Where to study in Spain?

[originally posted by MATADOR on 6-20-01 and the thread was subsequently lost when I tried to transfer it to this forum... not sure why yet... Sorry! ]

I have been to spain twice. I have been to Madrid, Barcelona and Mallorca. I have an opportunity to study in Spain for two semesters. I can't decide wheter I should study in Seville or Madrid. Barcelona is out because people speak catalan. I am looking for easy access (train, bus, close location, nightlife, culture). Many Spaniards that I have met in the U.S. say to go south. My teacher who is from spain says go to madrid. Help meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[then Espe3 followed up and it too was lost. Here's the only portion I could recover.. Sorry, Espe3! ]

Both are wonderful places... but I think transportation in Madrid will be easier... I'd consider 2 things... the way you may learn to speak in Sevilla, depending on your teachers, may be an issue you...

Have you ever considered Bilbao, in northern Spain? I am studying there right now (yeah I know, 3 am and I am on the internet..pathetic!).
I absolutely LOVE the north of Spain, it is so beautiful. Especially Bilbao, the spanish is "pure", of course there is an accent, but much easier to understand than the south (at least in my opinion). Universidad de Deusto is awesome...I love that I have had the chance to make friends here FROM spain (at a private language school I think you miss out on this opportunity). I am staying with a host family, and just love them to death (after only 1 and half months!). Bilbao is the perfect size, it is big enough to have everything you could possibly want to do (movies, shopping, beaches, culture...nightlife ). Yet, it is small enough that you really feel at home, i already know my way around the entire town. It is also NOT toursity, there are very few foreigners, so you really get to interact and live the spanish culture. Transportation..Bilbao has a new airport, RENFE, a good bus stations with easy trips to other major cities. Within Bilbao, there is a new metro...very clean, fast, cheap and easy to navigate. Im sure you will have a great experience in any city you choose, I am just a little partial to Bilbao If you, or anybody for that matter, is curious about this area, I'd love to tell you about it! Good Luck...studying abroad will be the best experience of your life!

ok.. here it goes again, more or less...

Both places are wonderful. You said you were looking at transportation.. I think Madrid would be better there, especially if you want or can travel to see other parts of spain. Madrid is a good central point to travel to anywhere for a weekend trip (or long weekend).

Other thing is the accent. Depending on your professors, the accent you will learn will differ... in Sevilla depending on how 'cerrado' the accent is in the place you are, it can be very hard or very easy to understand (even for native speakers!)

But other than that.. if you do end up in Madrid, don't leave without visiting Sevilla!

I have no doubt no matter what you'll have a blast!

I studied in Sevilla at the Center for Cross Cultural Studies on Calle Harinas (near the cathedral). It was wonderful. It's a first class operation. I just visited the school three weeks ago while I was on vacation. It's been ten years since I studied there. When I walked in, the receptionist said "Me suena tu cara". After ten years they remembered me. Sevilla is a great place. Look into it www.cccs.com

Winston

I highly reccomend Sevilla! I just got back from 4 months i Sevilla, and it was really great. I wish I was there now. They people were wonderful, its a gorgeous city, and you get used to the accent after about 3 weeks. I studied one summer in Salamanca, and have spent considerable time travelling throughout the country. Andalucia is my favorite by far. This isn't to say that the other parts of Spain arent wonderful too, but the south is my favorite. With the accent, I found that I got used to it after a few weeks, and after learning to understand andaluz, you can understand anything. When I was in Madrid after my 4 months in sevilla, I was amazed at the clarity in their speech, but I will always carry a fondness for the accento adaluz. VIVA ANDALUCIA!

Where you study fully depends on how much studying you plan to do. None of my recommendations have anything to do with whether the city is beautiful/historical/etc. These are strictly academic:

If you prefer to spend months with thousands of other English speakers, try Salamanca (the Cuernavaca of Spain).

If you prefer to spend one hour a day in class and six to nine hours a night barfing on the streets because you're not 21 and have recently discovered the "joys" of alcohol, try Madrid or anywhere on the Mediterranean coast.

