Blogging Spanish : live spanish in Salamanca

Salamanca Offer: Accomodation and Spanish Course for 399 euros a week!

Stacey — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:37:00 GMT

The anniversary celebrations in Salamanca are not over yet! Due to the festive mood following the 20th anniversary of our don Quijote school in Salamanca , our high-spirits have animated us to grant another offer - and this time, an "all-inclusive" one:...(read more)

Videos of don Quijote's Summer Camps!

Stacey — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:13:00 GMT

Our Summer Camp programs in Barcelona , Salamanca , Sevilla , Madrid , Granada , Valencia , Guanajuato and Marbella (with 3 camps: Albergue , Alborán , Aleman !) perfectly coordinate your child’s class schedule with social and leisure activities they...(read more)

Special 20th Anniversary Offer: 15% OFF on any Spanish Course!

Stacey — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:30:00 GMT

The celebrations keep on happening at don Quijote...! This time, it is don Quijote Salamanca school’s turn to celebrate its 20th anniversary! Twenty years of hard work, much involvement and dedication have led to twenty years of success… and we want you...(read more)

USA colleges return to Salamanca in 2009 for the 12th consecutive year!

Stacey — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:00:00 GMT

...U.S.A. students during their 3 month stay in Salamanca from Feb-May 2009... This is the 12th year Citrus College and various other colleges that are part of the Southern California Foothills Consortium for Study Abroad have picked the Golden City of...(read more)

Save on your Summer Camp experience with no enrollmente fee!

Stacey — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:26:00 GMT

Save on your Summer Camp experience in 2 simple steps!

Step 1- Choose your favorite summer camp destination:

Step 2- Request your enrollment fee waiver (for an summer camp arrival in August 2009) when you book and fully pay before May 31, 2009).

That’s it!

Get a free Summer Camp brochure with all our programs and prices.
Contact our Course Counsellors to request more information.

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

"Spanish is no problem here in Salamanca"

Stacey — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:59:00 GMT

Fragment taken from original article (in German) by Jutta Christoph for mallorcazeitung.es

Language school don Quijote is housed in Salamanca in a former cloister from the 16th century. After the placement test is taken and personal conversation with headmaster Jesús Baz, a guided city tour is given to newcomers of the program. Then the lessons begin in different level classes ranging from five to eight students. The student that requests to be placed in a higher linguistic level class or a lower level can change groups the following day.

"Keep in mind that just because one learns a lot of grammar or vocabulary, does not qualify one to know the language", states Julia Hormigo Espés, who has been working as a Spanish teacher in don Quijote for over ten years. "Language is crippled if one only learns from books" - that’s why don Quijote also offers free extracurricular activities such as history, geography, film showings, talks and music lessons at no extra cost to those students who voluntarily sign up and wish to make the most of their language learning experience.

Result after a one-week Spanish language course of 25 hours and accommodation with a Spanish host family:
- Learning factor: high
- Fun and entertainment factor: high

Receive for free the 2009 brochure at hom e!

Help write a book about Salamanca!

Stacey — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:54:00 GMT

Tina Christopulos is an American writer in the process of writing her first book: a fictional story about a study abroad program taking place in Salamanca and the characters’ experiences in this wonderful city as foreigners – but she is in need of some real-life accounts from real students!

If you would like to participate in the research, read on how…
As an ex study abroad student with firsthand experience, YOU can provide Tina with accurate “this-is-how-it-really-is-to study in Salamanca” about the study abroad experience for foreigners.

Because her entire work will be fictional, she will not write about an existing study abroad program or mention any particular schools. However, she is particularly interested in Salamanca’s places of interest, such as plazas, monuments, and hangouts… places in the city or excursions where you, as a student who lived in Salamanca, went to!

Tina wants to give her characters and her story a realistic feel of the city – the places, experiences lived, the encounters and behaviors of the locals seen from the foreign student’s point of view, the students’ thoughts and sensations and most of all, the student’s perception, adjustment and discovery of a new culture. With this book, Tina hopes anyone who has studied abroad (or is planning to), especially American teenagers, could relate to her book and fondly reminisce in their memories… or look forward to making their own memories in their upcoming trip!

