Pueblo Ingles

I checked out the site. I'm always highly suspect of any company who can't capitalize the word English on their website, but promotes how important the language is.

They're going to put you up in 4-5 star hotels? Really? For free? Fried food for breakfast? Since when do the Spanish eat fried food? Great stunning vistas where you'll be staying? And all this is free? I didn't read it in its entirety, but there seemed to be any info about the students lacking. Those students would have to pay some big bucks to support you staying in a 4 star hotel!

Did you check out those towns on the internet? I know Spain pretty well and haven't heard of them. I'm sure they exist, but if so, quite tiny. I wouldn't do it unless you get some good confirmations on it. I would post your question on some of the ESL sites.

Thanks. I've posted it a few places.

I'm not imagining a 4 star hotel, they are quite upfront about the fact that you won't even be guaranteed your own room so it hardly sounds like luxury.

I wouldn't say 'for free'. A weeks worth of my labour is worth a lot more than I'd get back in accommodation and food. I'm suspecting the students do pay quite a bit, I mean someone is obviously making decent money out of this.

I also imagine the 'towns' are more like 'compounds' I mean they want to create an entirely English environment so they can't have any other people around.

I'm not sure what information you'd expect them to give about the students. They outline who they tend to be and what kind of ages. What more is there to know?

Anyway thanks for your suggestions. I will keep looking for anyone who has actually done the programme. Trip advisor has posts by a few people who have, some loved it, some hated it. Guess that isn't a surprise.

Talk to Snow_White. She's done this, but I'm not sure which company she used.

It looks ok, but it's going to be a long 8 days and I don't like the fact that they don't let you speak ANY Spanish.

Did you check out those towns on the internet? I know Spain pretty well and haven't heard of them

I'm surprised you have never heard of La Alberca or Cazorla. I've been to La Alberca, it's in a lovely location in the mountains near Salamanca with some really nice walks around the village. It's true that it's quite small, but as I understand it your time is mostly accounted for by the program anyway.

I can't find where it says anything about 5* hotels?

Thanks all. gecko I'll drop snow_white a pm.

naturegirl I don't understand why you don't like the fact that they don't let you speak any Spanish. They can hardly run an English immersion programme for Spanish people if the English speakers give away that they can speak/understand Spanish. Anyway it's a moot point for me because I don't know any Spanish so I'm not likely to accidentally speak any!

purpletreefrog, they wouldn't let me into the programme becuase I speak Spanish. Plus, if you know a language, it's hard not to speak it. BUt, bsically, as I said before, Spanish speakers aren't allowed.

I participated in the Pueblo Ingles program in 2004 and chose a venue they no longer offer - Valledelavilla. It was part of the rural hotel system and very isolated. I understood this when I signed up and specifically chose that venue over a resort. I had a wonderful experience meeting and interacting with both the Spainiards and Anglos in our 'class' and felt it was a rewarding experience. The meals were very good, although our choices were limited...probably due to the village's isolation. I'm looking into participating again next year and expect to have just as rewarding a time as before, though I think it will be quite different in a resort setting. If you read everything the Pueblo Inglese site provides, you should have a good idea of what to expect and can make an educated decision.

I ended up going with Vaughan Town who I think are the competitors of the company I originally asked about. Had a great time. Lots of fun, food was great, as much wine as you wanted with meals, nice accommodation and great people.

If anyone is going to be in Spain and wants to try something a bit different for a holiday I highly recommend it. I'm sure the company I originally asked about is probably equally good.