LAST MINUTE NEWS: As of May 25th 2009, all travel warnings to Mexico due to the outbreak of novel H1N1 flu in Mexico have been lifted! This is great news considering that after taking all necessary health and safety precautions, our schools in Mexico did not suffer any incidents!
Why not take this opportunity to have an exotic cultural spanish-learning experience (and a wide range of courses to choose from) in warm and colorful Mexico?
Here's a quick snap shot of each of our Mexican destinations to help you start your planning:
A university city, small and peaceful, far from the coastal centers of mass tourism, Guanajuato seems made to welcome students of Spanish. You will find yourself enchanted by the lovely architecture and by the culture that breathes in every nook and cranny of this alluring colonial beauty.
Simply known as "Playa," this small Caribbean fishing village on the Mayan Riviera is Cancun's laid-back neighbor (approximately 35 minutes from Cancun's international airport). Playa del Carmen is a wonderful place to enjoy the cultural and historic richness of Mexico and the Mayan people. It attracts visitors from all over the world because of its relaxed, tropical atmosphere and its unmatched beaches.
With peaks of almost 10,000 feet high, caverns among the deepest in the world, unspoiled beaches, jungles and valleys,Oaxaca is an ideal place to experience the beauty of Mexico and its people. Oaxaca is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for its Spanish colonial buildings and nearby archaeological centre, Monte Albán.
The magical combination of mountains and beaches makes visitors fall in love with Puerto Vallarta at first sight. Aside from its beauty and amazing flora and fauna, this city also charms tourists with its colonial architecture and traditions, famous even in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is the perfect blend of tropical waters and rich Mexican culture: a place to learn, relax, have fun and marvel at natural wonders.
This summer is all about learning Spanish in a warm, coastal Mediterranean city where the sun always shines and the nightlife goes on forever...Valencia for 20% less!
Take advantage of receiving a 20% discount on your Spanish courses with 3 easy steps:
1) Choose a Spanish course from our wide list of courses 2) Enroll before 30 June 2009 (don't forget to mention this offer!) 3) Start preparing to begin your stay in July (or later!)
Overall, if you're looking to learn Spanish in Spain's third-largest city dubbed "The City of Light" for its year-round mild-climate, innumerable sunny beaches and its modern "City of Arts & Sciences" cultural complexes, then Valencia is the ideal choice for you!
Conditions: - Cannot be combined with another offer. - Offer must be requested at time of booking. - Applies only to BOOKINGS made by 30 June 2009 (Madrid time). - Valid for STAYS beginning in July. - Subject to availability. Expires 30 June 2009.
Salamanca, ciudad universitaria de fama internacional, fue elegida hace 20 años para fundar la primera escuela don Quijote. La idea estaba clara desde el principio: crear la mayor organización para la enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera bajo el eslógan de ¡Vive el español!. Han sido 20 años de esfuerzo, de trabajo diario y de implicación de todos; y también ha sido la historia de un éxito. Un lunes, 5 de Junio de 1989 llegaron los primeros estudiantes. Yo no estaba allí, pero puedo imaginarme el nerviosismo del equipo didáctico y del personal de administración que se embarcaban en esa aventura, sin saber muy bien si iba a funcionar. Seguro que aquellos que habéis estudiado en don Quijote Salamanca os suenan los nombres de Caridad (entonces jefa de estudios de don Quijote Salamanca y actualmente directora académica de las escuelas don Quijote), Salva, Demetrio (hoy día jefe de estudios de don Quijote Barcelona), Pepa, Francisco. Ellos fueron los pioneros y siguen en el equipo.
La primera sede estaba en la Plaza de la Libertad, a menos de 50 metros de la Plaza Mayor. Pero el crecimiento que tuvo nuestra escuela fue tan abrumador que obligó a buscar un edificio mayor al poco tiempo.
don Quijote Salamanca se mudó definitivamente a la calle Placentinos, en pleno centro monumental salmantino y a tan sólo 3 minutos de la Plaza Mayor de Salamanca. El edificio actual es un antiguo monasterio reformado, en el que se mezclan la arquitectura y los materiales típicos de Salamanca con las comodidades de una escuela de español moderna, creando un equilibrio lleno de belleza.
