When you go on holiday, you know what to pack, don’t you? You pack clothes, toiletries and some leisure items, like books and computers. You’ll also pack money, your driving licence and maybe your passport. But if that break away from home was about learning a language in another country, what else might you need to have with you? If you were travelling to Spain to learn a language, a dictionary and maybe a list of selected useful phrases might be a good starting point. You might already have a …CONTINUE READING

With anything you learn, when you get that qualification, you feel extremely proud and that success also raises your estimation of your own self. But does that qualification really mean that you know about that topic? Some would say yes but others would say no, as theory really does need to be followed up with practice. So, if you have learnt a language in a college setting, you really would benefit from visiting that country to put your theory into practice. Some teachers of Spanish now complement the classroom learning …CONTINUE READING

When a programme is tailored to suit the specific needs of a group, its desired outcome is still one of success and knowing exactly what the individuals in a group want to achieve is key to that required result. A course of action can then be planned to cater for all involved, leading to harmony amongst the team members and that desired positive result. When the course is a language course, knowing the current levels of understanding of the individual group members is undoubtedly the starting point, as having a …CONTINUE READING

We all like to find the best price for whatever we want to purchase, so the same goes for the price to be paid for a group Spanish course in Spain. How do you know if you’ve got the best price and, indeed, what does ‘best price’ mean to you? As we say, you’ve only been overcharged if that’s how you really feel about the price you paid so, in the case of a group Spanish course, what would you be looking for? Some of the points could be:- Location …CONTINUE READING

When you learn Spanish at your local college, the quality of that learning depends on the quality of the teaching and the interaction within the group but, whether good or bad, the class still finishes with students going back home and into the comfort of their own language and culture. Actually getting to use your newly-acquired language may be just a dream and, like with anything you learn, that certificate says ‘you know’ that topic but, if you haven’t actually used it, your confidence can start to slide a little. …CONTINUE READING

When you organise anything, it’s always best to either speak with someone ‘in the know’ or research the information or, maybe do both, as inside knowledge gives you tried and tested routes to check out for yourself. However, if your planned destination involves another language and culture, these differences-cum-challenges need to be taken into consideration. In our forever forging world economic society, knowing other languages must now be close to top of the list of desired qualities in employees but what if you already have a full complement of outstanding …CONTINUE READING

When visiting Spain, you may believe that the population as a whole in this huge country can speak English but, when you start to visit the country, you’ll find that it is indeed only in the tourist areas where that very same tourist can guarantee that he or she will get by with no Spanish at all. So, if you decide you have had enough of ‘tourist’ Spain and really want to get to know what I will refer to as ‘real’ Spain, what situations might you find yourself in …CONTINUE READING

The one who has been there, done it and worn the tee-shirt will say that the best way to learn a language is to study in that country and this does make sense but what about when, as with Spanish, the language is spoken in many countries around the world? Here are six reasons why it makes sense to study Spanish in the country of origin, rather than in some other country where the language turned up later. 1. When learning Spanish, pronunciation is so very important and, if we …CONTINUE READING

Madrid University has to be one of the best universities in Spain for the budding student of Spanish for, not only is Madrid the area of Spain where the clearest Spanish is spoken but its university has a stunning reputation for the quality of its Spanish language courses. This university has two campuses, the Campus de la Dehesa de la Villa which is only fifteen minutes from the city centre and the Campus de la Berzosa, in the outskirts. Most of the Spanish courses take place at the city campus …CONTINUE READING

When going on a trip, do you have a checklist of ‘to do/to remember’ points because, if you do, you’ll know that the contents of that list will vary, depending on where you are heading. That’s because, if you are in your own country, certain situations like getting directions, finding the nearest doctors’ surgery, asking which is the cheapest bar for an evening meal, and other needs like these, can be handled in a trice. However, when you’re organising a trip to another country, your checklist needs a little more …CONTINUE READING