salamanca or cordoba, cordoba or salamanca?

Hi all,

Well, I have a week to spend in Spain this March ... was there for a month this past summer studying when my school was blown up by Basque terrorists in Alicantein July. I really hate to have my routine interrupted, so I'm going back to recover my lost week. This time I'd like to try one of the above cities ... I have heard that Salamanca is the best for studying castellano, but that there are a plethora of students there and much English is spoken...I prefer not to speak English in Spain...On the other hand, my Spanish tutor here in NY (from Valladolid) says Cordoban Spanish is difficult to understand....How about the people? Is it true that Salamancans tend to be a bit more reserved than the southern Spaniards? It's been a very long time since I visited Andalucia... Any info/opinions would be much appreciated.
un afectuoso saludo,

Joana

It sounds like Cordoba would give you more the experience you are looking for. Salamanca is really beautiful, but my impression was that it was chock full of foreign students. Yes, Andaluz is a little tougher to understand, but it's not so bad. I studied in Sevilla and one of my instructors had an accent and we had no problem. He was great! Once you can understand an Andalucian, other types of Spanish seem easy. Cordoba is a fabulous place for a week. I went there for a couple of day trips and loved it.

Thanks Jana. I've heard that close to one third of the population of Salamanca is comprised of students, many of whom speak English. I do want to avoid that....and you're right about understanding the accent. I've grown very accustomed to the accent of my tutor from Valladolid and I think it's time to expand... Thanks again.

Joana