Con 18 clases distribuidas en dos edificios, don Quijote Salamanca tiene una capacidad para 408 estudiantes. Ambos edificios se comunican entre sí a través de un patio ajardinado, lugar favorito de reunión de los estudiantes los días de buen tiempo. También dispone de una cafetería: don Quijote Café, donde los estudiantes pueden relajarse tomando un café o practicando con nativos las cosas aprendidas, porque don Quijote Café también es un centro de reunión para muchos estudiantes universitarios, por su proximidad a distintas facultades de la Universidad de Salamanca.
Desde el principio don Quijote Salamanca fue un centro pionero en la investigación y aplicación del método comunicativo. Pero con los años de experiencia, don Quijote fue desarrollando ese método y transformándolo a las necesidades de nuestras escuelas y de los propios estudiantes. De esa transformación nació un método propio con el que más de 30.000 estudiantes han aprendido español en Salamanca y son nuestros embajadores en todo el mundo. Ellos son nuestra mejor promoción.
Pero todos estos detalles no serían suficientes para explicar el éxito de esta escuela. ¿Dónde radica el secreto? Evidentemente, si de algo estamos orgullosos es del equipo didáctico y administrativo, una plantilla de personal fijo y fijo discontinuo que durante años de experiencia y dedicación han conseguido que el trato personalizado con los estudiantes sea una parte más de la enseñanza del español. Con una media de 6 estudiantes por clase, y un máximo de 8 se consigue un mayor seguimiento de los progresos del estudiante y una atención más personalizada.
Esta personalización de la enseñanza unida a la estructura de la escuela crean una complicidad entre estudiantes, equipo didáctico y personal de administración, y esa complicidad hace que sea como una familia. Todo tiene que funcionar para que el estudiante se sienta como en casa.
Aunque el estudiante no lo sepa, la maquinaria ha comenzado a moverse un tiempo antes. Cuando se inscribe ya comenzamos a trabajar programando toda la estancia: una cuidada búsqueda de alojamiento, cursos que ha elegido, actividades culturales, día y hora de llegada y pick-up service (en el caso de que lo haya elegido), etc… Hasta el mínimo detalle para que a su llegada todo esté preparado.
Y cada lunes a las 8 de la mañana: nervios, test de nivel, “¿hablas español?” “un poquito”, “what?” “Do you speak Spanish?”, “no”… a las 9: city tour, profesores corrigiendo los test, y, por fin, a las 11:15 todos están en sus clases según su nivel. Y, alehop, empezamos… “¿Cómo te llamas?” “¿De dónde eres?”, etc… y, al cabo de unos minutos, los estudiantes nuevos se sienten integrados en el grupo, y descubren que entran en una nueva familia que les va a apoyar durante su estancia en Salamanca.
Para nosotros es muy importante que el alumno viva el español. Es famoso el “Spain is different, of course”. Y por ese motivo, desde el primer momento hacemos que el estudiante se integre en la vida de la ciudad: cursos de cultura, visitas a exposiciones, mercados, vamos de tapas… y ellos aprenden a amar las costumbres diferentes, comer a las 2 o las 3 de la tarde, cenar a las 9 de la noche, ver las calles salmantinas llenas de vida, quedar debajo del reloj (reloj que nunca van a olvidar) de la Plaza Mayor. Un gran número de actividades que compartimos con ellos durante su estancia.
