"To have another language is to possess a second soul! " Charlemagne is reputed to have uttered these inspiring words. He born in 742 and later became King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
When it comes to learning Spanish in Barcelona, perhaps Charlemagne knew what he was talking about. Among the many things that he is famous for Charlemagne also found time to wrest Barcelona from the Moors in the year 801.
Ok. Maybe he didn’t invade Barcelona specifically to learn Spanish, but Charlemagne was purportedly somewhat of a linguist. He spoke his own native German and mastered Latin and some Greek.
Quite an achievement considering that Charlemagne never learned to write.
He was certainly right about a second soul! Learning Spanish, or any other language for that matter, does enrich your life with so many new and exciting insights and perspectives from another cultural viewpoint that it feels like you are part of two cultures and have two "souls!"
Another added bonus of learning Spanish and a more practical one, is that it will make your new life in Barcelona so much easier. Few people in Barcelona speak English or other languages. It's almost exclusively Spanish and/or Catalan. Even French is not widespread here despite our close proximity to France.
So you will have to learn Spanish if you are moving to Barcelona.
Here are a few tips for first time Spanish learners from Peter Williams, a previous owner of a Spanish school in Barcelona.
He has seen thousands of students take Spanish courses so this is good advice at no price.
What are your needs? Why do you want to learn Spanish?
Are you just learning for fun because you want to stay in Spain for few weeks, or because you want to travel in Spanish speaking countries? Or do you want to learn to speak, read and write Spanish fluently because you want to live and work here? This is important to the way you approach your Spanish classes.
If it’s just for fun – what I call “Travel Spanish,” then I would recommend taking a week or two of classes of a few hours a week, nothing too strenuous. The intensive classes are designed for people who want to learn a lot in a short period of time and they are not for fun.
In addition to classes you could also buy a good phrase Spanish books to supplement your classes. And then just go out into the streets and smile and chat to people. You will quickly learn a few phrases that you can use when travelling, but I must stress, that you will not learn proper Spanish, just some “Travel Spanish.”
If you want to learn to speak Spanish properly and fluently, then you must take a more serious approach to your classes. Here are some tips for intensive classes.
Learn the grammar from day one. Many people think they can “pick up” Spanish. I have often heard people say” I don’t need the grammar, I just want to speak Spanish!”
That’s kind of like saying a “I don’t want to buy car wheels – I just need to be able to drive!” Newsflash! A language is grammar and vocabulary. That means grammar is half the language.
If you have a long term interest in leaning proper Spanish m because you want to live and work in Spain, or another Spanish speaking country, then you must learn the basic grammar.
Speaking a language without using grammar is like building a house with out a proper foundation. A house of cards. A strong foundation of grammar will ensure that you can keep adding more levels to your building. But a bad foundation will be a house of cards and one day your building will topple.
Grammar is kind of boring and hard work. But a “no-grammar” solution a short term and lazy solution. Grammar is half the language and you will end up speaking “half” Spanish if you don’t learn it.
Sure, you can pick up a bunch of street talk phrases to get by, but as time goes by you will simply become more and more fluent in “half” Spanish. I have met so many people who speak fluent “half Spanish” at high speed with the grammar of a five year old.
It sounds impressive to the person speaking but not to anyone else. And going into a beginners class after years in Spain to learn basic grammar is very frustrating for someone who understands everything in Spanish and feels that they speaks “fluent” Spanish.
Another long term symptom of not learning grammar is that many “half-Spanish” speakers can’t write Spanish well and can hardly read a newspaper. They think they can read Spanish and usually claim that “ They understand everything!” but they often the reality is that they understand a few words in a newspaper article then try and figure out the rest.
So one of the biggest tips about learning Spanish, if your plan is to live in Barcelona for a long time is to learn the grammar now.
Are you good or bad at learning languages? Do you have any knowledge of other languages similar to Spanish, like French or Italian?
If you are thinking of learning Spanish properly, then you should know a few things and prepare accordingly.
First of all you should know that almost all Spanish schools in Barcelona and Spain use the immersion technique, which means that everything in the classroom is in Spanish all the time, even for beginners, even on the first day!
There are several reasons for this.
One is that the immersion method is more effective once you get used to it. It forces the students to pay more attention, study harder and use their dictionary.
The other reason is that many of the Spanish teachers don’t speak English. And even the ones who do, will not usually speak English in the classroom.
A third reason is that the classes are usually full of students from all over the world and some of them would not understand the teaching in English.
So it makes sense to teach Spanish in Spanish in Spain.
But if you are totally new to languages this can be a huge challenge. Imagine four hours of intensive Spanish the first day – all in Spanish. And the school books are all in Spanish. No explanations anywhere in English. You didn’t understand much and tomorrow there are 4 more hours with new material being covered. And the first couple of days are usually the easy ones!
Hey, but you asked for it. Intensive remember? You want to learn as fast as possible remember’ This gruelling pace will be usually works for people who either know even a little Spanish, or know other similar languages, or are just good at grammar in their own language, but if that is not you, then I suggest you prepare.
Don’t worry. You can do several things to prepare.
If you are not in Spain yet, you could take a few lessons in your home country. The teacher’s explanations and instructions will probably be in your own language, just like in children’s school.
You buy a book in English (or your own language) that explains Spanish grammar and do a little bit of self-study before your start your class.
When you are in Barcelona, you might invest in a few extra private lessons with a Spanish teacher, who speaks English and who can explain a few basic things in English, if you are having trouble following the course. The school that you have chosen will be able to help you with this.
