Connell Patterson

Hello,<BR><BR>I'm currently investigating sveral language schools in Spain and would really appreciate feedback from those with experience in this area.<BR><BR>I'm intersted in two schools in paticular. Don Quijote and Mester. Has anyone attended either of these schools? If so, please share any experiences that you had while attending. Positive or negative. <BR><BR>Please feel free to recommend any other language program. Thanks in advance for your help.<BR><BR>CP

carrie

Don Quijote has mixed reviews and I've never heard of Mester.Where were you planning to study in Spain and for how long?I taught English at 2 language schools in Madrid but they do offer Spanish classes,one is Briam and the other Enforex.Both were excellent.If you want a more intense course then I would suggest you go to Salamanca, A beautiful university town.Let me know what your thoughts are and Ill check around for you.

Tom

In 1994, I studied spanish at a school named Cegri Granada. It is located in Granada, Spain, and I found it to be excellent. The only drawback was that in the southern regions, there is a heavy accent. Therefore, it was not always easy to practice what we learned in the classroom in the streets. Granada is fun and interesting, and the instructors were excellent. Most of the students were of German, English and Dutch origin. Good luck.

Connell

Thanks for the feedback! <BR><BR>Carrie, would you please elaborate on the mixed reviews. Also, the full name of the Mester program is Acadamia Mester.<BR><BR>I plan on studying for 3 or 4 months and I'm leaning towards one of these programs due to the mutiple locations offered. I would like to live in different cities for a few weeks at a time. <BR><BR>Salamanca is one of the cities that I'm interested in studying in.<BR><BR>Once again, thanks for your help.<BR>CP<BR><BR>

Tra

I spent 6 weeks at the Don Quijote school in Barcelona and had a great experience. I found the school to be very professional and the teachers were wonderful.

Connell

I just wanted to post a web address that I recently found with the hope of helping someone else in the future.<BR><BR>www.madridman.com<BR><BR>There is a great deal of useful information on their message boards about language schools in Spain.

linda

want to be near the beach? mild winters.<BR>great weather, university campus dorm or host family or apt.<BR>few americans at this school.<BR>many swedes and germans.<BR>look up www.galileogalilei.com.<BR><BR>for a special gift, mention my name, and tell me you are going there so we can meet when you get to valencia.<BR><BR>have sent many people here, and they are very happy.<BR><BR>linda casanova

long john

I've heard that Mester offers a great program!

Marcia

This website about Granada seems to have info on language schools. Don't know anything about quality. http://granadainfo.com/english.htm

kate

I just got back from Academia Mester in Salamanca, and I can strongly recommend it (with a couple of minor qualifications). This is the third language school I've attended this year (the other two were in France).<BR><BR>First, the school administration is excellent and very responsive to student's needs. They provide very good quality written materials (including their own grammar text), and the lessons are very well organised and prepared. You have at least 2 teachers, one for grammar, one for conversation and then a third if you go for 5 lessons a day. All of my teachers were interesting, interested in us, intelligent, friendly, etc. I really liked them a lot. The material was challenging without being overwhelming.<BR><BR>The school itself is beautiful. It is in a renovated building (modern facilities, new chairs and tables, air conditioning, heating etc) but in a very attractive Spanish style. There are tons of interesting activities organised every day: a lecture in Spanish, an evening out, sports, trips, films. It's really great.<BR><BR>My only caveat would be regarding the accommodation. I booked a private apartment, and they sent me to Apartments D'Angelo, and the only good thing that could be said about it was that it was clean and central - at a price of about &pound;25 a night, I expected a little more. I ended up moving into a hotel (expensive, but this was my last holiday before heading home). The school however was very responsive to my concerns about the flat and offered to find me another, and they indicated they were considering dropping these flats from their list. My advice would be that if you have a little cash, see if you can stay at the Hotel Rua (50 euros a night on weekdays, 60 at weekends). It's a beautiful hotel located next to the Plaza Mayor about 5 minutes from the school. If you don't, don't worry about the flats, but keep in mind that if you don't like what they offer, they will try very hard to make alternative arrangements for you.<BR><BR>Salamanca is very busy this year, so if you are thinking about staying in a hotel, you need to plan ahead and book your hotel asap.<BR><BR>My only other suggestion would be that the small group format isn't necessarily ideal. There were only 3 of us in my intensive class, and one of the students was rather inattentive and not very good at Spanish so he slowed the class down. I'm not sure the small group format is worth it.<BR><BR>Despite these two minor criticisms, I would highly recommend Academia Mester, and the Salamanca location. Salamanca is a beautiful, safe city, and I'm already planning to go back next year.

CathyM

Smells like advertising to me.....

weber6560

Be sure to consider weather in your cholice. Much of Spain can be miserable in summer.