What I Took Away From the INLAES Onboarding Week

When I first heard that I would be spending a few days in Madrid for INLAES onboarding, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew there would be workshops and activities to prepare us for working in Spanish schools, but I didn’t realise just how much I would actually take away from the experience.

Looking back, onboarding was much more than just training for my new role. It was a chance to learn new skills, meet people from all over, explore Madrid and, most importantly, feel much more confident about starting my life as a language assistant in Spain.

Learning skills I can actually use

One of my favourite parts of the onboarding was learning activities and techniques that I can actually use in the classroom.

We did different workshops focused on things like classroom activities, games, grammar and ways to encourage students to speak English. It was really useful to experience some of the activities ourselves rather than just being told how they work.

I also picked up a lot of little ideas that I know I’ll be able to use when I’m working alongside my teacher. Sometimes the simplest games or activities can make a huge difference when you’re trying to get a group of students involved.

It definitely made me feel more prepared for my first few weeks at school.

Becoming more confident

Something I didn’t expect to gain from onboarding was so much confidence.

Before the week started, I wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea of speaking in front of a group of people I didn’t know. By the end of the week, I was much more relaxed about standing up, speaking to a group and getting involved in activities.

I think this is something that will really help me in the classroom too. As a language assistant, you need to be comfortable speaking English, giving instructions and getting students involved. Onboarding gave me a chance to practise all of that in a relaxed environment before having to do it in front of a class.

Making new friends

Another big part of the experience was meeting the other language assistants.

Everyone arrived with their own reasons for coming to Spain and their own expectations for the year, so it was really interesting getting to know people from different backgrounds.

We spent a lot of time together during the activities, but also outside of the sessions, which made it really easy to make friends. It was nice knowing that there were other people starting the same adventure and figuring things out together.

I’m sure some of the people I met during onboarding will end up being some of the friends I spend the most time with during my year in Spain.

And then there were the surprises...

Of course, onboarding wasn’t all workshops and learning.

One of the things that made the week so much fun was that there were surprise activities planned for the afternoons. We didn’t always know exactly what we were going to be doing, which made everything feel a bit more exciting.

It was a good balance between preparing for the job and actually having fun. After spending the morning learning and practising different classroom activities, it was nice to switch off, do something different and spend time with everyone.

It definitely made the week feel more like the beginning of an experience rather than just a training course.

Exploring Madrid

I also had some time to explore Madrid during the week, which was a great way to start getting to know the city.

Coming to Spain as a language assistant isn’t just about working in a school. One of the biggest parts of the experience is getting to live somewhere completely different and actually experience Spanish life.

Having some free time in Madrid meant I could walk around, discover different areas, try some Spanish food and get a feel for the Spanish culture starting my placement.

Ready for the year ahead

By the end of onboarding, I felt much more prepared for what was coming.

I had learned new classroom skills, met people who were going through the same experience, become more confident speaking in front of groups and, of course, had a lot of fun along the way.

Moving to another country and starting a new role can feel like a big step, especially when you don’t know exactly what to expect. For me, onboarding made that first step feel much easier.

Now I’m looking forward to getting into my school, putting everything I learned into practice and seeing what the rest of my Spanish adventure has in store.