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RVF Spanish Language school review thread
#1

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

For English speaking players learning a second language is one of the best things we can do for self improvement. Spanish is an excellent choice and opens lots of doors to the world in business, travel/lifestyle and of course women. Roosh and many other successful guys here speak it and it's pretty much a prerequisite for the modern international playboy many aspire to (with a few exceptions I know).

Learning any new language isn't easy which makes it all the more rewarding once you get to a conversational level or above. Anyone saying Spanish is easy is full of shit or an exception not the rule - you need to put in serious effort on a regular basis to progress and the investment is both time and money, but mostly time, which is also money [Image: undecided.gif]. For this reason taking an intensive course away from the distractions of life, in a foreign country where you will be surrounded by the language, is one of the best things you can do to fast track your learning. (Best thing is having multiple Colombian girlfriends). My experience is with Spanish but this applies to all other languages. The main benefits of attending a structured language course abroad are:

- You will be speaking the language around 4-6 hours a day or more depending on the course. You achieve more in a day than most people do in a week learning in their own country.
- You are surrounded by the language even when not in classes through radio, TV, people talking in the streets - much of this background language noise gets into your head without you knowing it.
- You have an instant social circle with other students from all over the world. Usually the schools organise nights out, activities and trips where you can continue practicing, get drunk or both.
- You will be in a foreign country on your own, gaining valuable life experiences which will improve confidence no end.


In my experience I went on a course in Barcelona last year, I only did 3 weeks but my Spanish improved more in that short time than it did in the 6 months previously here in England. Maybe some of you are more disciplined but there is no way I could manage more than an hour a day practicing Spanish here with a heavy workload, gym etc. And most of the time it was spent doing online courses/tests, not actually speaking and listening which is the most important part. I started around A2 level and finished at B2, in real terms I could string the most basic of sentances at the start but not really understand much. After the 3 weeks I could go on hour long dates almost entirely in Spanish, still using basic vocab and of course making many mistakes, but I could understand/be understood most of the time.

On top of improving my Spanish and giving me the motivation to continue learning once I returned to the UK I also had an awesome time. I met some great guys at the school - to be honest the majority weren't my kind of people or a much younger crowd but a few of us had a lot in common and went out for food/clubs a few times, beach days etc. Girls wise I did well - went on quite a few dates and got 2 new flags (Spanish and Brazil). I developed my people skills and confidence and honestly had one of the best times of my life. Just before I flew over there I was thinking why the fuck am I doing this - had never been away for long on my own and didn't know what to expect. Coming back it's made me see how much is possible and has pushed me to get out and see more of the world.

My Spanish skills have faded a bit since last year but next stop is Colombia and I'll do the same in Medellin and if in the future I try to tackle the beast that is Russian I'll do the same in Kiev or Moscow.

I thought it would be good if we had a RVF approved Spanish language school thread, covering all over Spain and SA. There's various recommendations in a few of the huge Colombia threads but most are from a while ago or take serious digging to find. I'll go first with my recommendation for Barcelona and hopefully others will add theirs.

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Location: Barcelona, Spain
School: Camino Spanish School - http://www.caminobarcelona.com/
Price: £260/week course only (Super Intensive & Private)
Time visited: August 2016

I couldn't rate this school higher, absolutely loved my time here - both the language learning and social side of it. The classes are not too big, around 8 people and didn't really have a bad teacher (teachers swap every week). We had 2 x 1 hour group classes in the morning, then you have the option of 2 more 1hr additional conversation classes. The group classes focus on grammar and punctuation etc. the conversion is just an hour of talking about a random subject each day. I also did an extra 1hr private lesson each day and went over whatever I didn't understand from the previous classes, or just talked crap for an hour about anything I wanted. I think this is a great combination of different types of learning so you hit the language from many different sides.

Barcelona itself is a world class city, so much to do - great nightlife/restaurants, beach, as gay as it sounds just walking the streets around Gothic/Borne areas is a pleasure. The school is in a really good location, walking distance from the centre but also right next to a metro stop. Every day after classes there are different activities run by the school to help you socialise with other students and some of the teachers/school staff too, as well as longer trips further away at the weekends.

