Where to study Spanish in Spain?
Replies: 27 - Last Post: Feb 27, 2013 11:16 PM Last Post By: jazzalbert02
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15
Gijón is great in summer, but then so's La Coruña. Right now we're feeling a little battered by the elements though. :-)16
or Málaga, or Gijón, or Cartagena...I overlooked the OP wanted to be near the Mediterranean. In that case, we should drop Gijón.
18
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't fully understand the preoccupation with accents and dialects. I learned Spanish in Granada (how often have I read "Don't go to Granada - the accent is awful" or words to that effect) and had no major problems. I now sometimes 'breath' on an 's' at the end of a word, or forget to pronounce an ending. However, they don't teach you that in the classroom. They teach Spanish, pure and simple. If you combine this with some friendly contact with the locals then yes, you may pick up an accent, but you'll still be speaking and learning Spanish.I know you are probably already sorted with classes, school etc. If not, I can recommend Estudia Espana if you're still looking for a school - anywhere in Spain.
Otherwise, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in knowing what and where you finally decided on.
20
#17 - I have lots of friends in both Oviedo and Gijón and I've never really noticed that of them. What you mention is much more typical of Galicia, mainly because in the galician language these compound tenses don't exist so he comido becomes comí and había comido becomes comiera, a subjunctive in castellano. This usage has passed over into castellano over the centuries. However, it wouldn't be a valid reason to ignore Santiago de Compostela, or Galicia in general, as a possible destination for a Spanish language course. People in Madrid, if anything, 'abuse' (in the Spanish sense) or overuse this tense. I've heard madrileños come out with shockers like, "los ladrones han entrado en el edificio ayer por la tarde", which everybody knows is wrong. Reason enough to strike Madrid off your list of language course destinos? I think not.21
#19 - so are you saying that LatAm Spanish speakers from the Mexican border to Patagonia avoid/ignore/prefer not to use "tiempos compuestos"? If so, that's the most misleading post I've read on TTTF today, amigo/a.24
#21 No, I'm not saying what you said in your post. Just that the simple past tense is much more commonly used in L American Spanish than in Spain. And my first instinct for saying I ate in the past would indeed be comí.Actually, I think it's not important where a Spanish-teaching school is located. The teachers will mostly have quite standard accents and the teaching will be of standard Spanish. As for talking and understanding people outside the classroom, I agree with TheBoyJohnson in #18.
25
#24 - yes, but I think Latin American Spanish is something of a blanket term as every country in the region, a huge region, has its own linguistic patterns/idiosyncracies etc. People in Argentina for example have a fabulous command of the language, especially vocabulary. Try comparing them to their Bolivariano brothers in Venezuela, or indigenous Bolivia, or even Colombia. It's completely different. And Central America could be considered another planet. As such, I think "Latin American Spanish" is a pretty inadequate term. Just an opinion of course. Nice talking to you.26
I agree with you about the differences. I was just trying to simplify between the Spanish spoken in Spain (where I realize there are different accents, if not vocabulary as well) and that spoken in countries originally colonized by the Spanish.A similar simplification would be British English vs that spoken in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and various Caribbean islands, India, etc.
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