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Coming in a group? Check out our check-list!

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Organising a group trip abroad can be really quite stressful – whether you’re a teacher in charge of a class or the elected friend of a group, it’s your job to ensure everything runs smoothly, everyone has fun, everyone is satisfied with the price and everyone returns safe and sound…Lots of pressure for when you’re meant to be on holiday too!  Well, we can help.  Here we give a check list for a group trip to Spain, to ensure everything from the planning to the enjoyment of your time in Spain is flawless, meaning you can relax more, knowing you and your group have taken 100% advantage of the trip.

A group having fun in our activities!

A group having fun in our activities!

First thing’s first, how are you going to travel to Salamanca?  From Madrid airport, there are now buses running direct, meaning there’s no long trip accross the capital to get to the bus/train station.  This is a big plus for those travelling in large groups – especially when each group member is carrying a lot of luggage!  The timetables for the buses are available online, meaning you can buy your tickets before arriving to Spain – another plus for those travelling with large numbers, another step of the journey arranged!  We recommend to leave an hour between landing time and when the bus leaves to collect luggage.  We can also arrange this transfer and so if you want it, then send us an e-mail and we’ll go ahead with the booking!

So now you’re in Salamanca, and ready to start class, how will the classes be?  If you’re travelling in big numbers, then we can arrange the groups to be kept together, or have them mixed with other students at the school.  We have an online test to determine Spanish ability which can be taken before travelling to Spain, meaning we can arrange the groups according to level of Spanish (and again, it’s another step in the journey which is sorted before arrival!).

If you’re a teacher, maybe you’d like to do a course yourself?  If so, then let us know!  This is really worthwhile doing, especially bearing in mind the teachers coming with larger groups will get their course for free!

Regarding the courses, it’s best to let us know as long as possible before arrival just exactly how you would like the course to be.  Do you have any specification?  Maybe you’d like us to focus on topics which will be coming up in exams?  Then let us know!  This way we can prepare resources and ensure that you are taking 100% advantage of the time in Spain.

A group excursion - to Morocco!

A group excursion - to Morocco!

There is also the chance for you, as a group leader/teacher, to take an hour and teach a little yourself!  This keeps the students up to date with the programme they are following in their own country and is a great opportunity for everyone to re-group, give feedback and talk about their experiences so far!  The school is highly equipped with teaching materials for use – just let us know whether you need them or not!  To ensure all is available, however, do let us know in advance – only this way we can organise what classrooms are free for use!

And regarding payment – we can help you with this!  Do you need a total budget or a budget per person?  We have long experience in organising group trips and so however it is you want the course, we’ll do our best to satisfy!

And lastly, outside of the classroom, what will your group be doing at night?  The school organise many activities in Salamanca but you too can ask our advice for planning an excursion or activity.  Salamanca really is a city with so much to do that there won’t be a minute for your group to be bored!

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Salamanca school’s new Residence opens up!

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
The bedroom 312 with space for 3 students

The bedroom 312 with space for 3 students

Our Salamanca Spanish School has opened a new residence to our students, inside the school itself! The residence is one of many that we have all over Salamanca for our students, and provides full or half-board accommodation. The residence is brand new and occupies the 3rd floor of our Salamanca school!

Room 311, again with room for 3 students.

Room 311, again with room for 3 students.

It has room for 40 students and has rooms with anything between 1 and 5 beds, and a private double-room with a double bed. The residence is complete with computers and televisions in the rooms, and shower rooms and toilets on each corridor. The bathrooms are all brand new and are on each corridor of the school for the students. Each room has a shiny new television and lots of the rooms have a computer supplied, and all of the residence is fitted with free WIFI.

The bathrooms in the New Residence

The bathrooms in the New Residence

There are televisions in all the rooms of the Residence

There are televisions in all the rooms of the Residence

The double room, 308

The double room, 308

There’s daily cleaning in all of the bedrooms for all of the new residence, and a big clean once a week of the whole residence itself.

There’s even a terrace where the students can sit out in the day between class with views over Salamanca! and an area with drinks and food machines that’s available for the students 24hours a day. The meals for the residence are being provided by the lovely cafe/restaurant downstairs, the Café Ideal. They are providing a special menu for our students staying in this residence.

Room 301 with doors onto the Terrace!

Room 301 with doors onto the Terrace!

Staying in a residence is a great option for group trips as it’s easy to keep everyone together and even better if you’re in the building, nobody can get lost on their way to class! For the teachers it’s a fantastic way of making sure everybody’s safe and together, as there’s no need to cross the city to get to the school or wander around at lunch time.

The residence is only one option that we offer as accommodation in Salamanca, but also in Seville and Granada. The other options are a shared student flat or a home stay with a local family. The shared flats are a great way to be more independent, but they also require you to clean up after yourselves and look after the flat. Staying with a family is a really good way to get to see how the typical Spanish lifestyle is and try some proper home cooked Spanish food!

Another option that we offer is a private apartment, but this option is only available for over 18s. If you’d like any more information on the residence, or would like a quote for your group trip don’t hesitate to get in touch!

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Italian Group From “Liceo Scientifico Belfiore” in Spain!

Monday, July 27th, 2009
The Italian Group on the Tapas Trip in Salamanca

The Italian Group on the Tapas Trip in Salamanca

A group of 10 Italians have come to stay with us and study in Salamanca. The group has enjoyed a week long stay with us so far and still has a week to go in Salamanca! This last week they’ve been involved with loads of different activities. They’ve come as 9 students from the science school Belfiore and their teacher, Vania, to study Spanish in Salamanca.