They actually have on-site accommodation which isn't the best quality and it's pot luck who you will end up with, but is perfect for rolling straight into classes in the morning and is good to build a little social circle to start. I did a week in one of the schools shared apartments, then moved to my own place after for a bit more comfort and privacy - I think this gives you the best of both worlds. Hopefully next time I return to Barca I'll be at a good level with my Spanish but if not I'd definitely come back here.
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#2

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

Language schools come and go almost overnight, so I'll make general comments here without referencing specific schools.

My background: I've attended a few Spanish schools in Mexico as a student and taught Spanish in one as well.

First, lower your expectations. Pay is extremely low and teachers rarely have formal training in language teaching or in teaching Spanish in particular. The ones who have been there a while have figured out most of the things that cause headaches for students, but don't expect them to be very sophisticated in their approach. Drill-and-kill and chalk-and-talk are common techniques that don't lead to real speaking skills.

My best teacher was an indigenous woman who had learned Spanish as a second language. Successful language learning experience in a teacher is a good thing.

At one of the schools I attended, the teachers regularly socialized and dated students. One of my friends there ended up marrying his teacher.

My worst teacher was one who tried to shove her religion down our throats in class. Or was it the one who treated our Jewish classmate like an exotic species to be studied under a microscope? Or the one who worshipped everything American and hated Mexico? Be prepared for some cultural differences.

Most people assume that private lessons are better than group classes. Not necessarily. There'll be more energy in a group class = less boring, less pressure = more learning. As the OP mentioned, a mix of mostly group classes plus one private class a day could be a good combination. Be sure to leave time to rest/sleep (full-time language learning is tiring) and socialize in Spanish during the rest of the day.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that your main task is to understand how the language works. What you really need is practice trying to use what you've already learned so you get more comfortable and accurate with it (hopefully getting some feedback).

Don't ignore the other students, even those you don't particularly like, if that might lead to contact with locals who don't mind speaking Spanish with you. The more opportunities to put your Spanish into practice outside the classroom, the better.

I've done several homestays where you live and eat with a local middle-class family. These are hit and miss. Some will talk with you; others will just feed you and that's it. If you're a beginner, it's probably a good idea to stay with a family as long as they won't use any English with you and there aren't other students staying with the same family.

Don't choose a school mainly on price. They're all relatively cheap compared to the American dollar. As a rule of thumb, the bigger/older the school, the better. Personally I'd avoid ones that are associated with universities and similar because they'll focus more on academic language and their formal vibe just gets in the way.

If you're already an intermediate / independent learner, you might benefit more from using your time/money to apply the Spanish you already have than in taking more and more classes. I got more out of an long afternoon of conversation on the beach with our tour guide than I did in a whole month of private classes in school.

A final warning: private language schools are businesses. They exist primarily to make money for the owner and secondarily for the teachers. The students are just a necessarily evil. Be careful when handing over large chunks of non-refundable cash. It's usually better to pay for a shorter chunk of time, even if this means forgoing a discount. You can always extend your time with the school if you love it, but it's nice to have the option to move to another school or just take time off from school to use the Spanish you've learned for something real.

Your success with the language depends a lot more on what you do with it and how many opportunities you create to use your Spanish than on whether you're at the perfect school or have a good teacher and classmates.
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#3

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

Quote: (03-05-2017 12:57 PM)ElFlaco Wrote:  

Your success with the language depends a lot more on what you do with it and how many opportunities you create to use your Spanish than on whether you're at the perfect school or have a good teacher and classmates.

Good insights amigo. The main point being that if you make the effort to get out there and to a Spanish speaking country you will also have lots more of these oppourtunities in social situations every single day. It gives you the best of both worlds and is amazing how much you can improve in a short time. Going to a school is just a part of the journey of learning a new language although definitely a big part. Many of the other guys I met there had the same experience as me.

One point I forgot to mention is it's much better in the local girl's eyes that you are in their country to actually do something, and are putting effort into learning the language. Is a good answer to 'what are you doing here?' which always comes up early on - not that women are the reason you should learn a language, it's just a nice bonus.
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#4

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

My experience at a language school was almost a decade ago at this point, but I'll share it.

