I'm currently looking at Spanish Language programs in Madrid. I'm planning to take a 2 to 3 week intensive course in September.

Have any of you had experience with any of the Spanish Language Schools in Madrid? Any advice you can give in comparing programs? I'd be starting at an advanced beginner level (A2?)

Thanks for your help!

I studied at Don Quixote for a week and it was pretty good. No-one spoke English there so you really had to make an effort.
My only criticism was that most people go there for crash course long term courses, i.e. several months. This is not made clear from the website and I only booked a 1 week intensive course, which is not really much at all.

I only had class in the morning so I had afternoons free to wander around the city.

I recommend it, but go for a few weeks.

The best place, in my opinion, is to go study at Instituo Cervantes, but there are no short classes there, you need to sign up for a couple of months. I studied there in london for a few years in the evenings and it really is superb.

Has anyone tried the International House extensive course in Madrid ? My Spanish could do with a push and I was thinking of giving it a try.

I met somebody last night who´s at International House . Peter from Adelaide . I´ll try and find a way of contacting him .

Thanks Steve, big help. And which one he goes to too, they seem to have four or five dotted around Madrid

He was at the Beer Station on Thursday ...I´m "probably " going to O´Neil´s tonight so if he´s there i´ll speak to him .

Daniel . I know , of course , that Instituto Cervantes has an incredible reputation , but what is it that makes them so much better than the rest ?

Steve, i just got on much better there than other spanish classes i tried. obviously they are all spanish teaches, and only speak to you in spanish regardless of how much you try to use english at the start, but i liked the laid-back style that was used.

i stuck it out going to night school for 3 years and it certainly paid off. i noticed a school of theirs in madrid as well the other day. one thing they offer, that i know a lot of other spanish schools don't, are the option to take exams in spanish that are recognised by the spanish government.

although, at the end of the day, it all boils down to how good your tutor is.

Daniel

That´s really helpful Daniel ... The exam at the end sounds a real selling point ( If you pass it , of course ! ) . Thanks for the info .
Steve

Anyone can take the DELE (the Spanish government's test on Spanish proficiency), not just those that go to Instituto Cervantes. I think it's offered twice a year. Most universities offer classes for foreigners taught by professors--even some that are specifically for studying to pass the DELE.

Yes, madridmadridmadrid anyone can take it. the nice thing i liked about Instituto Cervantes was that they organised it all for you, in fact they assume you want to do it so on the last class of the course you take it. it is pretty straight forward if you have been paying attention!

Thanks for the info on here! I need to study up on some Spanish as it's been hard doing it on my own.


I saw this ad the other day-




Does anyone know anything about them? Opinions? Is that fair pricing?


Hey Daniel, what were the costs of the night classes at Instituto Cervantes? Also, which teacher do you recommend?

The Instituto Cervantes is very expensive in New York. I never attended, but I saw their price list for the various courses. I understand they have teachers from Spain and teach the pronunciation of Spain which is hard to find in New York. In recent years the king and queen of Spain appeared at a function there.

I should go. All the time in Argentina really messed up my Spanish. They talk funny there.

Hahahahahaha .. Donna ... I´ll mention that comment to all my Argentinian friends here !!

I hope that comment was said "tongue in cheek", Donna! . Argentine Spanish is absolutely beautiful. As many of you know, I lived in Argentina for about 6 months a few years ago and fell in love with the country, the people, and the accent too! As well as the many words that are so common in Argentina.

All Spanish speaking Republics speaks "funny" as regional differences are many, the main thing we understand each other, just like an UK person will understand a US person in English.

Of course it was toungue in cheek . Just a funny observation . My room mate is from Perú ( although he lived in Chicago for 14 years ) and sometimes we watch Argentinian TV series or films and he melts ! As a Peruano he tells me the Argentinian accent is beautiful ! When I´m with my Argie friends I notice certain words like vos , gurí ,remera etc.... But the sound of the Spanish is similar to Italian . We had an Argentinian girl staying with us a few months ago .. It was interesting hearing the differences . Has anybody seen that Argentinian series Doña Barbara ? There are some seriously hot actors !

They know they talk funny there. You won't be telling them anything they weren't aware of.

I'm getting used to it now and even noticed when I was in Spain recently that I have started to pick it up a bit myself.

When I first heard it, I didn't know what was going on.

The thread may be a bit old and my post probably won't help the OP but I still decided to post my expirience in the hope to help others who may find this thread through google or the forums search.

Anyway, I would like to recommend a language academy in Madrid called Vision Lingua at Gran Via. They offer very cheap Spanish courses which I myself am visiting for 4-5 months now. The teachers are really good and the location allows it to practice a bit around.

If someone is interested, they also offer preparation courses for DELE or TOEFL.

For further information see www.visionlingua.com
regards

Over the years, I had to take classes for my teacher certification and I attended quite a few in Madrid. I really had some bad experiences.I eventually just signed in and left or found other students who felt the same and we took turns signing in for each other! Instead I explored Madrid and the surrounding areas-much more useful to me!
The only positive experience I had in a language school is called Sampere,started by a couple in the '50s and now directed by their son.Small classes,great locations (near the Retiro) -not only in Madrid -and young/enthusiatic teachers.There are also planned activities during the week. Very reasonably priced.

If anyone has a question about a specific school,feel free to ask me!
http://www.sampere.es/

I am familiar with Sampere as I had studied there when I came to Spain with a high school trip. I can second Crisco´s post in that it is a very good school and also well-respected (they have branches in Latin America as well).

For those of you who are interested in going into translating as a profession, they have an intersting course for translators.

I did an intensive course of 6 weeks at AIL Madrid last october. I must say I learnt way more in those 6 weeks than in the 4 years that I studied Spanish in high school. All the teachers are native Spanish speakers and they communicate with you only in Spanish from the very beginnig. This helps, as you will not have the temptation to switch into English when things get difficult.

My teacher was Susana and she was really nice and encouraging about using the language - hands down the best Spanish teacher I've ever had. Also the administrational staff is very friendly and easily approachable. Lara was in contact me from the beginning until my arrival and helped me to plan and organize the course. She and the office team were there throughout my stay to help me with all the questions I came up with whether it was course-related or about finding the best Spanish restaurant nearby.

The groups are small so it's easy to get to know the other people. I made some great friends there and am still in contact with them. The other students come from all over the world, in my group we had people from the U.S., Russia, Sweden and China.



My room mate was doing the evening courses and she really liked it. I guess they have more or less the same teachers during the evenings and mornings, so I can guarantee you that the teaching is very good on the evening courses as well.

I studied at Canterbury ( now they are in Gran Vía ) , but before in Chueca ... They were OK ... Thanks for the info , Billy on AIL , they sound interesting and yet I never heard of them in my years in Madrid . Will check them out ... maybe they'll give me an opportunity to go back to Madrid : )

I used Inhispania several years ago and foud it very good. It is just off Sol.
http://www.inhispania.com/index.php
I put up a couple of topics on this:

http://www.madridman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=45052&page=1

http://www.madridman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=45302&page=1

If you search the forum for inhispania, then you will find more information

Hope this helps
RR