Learning Spanish Abroad

Learning Spanish Abroad - Unaccompanied lady students

Another of the most frequent questions we get from people considering booking a Spanish course, especially at a school in Latin America, is: how safe is it for a woman to travel alone there?

We have had a number of customers who have booked a Spanish course at a school in Latin America and have had no problems at all during their stay. In fact, they have enjoyed themselves immensely. Not one of them has reported any type of problem.

On the other hand, we know that problems can happen during a Spanish course - to anyone, but especially to women traveling alone.

In her article “Top Safety Tips for Women Travelers“, Kathleen Crislip has the following to say: “Female concerns include sexual verbal harassment or physical assault, unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, crude propositions, groping and even rape. Younger women are likely to be considered naive or even “loose” (thanks to American stereotypes) and thus fair game for sexual come-ons. Females are more likely to be the victims of theft, too.”

However, it would be a mistake to let this change your mind about booking - and enjoying - your Spanish course. It just means you have to take a little more care than your male counterparts (which is probably true, although perhaps to a lesser extent, at home too).

To get some advice on what to look out for, what precautions to adopt, etc., just consult these websites:
Women Travel Tips
US Department of State: Tips for Women Traveling Alone

Happy Spanish studying!

Reasons to learn Spanish

Are you still wondering if you should take the plunge and book a Spanish language course abroad?

Take a look at the following article about the Small Business Resource Day at Richmond:
Small Businesses, Big Clout.

You’ll see why you should learn Spanish if you have a small business and want to gain the trust of potential Hispanic customers - and that’s an ever-growing percentage of the customer base.

And what better way to learn Spanish than to take a Spanish course in a country where the language is spoken?

Take care when purchasing prescription drugs in Mexico

We’ve just read a disturbing piece of news about the growing number of U.S. residents who are arrested and jailed in Mexico for purchasing medications without a prescription from a Mexican physician. For more details visit the following page:
Money Plans: More US Residents Jailed in Mexico for Purchasing Prescription Drugs Illegally.

We don’t think it will affect our students who go to Mexico for a Spanish course, because it seems to be focused in towns on the border. But, just in case, if you do decide to go to Spanish school in Mexico, please keep this in mind.

Spanish Language Diplomas - DELE

The DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) Spanish language exam is organised by the Instituto Cervantes (the Spanish equivalent of the British Council or the Goethe Institute) and is an internationally recognised certificate of Spanish language competence. The exams are actually written and marked/scored by the University of Salamanca.

The exams are offered at three levels of Spanish: “Inicial”, “Intermedio” and “Superior”. These levels are roughly equivalent to the University of Cambridge’s English language exams: PET, First Certificate and Proficiency (i.e. intermediate, advanced and very advanced).

All three exams include reading comprehension, writing, listening comprehension, grammar and vocabulary and oral expression. All five parts of the exam are taken on the same day.

To find more information about these Spanish language diplomas, visit the website of the Instituto Cervantes.

And to find Spanish language courses in the different Spanish-speaking countries that prepare you specially for these exams, just take a look at the section “Courses for Examination Preparation” that you can find under the heading ” Study Spanish Abroad - Choose by Type of Course” on our Choose Your School page.

Good luck!

Top destinations for learning Spanish abroad: Madrid

If you’re thinking of Learning Spanish in Spain, Madrid has something for (almost) everyone. It’s one of the richest cities in the world as far as culture is concerned, but, if you’re not so much into art, don’t worry - the partying goes on all through the night!

Like Barcelona, Madrid has all the inconveniences of large cities, but, if you can stand those, there are not many better places to be.

As far as learning Spanish is concerned, Madrid has the advantage that the Spanish spoken there is considered “pure”, and is the type of Spanish that would be understood almost anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.

You might think I’m biased because I live here, so I’ll give you a few links where you can see for yourself just what Madrid has to offer for students of Spanish (or visitors for any reason):
Yahoo Travel Guide: Madrid
Madrid Travel Guide: 10Best
Things to do in Madrid
Guia del Ocio Madrid - in English

Has this whetted your appetite? I hope so - perhaps I’ll see you here in Madrid soon while you’re learning Spanish here!

What type of Spanish language course should I choose?

The answer to this question depends on your objectives. If your purpose is general, and you are taking a Spanish course abroad mainly for cultural purposes, then your best bet is a semi-intensive (15 - 20 classes per week) group course. You can use the rest of your time for soaking up the local atmosphere and even joining in the culture - after all, that’s the idea of learning Spanish in a country where it’s spoken.

If you need to learn General Spanish, but are in more of a hurry, you can choose either an intensive group course (e.g. 30 classes per week) or an individual course of, say 20 classes per week. It is not wise to continue with this kind of course for more than 3 or 4 weeks, since the brain can absorb - or rather process - only a certain amount of new language before becoming saturated. If you’re going to be staying for 4 weeks or more, it’s best to keep to 20, or 25 classes per week at the most.