The school I was at set up a homestay where students slept, and had the option of having breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was the first student my family had stay with them, and so they were super excited and willing to go the extra mile to converse with me in my baby babble Spanish. Talking history with my host parents and watching Disney's Kim Posible with my little host sister probably did as much for me to learn the language as my classes did. That being said, I spent three weeks at the school in the city, and got a better feel for Spanish than I would have had I been in class here in the good ol' USA or learning on my own. The school made an effort to incorporate lessons on local history and current events (primarily the Guatemalan presidential election and the the local soccer team), which I've found to be really helpful in my travels (Protip: every taxi driver on Earth wants to talk either politics or sports and probably won't rip you off if you make friends.)

The fourth week at the school was at a separate site located in a poor community in the mountains. There I was able to focus on Spanish slang and just playing around with the language as my teacher insisted on never saying a word to me in English. Ultimately I left the school after a month without a command of the language, but went from 2 useless semesters in the classroom to being able to travel and get around Central America on my own.

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#5

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

I know that some on here are against language schools as they can be a bit pricey and some feel that they don't take away very much in terms of actual language learning but I feel that they are a great way for a beginner to to start the process.

Myself, I arrived in Bogota for the first time in 2012 with very basic Spanish skills and immediately took two weeks of intensive (4 hours/day) lessons at a school in Chapinero called http://www.nuevalengua.com/. It was a bit pricey at $240/week but I learned quite a bit and did some fun and interesting activities with the other students such as river rafting, museum tours and feeding kids at an orphanage in a poor part of Bogota. I then found a girl friend on Colombian Cupid who was very patient with my Spanish and also spoke zero English (very important!) and that helped out a lot. I went back to the school for another two weeks later on during that trip and learned even more but by the end of it, I felt that I had learned enough and could progress through self study.

After my first three month Colombia trip I was able to hold conversations mostly in the present tense and joke around a lot. After I returned home, I bought a Spanish grammar exercise book and practiced that at home and also used Duolingo (still do sometimes) and have the Destinos book which I ordered off of Amazon but still haven't began watching. I also listen to a lot of Spanish music such as salsa, reggaeton and Vallanato, that comes in handy while out on dates and a popular song comes on and you know the words, girls like that.

I found a private tutor in Cali, Colombia a couple of years ago and did three one hour lessons each week to take my Spanish to the next level, especially with grammar (conjugation, tenses, etc). That also helped but I still felt better taking the group classes. I find that I get the least amount done studying on my own because I'm a bit of a slacker, having to do homework each night forced me to get things done because you don't want to look like too much of an idiot in front of your class mates.

Overall, I highly recommend checking out a Spanish language school, even if for only a week or two, you'll pick up some new skills, make new friends and sometimes its nice to have a routine where you have to wake up and do something productive instead of partying your ass off every night, which can easily happen in a place like Colombia jajaja.
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#6

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

Don't just go to the cheapest school you can find, although cheap schools can have good teachers I'd think most prefer would prefer to learn from an educated teacher. Most schools will also price match with comparable schools or you can at least negotiate on the price a little bit.

If you only have enough time or money for a month or so of classes don't think that you can't make a lot of progress in that month, especially if you are staying with a home stay and do more than the usual assigned "homework"

Like Scotian said, find a local girlfriend that you speak to in Spanish.
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#7

RVF Spanish Language school review thread

Does anyone here have experience with Nueva Lengua, Toucan, or other schools?

I have a one month vacation this summer and I’m thinking of enrolling in a 2-3 weeks “intensive” group class. I’ve taken a semester of Spanish class before in the US, have finished half of the duolingo course, and can speak some Spanish at a beginner’s level but nowhere near fluent or conversational. I’d say it’s more of a traveler’s spanish, enough to get around but not enough for an actual conversation. I don’t expect to become fluent in one month but I hope to bring my Spanish to the next level at least. Conversing with my broken Spanish with dates help, but it can only do so much. I still have poor sentence structure and incorrect verb tenses. I’m quite busy in the US and don’t have a lot of time or focus to study Spanish here, although the opportunity to practice is always there, locally at work when I have Mexican clients or whatsapping girls from my previous trips. So I think enrolling in a school with lots of opportunity to practice and to correct my mistakes is the goal for this summer. And build off of that when I come back to the US.

Anyone have recent experience doing this? And which school? Some schools offer dance classes in the afternoon after the language class, and this is something I’m also looking into. I’m looking into splitting my time between Bogota and Cartganena. Guadalajara is a far third option too. But I’d probably choose the former two as I’ve been there before and know what to expect with the women.
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