Spanish Immersion Language Schools.

 Any recommendations, please?  Especially Babylon Idiomas in Seville.  Thank you,  Donna

Hi Donna

We did a Spanish Immersion Course through Mester in Granada the Summer before last. I don't think the Granada school is open any more but they have others around Spain.

We only did a week long course & whilst we didn't expect any great level of fluency after a week, we soon identified that a week wasn't long enough, from the point of view that it took us a few days to gain a bit of confidence & to feel more comfortable speaking our very basic Spanish in front of others. Also, although they say that you don't need any Spanish knowledge to take one of these courses, I would recommend some basic knowledge & I would also brush up on your grammar as this was a very prominent feature.

The staff were absolutely fantastic & although from the moment you stepped into the school, no English was spoken, they made every effort to make sure you understood. There were also additional activities laid on such as a Tapas Bar crawl, Film Night, Discussion Groups & Talks on a variety of subjects, most of which were free or a very nominal cost. Also, if wanted additional 1:1 tuition after the morning lessons, this was available, again at a reasonable cost.

The morning lessons were split into 2 sections - 1.5 hours of grammar followed by 1.5 hours conversation. The conversation teacher often had a lesson plan but once discussion got going, it very often got forgotten as the topics became very diverse. There were about 10 students of all different nationalities. 

The accommodation we booked through Mester was basic but clean & just a few minutes walk to the school. It was also well situated for wandering around the sites of Granada. However, a friend of ours attended the school the same week as us but she opted to stay in a Spanish Family home. From what she told us about this, we would choose that option if we were to do something similar again.

My sister & I are of a similar ability & we were in the same class which is in some ways good but in others not so good, as we slipped into bad habits of speaking to each other in English.

All in all, it was a realy good experience & I would highly recommend it. If you want to discuss further, please PM me & I'll be happy to help.

Regards

Noreen

 Noreen,

Thank you so much for your helpful reply.  We're collating info. at the moment, but on your recommendation I've looked up the mester course and it seems really good.  I think we live quite near you, between Albox and Huercal-overa, so maybe we could get together sometime, or I'll 'phone you when we get a bit more info.

Thank you again,

Donna  (and Andy!)