Spanish language courses in Spain

[Marcus-UK]

Has anyone any experience of taking any short two to four week spanish language courses in Spain? I am considering starting my next camino in 2018 from Salamanca and heading over to Portugal before following one or other of the Portugues camino routes to SDC.
I can get by in German and French but I have a very poor level of Spanish and always feel guilty when trying to converse with the locals. My wife speaks Spanish so I have been very lazy over the years. However she is not capable of walking a camino with me.
I have seen on a few Camino blogs that people have gone through Salamanca, taken a break for a language course and then completed their camino via the various routes available out of Salamanca. Ideally I would like to be able to boost my Spanish to the A1/A2 level (DELE, CEFR)
There are plenty of places advertising courses but I would prefer recommendations or feedback from people who may have done something similar!
Best regards, from a retired person who now has time on his hands to do stuff:-}

 

[alipilgrim]

Hi Marcus,

I spent 4 weeks in Salamanca last month taking Spanish Immersion lessons at Tia Tula. I had taken about 12 classes of Spanish this winter and they put me into an already started A1+ class which ended up being fine. I inadvertently booked my departure day for the final exam day so I was able to complete the course and I'm now a A2 level student! The classes were 4 hours a day with a half hour break between. The school was fairly small but situated in a newly renovated building just 1 street north of the cathedral with a great comfortable coffee shop next door that seemingly all us students would go to during our break. Class sizes can range from 2-10 students, depending on demand and can change weekly as some students are there for just a week or two, some for several months. There's also an option to add an extra hour of conversation to your day (on a weekly basis). I did this one week as I felt I needed more practise with my conversation. Sometimes I wished I had bought this option for every week, sometimes I knew my poor old brain was so tired at the end of 4 hours that I was glad I didn't have any extra studies! I really liked my teachers, especially my morning instructor (you change professors for the afternoon session).

The school fee was very reasonable I felt, almost half of what the University of Salamanca was charging, and I thought it was good value. In fact, they had a special when I was there, pay for 3 weeks and get the 4th free. I booked my accommodation through them as well - a shared apartment. They also have home stays, where you stay with a local family. There's pro's and con's to both arrangements.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!

Allison

 

[LakeMcD]

Hi Allison,

Do you have contact info for the school?

Many Thanks,
Gary

 

[Trude]

There is a discount if two sign up, anyone interested in doing the course in July August?

 

[alipilgrim]

http://www.tiatula.com/courses/intensive/spanish.php

Keep checking the discounts, when I was there it was pay for 3 weeks, get one free! As for July/August, check the average temperatures for Salamanca. They told me they only have two temperatures there, cold & hot!