professional and personal goals which I feel will benefit both me and spark languages as they will enable me to become a more effective and proficient worker and person. Just one of my goals is that I will improve my level of competence in Spanish. This will not only improve my ability to talk to Spanish-speaking customers but it will also benefit me personally as it will give me the ability to talk and interact with some local Spanish speakers.
While working here I will also create good work habits which will allow me to become an adept worker in almost any work environment. Although I may face some challenges on this placement I will work through those challenges with an optimistic attitude and will work with passion and excitement. While I still may make mistakes I will improve the quality of my work by learning from any mistakes which I may have made and ensuring not to repeat them. I will also make sure that I am accountable for any of my actions rather than blaming any others for my own mistakes I will take accountability for anything that I may have done wrong. I also need to always ask and learn if I face problems which I cannot solve rather than saying I can’t do it.
I will also value the skills and wisdom of my other colleagues that I am working with and I will learn as much from them as I can. If I can use these effective habits I feel I will certainly have a very successful placement. By the end of this placement I will be happy if I know that I have genuinely made an effort at everything I have done, be it work or personal goals. It is very important to me that I learn as much as I can while on this placement and that I am able to contribute to Spark in a positive way.
Mark Boyle.
SparkSpanish con Loreena – Todas mis experiencias en Spark
Este vídeo es contiene todos los vídeos de mi vlog “SparkSpanish con Loreena” y otros vídeos divertidos. Muestro todas mis experiencias de tres semanas en Spark y con mi familia española. He disfrutado mi tiempo aquí que puedes ver en este vídeo también. Son tres semanas inolvidables para mí.
Loreena Rech
Hola, me llamo Loreena Rech, tengo 17 años y soy de Alemania.Participé en el work and Study programme aquí en Spark, estudiando el español y haciendo vídeos para apoyar Spark. Ahora quiero mostrar que hacía en detalle durante mis prácticas.
De las 10 hasta las 2 de la mañana tenía clases de español con mi profesora fantástica, Gema. Con mis compañeros de clase mejoraba mi español enormemente y tenía mucha alegría.
Después de un recreo de aproximadamente una hora comenzaba con mi trabajo. Mi primera tarea fue un vídeo blog cada día. Contaba mis experiencias y mostraba todo que aprendí. Mis vivencias eran variadas y siempre divertidas.
además hice un vídeo del edificio de Spark. es como un paseo por las diferentes partes de SparkSpanish. Así estudiantes futuros pueden ver lo que ofrece el establecimiento Spark.
Al fin de mis tres semanas aquí hice un vídeo con todas mis experiencias y vivencias en Spark. Espero que mis vídeos ayuden a Spark a encontrar nuevos estudiantes que disfruten su tiempo aquí como yo.
Mi primer día en Spark tuvimos las bebidas de bienvenida que estaban muy buenas. Un jueves participé en una clase de flamenco que fue también parte del programa cultural de Spark. A mí me gustaba mucho.
He aprendido muchísimo durante mis tres semanas en Spark. No solo he mejorado mi español sino también he aprendido a entenderme yo misma mejor. Puedo decir que he conseguido mi objetivo y que estoy orgullosa de mi trabajo y mi desarrollo.
Quiero agradecer a mi profesora, mi jefe y mis compañeros de clase por el tiempo fantástico aquí y nunca voy a olvidar esta experiencia.
Loreena Rech
Vlog – SparkSpanish con Loreena – 13
Mi último día aquí en Spark estaba muy divertido. Pero es triste que mi tiempo en Spark ya es terminado. Nunca voy a olvidar esta experiencia buenísima. La ceremonia despedida estaba muy bonita y voy a echar Spark de menos.
Loreena Rech
Vlog – SparkSpanish con Loreena – 12
Ya he mostrado diferentes acciónes del programa cultural en Spark. La clase de flamenco es organizado de Spark también. Es una vivencia muy divertida y puedo recomendarla. Es parte de la cultura andaluza y una buena manera de aprender más palabras en español.
Loreena Rech
SparkSpanish – El Puerto
Durante mi work and study programme he creado un vídeo que muestra el edificio de Spark aquí en El Puerto de Santa María. Podéis ver como estudiamos y vivimos en Spark. Además tenéis una impresión del sitio.
Loreena Rech
Vlog – SparkSpanish con Loreena – 11
Aprendemos mucho en las clases de español. Existe posibilidad de tener 2 o 4 horas por día de las 10 hasta las 12 o hasta las 2 de la tarde. Como somos pocos estudiantes el ambiente es familiar y se aprende más. Las clases nunca son aburridas y me alegro cada día de venir.
Loreena Rech
Vlog – SparkSpanish con Loreena – 10
Cádiz es una ciudad muy bonita y por eso también muy turística. Tiene muchísimas atracciones turísticas como la Catedral de Cádiz y la Plaza de las Flores. Durante el tiempo aquí en Spark es obligatorio de visitarlo. Es impresionante y una experiencia inolvidable. Si tienes suerte hay una excursión a Cádiz en el programa cultural de Spark. Se aprende mucho sobre la cultura andaluza y se puede practicar el español.
Loreena Rech