If you have special needs, you can first look to see if there are any Spanish language courses specifically designed to cater for you (look on this page to check: Study Spanish Abroad: Choose Your School). If you can’t find a specialized group course, you can combine a group course of, for example, 15 classes a week, with 5 hours of individual Spanish (or more, depending on your special needs). Again, if you are in a great hurry, book only an individual course, of up to 25 hours a week (I don’t recommend more hours of class, or you won’t have any time to study outside class).

Many people ask if the difference in price between individual and group Spanish courses is justified. I would say that at a lower level, no. This is because, if you are a beginner or at an elementary or lower intermediate level of Spanish, your needs are not yet so different from those of other students for a group class to slow you down. This is not so at higher levels, where different students tend to have very different needs, so a group class will always be a brake on your progress.

I hope this helps a little!

Money questions - cash, credit card, debit card or travelers’ checks?

Another very frequent question we get asked is: what should I take with me on my Spanish course abroad - cash, credit card, debit card (ATM card) or travelers’ checks?

The basic answer is that it’s best to have some of all of them. The more complicated answer is that the specific make-up of the mixture depends on the country where you’re going to be learning Spanish - in some countries it’s difficult to find ATMs, in others it’s difficult to cash travelers’ checks, etc.

In general you should always carry some cash (local currency and a small stash of dollars), but not too much, since lost cash cannot be replaced and is usually not covered by insurance. Nowadays, ATM cards are extremely useful and have almost taken the place of travelers’ checks, but ALWAYS check with your bank before leaving home just how widely accepted yours is, what fees they will charge you for using it abroad, etc. You can find a list of ATMs throughout the world on the following pages:
VISA ATM locator
MasterCard/Cirrus ATM locator

Finally, I still use travelers’ checks whenever I know that I’ll be able to change them easily. Their great advantage is that they are often accepted in hotels, restaurants, etc; and, above all, that they can be replaced if they are lost.

One last piece of advice - before you leave home for your Spanish course abroad, check out the following site, where you can find guidance for each country:
World Travel Guide
Just find the country where you’re going to be taking your Spanish classes, and click on the page entitled “Money”. You’ll find guidance on how easy it is to find ATMs, cash travelers’ checks, etc.

Top destinations for learning Spanish abroad: Barcelona

There’s no doubt that more and more Spanish language students are choosing Barcelona as the destination for their Spanish language course abroad, and, considering everything Barcelona has to offer, that’s no surprise.

I’m not going to waste my time here reminding you of everything that Barcelona has to offer - it’s one of the most vibrant and exciting cities in Europe, with concerts, opera, museums, exhibitions, dance, sport, great places to eat, etc., etc. So, if you’re looking for the most exciting destination, you probably can’t beat Barcelona (although Madrid gives it a good run for its money).

However, Barcelona is not for everybody. Before you take the plunge, remember the following:
Barcelona is a large city, with all the problems of a large city - if you tend to feel oppressed by large cities, think twice;
Because it is a large city, your accommodation is likely to be a good way away from the school and you’ll waste a lot of time (and money) every day just travelling in and out;
It is also more expensive than other, smaller, towns in Spain;
The language spoken by the natives of Barcelona is not Spanish, but Catalan. The local TV, radio, films, newspapers, etc. are all in Catalan, not Spanish (and Catalan is a different language, it’s not a dialect of Spanish). If you ask for family homestay accommodation, your school will make sure you’re placed with a Spanish-speaking family, but you must be prepared for the fact that the language you will be surrounded by in the street will not be Spanish.

Don’t think that my intention in this posting is to put you off going to Barcelona for your Spanish language course. I’ve known many students who have been there, thoroughly enjoyed it, and learned as much Spanish as students in other Spanish cities. The only thing I want to do is make sure you know exactly what you will be getting if you choose to go to Barcelona.

And their football team has just won the Spanish League!

Top 10: cheap destinations for students

In a recent article about possible cheap destinations for students this summer, AskMen.com included 4 locations in Latin America:
Tegucigalpa, Honduras (placed 10th)
Costa Rica (8th)
Santiago de Chile (4th)
Margarita Island, Venezuela (1st)
See the complete list on AskMen.com

Although they were included simply as cheap vacation destinations, you might consider them as possibilities for Spanish courses abroad.

Madrid - San Isidro

If you were studying Spanish in Madrid, you would now be looking forward to a weekend of “fiestas”. Sunday is the day of San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid. San Isidro was a type of farmer - Madrid has changed a lot since those days!

This weekend will see fairs, dancing, bullfights, concerts…. In general all kinds of fun activities!

I myself shall be going to the Saint’s shrine on Sunday to have a drink of his water. It’s supposed to bring good luck. They say a sip is enough, but I think I’ll have more than that, just in case! And then I’ll buy a lottery ticket. If this blog suddenly stops being updated, you’ll know the water worked!

If you’d like to take part next year, start booking your Spanish course now!