Al final de su curso, los viernes, hay mucha emoción: entrega de certificados, intercambio de direcciones de correo, lágrimas, “gracias para todo”, como figura en un collage que los estudiantes del DELE regalaron a la escuela hace unos años y que está expuesto en una de sus paredes…
Invariablemente esto se ha repetido cada semana en los últimos 20 años en don Quijote Salamanca, pero cada lunes todos tenemos la misma ilusión que aquel lunes 5 de Junio de 1989. Ilusión que a mí me transmitieron los veteranos hace 11 años e ilusión que trato de transmitir a los nuevos profesores que van llegando.
Y, como todavía este proyecto está inacabado, ojalá, dentro de otros 20 años podamos celebrar el 40 Aniversario de don Quijote Salamanca. Seguiremos enseñando español y seguiremos haciendo que nuestros estudiantes “¡vivan el español!”.
Muchas Felicidades a todos los que trabajamos o han trabajado en este proyecto y muchas gracias de parte de la organización a todos aquellos estudiantes que nos han elegido y han hecho posible estos 20 años.
Un abrazo a todos.
Agustín Sánchez Educational Content
don Quijote Salamanca: 20 years of excellence
The internationally renowned university city of Salamanca was picked 20 years ago to be home for the first don Quijote school. From the beginning, the idea had been clear: to create the largest Spanish as a Foreign Language teaching organization under the slogan “¡Vive el español!” (Live Spanish!) - Twenty years of hard work, much involvement and dedication from everyone, has led to twenty years of success.
The first students arrived on June 5 of 1989, a Monday. I wasn’t there, but I can imagine how nervous teachers and administrative staff must’ve been on embarking on this adventure without being certain if it would be successful. If you studied in don Quijote Salamanca, then the names of Caridad (then the Head of Studies of Salamanca, and today Academic Director of don Quijote schools), Salva, Demetrio (Head of Studies of don Quijote Barcelona), Pepa and Francisco. They were the don Quijote pioneers.
The first school building was located in Plaza de la Libertad, less than 50 meters from the Plaza Mayor. However, its fast progressive growth eventually led it to move to a much bigger building a short time later.
don Quijote Salamanca settled on calle Placentinos, its current location, in the heart of monumental Salamanca and a 3 minute walk from the Plaza Mayor. The building , a reformed ancient monastery creates a balanced atmosphere by blending traditional materials and architecture with the commodities of a modern Spanish school.
With 18 classrooms spread throughout 2 connecting buildings, don Quijote Salamanca accommodates 408 students and also share a garden patio, which is a favorite leisure spot for students. Students can also relax with a cup of coffee or practice what they’ve learned with Spanish natives in our don Quijote Café a popular reunion spot for university students due to its proximity to the various campuses of the University of Salamanca.
don Quijote Salamanca has been a pioneering center in the investigation and application of the communicative method since the beginning. And after years of experience, don Quijote further developed this method by adapting it to the necessities of its schools and students. Eventually, a new method (our current method) emerged and was successfully implemented by the 30,000 students who learned Spanish with us in Salamanca! These students, our ambassadors of sorts, have become our best promotion throughout the world!
But these are not enough details to explain the success of this school. What’s the secret? If there’s something we are proud of, it is of our group of permanent and temporary teaching and administrative staff. Their years of experience and dedication led to a personalized approach of teaching our students, becoming a part of the teaching routine. Granting better personalized attention in a classroom with a median of 6 students and no more than 8, a better insight on the students’ progress can be obtained.
Attaching this personalized educational approach to the school’s structure creates complicity between students, the teaching staff and administration personnel, strengthening everyone’s bond as a family. Everything must also be set up properly for the student to feel at home with us. To achieve this, the planning begins long before he or she arrives. When a student enrolls in a class, work begins on setting up his entire stay: from the careful search of accommodation and courses selected, cultural activities, arranging timely pick-up service for day of arrival (if chosen by student), down to the smallest detail to ensure the his or her complete satisfaction.
