Learning spanish in Spain!

Nickynoo1

Hi,
I'm soon to be made redundant, and am hoping to go to spain to learn the language. I've been looking at the Don Quijote schools with a family stay.

Basically I'm looking at 5-6 months of schooling of 4 hours a day, spending 1/2 the time in Granada, and 1/2 in Seville.

has anyone any experience of this school, or used any similar organisation?

thanks

Nickynoo1

Reaper

I've not had experience of Spanish schools, but I did learn Spanish in Central America and I have just come back from a trip to Seville and Grenada (and others). So I'll play devils advocate and suggest an alternative.

One thing my trip taught me is that Spain is expensive. OK it's cheaper than the UK in Andalucia but still expensive if you are not working and need your redundancy money to last the distance.

I learnt Spanish in the charming Guatemalan town of Antugua at this school. You get one-on-one tuition for 4 hours a day (I started on 5 hours/day but found that too much - you need half the day free for practice and homework) for just US$75 a week.

Better still stay with a Guatemalan family for just another US$60 a week including 3 meals a day (except Sunday).

Compare that with your prices for Spain. Admitedly the flight out there will cost you more but there are a dozens of Spanish speaking countries out there to try out your new language skills on. While in Guatemala don't miss climbing the active volcano of Pacaya just outside town, or visiting the world famous Mayan ruins of Tikal in the north.

By the way the school I mention was one I picked randomly, there are lots more out there to choose from with a variety of prices.

They are very good about checking you are happy with both your teacher and accomodation and will switch both without a fuss on request. They also organise activites each day, usually free. My only criticism is, despite the name, they have no fountain!

Nickynoo1

Hi Reaper,

thanks for your reply, now i have a load more questions. Did you speak any spanish beforehand, how much did you learn, in what time frame, did you get to mingle with other students etc. Please give me more info if you can, i would really appreciate it.

Originally i was thinking of going to Costa Rica to learn, but kinda liked the way don quijote expressed themselves. Yes it's more expensive, but would i gain a better understanding in spain? It's a long time, but friends and family can visit in Spain. I must say it is very difficult to make a firm decision, so i can still be swayed either way.

Many thanks

Nicky

tonys_3

When I first went to work in Spain,I only knew si and manãna-nowhere near enough!Before I went I bought a book on Teaching yourself Spanish.

If you were/are ok at French,or remember the construction and grammar of
that language,you will find Spanish easier than French-especially the pronunciation.

I had six Spaniards working under me,only three of whom spoke English,
which was a surprise to me as I expected most of them to have a smattering at least.Fortunately,one of the girls spoke fluent Spanish,French English,Catalan and her German was pretty good too,not forgetting her Italian.So I used to ask her at first to translate quite a lot for me.

Within a couple of months I was fairly fluent without having any lessons at all.Mind you the first few weeks were hard.But shortly after that I met a girl
from there and that is definitely the best way to improve fluency.

Go abroad by all means,but try a night school here before you go to get the
basics and buy a book to teach yourself.THe weather is so good there that you will not want to be indoors when you can watch the world go by,on the beach.And practice your Spanish with the locals/barmen/waiters etc.

Reaper

Nickynoo1 wrote:

Hi Reaper,

thanks for your reply, now i have a load more questions. Did you speak any spanish beforehand, how much did you learn, in what time frame, did you get to mingle with other students etc.

I started from nothing and was going backpacking round 5 countries in Central America. I decided zero Spanish was not such a good idea and first took 8 Spanish evening classes in the UK with these people just to get a few absolute basics. Cost wise it is expensive but if you have never spoken a word of Spanish (like me) then I think it is worth getting at least the basics before you set out.

Next I headed off to Guatemala where I did 2 weeks of lessons, 4 hours a day one-on-one. The great thing about one-on-one lessons is that you can adjust the lesson to suit your purpose. So I got them to slant it towards travel related Spanish rather than, say, business.

While I was by no means fluent after such a short time I was able to travel around and make myself understood. I could understand their replies to my questions as long as they kept them short, but real conversation was not practical. As you are planning to go for much longer you should have a very good grasp of the language by the end.

I confess I was lazy at the school and spoke to other students in English in the breaks, which you are not supposed to do, and my accomodation was shared with 2 other students so we got a bit lazy there too (other accomodation had just 1 student which is tougher but much better for learning). However meal times had a "Spanish only" rule. One classic moment was when one of the students tried to describe to the lady owner about a school outing to a fruit farm the next day. "Tomorrow I will know all the fruits of Guatemala" she tried to say. The lady almost choked on her food and confusion reigned until the student with the best Spanish explained she had actually said "Tomorrow I will know all the prostitutes of Guatemala"!

Yes it's more expensive, but would i gain a better understanding in spain? It's a long time, but friends and family can visit in Spain.

This one is personal choice. The accent is slightly different in the Americas to Spain and a few words change between countries but they can understand each other fine.

I loved my time in Central America and Spain. I favour CA as it feels more adventurous but there is no doubting both Seville and Grenada are beautiful places and as you say more convenient for people to visit you.

Whatever you decide have a great time.

Nickynoo1

Reaper wrote:

I confess I was lazy at the school and spoke to other students in English in the breaks, which you are not supposed to do, and my accomodation was shared with 2 other students so we got a bit lazy there too

This is the bit that I'm worried about by going to CA. So much to see and do, the learning may fall by the wayside. I would like to travel around CA after learning, but then return to Spain for work.

Oh, there's just so much world to choose from!!

Thanks for your insight reaper, and your's tony.

Nickynoo