Spain

Go to Botellón, even if you don't drink it's a sociable atmosphere and people introduce you to their friends.
If you are going to work in education/medicine/care giving in the future and need a CRB check from your year in Spain, go to the JUZGADO (not police station), ask for a "certificado de antecedentes penales", fill out the form, pay 3,54euros at the bank and send it to Madrid, they will post you the certificate in (supposedly) 10 working days.
A lot more Spanish students use Tuenti than Facebook, they organise nights out and chat to each other via Tuenti so I found it useful to have one, but don't let your pupils add you (at least until after you've finished being their teacher).

Jennifer Lear, British Council Assistantship, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

To find flats in Madrid, I would recommend easypiso.com or idealista.com (which is better I think), and anywhere near the centre is very good, but more expensive. Always be aware of your belongings, as there are many pickpockets in the city.

To improve your Spanish, you must make an effort to spend time with either Erasmus students with whom you will mostly speak Spanish, or with Spanish students. It may be overwhelming in the beginning sometimes but that is normal, and as long as you keep trying, and also keep in touch with friends and family, you'll be okay and may find that the gain was definitely worth much more than the pain.

100% live in accommodation with Spanish speaking people. Best advice anyone could give me: travel. Get a tandem language partner and research thoroughly the place you are going to visit before applying.

Don't be afraid about the language even if you can't speak any of it, get stuck in and take all your courses in a different language, talk to the local students.
People are desperate for private tutors teaching English, ask at your university's language department to spread your name around, or even put up posters there and in other language schools, it's easy money.
Try not to party too hard, attendance at classes is pretty important, even if the content of them isn't!
Don't bother staying with a host family initially, too expensive, just stay in a hostel for a while to find somewhere is pretty easy.
Travel, travel, travel. Europe is your oyster with Ryanair, car rentals and eurolines - don't fall into the trap of always speaking English, you feel dirty, and it doesn't help you at all!

Samuel Fell studied Economics at the University of Cantabria

My Erasmus experience has been one of the best in my entire life; I would recommend the opportunity to anyone. It obviously helped that I had studied Spanish for a few years before living here but there were many people at the beginning of the year who were beginners and now are very competent in Spanish. I would recommend living with Spanish people, my housemates have been so helpful to me throughout the year. General advice would be to not worry about the differences in culture or any difficulties, there are many people who are Erasmus and you adapt surprisingly quickly to the new culture. In general to practice language as much as you can and enjoy it because it goes so fast!

Alexandra Owen studied at Universidad de Burgos

"If you go to Spain, you absolutely HAVE to visit Granada. It is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. You can ski there, you can go to the beach, and there is an amazing Arab history with some fantastic monuments, including the infamous Alhambra.

As for tips on integrating into the workplace, the trick is to strike up conversations wherever and whenever you can, whether it be with the secretary when waiting for the photocopier, or chatting to the cleaner when you pass by to go to lunch. That way people start to recognise you and see that you're friendly and more things come your way. It can be anything as simple as the weather, or 'Can I help?' or 'How was your weekend?'!

It is going to be hard to leave this school, it has been such an amazing experience."

Philippa Tomlin, British Council teaching assistantship in Madrid

Following the experiences of a student in Spain we would recommend you do not let handymen into your accommodation if you have not received warning from your landlord to say they are coming around. Unfortunately this lead to an number of items being stolen from the students' accommodation, make sure you have insurance and keep your wits about you!