Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I'm looking to do a Spanish course in either Barcelona or Malaga but can't decide who to do the course with. There are so many places offering the same ones.

Has anyone done a course or know of a good reputable company?

Cheers
Paddy

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

International House are a national chain and have academies everywhere. Good, professional standards.

I used International House (CLIC) in Seville.

http://www.ihes.com/bcn/spanish/index.html

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

Ohh ok. I haven't actually come across this company. I will have a look at their website.

Do you know if they offer work placements too?

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

What do you mean by work placements?????? I don't understand. International House is a language academy offering language courses and teacher training courses.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I went to Instituto Picasso in Plaza de la Merced, Malaga.

I found the course to be good and lots of fun, plus they offer accomodation if you need it. Also in a very good location in the centre of Malaga.

I dont know what you mean by work placements either, do you want an internship with a Spanish company? If so, I've never hear of someone doing that.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I noticed some companies offer an intensive course followed by a work placement, where they find you a job for a certain amount of time so you can further your language skills.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

think if we try here we be told to FO

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

pleasant ;)

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I know of companies which do that in the UK for students of English. One of my students went to the UK & was supposed to also get work in a holiday camp as part of the deal. When it came to it he was told he didn't fit the 'young image' they wanted.

He's a very trendy-looking 30ish with a high level of English. I think they wanted teens.

I imagine that there are companies in Spain doing the same - but with unemployment as it is I'd be surprised if any companies were actually keen to take people on in that way - even for short term paying peanuts positions.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

sorry posted in the wrong Thread ... sorry my fualt ....

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

can't you still delete it?

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

No advice on particular schools/academies, but if the choice is Málaga or Barcelona I'd say Málaga, purely because you'll have more opportunity to practice outside of class. You'll have to deal with the Andalucian accent but that's better than having to deal with another language.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

Thanks for the advice rachel

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

Yes, I'd agree with that for sure.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

If you want a useful and recognised qualification afterwards you need to use the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

That's not really the case. The recognised certificate is the DELE and there are lots of language schools who will help you prepare for this.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

If you want to work for the State, policía, profesor, bombero, enfermero, funcionario, etc you are going to need EOI, and it's going to cost a lot less than going elsewhere because it is subsidised by the State.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

This is news to me. The DELE is the official certificate which matches the Common European Framework of language levels.

Are you saying it's not officially recognised?

What certificate is offered by the EOI?





ETA

This will do for me

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I thought jobs with the police were closed to foreign residents? Don't you have to be a Spanish national? Something to do with having to swear an allegiance to the King instead of having a regular job contract, or something like that.

The Escuela Oficial is great, but I have to agree with the others that the DELE is the most official and recognised qualification for foreign learners of Spanish.

Not sure about the current state of play, but as recently as last year even the English language teaching at the EOI wasn't 'homologado' to the Common European Framework. I know they were in the process of changing this to try and get themselves recognised but I don't know how far into that process they are.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

I wondered about that, their levels appear to stop at B2 where the new Euro ones go to C2. I couldn't work out whether it was meant to be the same or not.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

Maybe I'm wrong. If I'm talking rubbish you'll have to forgive me. I went before there was a common standard so maybe I'm about 3 years behind the time. I've got a couple of Spanish friends who are teachers and to teach English, as an addition to what they were already teaching, this is the qualification that was required. As to what the qualification is "nivel superior" is equivalent to "B2 del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia".

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

To be honest, it makes little difference to me - I don't really want it for the official qualification anyway. It's more like the certificates that the Wizard of Oz dished out to Dorothy's friends, I want a certificate to make me believe I can speak spanish......

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

You don't need a certificate for that. Anyway I've got the certificate but I often feel I'm lagging behind my five-year-old's Spanish communication skills. I might know the grammar,etc, mechanically but she knows her stuff inherently.

Re: Studying Spanish in Spain
 

Several years ago, I spent about 6 months at Don Quixote language academy in Barcelona. I was quite satisfied with it. I think I learned a lot. They have schools in many cities in Spain, not just Barcelona. In addition to the classes, they also organized tourist and cultural activities around the area, which were a lot of fun.

http://www.donquijote.org/

- Eric S.