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Ole Languages - Spanish School Barcelona |
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Ole Languages - Spanish School Barcelona
Ole Languages opened in 2005. In 2010 they expect to welcome over 1600 students, which is three times more students than they had just 3 years ago. In early 2009 the school also became the latest Spanish school in Barcelona, and the smallest, to receive the prestigious Cervantes Institute accreditation, which is only given to top quality Spanish schools.
Both the student numbers and the accreditation are undeniably an impressive achievement for a small independent Spanish school that opened just 4 years ago in a city already full of Spanish Schools. We talked to Javier Sanchez about the success of Ole Languages.
How have you become such a popular Spanish school in Barcelona?
Javier Sanchez Bugés is the schools daily manager and one of the partners of Ole Languages, along with Rosa Ribas Lience. Javier is convinced that the reason that so many students choose Ole Languages to learn Spanish in Barcelona, is that he and his partner Rosa never lose focus of the most important part of running a Spanish school, which is maintaining high quality.
Ole Languages has built a reputation for two things: first of all high quality Spanish courses and equally important, low prices. Some bigger Spanish schools in Barcelona offer perhaps more of a holiday style learning experience for the student with many extra activities for students outside the classroom. That is of course fine, but many of the students at Ole Languages want to learn as much Spanish as possible in a relatively short period of time, so our primary focus is on the intensive Spanish classes that are high quality and at a fair price.
You have a Cervantes Institute accreditation. What is that?
Javier explains. We have always worked to keep quality high, but now we are very pleased to say that “It’s official!” because we this year we were awarded the Cervantes Institute accreditation. This means that the prestigious “Instituto Cervantes” has approved the quality level of the teaching and services offered at Ole Languages.
The Instituto Cervantes is a non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. Its mission is to promote the teaching of Spanish, and to contribute to the advancement of the culture of the Spanish speaking countries. Being accredited is probably the best stamp of quality for a Spanish language school.
Visit Cervantes Institute website for reasons to study at acredited schools
Javier continues. Price is another of our big commitments. We are committed to keeping prices fair and low and our low-price policy means that Ole Languages is the school in Barcelona, accredited by the Instituto Cervantes, with the lowest prices.
So Ole Languages is about high quality at low prices. And we must be doing something right because 70% of our students extend their Spanish course and/or return to the school later to continue their studies! And many of our new students come through recommendations from old students.
What different types of Spanish courses do you offer in Barcelona?
Ole Languages offers intensive Spanish courses in Barcelona for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners from 4 hours a week to our most intensive courses of 25 hours a week. The courses run from Monday to Friday in the mornings, afternoons or evenings throughout the whole year. You can see more about levels, times and prices on our website.
All the Spanish teachers at Ole Languages school are qualified and friendly!
Are your Spanish teachers qualified?
Yes. They are all native Spanish speakers and have a university degree, an BA or MA in Hispanic Studies (Filología Hispánica) and are specialized in teaching Spanish as a foreign language. We also make sure that our teachers have two or more years teaching experience, and most importantly that they are enthusiastic and passionate about their job. The management is the head of the school, but teachers are el corazón, the heart! Well, Rosa and I try to be the heart too!
What is included in the Spanish course price?
The prices include qualified teachers, air-conditioned classrooms & cafeteria, self-study software, access to DVDs and reading material for each level, internet café with 10 computers with internet access & wifi, free fax & photocopies, the first Spanish course book an entry level test & certificate and a language exchange programme.
What are the teaching methods?
The teaching methods at Ole Language Spanish school s are guided by the CEFR, the European Framwork of Reference for foreign language acquisition and as mentioned above, approved by the Cervantes institute.
Spanish classes are immersion, which means that everything during a class is in Spanish. The books are completely in Spanish and the teachers as a rule only speak Spanish. This can be a challenge at first for beginners, but it has proved to be the best way in the long term and almost all schools in Spain teach immersion classes. For beginners it can take a few days to get used to , but it really just means a little extra effort in the beginning and keeping a dictionary close by!
How much Spanish can one learn to speak in 4 weeks?
You can learn a lot, but it is important to understand that learning a language is a lifelong process. In just a few weeks it is unrealistic to think that you will be speaking fluent Spanish.
