Learning Spanish in Spain

[Miss Tick]

I'm considering a family trip to Spain in the Spring, and would like to add language lessons to the trip. Has anyone done this - learn the native language in a foreign country? Any tips, ideas, questions I should ask, cautionary tales?

 

I am planning on Madrid. The search I did turned up a few opportunities. They all seem to run for two weeks, with a choice of one or two hours a day.  I am thinking we'll do the one-hour option. We are at three or four different ability levels, so I guess we would all take separate classes? I'm not sure how to find reviews, the offerings all look the same.

 

Ideally I would like for us to do one hour a day, at our individual levels, with one or two lessons a week in unusual places, like a group lesson at a restaurant or museum or park. What are my chances of setting that up?

 

I plan to email one or two schools but wanted to check with the Hive first!

 

Thanks/Gracias!

[Lanny]

If you have other reasons for going to Spain for your vacation, do it there. If your primary interest is in learning how to speak Spanish, consider coming to Colombia. The purest Spanish is spoken here. Or, go somewhere else in Latin America. If you live in the USA, most Spanish speakers there speak Latin American Spanish.  We can understand and communicate with people from Spain, but there are major differences, between the 2 types of Spanish.  GL

[Miss Tick]

Thanks, Lanny. Colombia is on my list of possible plan Bs! I'm wondering if the Spanish classes would be worth the cost - are they taught closer to one-on-one, or will we be roughly sorted into levels with a bunch of other people. Colombia has some similar schools, do you have any experience with them or anyone related to them?

 

I'm hoping for a slightly extended, therefore less harried, vacation, but would like it to have some educational value.  It has been a year since we had access to a live tutor, and I was hoping two weeks in a Spanish-speaking country with scheduled lessons would serve as an intensive and give us all a boost.

 

 

[Amira]

Honestly, I'm not sure that your goal of a language boost in that short a time is realistic. Ten hours of Spanish instruction will do nothing for anyone's language ability, no matter what level they're at. I don't think it would be worthless, I'm just not sure it would be worth the time and expense when you're only there for two weeks. I do think formal classes can be very worthwhile when you're in a country for a longer time.

 

I'm sure you could find a tutor or two who could tailor your classes exactly the way you want them. Group lessons in an interesting place aren't very likely to be easy to find. We've taken classes through a university in two different countries and had friends here do it. They've nearly always been taught in one location and have been fairly rigid. You'd probably be with a very international group of students who were all at about your level.

 

If you have some people who already speak some Spanish, it's possible you'd be better off just trying to have everyone speak as much Spanish as possible during your stay.

[Melinda in VT]

We took Spanish lessons in Costa Rica in 2011. DH was down there for a month with our 5 year old and our 11-year-old twins. Oldest son and I came down for the last two weeks.

 

The little guy was enrolled in a regular Spanish-language kindergarten class at a privat school. It was mornings only. The rest of us (except DH, who is already fluent) took 3-4 hours of lessons each morning M-F. Because we were at different levels, we had three private teachers. (The twins shared.)

 

We got out of it what we put into it. Which means results varied. 😉

[KungFuPanda]

I wouldn't do classes and homework on vacation. I'd do that before I left so I could get more vacation bang for my buck and use what I've learned. Also, the odds that every member of your party would consider daily classroom work vacation-worthy are VERY slim. Have you checked your local community college? You have time for a whole semester of language instruction before spring.

[Serenade]

If you have other reasons for going to Spain for your vacation, do it there. If your primary interest is in learning how to speak Spanish, consider coming to Colombia. The purest Spanish is spoken here. 

 

Lanny,

 

Just curious, why is the purest Spanish spoken in Colombia?  

[Miss Tick]

Thanks everybody! That helps put a more realistic spin on what we were planning (well, what I was dreaming about).

 

Amira - You're right! Thinking of it as 10 hours instruction makes it seem like very little for the money. and time. and effort I would have to put in to keep everybody on board. I'll plan on the "speak as much as possible" approach.  It is a struggle to get my kids to speak to people in English, Spanish will take even more prodding.

 

Melinda - That would be similar to our situation, except we would spend less time in the classroom! Your comment about the results varying would certainly be true for us.

 

KungFu - Another good point. I might be able to line up a tutor for us for the next semester for less than half the cost of the lessons.

