Hi! My name is Sophie and I am going into my 4th year as a student of Spanish and Linguistics. In 2025-2026, I completed my compulsory year abroad in Mallorca with the British Council working as an English language teaching assistant in a school with students aged 3-17.
I think it’s important to start by saying that, although my year abroad did not start off as I had planned in my second year – I could not be happier about how it turned out. In my second year I decided that I wanted to do the British Council programme of working in a school during my year abroad, not only because it gave me the opportunity to earn money while living abroad, but it allowed me to gain valuable work experience and skills which I will forever be grateful for. Initially I had applied and been accepted to the Andalusia region of Spain, so I started researching accommodation and looking at schools I wanted. Then a month before I was meant to fly out to Spain and start the position, I received an email that the programme had been cancelled in Andalusia and I no longer had a placement in the programme. I was devastated. I was scared and stressed because I did not know what this meant for my year abroad, my degree, and for the next year of my life. After lots of stress, amazing support from the Southampton team and countless Teams calls, I finally got relocated to a school in Mallorca. I then had around 3 weeks to organise everything such as accommodation and travel, whilst also starting the job a month later than anticipated.
However, once I arrived in November everything began to settle down. I moved into a beautiful apartment in the centre of Palma de Mallorca with two girls, 1 British and 1 American, who were also doing the programme. This really helped, especially as I was starting late, as they were able to give me an idea of what to expect and share helpful advice.
While working at the school, I was exposed to a completely new environment. I was used to sitting at a desk listening to a teacher and taking notes, not standing at the front, speaking and having others listen to me. I worked in the nursery, primary and secondary school departments so I was learning a lot about students’ different approaches to learning, behaviours and general school attitudes. The maximum weekly hours were 15 hours, which I found really helpful as it gave me plenty of time to work on my Spanish skills, explore the island, try new hobbies and work on my residence abroad portfolio (RAP). All the teachers I worked with were so incredibly welcoming and supportive and I built strong relationships with many of them. I celebrated my birthday whilst out in Mallorca and all of the English department bought me a cake and wrote me lovely messages, and on my last day they took me out for a goodbye meal. By the end of my 8 months, I really felt a sense of belonging and community in Mallorca and with the school.
I was lucky to experience so much whilst in Mallorca such as new hobbies, celebrations and customs. Mallorca holds so many cultural celebrations, many that I did not know of because my studies had never coved Mallorca’s rich cultural history. My absolute favourite festival, and a MUST GO if you are in Mallorca in January, is the Sant Antoni Festival. You chase people in costumes through the streets, create bonfires, and cook food with strangers, it was a truly beautiful experience.
I tried to practise and use my Spanish as much as possible, unfortunately I faced one more small bump in the road. In Mallorca, whilst the locals do speak Castilian Spanish (the type I learn), their default language is a dialect of Catalan called Mallorquín. If you’re unfamiliar with the difference, Catalan to me feels like Spanish, French, Portuguese and a bit of German had a “baby.” Thankfully, everyone I met on the island was so friendly, and once it became clear in conversation that I didn’t understand, they would switch to Castilian. I was able to practise and use my Spanish in situations I never had before and would not have been able to without my year abroad such as describing symptoms to a pharmacist, talking to 7 year-olds about who knows what and many more. I would recommend when planning your year abroad, especially if on a language course, to research your location’s language to ensure you can practise how you want to.
Overall, I absolutely loved my year abroad, working in the school has been one of, if not the most rewarding experiences of my life, I truly felt as if I was making an impact on others. Within my 8 months I learnt so much such as confidence in myself and my Spanish, how to plan and present classes, how to adapt to new environments and most of all resilience. My year abroad did not start off how I expected but I think it turned out how I needed it to. Even with all the early worries and uncertainty I had, I would not change a thing, the experience as a whole taught me so much about myself and what I am capable of.