Eight o’clock in the morning every Monday: nerves, language level placement test, “¿hablas español?”, “un poquito”, “what?”, “do you speak Spanish?”, “no” … 9am: city tour, professors grading level tests and finally by 11:15am everyone is in their Spanish class according to level. Then, the fun begins in class… “¿Cómo te llamas?” ¿De dónde eres?”…. After a few minutes, the new students have integrated into their groups discovering they’ve joined a new family, one that will enliven their stay in Salamanca. To us, it is very important that the student lives Spanish… and discovers the famous “Spain is different, of course.” We make sure students adapt to the city’s way of life from the start: culture classes, visiting exhibits, markets, going out for tapas, etc… they come to learn and love the different customs like eating at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, having dinner at 9 at night, seeing Salamanca’s streets full of life, arranging to meet underneath the clock in Plaza Mayor (a clock they will never forget!), and other activities we’ll share during their stay!
The last day of the course (a Friday), a lot of emotions are felt: the receiving of certificates, exchanging emails, tears, a “gracias para todo” - as it is written on a collage made by DELE students a few years ago as a gift to the school and it is proudly displayed on its walls…
This ritual has been repeated every week for the past 20 years and it continues today. Every Monday we all hold the same illusion as that 5 of June of 1989. That illusion was transmitted to me 11 years ago by the veterans and it’s the one I try to transmit to the new teachers as they arrive.
don Quijote Salamanca continues to be an ongoing project. We hope that in another 20 years we celebrate its 40th anniversary. We will continue to teach Spanish and continue to make our students “Live Spanish”.
Congratulations to everyone who works or has worked on this project. And many thanks to the students who have chosen us and made it all possible these last 20 years.
Spend more time in Granada this summer... for a lot less! Immerse yourself in the Spanish language and discover the history behind Granada's rich Moorish past:
Enroll before 31 May 2009 in a 4-weekIntensive Spanish Course with a stay in June, July or August ...and get the 4th week free!
Where else can you relax in the nearby beaches, taste the refreshing drinks served in the numerous arab tea houses ("teterías"), stroll through the city's winding cobblestone streets, visit the legendary Alhambra Palace or Granada's many monuments?
Conditions: - Cannot be combined with another offer. - Offer must be requested at time of booking. - Applies only to BOOKINGS made by 31 May 2009 (Madrid time). - Valid for STAYS during June, July or August only. - Subject to availability. Expires 31 May 2009.
Conditions: - Offer is only available upon request. - Offer not cumulative with other offers and subject to availability. - Enrollment fee savings: 65 euros ($100 for Guanajuato only) - Offer expires: 31 May 2009
Important DELE information: As it has been previously published, the DELE examinations for the official Spanish language diplomas taking place next week on May 15 and 16of 2009, will include for the first time, examinations for students at the A1 level.
Instituto Cervantes (the organization in charge of arranging the DELE examinations) mandates that members of the grading panel must possess thorough knowledge of the nature of DELE and that of the Spanish language.
In order to attain this for graders of A1 level, Instituto Cervantes has ultimately decided to provide the exam proctors/graders with formation courses in order to guarantee, with greater authority, the correct execution of the exams.
This 6-hour training course specifically designed for proctors of DELE A1, can be completed in 1 day in Instituto Cervante’s headquarters in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid). The next training course will take place on May 9th from 10:00 to 18:00 (10am-6pm). Interested Panel members of FEDELE must contact the Federation’s secretary.
The growing interest in learning Spanish by Portugal's public school students has left the country in serious need for qualified teachers.
The Portguese Ministry of Education found itself with no choice but to implement a controversial solution to this problem: to award 220 people (for now) with a Spanish teaching post until 2013 by means of a contest.
Participants do not necesarily have to be degree-holders in Spanish - those who have degrees in any language closely related to Spanish, or who have obtained the Diploma Español de Lengua Extranjera (DELE) level C2 from the Instituto Cervantes are eligible to apply.
This teacher shortage is due to the unexpected increase in Spanish learning among portuguese students. For the 2004/2005 year, only a little over 5 thousand portuguese students studied Spanish - a small number compared to this year's almost 50 thousand.