 

Sigh, why is it that I have so much trouble seeing these major flaws in my daydreams? Back to the daydream-drawing board.  :auto:

 

[Lanny]

Thanks, Lanny. Colombia is on my list of possible plan Bs! I'm wondering if the Spanish classes would be worth the cost - are they taught closer to one-on-one, or will we be roughly sorted into levels with a bunch of other people. Colombia has some similar schools, do you have any experience with them or anyone related to them?

 

I'm hoping for a slightly extended, therefore less harried, vacation, but would like it to have some educational value.  It has been a year since we had access to a live tutor, and I was hoping two weeks in a Spanish-speaking country with scheduled lessons would serve as an intensive and give us all a boost.

 

 

SusanC: For 9 years, before we bought this lot and built this house, we lived a few blocks from this private university in S.W. Cali:

http://www.javerianacali.edu.co/

The above URL is their Home page and it is in Spanish. After I moved here, 20 years ago, I contemplated taking a Spanish language course there. I never did and I am not sure if they still offer those courses.

 

Many years ago, my wife took some English language courses in a private language school in South Cali, near where we lived.  They may have Spanish classes too.

http://www.learnenglish.edu.co/web/

At that time, their class size was small and their tuition was much less than another school that used the same books and had larger class sizes.  Possibly they teach Spanish too. At that time, their courses were very good. My wife learned a lot there.

 

For your needs, you will probably need to hire private tutors if you do this.

 

The U.S. Dollar has become extremely strong in Colombia, during the past 4  months or so, which is a Godsend for my family and if you come here, your purchasing power is about 50% higher than it would have been one year ago.

 

Cali is about 3 hours and 30 minutes nonstop) from Miami (1565 miles).

[MamaBearTeacher]

If cost is an issue at all, many countries in Latin America will have much less expensive options for language classes (even with a really good teacher working one on one) than Spain, although the food and water are not as safe.  Ideally, you would spend a month in language in classes all morning, with time to travel on weekends and maybe 10 days after to travel.  Maybe they could arrange to hook you up with a family who has kids similar in age to yours for more of a cultural experience.  I think it would be a wonderful experience for your family!  You could go to shop in the market in the afternoons and do all sorts of things!  Keep daydreaming!

[Lanny]

Lanny,

 

Just curious, why is the purest Spanish spoken in Colombia?  

 

 

I asked my wife your question (she knows everything, just ask her!) and her reply was that she does not know why this is true. She believes it may go back hundreds of years.  CNN en Español can (and they do) put a Colombian on the air and anyone in the world who understands Spanish will understand what they say.  That is not true with people from Mexico, Venezuela, Central America, Puerto Rico, etc., and certainly not people from Spain.

[Lanny]

OP after reading some of the other responses, I tend to think that if you just plan a vacation, in a place that is interesting to you and your family, and you try to speak the language, you will learn and improve your Spanish. Latin Americans are not like the people in France, who will not tolerate French spoken by Quebec natives (the late wife of one of my high school friends was a Quebec native and he told me that in France they would speak English with her, not French). So, people in Latin America will tolerate your Spanglish and they will appreciate that you are trying to speak their language and that you chose to visit their country.  

 

This is the URL of the official Colombian government travel web site, which will give you an idea of things you can see here:

http://www.colombia.travel/en

 

For example, near Bogota, in December 2013, we toured a Cathedral in an old Salt Mine. I forget how many meters (yards) we were below ground level. Pretty neat experience for me.  I'm guessing that on San Andres Island, in the Caribbean, they speak a lot of English and that wouldn't be a good place to practice your Spanish, but I'm not sure. Cartagena is a main tourist attraction. Lots of places to practice your Spanish and spend your money in Colombia and around Latin America.   When we go to Bogota next month, we want to visit the Gold Museum (rated among the top 25 museums in the world on TripAdvisor, always closed on Mondays) and the Botero Museum. Bogota is a high altitude city (about 8500 feet ASL) so if you go there, take it very easy at first. Where we live it is about 3000 feet ASL.

[Miss Tick]

Lanny - thank you for all the ideas! Would I most likely rent a car for travel around Colombia?

 

MamaBear - at some point cost always becomes an issue. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Lanny]

Lanny - thank you for all the ideas! Would I most likely rent a car for travel around Colombia?

 

MamaBear - at some point cost always becomes an issue. Thanks for the encouragement!

