Salamanca is probably Spain’s best-known city when it comes to history and academics. As a centuries-old university town, Salamanca has a vibrant student culture in a beautiful, romantic setting. Here you’ll find university buildings, cathedrals and convents, Roman bridges over the river, numerous museums and a city centre full of wonderful restaurants and bars, as well as a thriving shopping district.
Within this dynamic mix of modern Spanish living and traditional culture, Estudio Sampere offers almost half a century’s worth of experience in teaching Spanish as a foreign language.
The Sampere chain of language schools was established by Alberto and Isabel Sampere, who were Spanish language teaching forerunners already back in the 50’s. They first opened their Madrid school in 1956, and now Estudio Sampere has branches in Madrid, Salamanca and Alicante in Spain, as well as Cuenca in Ecuador and Havana in Cuba.
The school is located near Salamanca’s university campuses and the cathedrals, on Calle Ancha, just a short walk away from the city’s heart, the Plaza Mayor square.
Getting there and around
Although Salamanca only has a national airport, you can get connecting flights to the city from both Barcelona and Madrid. Alternatively, you can fly to Valladolid and take a bus, which reaches Salamanca in about 90 minutes. Long distance trains and buses also link Madrid to Salamanca.
Salamanca’s center is not too big, so you can easily get around on foot. The city also has good bus connections; in fact, bus number 1 takes you straight from the train station to Plaza Mayor very near the Sampere School.
The school
Sampere’s ethos is “fast progress” and “making Spanish fun”. The school has a great record of student satisfaction, scoring 9,7 out of 10 in UniSpain’s independent student ratings. The school also has an excellent reputation for training translators.
Estudio Sampere is accredited and quality assured by several renowned organisations, including the International Association of Language Centres (IALC), The Cervantes Institute, The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) and The Association of International Educators (NAFSA).
The Salamanca school is fully equipped with nine air-conditioned classrooms, internet access, common areas and a library room complete with audio-visual equipment.
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Students
The Sampere school is the chain’s smallest branch, so classes are taught in numbers of about 6-9 students per room, and the whole school usually takes in an average of 40-50 students at one time. There is a great mix of international students at Sampere Salamanca, with about a third coming from the USA, a fifth from Italy and almost all the rest from central Europe and the UK. About 10% come from other corners of the world.
The average Sampere Salamanca student is mainly between 17-25 years old, and about 15% fall into the 25-35 age category. Only about 10% of students are older than 35, but the school does offer an excellent 50 Plus course for mature students, and Junior and Young Adult courses for pre-teens and teens.
The teachers, lessons and materials
Estudio Sampere, thanks to its long history, and competent, enthusiastic management and teaching staff, has developed its own didactic system and books. These emphasise conversation and real life situations that make the learning processes very effective. All teachers at Sampere hold a degree in Spanish Philology and attend on-going teacher training to keep their methods up to date.
Intensive Courses
Sampere Salamanca has a huge range of courses on offer, but probably the most popular one is their intensive course, which is offered to all levels of Spanish students from Monday to Friday. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes and covers speaking, listening, reading, writing, pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. There are 20 lessons each week, as well as 4 culture lessons on top. Whilst beginners have specific starting dates, other levels can start on practically any Monday of the year (bar Spanish bank holidays!). You can also upgrade to a Super Intensive Course, which offers 30 lessons per week, plus a choice of culture lessons.
DELE Courses
If you want to obtain an official, internationally recognised diploma certifying your Spanish level, you can attend a DELE course and sit the official DELE examinations at Sampere Salamanca twice a year.
The DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) is an official diploma issued by the Instituto Cervantes, and authorised by the Spanish Education Ministry, to those students who pass the exam. A DELE certificate shows a student’s grade of Spanish competency, is recognized world-over and looks great on your CV.
The Sampere School in Salamanca offers a special preparation course twice a year, to sit the DELE. It is currently available for three levels only: A2 (beginner/intermediate), B1 (intermediate) and B2 (advanced). The courses are between 6 and 12 weeks long and precede the official state DELE exams held in May and November.
Specialist Courses
Sampere Salamanca also offers a vast range of specialist subjects, such as Spanish Teacher Training, One to One Courses, Junior Courses (for 13-15 year olds), Young Adult courses (for older teens), 50 Plus Courses, Spanish with Salsa, Arts & Crafts Spanish Courses, University Preparation and Work Experience, to name a few.
Prices
- The Intensive Course prices start from 335€ (£295 or $478) for two-week courses and range up to 12 week courses at 1564€ (£1306 or $2114).
- A six-week DELE course starts at 1000€ (£854 or $1382).
- The specialist courses and their start dates usually depend on student numbers and times of year, so contact UniSpain for more information and prices.
Bonus: One of the advantages at Sampere Schools is that all the materials are included in the fees, and you get to take them home when your Spanish course ends!
School Activities
At Sampere, there’s a great emphasis to get students speaking Spanish outside the classroom. The school therefore organises cultural and social activities and events, like guided tours to Salamanca sites and excursions to nearby places of interest, as well as welcome parties for new students and social events that take place at the school or night life venues in Salamnca city. You can also combine your courses with different subjects and choose extra lessons like Spanish cooking, flamenco dancing.
If you hurry, you still have time to catch a last-minute offer for Sampere Schools before 2013 ends. When you register for an 8-week course or longer at one of Sampere’s schools in Spain (Alicante, Madrid and Salamanca included) you’ll get a 10% discount on the course.
Ready to jump on a plane?
It’s really hard to think of a better combination of factors, if you are planning to spend some time studying Spanish in Spain. Sampere Salamanca seems to offer it all: a historic Spanish city that remains young and lively thanks to its university population, and a school that is highly valued by its past students and run by experienced, highly trained staff.
If we had to get really picky, we might say that this is not a ideal winter destination for those looking for sunshine and beaches, though! And those who suffer with heat are advised to stay well away in July and August – Spain’s northwest can get very chilly during winter and excruciatingly hot and sunny in mid-summer. But bar the weather, Sampere Salamnca really presents an excellent, reasonably priced option if you are looking to study Spanish in Spain.
Would you like to review more schools or find out about the pro’s and con’s of Salamanca’s university courses, versus Sampere Salamanca? Just check in on UniSpain’s blog resources for more articles and detailed advice on selecting the right Spanish course for you in Spain