Don’t worry. You will get there. And once you have understood the basic principles of Spanish grammar you will be fine from then on.
Likewise once you have mastered the beginners level of immersion course, then you will probably be usually fine on the higher levels because the grammatical principles do not change, only the content.
Don’t underestimate the work involved!
Many people who come to Spain to live do not learn Spanish because they “want” to. They learn because they “need” to. So they are trying to find the easy way. The fast way. The painless way. Newsflash. There is no easy way. In other words - No pain no Spain. (Ok. bad pun but I could not resist it! :-)
If you are learning Spanish because you need to then it will never be much fun, so my advice is get it done in the beginning. Learn as much Spanish as you can at the beginning of your stay in Spain.
Once you are settled in, working full-time and have an active social life, then you will not have time or inclination to take intensive Spanish courses.
So do it now! If your time and budget can manage it, this means taking 1 or 3 months of intensive classes. You might never be able to do that again in your life.
But. (There’s always a but.) Do not underestimate the effort needed, or overestimate the results of 4-8 weeks of Spanish classes.
Many people assume they will learn to speak fluent Spanish in 1 or 2 months. Well think again. In 1-2 months you can learn a lot, especially if you put in the work and show up every day. But to speak really fluent Spanish? Try 1 year at least!
Here are some tips will enable you to maximise attendance and results of your Spanish classes. If you follow them, then the results could be dramatic and you will be well on your way to speaking fluent Spanish after an intensive study course.
Study hard and show up!
Show up for all lessons. Even if you are tired one day, show up anyway. Don’t start a bad habit of missing classes. Make it a goal to attend all the classes.
Do your home study!
A good rule of thumb is to put in half the time at home that you are at the Spanish school. So 4 hours a day in school = 2 hours Spanish study at home.
Compete with yourself - not with others.
It’s a class not a contest. If you are having trouble then repeat a level or drop down a level. There is no shame in that. There are no medals for finishing a Spanish course at a high level without understanding a word. Better to take beginners level 3 times and understand it than zoom through 3 levels and understand nothing.
Clear your head - and your calendar!
It is very easy to be distracted from studying Spanish by all kinds of things. Like hitting the nightlife of Barcelona with your new friends in your Spanish class, or lazing on the beaches of Barcelona. There are many things to do that are more fun than studying Spanish.
The temptation to do those things is huge, but try and resist it. It will all steal time and energy from Spanish studies and can steal money from your pocket, that could be spent on more Spanish lessons.
If you plan to live in Spain, then there are months and years to party and visit beaches etc. Don’t waste study time and your course fees by mixing business with pleasure now.
Try and think of the Spanish course as a job! Work at your Spanish from Monday to Friday and keep the party times at the weekend.
Postpone visitors.
If you are serious about learning Spanish, then ask your friends, who want to come and visit you in Barcelona, to wait until your have finished your Spanish course.
Having friends come visit is great fun, but usually involves days of non-stop partying. Serious fun. But seriously bad for Spanish studies. You can easily fall behind and have to repeat levels, which is basically just wasting money.
Why not ask your friends to come to Barcelona, when you have finished your Spanish courses. They will probably understand that you are working to learn Spanish.
Stay in town.
If you are only in Spain for 1 month or two, then you might have planned to take a lot of trips to other parts of Spain. There are a million fantastic trips in Spain, that you can fill your weekends with. And hey.. why not take a few Fridays off to make long weekends. Great idea. Not! Do that a few times and you will soon lag behind in your intensive course.
If you plan to travel a lot, then I recommend that you only take a semi-intensive Spanish course, for example 2 hours a day. The high-intensive 4 hours a day courses do not leave much time for travel and days off.
Which Spanish school in Barcelona should you choose?
I suggest that you visit a few schools to check them out in person.
See the classrooms and facilities. Are they airy, nice, well-lit, good tables and chairs. Check for air-conditioning and heating It’s difficult to concentrate if you are freezing or sweating!
Ask about the study books and syllabus. Teacher qualifications. How many students are there in each class. And so on.
Some schools offer lots of social activities and excursion, which is great if you are want to meet people and have a good time outside the school with other students.
Other schools just teach Spanish and leave students to organise their own social life. Facilities can vary a lot too. Some schools have good internet facilities, libraries, etc and others do not.
Spanish conversation skills
Many Spanish schools in Barcelona tend to focus on the grammar and vocabulary before conversation classes. In the beginning that is quite logical. You simply do not know enough words in Spanish to have a real conversation.
Usually after 4 weeks of intensive Spanish you will be able to start focusing on strengthening your conversation skills. But you might be speaking a lot English with your classmates and flatmates. So how to find some friendly locals to chat to and other ways of practising your Spanish.?
Here are some tips
Find an Spanish "intercambio"
An “intercambio” is means “exchange.” You are exchanging your language for Spanish with a Spanish person, who wants to practise English or German or another language by talking to you.
In return you get to practise your Spanish on them. There is no cost involved except time. It’s usually good fun and a great way of meeting locals. intercambio evenings are organized by various bars and you can find intercambio partners online.
Rent DVD’s and watch them in Spanish with English subtitles, in English with Spanish subtitles etc. Same with Spanish television. The movies are always in Spanish, but if you have text-TV you turn on the subtitles in Spanish (usually 888), which make is easier and more enjoyable to follow the dialogue and it is a great way to improve Spanish conversation.