From April 25-27 of 2009, Valencia will host the Concurso Mundial de Vinos (World Wide Wine Contest Event). The very first time this event is taking place in Spain with over 50 countries in attendance to participate.
The event will also coincide with Vinoélite“la feria de los grandes vinos” (the Fine Wines Fair).
The fact that these 2 events coincide, will make Valencia the wine capital of the world… at least for a few days. Get more info in www.feriavalencia.com
The19th edition of the Expolingua Portugal fair, which was celebrated from March 4-6 of 2009 in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, actively promoted the Spanish and the Portuguese languages as international languages among the Portuguese public.
According to Expolingua’s president Renato Borges de Sousa, who spoke during the fair’s opening, one of the principal targets of this year’s edition was "to unite efforts between the eight Portuguese-speaking countries and have the (Portuguese) language gain international statute". However, Spanish-speakers also occupied an outstanding area in the fair: a total of 5 stands promoted Spain as a tourist, cultural and linguistic destination.
Portuguese youngsters between 10 and 16 years of age, mainly confused regarding what languages are spoken in the different Spanish autonomous regions, were those who approached the Spanish stands the most asking for promotional material and to find out how they can study in the Spanish universities.
The fair also included a Cultural Program, where conferences, debates and workshops gathered specialists, teachers of Spanish and students to debate varying themes relating to the world of languages.
We are excited to announce that don Quijote's is updating and translating its Spanish and Latin culture section. Soon you’ll be able to read all of the English texts in Spanish and vice versa! To make up for the delay in this time-consuming task, we are including in each text a list of topic-related vocabulary and verbs we think will be useful to you in and out of class!
Celebrate the arrival of spring with Las Fallas in Valencia this month: Stay in a shared student flat or a family residence between March 8 - April 4andget 15% off on accommodation!
You can take advantage of this offer when you book a double room. Don’t miss out on seeing the Mascletá – the fireworks and firecrackers display. Come study Spanish in Valencia today!
Conditions: -Discount excludes Galileo Residence -Discount subject to availability. Expires March 27, 2009. -Discount not cumulative. Cannot be combined with any other offer. -Discount must be requested at time of booking.
On March 16 -17 of 2009, the city of New York – also known as The Big Apple - will welcome future King and Queen of Spain, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia. The royal couple will inaugurate the “Made in/Made by Spain” campaign, a project that is expected to run for 1.5 years.
The main objective of the campaign is to promote Spanish products and strengthen ties within the American market. The New York inauguration will continue in The Windy City of Chicago in May. Over 100 Spanish companies will participate in both events.
Penélope Cruz, who was once nominated for the American Oscars in 2007 for her role in the movie Volver (and didn’t win)finally got her statue in 2009… and we couldn’t be happier!
Not only did she win, but Penélope Cruzmade history when she became the first Spanish (female) actress to win an Oscarfor her role as a crazy wife in the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Her Vicky Cristina Barcelona co-star, Javier Bardem became the first Spanish (male) actor to win the coveted award last year.
Watch her Oscar speech (subtitled in Spanish):
Penélope’s road to Hollywood success... Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid, Spain, on April 28, 1974. Her father, Eduardo, was a retailer, and her mother Encarna, a hairdresser. They named their daughter Penélope after a song of the same name that was written by Spanish singer/composer Joan Manuel Serrat. The couple has two other children, Eduardo Jr. and Mónica, who is a dancer and also an actress and clothes designer for the brand Mango like her sister.
