I have always wanted to speak Spanish and after I graduated uni, I decided to start Spanish classes at the adult education centre. I also studied at the Spanish Institute in Victoria and reached AS level, but I still wasn´t as good as I wanted to be.
Studying abroad
I found out about Don Quijote which actually has a head office in Stoneleigh, near Epsom and they have schools in Spain and Latin America. I went last year to Barcelona and learnt a lot and therefore decided to go again this year. I went to Enforex in Alicante which is a partner school to Don Quijote. I chose Alicante as it has a nice beach, is quite small town and therefore everything is very close to one another and I also heard there was a good night life. The school is located right on the Esplanada, which overlooks the port.Levels of Spanish
There are lots of different levels at the school.
A1 is beginner
A2 is foundation GCSE
B1 is higher GCSE
B2 is As or A level.
As I never use my Spanish, my level has dropped and I am now in A2. I hope to get better this week and slowly move up to the next level when I study Spanish next year. Some people came to the school not knowing any Spanish and therefore they started in A1 and have moved up to A2.
Classes run for 4 hours either 9:30 to 13:30 or 14:30 to 18:30. You can also choose to take the cultural class which is at 13:30 for one hour.
I think 4 hours is enough Spanish for me. It cost 150 pounds for the course and books. I got a 45 pound discount (which is the enrollment fee) as I had booked a course last year.
The students
I thought I was going to be the oldest one in the class, but thankfully I was not, although people did think I was 25 which was great. There are a variety of ages at the school, some as young as 18 years old and over 50. I think the average age is aroud 25 and these are people who have just finished their degree and either have to do a conversion course or have a few months free before they begin working. Most people are there for at least a month, I had just one week.
Accommodation
Some people stay with a family, others rent an apartment. I chose to stay in a hotel as I was only here for a week. Hotel Rambla is right in the centre of Alicante on the street called the Rambla and is only 5 mins walk from school so it was perfect. It is a 2 star hotel, I had the sixth floor with a view of the castle and of course airconditioning. The weekend price was 69 euros a night and during the week it was 42 euros.
Getting to Alicante
I flew with EasyJet and as I only booked my flight a month before I came so it was 160 pounds (it would have been extra with luggage). I flew at 19:40 on the Friday night as I was coming with a friend and took the return flight at a reasonable hour – 13:55 on Saturday. The flight is just 2 hours and 20 mins and the airport is 20 minutes from the city centre which you can get to for 2 euros by bus or 25 euros by cab.
