sevilla
 

hi everyone,
just joined the site.
moving to Sevilla in the next few weeks and going to study spanish,i would just like to know if anybody has any recommendations of any schools?
i have LINC and DON QIEJO at the top of my list at the moment as they both start this month and not to expensive.
also,if anyone lives in the city and can tell me what its like living there.
much apreciated,
rich

Re: sevilla
 

Just returned from a holiday in the area and Sevilla was a wonderful place to be, really enjoyed it. Lots going on, looked like plenty of night life. Bit pricy though!

Re: sevilla
 

hi mitzyboy,
well,i guess any city will be more expensive than the smaller towns,i chose sevilla as it is a good climate,the people are very friendly and welcoming,and the spanish is one of the purest and easiest to learn in spain,as weell as its history of course.

Re: sevilla
 

Agreed, its only pricey compared to where I live. You'll always expect city life to be a bit more expensive. I have a load of pictures I'm just waiting to put up on my images site, but I have to wait for a new pc screen first as with this one I can hardly see the pics to upload :D

Re: sevilla
 

Our daughter is taking classes at the University in Sevilla for one year as part of a degree she doing in Hispanic Studies with English at King's College London. She is there with lots of other 'foreign' students of all nationalities under the Erasmus exchange scheme which is funded by the EU and the British Council. Obviously it will be different if you are studying at a language school, but a few things will be common ...
It IS fairly pricey in Sevilla when it comes to flat rental etc., but I wouldn't say it was any worse than London, probably cheaper, and would be cheaper still if the euro were to weaken against the pound. Transport is cheap and easy, there are plenty of places to eat and drink cheaply and a few venues which are definitely 'student-friendly'. Our impressions so far are that it is a lovely, clean, safe city. The Spanish people there are very friendly, possibly more so than in the Costa Blanca where we have a holiday home. On the downside, it is less accessible from UK as carriers cut back on their flights to our regional airports, but I know there are two airlines at least flying direct into Gatwick and Stansted.
If you PM me your email address I will forward it to her, and hope she will get in touch to answer any questions you might have! I believe you need to make 4 posts on here before we can make contact by PM

Re: sevilla
 

Try this site. http://www.exploreseville.com/ On the right hand side of the page near the bottome, you will find some information about studying/learning Spanish.

Good luck :thumbsup:

Re: sevilla
 

Have you heard the Andalucian dialect? I liken it to a strong Geordie accent.

Re: sevilla
 

yeah,very funny mate,and i have heard it yeah.

Re: sevilla
 

I am learning Spanish myself (albeit in UK) and whilst Sevillian Spanish is not as far removed from the 'pure' Castilian as Valenciano (which they tend to use in the area in which we have our holiday home) .... they DO have a habit of not sounding 's' in their words .. which doesn't make things all that easy ... But don't be put off .. doesn't take long to get used to it!

Re: sevilla
 

Actually I wasn't trying to be funny. I find it a really difficult accent to understand and many people tell me it's one of the strongest accents in Spain.

Re: sevilla
 

well,thats not good news,cos i have my mind set up on going to sevillla now!and ireally want to learn spanish quickly,great

Re: sevilla
 

I studied at CLIC in Sevilla when I arrived in Spain a few years back. I was there for 3 months in total and did one of their intensive courses (20 hrs per week).

It cost me a lot of money, but it was without a doubt the best thing I did.

www.clic.es

Re: sevilla
 

hi jerez,im prob going to go with LINC ,or DON QIEJO,they seem the ones that can start this month,do u knowv them?how was ther course,very hard?i am a complete beginner

Re: sevilla
 

Not exactly a fair comparison given that one is a completely different language to the other. A bit like saying - following an earler line - "Geordie English is not as far removed from pure Home Counties English as Welsh" .... or even French, or Swahili for that matter.

Valenciano is a dialect of Catalan (just don't shout that too loud in Valencia!!!!), a separate and distinct language from Castilian, but still in the same Latin family - much the same as Italian, Portuguese or Romanian are in the same Latin family, but knowing one of those doesn't necessarily mean you know another.

As for Sevillano accent - strangely, in contrast to other Andalucian accents, they have a habit of over-using the 's' sound, including when it is not warranted. The 'c' and 'z' sound - which should be a bit like our 'th' - always come out as 's'. A perfect example is 'cerveza' which should sound like 'thervetha" (crude, I know but illustrates the point), and does in the rest of Andalucia much like rest of Spain. Yet in Seville comes out as "Servesa".
However, in common with Andalucian accent, Sevillanos do have a habit of 'eating' their words, with many coming out clipped. It is relatively simple to spot a Sevillano in the town where I live as he'll be the only one overpronoucing his 'S'

I have to 'acclimatise' my accent when I visit Madrid as they wouldn't have a clue what I'm saying otherwise!!!!.

Re: sevilla
 

I do too - it almost seems that they talk completely without consonants!!

Re: sevilla
 

absolutely - a completely different language

I find I can read it ok --in fact my daughter is trying to persuade me to read one of the set books she has had this year - she reckons it's my kind of book (a murder mystery) - and looking at it I think I might just give it a try:thumbup:

but to understand it when spoken - that is a completely different matter:eek:

Re: sevilla
 

I've been learning Spanish for over 3 years (albeit in the UK) and I still struggle with understanding the locals when I'm at our house in Chiclana although they usually understand me ok.

Interestingly, on a recent visit to Madrid I found I could understand the vast majority of what was said to me and conversation was so much easier as a result - perhaps because I learned my Spanish in the UK?

I'm sure, if you live in a particular area, your ears must adjust to the local dialect and many people say that immersing yourself fully in a language (although not easy) is the only way to learn it properly so to that end Sevilla is perfect as hardly any English is spoken.

You seem determined so Go for it Rich and I wish you all the best!

Re: sevilla
 

If a major city is the preferred destination, as much as I love Seville, you might be better off in Madrid for two main reasons:

1. Despite some quirks, it is fairly accentless. Its proximity to Valladolid in the Castilla region - recognised as having the purest form of Spanish - has had a knock on effect and the two accents are very similar.

2. Seville is a more tourist destination than Madrid is and you are more likely to encounter English - or people able to speak English - there than in Madrid. Going about your day to day business in Madrid would put you in many situations where English won't rescue you - negotiating the vast Metro network, going to the bank, ordering lunch etc. Right in the tourist centre around Sol and Plaza Mayor, you will encounter some people with English skills but it is more likely that you wouldn't be living or studying in this area


When you do come here, a good way to get you started is to get hold of a copy of the daily paper, attempt to read the story, then get a copy of an English one, find the same story and see how much of it you got. Doing this on a regular basis will vastly improve your vocabulary whilst the course gives you the bones of the language through the grammar.

Re: sevilla
 

Hi, yes I am familiar with LINC (just up the road from CLIC) and I think you mean Don Quijote for the other. I've just remembered a fourth one too - Cactus Language Learning.

Anyway I got all their catalogues when i was doing my research for a course like you. I can't remember what made me ultimately decided that CLIC was for me, but I think that they are all much of a muchness. they all offer the intensive courses and cost about the same.

I wouldn't say that the course was hard, although i would make sure that you attend ALL classes and do all your homework as you will very quickly fall behind if you don't and it is an uphill struggle from there.

I had a really fantastic time and made quite a few friends through CLIC. I'm sure you'll love it too.