I was really excited about the assistantship as it had always been my dream to go to South America. I was expecting Chile to be really chaotic and much more unorganised than it has turned out to be so far. There is an element of this chaos (in banks, in terms of organising social occasions etc) but it isn’t as exaggerated as I had thought. I was also expecting to have a period of time when I felt awfully homesick but this did not happen. I would say the best advice for new assistants is to be patient with people and with yourself. Say yes to every invitation as long as it isn’t dangerous. Someone else said to me ‘don’t say yes if you want to say no’, which I think is valid too. Another person told me to enjoy every day. I spoke to the assistant who had done my job last year and she told me to be prepared for a country that enjoys reggaeton! Also bring lots of photos and memories from home. They are great for decorating your room and also brilliant for teaching resources.

I attended an induction course and I thought it was really well organised. Firstly it was good to hear a past assistant talk, who had been in Chile for a year. It was also useful to pick up the books for teaching English abroad and to get some teaching tips and ideas. The best thing for me was making contacts with the other British assistants. It is so useful to have contacts out here for trips away with free accommodation! It is also great to chat with someone in a similar position as you if you are having a bad day and want sympathy from someone who will completely understand you.

As regards my job, I worked in a technical university in La Serena, Chile. It has around 6000 students! The students study a range of things from risk prevention to nursing to gastronomy to business administration to construction but they all have to study English. Their level of English differs greatly. I worked around 20 hours a week and my role was to support the teacher. Usually he/she had the lesson prepared and I worked with small groups or with students who need help in particular. The big exam period is before the summer holidays in January and February so the lessons are very focussed on this. The main challenge is motivating students who have no interest or don’t see that English can be useful. I got around this by trying to give everyone equal attention and always being enthusiastic. It is important that the students know you care and have energy for what you are teaching.

Outside of the classroom I played football for the girl’s team at INACAP which I’ve never tried before. It was really fun. I’ve also been asked to posh lunches with members of the English department, cooked by the gastronomy students at INACAP. I was in quite a privileged position as I was allowed to socialise with the teachers and the students. The English teachers at INACAP threw me a welcome party when I arrived and I got to know one teacher, Graciela quite well. She asked me for meals/cups of tea with her and her family. I went to the INACAP anniversary party with the teachers. As for the students, their ages range from 18 to 65 and they’ve been really welcoming with me. I gave private lessons to some of them. The girls from the food nutrition class have been particularly good banter. I’ve been to a few different parties at their houses and they asked me to join them for a weekend away together in Ovalle.

For materials, I’d recommend that assistants take what the British Council provides for them as well as lots of photos of family, friends and places in Britain. Think about things that the country you are going to doesn’t have and take things that might interest them. Here, they love photos of snow! Students were also interested in the currency. Maps of the UK and perhaps of Europe are always useful in lessons. Bring lots of music too. In general, students love learning songs, it’s a bit more inspiring. Once you get here, the internet is obviously really useful.

To meet people socially, the university where I worked was fantastic for this. Both teachers and students were so welcoming and friendly. I also started surfing so I made some pretty good friends there too. Another way I’ve met people is through the private lessons. I’ve had some fantastic travel opportunities so far and I feel really lucky. I’ve been to Temuco, Pucon and Villarrica in the south of Chile. That region is full of snow-topped volcanoes – incredible! I’ve also had two very fun weekends in Santiago and been into the mountains near there to stay in a log-cabin (Cajon del Maipo). I’ve been to some lovely beaches near La Serena and also into the Elqui Valley to do a bit of star-gazing and taste the national drink, pisco. The best weekend was my trip to Copiapo with two German friends and a Chilean I met surfing. We managed to go to the San Jose mine two days after the miners’ release. The atmosphere was jubilant. That same weekend we went to El Parque Nacional Nevado Tres Cruces (Andes) where we got up to 5000m, saw salt flats, an incredible turquoise lagoon and one of Chile’s national animals, the vicuña.

As Chile is such a long country, there were no other Language Assistants in my area. The nearest people were in Santiago, 6 hours away by bus. I am really happy with how the situation turned out though. I have been able to fully integrate into the culture as I am ‘the novelty’ British girl. As far as I know, I’m the only English girl here. I really appreciated the fact that there are other assistants in Chile though. I got on particularly well with a girl in Temuco and with another one in Santiago.

Culturally, there are much more similarities than I expected between Chile and the UK, but one difference might be that we British tend to be quite sarcastic. Some of my jokes have been completely misunderstood. The sense of humour here is very double-entendre. I’m not totally sure how opinionated women go down here either…

As an assistant, I think you develop your confidence incredibly as you often have to deal with situations which push you out of your comfort zone. I think your independence improves as well as your communication skills. I also feel you learn how to be more tolerant. The advantages of an assistantship are that you have more experience of problem solving, a better knowledge of the world and an original experience which may make you sound more interesting. If you’re an open-minded and positive person, do the assistantship! I think this programme can only bring you advantages which is why this is my second assistantship!