Do you want to learn Spanish – in Spain?

The streets are filled with people, smiling, laughing, the sky is blue, and the palms moving slightly in a warm breeze… tapas, Flamenco, salsa, … bullfighting…. and suddenly, in the middle of all this, there YOU are. Happy and content, because what you’re doing is not only fun, but you’re having an experience for life.

You’re learning Spanish more quickly than any other possible way, expanding your cultural horizon and making new friends from all over the world at the same time. You are growing as a person, day by day.

Sounds too good to be true? Oh, but it isn’t. The answer is Spanish Language Schools. I’ve been there, and I absolutely loved it! Even I, who’s been incapable of learning anything about languages while at school before, was able to pick it up.

So, you may ask, what is there to know about these schools? What can I expect? And that is one perfectly timed question! Because that is what this website is all about… language schools! Spanish language schools. Or to be even more precise: Spanish language schools in Spain.

What kind of questions could a person (who’s dreaming about going) have? Let’s see…

Puuh! That was quite a few questions you had there! So, what shall we begin talking about? To be a bit controversial, I think I’ll start at the top ...with the beginning!

What can you expect? To give you a few ideas, I’ll share some of my experiences.

My room! How about talking about my room first? You see, it’s not that it was small. No, it’s more that it was so small that I had to ask the suitcase to leave the room when I wanted to turn around. And, to top it all, the door opened *into* the room!

The size: 56 square feet, or 5.25 square meters. Luckily, there was nothing on the white walls. In the roof there was a single light bulb. Yeah, that’s right, just the bulb.

But do you know what? After getting over the initial shock, it didn’t matter! Not at all! And do you know why? Because what do you use the room for? Just sleeping.

Spanish people don’t live or spend time inside like people from colder parts of the world do. When you study, you do it at a café, and when you meet people you do it outside, at bars, restaurants, parks, or wherever. People do not sit inside and watch TV (except the Simpsons, which is huge in Spain).

Breakfast/Lunch and School! It was a shared flat, so there were other students living there as well. …something which is just perfect. It is easy to get to know people.

School normally started at 9.15 in the morning, so for breakfast one could go to one of the many cafés around. Or… as many chose to do, you could drop breakfast and sleep a little bit longer

In most of the language schools I know of, they have 2x45 minutes and then a break, before continuing with the last 2x45 minutes (if you have 20 hrs/week, that is).

In the break between classes, we used to go to a café and simply talk together – in Spanish, of course, regardless of how poor our Spanish were… either with other students, or with the teachers.

People from all over the world! And this is something that makes the Spanish language schools in Spain so interesting; each week there would be new students from all over the world – Germans, Italians, Scandinavians, Americans, British people, Australians, etc., etc.

There was always someone to talk with, and since the classes in a good school always are small (max 8-9 students, but normally 4-6), you get to know people much faster than you normally would.

The tuition is intensive! Attending a language school is intensive. Let there be no doubt about it. You’ll be speaking Spanish from day #1. The classes, as mentioned, are smaller, and you’ll therefore be more active just for this reason.

Just think of how many times you’ve been asked questions in college, if you’ve taken language classes there… how many times each class? Once, maybe twice? Well, here you can expect questions and interactions, constantly!

Normally grammar and conversation is separated. First, you’ll have a bit of theory, and then you’ll start to do some assignments to learn it. You’ll very seldom experience that the teacher stands in front of the class, writing and talking, while you sit passively taking notes. No, you are active.

After having focused on grammar for a while, you’ll have a couple of hours of conversation – often with a new teacher. If you have more than four hours a day you may have three different teachers – each day! And this is good. Since the classes are as intensive as they are, it is good with some variation.

In conversation, there will usually be some kind of topic picked from Spanish literature, history or culture. For instance how do people celebrate Christmas.. and not only Spain is covered, the students will explain – in Spanish of course – how this is in Germany, Switzerland, the US, Holland, Sweden or Brazil… depending on where the students in your group are from.

After school! And… now when the classes are over, you probably suffer from the delusion that you won’t learn any more Spanish this day? Well, the day has just started!

Whether you go out to discover the city with the other students, or you simply find a bar/café to relax a bit while maybe doing some homework – you’ll be talking Spanish!!

And in the evening there will often be different arrangements… video evenings, poetry, trips to sights nearby, dance classes, food/wine tasting.. Flamenco shows… there is a wide variety of activities.

Remember, people in Spain do generally not speak English. Since absolutely everything, except the music on MTV, is dubbed, they seldom hear English.

This means that when you need something in a store, when you’re looking for something… expect to do your best with the Spanish you’ve managed to acquire.

Excursions! In the weekends there will generally be longer excursions. Depending on where in Spain the school of your choice is located, there will be trips to nearby cities.

If you are in Salamanca trips to Portugal and Madrid are examples, or if you stay in Andalusia, for example in Granada, you may go to Sevilla, Malaga or Cordoba, etc.

There is a lot to see! Large and monumental cathedrals, ancient Roman villages/ruins (an Italian friend of mine weren’t too impressed, but when you’ve grown up next to the Coliseum and Pompeii, what can you expect?), Arabic castles and cities, small villages up in the mountains, etc., etc.

But… I’m getting ahead of myself! This was just supposed to wet your palate a bit… a small introduction to what is hidden on the other pages.

When thinking about learning a language, the first question that comes to mind, logically, is what language? And on the next page I’ll give you a few reasons why Spanish will be an excellent choice!

Next Page: Why Learn Spanish?