 

 

SusanC we have 3 ranges of the Andes mountains here in Colombia.  Our highways are normally in excellent condition, but in the mountains they are usually 2 lanes.  There are a lot of tractor trailers and intercity buses on the highways.  Many years ago, I knew an American man whose girlfriend was from Bogota. I am not sure why they did this, but he drove his pickup from Cali to Bogota and they bought furniture in Bogota. Strange since so much furniture is made in this area or several hours on the highway toward Bogota. He told me he would NEVER drive that highway again.  I have gone by bus, round trip, from Cali to Bogota, 3 times. The first time I was with my wife and we were 3 hours North of Cali, closer to Bogota, and planned to fly from there to Bogota. It was more expensive to fly from there to Bogota than from Cali to Bogota. We took a bus to Bogota. On the way back, my wife, who is from that area (the main Coffee growing area of Colombia) told me that she would NEVER do that trip by road again. That was in 1998  and she hasn't.   The intercity buses are very powerful and can pass going uphill, which shows you their power... 

 

The intercity buses have 2 drivers. My wife told me in 1998 that sometimes, in the mountains North of where she is from ("La Linea" or The LIne is what they call that stretch of highway) they are in the clouds and the 2nd driver gets out with a flashlight, to show the driver where the road is. That is an experience I do not want to experience. That's in "the Winter" (rainy season) when the clouds are low.   

 

During May 2009, she made me go by bus to Bogota, because I had gotten stuck in Bogota on a trip and missed my return flight. Avianca was very nice to me that time, but one can't count on the airlines being nice.   (In retrospect, I should have flown from Cali to Bogota and planned to return by bus. I did, in fact, change my return reservation, twice, because I had the opportunity to attend another concert (free ticket), so she was correct about that).  The story here is that when we were headed North, we were nearing the top of a mountain, about to go around a curve to the Left, and the bus stopped.  I was on the right side of the bus near the window.  After a few minutes, I was curious about why we had stopped.  There was a tractor trailer with a container that was coming South. When the driver went around the curve, the trailer went onto it's side and the container slid down the side of the mountain.  I thought that we might be there for hours, but it had apparently happened some time before that, and a huge tow truck came and turned the tractor trailer back onto it's wheels and we were able to continue, after 20 or 30 minutes. I was happy there was a bathroom on the bus, something people in cars didn't have...  So, if there is an accident, or during "Winter" (rainy seasons) a landslide, one can be delayed for hours until the highway is reopened.

 

Cell phone coverage on main highways is almost continuous. It is rare not to have service. Cell phones here are GSM Technology and work on the bands commonly used in the Americas, 850 and 1900.  

 

Now, in the North, on the Caribbean coast, possibly you might rent a car and drive from Barranquilla to Santa Marta and to Cartagena. In that area.  But, in general, I believe renting a taxi or private van to take you where you want to go would be a better idea. Driving in the large cities, you need about 10 eyes, pointing in all directions. They sell about 500K motorcycles a year here now, so there are motorcycles everywhere. Driving here is not as organized as it is in the USA...

 

When I attended a meeting several years ago, the man who was the U.S. Consul (or Consul General or whatever the title of the head person in the Consular Section is) told me he was planning to drive with his family in that Corridor on our Caribbean coast for a vacation.

 

In any big city, taking taxis or hiring someone with a private (special White cars and vans based in hotels) who knows the roads and streets is probably a better idea.  I cannot imagine driving in Bogota but many people drive there every day and survive. I have no clue about where I am in Bogota, with the exception of a very few neighborhoods.

 

Our airlines (Avianca, LAN Colombia and COPA Colombia) are excellent and you can fly on any of them, with complete confidence. Avianca is the largest so they have more flights and more routes.

[Serenade]

I asked my wife your question (she knows everything, just ask her!) and her reply was that she does not know why this is true. She believes it may go back hundreds of years.  CNN en Español can (and they do) put a Colombian on the air and anyone in the world who understands Spanish will understand what they say.  That is not true with people from Mexico, Venezuela, Central America, Puerto Rico, etc., and certainly not people from Spain.

 

 

There are so many different dialects spoken in Spain.  I lived in Sevilla for a year, which has its own, strong dialect.  I remember the pension I lived in had a boarder from Barcelona, and his version of Spanish sounded so strange to us.  Even as an American I could easily tell the difference.  It would be interesting to study why the Spanish spoken in Columbia was protected from dialectical changes.