Learning Spanish in Granada
Jessica Fuller
12 weeks: Spanish course in Granada
As I was a complete beginner I thought the first couple of weeks Spanish language lessons would be quite difficult and that it would be really tough to communicate, but I hoped it would get easier as the weeks passed.
Linguistically the experience from the first week onwards was amazing. I felt I could see an improvement every week and I had a great time and was able to learn a lot of Spanish at the language school in Granada. The teachers made everything clear, whatever level of ability I was at. The weekly lesson structure was great, with grammar in the morning and conversation classes in the afternoon. I loved that the teachers changed very lesson, which meant that we experienced different styles, heard different opinions and teaching methods. The Spanish language tuition was good and really effective, from beginner through to the intermediate levels that I experienced. The interaction between the teachers and students in all the Spanish courses was very good and would have been very difficult to improve on!
Right from the first week I found everyone at the college (staff, Spanish tutors and students) very friendly, welcoming and approachable. The Spanish language school was only 10 minutes walk from the heart of Granada.
The students were a real mix, a wide range of lovely people, from all over Europe and beyond and a diverse range of ages but we all shared a common goal, to significanly improve our Spanish – getting to know so many new people really added to the experience for me and wasn’t something I’d expected to happen.
Granada is a really great destination. Free tapas with drinks was a bonus! You could eat out relatively cheaply and the local people were really friendly and importantly I felt safe throughout my stay. I generally socialised with other students from the school rather than local people, but honestly that was my choice, I was so busy with the other students that I didn’t make the effort to get to know other Spanish people outside of the college.
Night life was excellent – if you like to party Granada is a must! You could dance, chat, chill or drink all night, if you had the stamina.
I didn’t have the courage to stay with local Spanish hosts, as a beginner I just didn’t think I could have coped with it. Now looking back that was possibly a mistake – others of my friends who were with hosts said it was a good way to practise their Spanish out of class. However I stayed in a shared apartment with another couple of girls studying Spanish at the school and was delighted with the accommodation. The rooms were big, facilities were simple but fine and the view over Granada was incredible.
Booking through CESA was easy and the ladies I spoke to were really helpful with all the enquiries and arrangements that had to be made. They were always quick to reply to any question that I had.
I would so go again. I had a terrific time, met some new friends and learnt a ton of Spanish. A good result on all levels!
