May, 2009

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Antique Photos of Salamanca

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Salamanca hasn’t always been a modern city and was always a typical beautiful Spanish city!!

We have some old photos of Salamanca for you to see how it was hundreds of years ago, interesting for those of you who know the city and those who don’t too!

Salamanca as seen from across the Río Tormes

Salamanca as seen from across the Río Tormes

This picture shows the city in black and white as seen across the River Tormes abut 100 years ago! The view hasn’t changed too much as the Cathedral has stayed the same! The big difference is that the new bridge crossing the River still isn’t bult!

The Plaza de Toros

The Plaza de Toros

In this photo you can see the Plaza de los Toros, the Bullring in Salamanca, that’s still there today. There are still bullfights in the Plaza, although not as many as before! Well worth a visit to the building, even if you don’t watch a fight. It’s about 15 minutes walking from the Main Sqaure, pretty close to the centre.

Plaza Colón

Plaza Colón

The Plaza de Colón is a small square on the road Calle San Pablo leading away from the Main Square down towards the river. The square is named after Christopher Columbus, Cristobel Colón, who has a statue there in the square! The square is still fairly green and very pretty, the perfect place to have a break when wandering around Salamanca!!

The Patio de Las Escuelas is a square in front of the Famous University Facade

Patio de Escuelas

Patio de Escuelas

with the frog! The buildings around the square are all the main important buildings of the University of Salamanca where all the main offices are, the classes for Courses for International Students that the University offers!! It’s right in the centre by the Cathedral. The statue in the middle still stands, but without the railings around it. The doorway right at the back on the left, the smaller doorway in the corner, leads to a beautiful green patio of the University. All around there are museums for you to find out about the University and the history of Salamanca.

Salamanca from across the River

Salamanca from across the River

The city can be seen here from across the river like in the first photo. Even when they invented cars the normal people of Salamanca were still going around on donkeys, “burros”!!

For more modern pictures of Salamanca you can have a look at our new photo gallery on the Spanish Language School website, have a look and compare how the city was and how it is today!

Dutch Trip

Monday, May 25th, 2009

This week another group of 24 Dutch students came to Salamanca to study Spanish with us! They spent all week here in Salamanca taking part in our cultural program and practising everything they’d learnt whilst making the most of their Spanish Language Lessons in the mornings!

Starting their Spanish Language Classes on Monday

Starting their Spanish Language Classes on Monday

The group have made a blog, in Dutch!, about their stay with us that you can check out via the links.

On the Monday, their first full day in Salamanca when they arrived they dived right in to their classes, followed by lunch with the host family and then a guided tour of Salamanca in the afternoon! Elisa showed them around, starting in the Plaza Mayor and gave them a little history of the city whilst showing them the main sights; Plaza Mayor, Cathedral, Casa de las Conchas, The University etc! They even went down to the River Tormes to see the statue from Lazarillo de Tormes and crossed the Roman Bridge. In the evening the group joined in the welcome party with all the students! The students went on a guided tour but there was also going on loads of other activites for them in the school, all part of the cultural program and on offer to all students!

On the Tuesday the weather was great and the Dutch group started with Chocolate and Churros in class to cheer up the morning! In the afternoon the group took a Tapas trip to try some of the local Tapas, starting with Asturian Cider by the Square! The stopped at a few more bars and tried the famous Ham, Jamón, of the region, a local delicacy! You can check out photos of their Tuesday on their Group Trip Blog. This afternoon we also showed a Spanish Film to practise a bit more of listening for anyone that wanted.

Enjoying Chocolate and Churros

Enjoying Chocolate and Churros

On Wednesday they had loads of activities going on. The morning was a tough set of classes again, so in the afternoon to relax the group enjoyed a Cookery class to learn how to make some of the Tapas they tried on Tuesday, followed by a Sevillanas Dance Class!! The group was too big to do everything at once so they split into 2 groups and did each activity in their groups. In the evening some of the group ended up singing Karaoke! You can check out photos of this, and hopefully soon a video, on their blog entry for Wednesday.

By Thursday the group commented that they’d really noticed an improvement in their Spanish. Trying to relax after so much work a lot of the students went to have fun in one of the many parks in Salamanca, relax a bit and take in some sun! Instead of wandering around the old building of the University they preferred to enjoy the sun, and those that wanted were welcome to a Cultural Conference in the school. In the evening lots of the students went to see Salamanca by night as it’s beautiful and lit up, especially the Cathedral and the Square, and also it’s nice and refreshing after having been in the sun all day!

The group with their certificates at the end of their course!

The group with their certificates at the end of their course!

On Friday the group went to visit the Cathedral, where you can walk up and outside and have great views of the city and the river! The Cathedral of Salamanca is really mad eup of 2, an old one and the new one! In the evening the group enjoyed a typical Spanish Meal as a way of saying goodbye to the city and having one last event all together before going home!

We offer group trips in all 3 cities, Granada, Seville and Salamanca, and we can organise the perfect program according to your requirements! Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us regarding your trip, there’s also more information about the Group Trip Programs on our website.