But having said that, with good teachers like ours, good material and a commitment from the student, then it is definitely possible to speak and understand an impressive amount of Spanish after just 4 to 8 weeks of intensive courses. Many students start with 4 weeks of intensive Spanish of 4 hours a day, and then extend to 8 weeks.
In 8 weeks, if you show up every day and study at home as well, then you can really learn all the basic Spanish grammar and a large basic vocabulary of Spanish words, so you will be able to have proper conversations.
Can anyone learn Spanish?
Yes of course – if they want to. Learning Spanish is not hard, but it is hard work. You have to be prepared to put in a personal effort and take it seriously. There are no short cuts. If you want a short cut, then buy a Spanish phrase book. If you want to learn a language for life, then come to Ole Languages. Learning a language properly is a gateway to a new life a new culture and all the good things that comes with it. It’s worth the effort!
Where is Ole Languages School located?
We are on Avenida Mistral, which is 10-12 minutes by foot to Plaza Catalunya and 2 metro stops on the red L1 from Plaza Catalunya, so the school location is central no matter where you live in Barcelona.
Avenida Mistral is a picturesque, pedestrian avenue with many small shops, restaurants and little local cafes and bars with outdoor terrazas. It is in the neighbourhood of Sant Antoni in the left side of Eixample. Eixample is the most central district of Barcelona’s 10 districts, so the school is very well connected to public transport and there are plenty of bicing stations. (Read more about bicing here.)
Tell us about the school facilities.
The school is functional, clean and tidy and in a modern building. I would not call it charming exactly, and it will never win any prizes for architecture, but a modern building means that everything works and that is important for a professional schools. Also we picked this location because it is very quiet which is also very important for language school.
The school has 8 modern and functional classrooms with room for a maximum of 8 students in each. On average the class size is 6, but in the summer many of the classes are full. We have found that 8 students is the best number for groups – not too big and not too small – like our school!
The free internet area at Ole Languages is very popular with students!
What cultural activities does the school have?
We think that feeling good and looking forward to coming to classes is very important to the learning process. And that is partly achieved by having friends in your class. So we try and make sure that students get to know their class-mates in their own class and in other classes through a casual weekly get-together.
We also encourage students to discover Barcelona together and we offer them a wide range of weekly and monthly publications like “Time Out” and “Guia del Ocio” in Spanish and English that they can consult at any time in the school.
The internet has really now become the most useful tool for students coming to a new city and we have an internet café with free WiFi and ten PC’s for our students, so that they have internet access from day one and can visit useful sites ( like BarcelonaYellow.com!)
We can also help them with advice on where to find rooms and flats and where to find the best experiences in the city.
We also provide basic services like airport pick-up, language exchange and information about cultural activities in collaboration with a Barcelona-wide event agency that offers daily cultural activities from guided tours through the historic city centre, to pub crawls, bike tours, flamenco and tapas nights, salsa courses as well as day and weekend excursions to nearby towns and places of interest.
Do you arrange accommodation?
We feel that good accommodation plays an important part when going abroad to study foreign language. So we always make an effort to help make our students comfortable, safe and at home in Barcelona by offering different types accommodation which are flat shares with other students or staying with Spanish host families.
The host families as well as the student flats are located in central areas close to the school. To ensure availability, we recommend that students book rooms in shared apartments in advance.
What kinds of students choose your school?
We have a great international mix of students. Many study with us are university students and young professionals from Europe, Russia, Brazil, the US, South Africa and Australia. In the summer we get a slightly younger mix with students in Barcelona for the summer to just to learn Spanish.
Over 1500 students a year come from all over the world to learn Spanish at Ole Languages!
What do the students say about the school?
We asked some students at the school about their experience. The overall impression BarcelonaYellow got is that Ole Language School lives up to it’s goals. Students speak high of the teachers praising them for being professional and passionate about their job. Many comment on the friendly atmosphere at the school and how many people they have got to know. And finally there is praise for the admin staff and teachers again for generally makes a big effort to help students in every way they can so overall our mini-survey found the satisfaction rate to be very high.
Find exact location and contact details of Ole Languages
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1°C
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Humidity:
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60%
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