If her novel is published, she will give her thanks in the “Acknowledgements Section” everyone who aided her with research.

Below is a list of background questions that interested participants would need to answer.
Email your list to tina_christopulos@yahoo.com and use “Salamanca Book Research Questions” as your email Subject (otherwise, the email will get deleted).

QUESTIONNAIRE:
1. How is the student atmosphere/life in Salamanca different in the summer from the fall and winter? (My study experience was in fall, but my character will be studying in the summer). Where (which countries) do many of the summer foreign students in Salamanca come from?

2. Do many students rent cell phones? Where would they go for internet access?

3. Where would they buy school supplies? Would it be the type of store where you can browse and choose what you need, or do you have to go up to a person at the counter and specify what you want?

4. What aspects of life in Salamanca do your American students tend to find most surprising?

5. What are common linguistic or cultural misunderstandings?

6. What is/are the typical socio-economic background(s) for host families (types of jobs they have, types of places they live, etc)? Would a typical Salmantinian family have internet access in their home?

7. What kind of adjustment issues (serious and silly) do you typically see for students with host families?

8. What are some of the ways that students spend their free time?

9. What kind of orientation do the students receive?

10. I have not visited Salamanca since the year 2000, so my memories are outdated. How do you feel Salamanca ’s character has or has not changed since then?

11. What are common colloquial expressions, positive and negative (for being upset or happy), these days? How do people say something’s “cool” or “tacky?”

12. Are intercambios still popular? Where are typical places to post an intercambio request?

13. Any major, obvious differences you’ve noted in terms of style/dress/habits between American teens and Salmantinian teens?

14. Is there anything else you’d like to share about the study-abroad experience for Americans in Salamanca?

A don Quijote student wins Instituto Cervantes' Spanish short story contest!

Stacey — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:59:00 GMT

On June 25 of 2008, the Cervantes Institute in Paris organized a short story contest...and we are proud to announce that the winning story was The Enchanted Book by Françoise Corbillon-Epelboin -- a don Quijote student!

The contest was held in commemoration of the 10 years that have passed since the death of Mexican writer Octavio Paz (1914-1998), for whom the library of the Cervantes Institute in Paris is named after.

Françoise presented his story at a superior level and won the grand prize: a 1000€ scholarship to use towards ELE (Español como Lengua Extranjera) courses in any public university or an Instituto Cervantes accredited center of Castilla y León. CONGRATULATIONS!

From September 21 to October 4 of 2008, we had the pleasure of seeing her again as a return student in don Quijote Salamanca. She had decided to further her Spanish skills and chose to study with us for a second time.

¡ENHORABUENA FRANÇOISE! Thank you very much for counting on us for your Spanish classes!

Request a free brochure!

Live Spanish in Salamanca, Ciudad del Español

Stacey — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:20:00 GMT

Every year, Salamanca is the preferred Spanish city where over 30,000 students choose to learn Spanish. This makes Salamanca an important tourist destination as people begin to discover the appeal of this charming city.

The new slogan “Live Spanish in Salamanca” is being actively used to promote Salamanca throughout the world and to attract foreign students who wish to learn or improve their Spanish skills. The administrative office is also promoting it with the Spanish version,“Salamanca, Ciudad del Español”.

Their main focus is to propel the city into becoming the principal reference, the 'must go-to' city for foreigners who want to learn Spanish, out of the potential destinations within the worldwide language tourism industry. They also hope to outshine the competition by providing students with assistance in social and cultural integration with their Student Information and Support center.

Located on the third floor of La Casa de Postas in the Plaza Mayor, just two floors above the Municipal Tourism Office, they have proudly embraced the motto “Salamanca, Ciudad del Español.”

Discover the reason why no one can resist learning Spanish in such a beautiful city!
Watch Salamanca Única, a 13-minute video of Salamanca’s impressive sights and one-of-a kind monuments.

Why not combine language learning with fun and culture in a 1 or 2 week Spanish course in the cradle of the Spanish language? Study Spanish in Salamanca with don Quijote !