A ravishingly beautiful woman, Cruz established herself before age 26 as Spain's most popular actress of her generation. After years of intensive study in ballet and jazz, she broke into acting in 1992. Winning her country's coveted Goya Award for Best Actress was a powerful indication that Cruz is destined to enjoy the kind of extraordinary career -in Spain and abroad- that no other Spanish actress has ever achieved. Cruz and fellow Spaniard Antonio Banderas once presented the Oscar for best foreign film to Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, for Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother), which coincidentally starred her in one of the most difficult roles of her career. In this film, she plays a nun who falls in love with an AIDS-infected man and then dies from the disease. Her list of Spanish credits also include Jamón, Jamón and the Oscar-winning foreign film Belle Epoque that turned her into Spain's leading female actress.
In addition, she's appeared in Woman on Top, the romantic comedy about a Brazilian chef who becomes a famous TV personality because of her brilliant cooking and on-screen charisma. Penélope Cruz is also seen in Billy Bob Thorton's film, All the Pretty Horses, where she plays an aristocratic Mexican woman who falls in love with an American drifter played by Matt Damon. She also starred with Tom Cruise in Paramount Pictures' Vanilla Sky, a remake of Cruz's 1997 Spanish film Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes), Nicolas Cage in Captain Correlli's Mandolin and with Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicki Cristina Barcelona - the film that garnered her the Oscar in 2009!
Penélope had a romance with Nacho Cano, member of the famous Spanish group Mecano, with whom she lived until they broke up and she moved in with fellow actor Gigi Sarrasola, a short-lived romance. In 2005, she was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." Today, having worked hard to achieve Hollywood success (not easy for a non-English speaker), she is a major Hollywood star who just won her first Oscar and has had the privilege to have dated famous actors such as Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey and her current Spanish beau Javier Bardem.
Penélope also speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English.
The new Office of Information geared towards students of Spanish in Salamanca will begin to provide its services this year in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor, as soon as the permit paperwork gets approved in 2 months. Itwill be "the first municipal office of that specific character in all of Spain."
Until recently, other offices providing similar services to international students exist in other cities, but they’re wholly dependable of the universities and are geared particularly towards students of exchange programs and those going through academic mobility.
However, this new center of information which will be located in the Casa de Postas just above the Municipal Tourist Office in Plaza Mayor, will provide foreigners who study Spanish in Salamanca (either in the universities, in language schools or private centers), with useful information about the city as well as administrative advice.
The new office will comprise of personnel knowledgeable in several languages who will attend to the doubts of all the students who approach the office, provide them with updated maps and any other specific information.
Foreign students of Spanish will find in this office information regarding the location of municipal and private buildings, hospitals, police stations, libraries, sports complexes, as well as any other place of interest, including a list of monthly cultural programs going on in Salamanca.
The aim of this office is to reinforce the slogan adopted by Salamanca: Ciudad del Español (City of Spanish) and will do anything possible to make its students’ stay as comfortable and informative as possible. Read a previous post on Salamanca becoming the Ciudad del Español.
Why not discover Salamanca for yourself with don Quijote? View PHOTOS of our Golden City Watch VIDEOS of our schools and city events Become a FAN of don Quijote's in FaceBook! Request a FREE BROCHURE to be sent to you by post... or DOWNLOAD BROCHUREinstantly! Keep up with Spanish cultural and travel news by subscribing to don Quijote’s MONTHLY NEWSLETTER! (It's free and available in English and in Spanish)
Are you looking for reasons to learn Spanish in Costa Rica? Here's one... Last year, the United States forgave Costa Rica’s debt of $26 million, much rather preferring the country to use the money towards its rainforest preservation and biodiversity conservation over the course of 16 years. And Costa Rica is doing just that.
According to its politics as a pioneer Latin American country in environmental protection, the Costa Rican government declared the Quetzales region as its 28th National Park under environmental protection. The goal is to expand the protection of 0.1% of the planet, which encompasses 3% of the earth’s biodiversity and species.
Costa Rica has more than 160 parks and conservation areas, covering more than 25% of the entire country. An impressive amount of protected land includes all 28 National Parks. Inland you can enjoy rich wetlands, lagoons, forests, hills and volcanoes. Costa Rica is home to such near-extinct (and protected) species such as the Jaguar and the great green Macaw.