If you prefer to roast in the summer sun, stay off the coast and go inland.

If you prefer to learn "el castellano puro" and hear the same "castellano puro" in the shops you visit and the people with whom you live/speak, stay in Castilla Vieja (Burgos, Valladolid, Palencia are the three best places to go for this).

If you like the rain and are less interested in learning Spanish outside the classroom, go to Galicia.

If you prefer to learn Spanish where it's taught as a third language, try País Vasco or Cataluña.

If you prefer a bastardized version of Spanish which neither sounds Spanish nor pleasant to the ears, but you're looking to save a few $$$, try Tijuana.

Spanish taught as a third language in País Vasco? Dont be scared off from this awesome part of Spain by the language issue. I almost did not come here to Bilbao to study because I was afraid that all I would hear outside of the classroom would be Euskera I was COMPLETELY wrong! In fact it is the opposite. I RARELY hear Euskera used on the streets...99% of the time it is strictly Castellano. EVERYTHING is in both languages, or just Spanish.

Whoa! Kelar...I wasn't trying to scare anyone off...look at my handle, for Pete's sake... Remember, however, that the outside-of-class practicum is as important or more important than the in-class experience.

Since those who are real Bilbainos are already bilingual, and Euskera is most likely their first language, the castellano they speak is more regional than in central Spain. That's a linguistic fact. To the trained ear, you can tell the difference between a vasco speaking castellano and a castellano speaking castellano...the other drawback is that many of the first-language castellano speakers are from the south where the language is "fun" but butchered on a daily basis.

I'm not knocking U. of Deusto either, which is a great school. I love Bilbao, I lived there for a year for cryin' out loud! Nevertheless, for a purely castellano study, I don't put Bilbao at the top of the list. (Even though everyone should realize that Euskadi rocks!)

I agree with Kelar on this, it´s rare to hear Euskera. In many schools the teaching is entirely in euskera, but outside of class most people speak castellano between themselves. Most young people here can at least understand basque, if not speak it. That doesn´t mean that it´s the language on the street. Everyone speaks castellano without a problem and is still the dominant language. I like learning spanish here. Where I work the people speak a mix of basque, castellano and english. One time they started to speak in basque, but then realized that I was there, politely apologized and kept on in castellano. This is for Bilbao and surrounding areas, I don´t know how other places might be.

The Spanish here is more of a regional dialect than say in Madrid, or central Spain...but in comparison with Andalucia...

Expressdance, what program did you use? I am using API. Can you tell me a little about seville and your experiences there. Were there many American students to the point where you used english alot? I am looking for total immersion. was the program at the univ of Seville?

I went with CEA. It was a really good program, and the directors of the program were great at organizing everything. The courses were at the university, but they were cursos para extranjeros. If you place high on the placement exam at the begining of the semester, you can take up to 2 normal courses with spaniards. That would be a really good option, but there are many things to consider when thinking about taking classes with the natives. All the cursos para extranjeros are taught by normal university professors. In terms of a total immersion experience, I honestly don't think that you'll find one with any of the programs like AYA, API, or CEA, casue they tend to be rather large. In my opinion, I learned the most spanish at the home I lived in, and with the spaniards I met. I also hung out pretty regularly with some american friends. CEA was a good program, and I think that you can improve your spanish ten-fold, depending on the effort you want to put into speaking. If you have any other questions, you can e-mail me, and I can give you more in depth information.

Yikes...in comparison with Andalucía, euskera almost sounds castellano! Thanks for getting my point, Kelar...obviously in a cosmopolitan area like Bilbao, you'll be fine with castellano (as you no doubt have experienced).

Actually, for someone like myself, who already has a fluency in castellano, Bilbao is perfect, as you afford yourself the opportunity to go beyond and pick up euskera (or catalán, gallego, etc. depending on the area). [Plus, the food in Euskadi is so much better than in the meseta.]

Which is the best uni in Madrid? I'm thinking of spending some time at one.