The students have been following an Intensive Spanish Course during their stay, and Vania has been making the most of her time here too following a Spanish Course for Teachers, SUPE. This course is a course we offer specifically designed for teachers of Spanish, mostly non-native. The course is focused to improve fluency, help with any grammatical concepts that need refreshing and offer new methods of teaching! The program is made up oftheoretical and practical parts, mixing classes looking at teaching methodologies and Spanish language use. We also look at new techniques for teaching and how to use language laboratories, the internet and other components!

The Italian Group up the Cathedral of Salamanca

The Italian Group up the Cathedral of Salamanca

The group have enjoyed a tapas trip, a guided tour of the city, their intensive classes and much more activities here in Salamanca whilst staying with us, all as part of our Cultural Program to really immerse them all in the Spanish Culture! On Sunday they were also lucky enough to enjoy a trip to Aveiro in Portugal to spend a day at the beach and have a look around the town. The girls are really enjoying themselves and looking forward to their second week here! The activities in the school also include cookery classes, where they learnt how to make some traditional tapas, a guided tour of Salamanca, different conferences and films, amongst other things! They also went up the Cathedral of Salamanca with the ieronimus project. Let’s see if they do as many things in the second week and the first!

Vania enjoying her Spanish Course for Teachers with Asun and other teachers in her group.

Vania enjoying her Spanish Course for Teachers with Asun and other teachers in her group.

If you’re a non-native Spanish teacher currently working in America and would like to take part in a superior Spanish Course for Teachers then have a look at our Scholarships that we offer for you in Salamanca. These scholarships include the price of your course with us, for one or two weeks, and the only thing you have to take care of is your accommodation!

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Learning Spanish in Spain!

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

During these two weeks a group of Czech students have come to perfect their Spanish in the place that speaks the language the best, in Spain! The students are at the Instituto de la Lengua, the Language Institute, until the 26th of July following a Hispanic Studies course as potential future Spanish teachers. They started studying on July 13th.

The course at the Institute is situated in Burgos, in Castilla y León, the north-west of Spain. The director of the Language Institute, Gonzalo Santonja, is very proud to have the students studying their, reminding us that it’s important to help Spanish Language Learners – the people learning the language today are those who will keep the Spanish language going in the future.

A Spanish Group enjoying one of their Spanish classes

A Spanish Group enjoying one of their Spanish classes

The point of the course is that the students perfect their Spanish whilst experiencing the Spanish Culture and learning the best teaching methods, all of which will help them when they start to teach themselves. The students on the course will get to enjoy a couple of visits to local monuments and important historical sites that are nearby their Language School, and also study not only the language but also literature, cinema, art and geography. We also have a fantastic Cultural Program including conferences on art, history, literature, cinema and occasionally extras, included with trips and extra-curricular classes (even dancing and cookery!) and loads of other extras. The best bit of this is that the cultural program that our Spanish Language School offers is available in Salamanca, Seville and Granada!

If you too fancy learning Spanish in Spain, Castilla y León is the perfect place to study. Salamanca, the heart of Castille and León, is where the purest form of Spanish is spoken! Mester has a similar language course as the one these lucky Czech students are enjoying. We offer language courses for people with all different levels of Spanish though, not just for those sudents wanting to go on to be teachers of Spanish!

If you are a teacher though just like the aspiring Czech group currently in Burgos we have a fantastic offer. We are offering this year 100 scholarships for non-native Spanish-teachers- for French teachers or American teachers – to come and study in Salamanca with us. The scholarship includes everything except your transfer to the city!! And the courses are of 1 or 2 weeks long, which ever is better for you. There’s more information on the teaching scholarships we’re offering on our blog too!

If you’re not French or American though, we still offer courses for teachers in any of our schools, Salamanca, Sevilla or Granada, and you can find out more about these on our website. The teaching course we have goes over grammar and new coloquial language, as well as revising and improving new and traditional teaching methods! Great for new and experienced teachers alike.

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The Tower of “Los Picos” opens in Granada

Monday, June 8th, 2009

The Tower of “Los Picos”, one of the tallest towers within the Alhambra complex. It was originally closed because it’s so fragile, but the sponsors of the Alhambra and Generalife have decided to open the tower during June.

Inside the Alhambra

Inside the Alhambra

This gives the tourists a fantastic opportunity to see this beautiful tower. The Tower de los Picos is going to be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays to the public. The tower is one of the tallest within the complex, about the same size as the Torreón de Comares.

The tower wasn’t only a defensive tower, but was also a liveable space! The inside is so beautifully decorated that it was clearly used as living quarters too. It consists of 3 rooms, and is elaborately decorated with paintings and ornamentation. There are other towers as part of the Alhambra complex near to the Tower of los Picos that have this same double function that are open to the public too. Take advantage of these if you get the chance to visit the Alhambra, such as the Tower of the Captives or the Tower of the Infants.

The tower is located by the famous Puerta del Arrabal which opens up to the “Cuesta de los Chinos”, the “Chinese hill”, which leads to the local village of Albaicín in Granada.

The Alhambra has also opened up their church, where the local people from Granada now have permission to get married!

If you get the chance to visit Granada don’t miss out on the opportunity to discover the fantastic Alhambra complex. You can even talk to us and see about organising a trip with your group as part our cultural program in Granada!



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