My internship in TLCdénia – Moritz

After 5 weeks doing a Spanish course and an intership in TLCdénia, Moritz shares his testimonial:

The Erasmus Internship programme
In August 2015 I learned about the possibility to get a sponsorship on behalf of the ERASMUS Program of the European Union. The sponsorship supports an internship in a foreign country, which I decided to do in Spain.

How I got the internship
First I needed to find a company to take me for an – at least 4-weeks – internship. I found TLCdénia and applied. Mari Carmen, the director of the language school answered my application mail instantly and invited me for a Skype-interview in order to get to know each other and to sort out how an internship could be realized.

The interview went great but in order to take full advantage of the time, Mari Carmen recommended that I stay at least 8 weeks. Although I would have loved to, I could only negotiate 6 weeks with my company in Germany.

The internship was fixed to begin at 21st of March and so I waited for the time to come. In this period I studied a little bit of Spanish, so I wouldn’t arrive completely unprepared. I also had time to prepare all the documents for the sponsorship of the Erasmus Program and the necessary insurances.

My first day
The first day of the internship was at hand. I grabbed my uncles bike and arrived at the school at 9:30am as agreed. As soon as I arrived I came to know that I was able to join the morning course Spanish A2. Of course I accepted this offer and got to know the first teacher – and colleague of mine – Antonia. She was able to break down any barrier a student might have and taught the language in a very humorous way which helped to create a relaxed but focused atmosphere.

My Spanish course
Aside from myself the participants of the course were a French retiree, living in Dénia for his sunset years, an American businessman trying to improve his Spanish skills during his vacation, as well as a Russian doctor, who wanted to open up his medical practice in Dénia and therefore needed the language for his job. The multiculturalism was surprising but I enjoyed it a lot. I was told that I could join the course every day for free.

The first tasks
The first days working in the office have been more demanding. At first I wasn’t really able to follow my colleagues in Spanish but we managed to communicate in English as well. My first tasks involved translations for the web pages or the blog entries, in order to reach more possible clients also in the German speaking countries.

Improving my Spanish skills
After two weeks – thanks to the great quality language course – my Spanish improved to such an extent that I was given further tasks such as updating client data in the databases, registration of new clients and bookings. After another week I was introduced to the accounting system and from thereon I assisted in recording the client charges into the accounting system. Additionally I worked on different tasks such as researching new agents for language travels in Germany for future cooperation, archiving older documents, assisting the teachers with course preparations, etc.

A working climate that fosters friendship
Despite the very relaxed and friendly nature of my Spanish colleagues – which facilitated the nice working climate – it was the great team working that fascinated me the most at TLCdénia. Even proposals and ideas for improvement from my side were happily taken and executed soon after.

Due to this relaxed atmosphere, it wasn’t surprising that I soon also made friends with my colleagues. Apart from the great time working together we occasionally met up with other friends and went to different bars for some tapas and drinks.

Conclusion
In conclusion the internship at TLCdénia was a great experience and a full success. Definitely one of the best decisions in my working life so far and I really recommend it to everyone, no matter if it isduring a university study, a trainee period or after your graduation! Learning a language combined with working experience is a double win. And there is no better place than the country where the language is actually spoken.

Take this chance and broaden your horizon!

Best Regards

Moritz