UK students learn Spanish in Salamanca

Stacey — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:29:00 GMT

In March of 2008, 4 students of England's Lincoln Minster School had a week-long Spanish immersion experience in don Quijote Salamanca.

Frederick Bowen, Harriet Briggs, Ben Rainthorpe and Chloe Miller began their Salamanca adventure accompanied by their Lincoln Spanish teacher, Estrella Corral-Hardy. Mrs. Hardy informed us that the students were delighted with their stay and plan to return. The following essay was written by Frederick and it details their adventure. Read on!

SALAMANCA '08

At 3:30am on Sunday 30th March, a group of four AS Spanish Students along with our teacher, Mrs Estrella Corral-Hardy and her daughter, embarked on a week long excursion to the Spanish city of Salamanca. The long journey and very early morning start proved to be entirely worth it.

On arrival, we were welcomed by our host families, with whom we stayed in pairs for the duration of our stay. But we did not stay put for long! We were soon out and about the town lapping up the Spanish culture. We all found Salamanca itself to be a stunning city with beautiful architecture. The ancient university, intricately ornate cathedrals and of course the famous Plaza Mayor were simply breathtaking. We were made to feel very comfortable exploring the city because of the safe atmosphere and the high proportion of students to talk to – in Spanish, of course! Every night we went out for dinner, tasting all the local delicacies including black paella, many different types of chorizo, piglet meat (!) as well as the inevitable mountain of authentic Spanish tapas. One phrase we learned very quickly was “Estoy lleno” – I’m full! Experiencing the Spanish nightlife was perhaps where we had the most fun, especially the parties at the school and the Plaza Mayor. We really got an insight into the culture of young people in Spain, with fiestas where all the students dress up in old Mexican costumes and sing to the crowds while playing their guitars to celebrate the end of their degrees.

    After we had settled in, though, it was time to work! Every morning, we attended four hours of Spanish lessons at the Don Quijote language school in Salamanca. We all found these hours to be extremely beneficial. By being put in different sets according to our individual abilities, we were able to progress at a level that suited each of us. We all feel our skills in understanding and speaking the Spanish language have improved greatly because of these lessons – many thanks to Don Quijote and the brilliant teachers!

   As for the afternoons, we spent 2 hours every day undertaking a work experience office orientation in the don Quijote Central Promotions Office. We were able to benefit from this thanks to the team of staff who explained how the offices and the school function, not just in the Spanish centres, but also how they link up with the schools in Latin America. We had to have our wits about us, as not a word of English was spoken, again helping us a lot to improve our comprehension of Spanish native speakers.

   All in all, we each found the experience wholly enriching and would certainly recommend it to next year’s AS students. Many thanks to Mrs Hardy for putting so much time and effort into making it such a success!

Freddy Bowen

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don Quijote is now in Facebook

Stacey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:34:00 GMT

Social networking sites are setting the pace when it comes to making it easier for companies to get closer to their fans on the web. We’ve caught on to the trend and are proud to announce don Quijote has launched its own Facebook page!

don Quijote Facebook is the perfect way for you to stay up-to-date with the latest information, photos and anything related to don Quijote schools.

Share with future students your own study abroad experience, pictures and stories, or simply write to let us know what you think! Come on over and share with the world (and with us!) how you've learned Spanish! Don’t forget it's also an easy way for you to keep in touch with your don Quijote classmates, too.

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UK students learn Spanish in Salamanca

don Quijote is now in Facebook