Studying in Spain – Journal 15: A Day at Language School
I’ve been studying Spanish at AIL Madrid Language School since the September of 2018, and I thought that it would be interesting to share what a “standard day” at the language school would be like.
The classes at AIL Madrid either start at 9:00 or 13:00, depending on which class you are in, and it ends at either 12:50 or 16:50. There would be a half an hour break in the middle of the class. I’ve had both morning classes and afternoon one, and I can’t really say that which one is better.
The afternoon class allows you to sleep in and is great for people who like to stay up late or participate in the never-ending night life of Madrid, but it sort of cuts the day into two halves and makes it difficult to visit museums which usually close at around seven in the afternoon. Not to mention that dinner at Spain starts later than nine in the night, which makes having dinner after a day of class a lot more troublesome.
Having morning classes would solve the dining problem, as Spanish people have lunch at two in the afternoon, going to restaurants after school and enjoy a good meal is much more doable. Not to mention that a lot of Spanish restaurants offer “Menu del Dia”, which is usually a set of food of discount price with the same quality of dinner food. Visiting museums after class is also easier when classes end at 12:50. The downside of this agenda is of course, having to get up much earlier and not being to enjoy a relaxing morning.
The language school that I go to also offers after class activities everyday. The activities from Monday to Thursday are usually a walk around a famous area in Madrid with a teacher explaining it’s history in Spanish. They could also be Spanish culture experience related activities like tapas tasting or Spanish food cooking lessons.
The Friday activity is always a “fiesta”, which means party in English. The party usually starts around 22:00 and is usually at a bar of the school’s choice. A teacher from the school would be there and so will other students. It is widely considered a good chance to know more people from different levels of classes and a great chance to practice speaking Spanish with them.
The Spanish Language
One notable thing to consider if you are considering to study language at Madrid is that all the classes would be in Spanish taught by native Spanish speakers. This might sound like a good thing for language learners, but that might not necessarily always be true.
The language school I study at offers Spanish lessons to all levels of students, including complete beginners. All of the lessons are taught in Spanish and speaking other languages is usually not allowed. I’ve talked with quite a few people who went to the school as complete beginners or almost total beginners, and they’ve told me that it is often difficult to understand the grammar when they could barely understand what the teacher is talking about.
I started studying at the school with a level of A2 and I remember it being difficult to fully comprehend what the teachers where saying the first few weeks. It is to my understanding that most other language schools in Madrid might be doing the same, so I don’t really recommend coming to Madrid to study at a language school if you are a total beginner with Spanish.