Get yourself to Costa Rica and get to know this rich, diverse tropical environmentwhile you enhance your Spanish language skills! On the Caribbean coast you can watch nesting sea turtles, and on the Pacific coast you could surf! Our classes start Mondays year-round for all levels!
It is a known fact that Japan has been an influential traditional market when it comes to studying Spanish as a foreign language. Learning Spanish in Japan is not as popular as learning English, but despite the economic crisis hitting the world over, the country continues to provide language schools abroad with a stream of students in search of an idiomatic tourism vacation.
Spanish program directors in Japanese universities, primarily those of Tokyo and Osaka, are seeing Spain as an ideal country for students to experience a Spanish language immersion. February 14-21 of 2009 is the scheduled date in Madrid to conduct individual interviews with representatives of more than 30 businesses involved in the Spanish as a foreign language sector. This event is organized by ICEX (Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior) in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo. The program will end with guided tours throughout areas of historical and cultural interest in Madrid and Salamanca.
An interesting approach keeping in mind there are about 60,000 students of Spanish in Japan.
Quien quiera combinar formación y descanso durante las vacaciones, puede elegir como lugar de destino Salamanca. Se recomienda, por ejemplo, el colegio de español don Quijote, situado en el centro del casco antiguo. El colegio en sí, es un bonito edicifio del S. XVI, que en su día fue un convento.
Después de un test de nivel y de una entrevista personal con el jefe de estudios, Jesús Baz, tiene lugar una visita turística guiada por la ciudad para los nuevos estudiantes. Al finalizar dicha visita, comienzan las clases en distintos grupos, que tienen de 5 a 8 estudiantes. El estudiante que piense que el nivel del grupo que le ha sido asignado es demasiado bajo o demasiado alto para él, se puede cambiar al día siguiente a otro grupo.
Hay que tener en cuenta que estudiar mucha grámatica o mucho vocabulario no implica saber español. Por lo menos eso es lo que dice Julia Hormigo Espés, que lleva trabajando en el colegio don Quijote más de 10 años como profesora. "La lengua cojea", dice Julia, "si sólo se aprende el idioma en los libros". Por este motivo, don Quijote ofrece distintas actividades extra, como películas, exposiciones de distintos temas y música; todo es voluntario y sin coste adicional para el estudiante. El consejo de Julia es que, cada uno por su cuenta, una vez finalizadas las clases, intente descubrir nuevos aspectos de la ciudad y así poder practiar todo lo aprendido durante el día.
El resultado después de una semana de curso de 25 horas de clase y alojamiento con una familia española sería: - Resultado académico: alto nivel de aprendizaje. - Nivel de ocio y entretenimiento: alto.
Auch die Sprachschule don Quijote ist in hübschen Gemäuern untergebracht: in einem ehemaligen Kloster aus dem 16. Jahrhundert. Nach dem Einstufungstest und einem persönlichen Gespräch mit dem Schulleiter Jesús Baz steht für die Neuankömmlinge eine Stadtführung auf dem Programm. Danach beginnt der Unterricht in verschiedenen Klassen mit fünf bis acht Studenten. Wer vom Sprachniveau seiner Klasse über- oder unterfordert ist, kann am nächsten Tag die Gruppe wechseln.
Das sagt zumindest Julia Hormigo Espés, die seit über zehn Jahren als Spanischlehrerin im Don Quijote Institut arbeitet. "La lengua cojea", sagt Julia, wenn man nur aus Büchern lernt. Deshalb stehen bei Don Quijote auch zahlreiche Angebote zu Geschichte und Landeskunde auf dem Stundenplan wie Filme, Vorträge und Musikstunden – alles freiwillig und kostenlos.
Fazit nach einer Woche Sprachurlaub mit 25 Unterrichtsstunden mit Unterbringung in der Gastfamilie in Salamanca: Lernfaktor: hoch Spaßfaktor: hoch
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