Seville Spanish Language School and Easter Week in Seville

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
The Main Hall and Balcony

The Main Hall and Balcony

On our Facebook page you can see some more photos of our Language School in Seville. The building is a gorgeous big typical building in the Centre of Seville. All the classrooms and main activity centres around the indoor Patio and the upstairs balconies. The staff in Seville are happy to help with whatever you might need during your Language Course, and Oscar is in charge at the school and can help you with anything you want! To have a look at some of the staff and students to know what’s expecting you when you arrive in Seville or simply to get to know us have a look at the photos on our Facebook page!

A typical Spanish Classroom in Seville

A typical Spanish Classroom in Seville

You can even add yourself as a friend to our profile and join our Facebook group to keep up to date with the latest, as well as regularly checking out the Spanish Language blog.

In Seville our Cultural Program is lucky to benefit from all the Spanish culture and traditions that Seville has to offer.

Recently the big holiday celebrated there was Easter, known locally as Semana Santa. During this week there are processions all day and night to celebrate Easter and the Holy week. Luckily, with the school being so central some of the students got a birds-eye view on some of the processions! The streets are packed during the festivals, and all types of celebrations throughout the year in Seville, and the students were lucky enough to be able to use the school’s balconies to watch over the festivals without being squashed!

Entrance to Seville School

Entrance to Seville School

You can see more on our other post on our Language blog about the Easter Week in Seville. The processions are impressive and definitely worth seeing if you’ve not seen Spanish Easter Celebrations before. Hundreds of people join in the activities and carrry enormous religious statues around the city, dressed in a typical coloured robe with a pointed hat, the colour depending on the day and procession.

Oscar and students in Seville

Oscar and students in Seville

Photos can be checked out on our website and also on Facebook, of the city of Seville, the activites that go on there and all the other things we offer for you during your course!

The April Fayre in our Seville Spanish School

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

During April Seville celebrates the yearly Fayre, which are a week of parties and cultural activities all over the city. You can read more about the Fayre in another post on our Spanish Language Blog. Our Seville school didn’t miss out on the celebrations and the students got the chance to experience some of the celebrations in between classes!

Students in Seville enjoying the Dancing

Students in Seville enjoying the Dancing

The students gathered in the main entrance and Patio of the Spanish school to watch Elisabeth and the Dance teacher dancing Sevillanas. The couple showed off how to dance to the students in between classes during the day. Here you can see them dancing in the Patio by the Main Staircase of the Seville School.

Some of the students even dressed up for event and made the most of the opportunity to get into the Spanish Culture! This was a fantastic opportunity to build on their cultural program with us in Seville.

Typical Sevillanas Dress

Typical Sevillanas Dress

This student is wearing a beautiful typical red dress for the Dancing, a big part of the Seville Fayres.
During the festivals you can see all sorts of typical Sevillian events going on all over the city, you can even check out the city and all the things going on by taking a trip around the city on Horse-back!

Here you can see the couple Dancing in the Patio with the beautifully decorated school behind. The school in Seville is in a typical old building in the centre of the city and is a fantastic place to study! The students enjoyed the event so much they started dancing themselves and joined in the fun!

Elisabeth and the Dance Teacher in the Patio

Elisabeth and the Dance Teacher in the Patio

Students joining in the Sevillanas Dancing!

Students joining in the Sevillanas Dancing!

Dutch Spanish-Language Group Trip to Salamanca

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

Last week a Dutch group of Spanish Language Students came to spend a week in Salamanca improving their Spanish and visiting the city with their Spanish teacher Marianne from Holland.

Dutch Spanish Group enjoying Chocolate and Churros

Dutch Spanish Group enjoying Chocolate and Churros

The group studied all together for a week in our Salamanca school improving their Spanish and exploring the city. They started the week on Monday with a guided trip around Salamanca to see the main sights, including the Cathedral, the Library and the Frog! They started at the school in the centre of the city and took a trip across the Plaza Mayor to explore the rest of the Historic Centre with Elisa showing them around.

In the evening they took a Tapas trip around the city to try some of the best typical local foods on offer! The following morning they even tried the Chocolate and Churros after their morning lesson to cheer up the start of the day! They even enjoyed a Salsa Class to get a feel for the Spanish culture!

Their Spanish really improved and the group had a fantastic time discovering Castille and Leon and really got on with their teachers here at the school, so much so that they went out for a meal all together on Thursday night with their teacher Belén! The group were only here for a short time but got to see most of the important sights of Salamanca, and have made an online album of their photos which you can see by following this link: Photo Album

The Group at the end of their Spanish Course!

The Group at the end of their Spanish Course!

With our group programs you can take advantage of our language courses and cultural program on offer or make up a personalised trip for your group, in either Salamanca, Seville or Granada. Get in touch with us regarding any type of trip and we’ll make it work! There’s more information on our webpage about all of our courses and specifically about group programs too!