New interns; company internship

This week John and Dorothee, from England and Germany respectively, have come to our European Internships company internship program.They are already fully integrated not only into the internship but also into Spanish life.

John studies Spanish and French; he also wants to get a TESOL qualification to teach English as a foreign language.

Dorothee is carrying out specific training to become an English, French and Spanish language assistant.



- How much time are you going to spend in Bilbao?



John: I am going to spend five months in Bilbao working at Instituto Hemingway because it is part of my year abroad. Afterwards I am going to move to Madrid to work in a different language school for 3 months.



Dorothee: Here in Bilbao at Instituto Hemingway my internship will last until approximately the middle of December. Afterwards I would like to travel a bit around the Basque Country and perhaps also to other regions of Spain.



-  How did you find out about this internship program?



Dorothee: At the school where I am doing my training it is a requirement to do an internship of several months abroad, and the school has already taken advantage of this opportunity in Bilbao. I have also met other students who have carried out their internships at Instituto Hemingway and they recommended it to me.



John:  My university advertised a lot of internships; but the dynamism of Instituto Hemingway with its endless number of free cultural activities and the range of different tasks at the job caught my attention. I therefore decided to opt for this position.



- What types of activities are you carrying out during the company internship?



John:  I carry out a huge variety of tasks; I not only do translations from Spanish to English but I also organise excursions to cultural, musical, sports and gastronomic sites in the city. For example each Friday I go to a bar near Instituto Hemingway to eat pintxos (basque tapas) and next Tuesday (9th September 2014) we are going to visit the Guggenheim Museum.



Dorothee: My tasks are almost the same as John´s. I also do translations, especially translations from Spanish to German, and I accompany students on cultural activities, for example yesterday some students and I went to the Basketball World Championships Fun Zone.



- Is this your first experience in a work environment or have you done company internships before?



Dorothee: Yes, I have done some internships as a language assistant in an institution at my city´s university, but it was for less time. And this is my first experience with a work environment abroad.



John: I have done some internships teaching English abroad in countries such as Senegal, China and Peru but I have never done internships for such a long time.



- What do you hope to get out of this European Internships program?



John: I hope to achieve a lot of things during this European Internships program. I want to expand my social skills as well as to prepare myself for a future job.I am also looking to improve my commercial skills through understanding the way a Spanish company functions. I also aim to become more independent improving my problem solving skills.



Dorothee: I hope that I can improve my knowledge of Spanish and of Spanish culture. Being away from my country for such a long time is a great opportunity to develop my personality. And of course I also want to learn more about the world of work in Spain.