Private Classes

I really appreciated the teaching method, with its emphasis on interaction; we were encouraged to speak and write in a very varied and engaging way; I noted some excellent explanations; thank you very much; I feel much more comfortable in the language.

There were two of us, then three students the second week, a perfect atmosphere, and great interaction among us.
The location is perfect in the city center.
The person in charge of the school's administration was wonderful in welcoming us.
I was able to visit almost all the museums, which were very interesting; the city tour offered by the tourist office, in Spanish, was perfectly understandable and, of course, very interesting.
My host was very welcoming and gave me a lot of freedom in organizing my time; the meals were excellent; the room was very comfortable; she accompanied me on some very interesting visits over the weekend. Thank you again. All my travel was possible on foot, which is quite pleasant in this city, which has a very rich history.

I did like the level of teaching, variety in sorts of lessons, location, activities and housing.


I didn't like that there was great gap in level between the three students.

Skolen har en rigtig god placering i nærheden af centrum. Min lærer var god til at forklare grammatikken og vi havde mange gode diskutioner om forskellige emner.

Jeg var overrasket over at erfare at jeg var den eneste elev i klassen. Jeg havde forventet en klasse med andre studerende så vi også kunne snakke sammen og dele vores erfaring. Der var ingen aktiviteter på skolen. Jeg boede i en Airbnb lejlighed, som jeg selv havde skaffet.
Jeg vil anbefale at man undersøger, hvor mange elever er i den periode, man selv vil studere, medmindre man ønsker enkeltmands undervisning.

Jeg er skuffet over at rådgiver Sandra, ikke havde oplyst noget om antallet af elever og evt. aktiviteter. Jeg kan anbefale skolen med hensyn til kvaliteten af undervisning.

Ausgezeichnete Betreuung durch meine Lehrerin. Hat meine Bedürfnisse genau analysiert und den Unterricht danach aufgebaut.
Das ist der Vorteil des Einzelunterrichts. Nachteil ist, dass es keine Mitstudenten zum gegenseitigen Austausch gibt.
Schade, dass ein Gruppenunterricht nicht möglich war. Die intensive Betreuung incl. Stadtführungen durch die Lehrkraft war in guter Ausgleich.

I have a 2-week intensive courses (20 h). There are only 2 students in the class so that each class was reduced to 2 hour, which is very short for learning.
The academy is located in the city center.
The accommodation is 10 mins away from the academy, and the host family is very kind.

I am glad I chose Valladolid because as a lone traveller I felt safe. It is a lovely city. The location of the language centre is excellent as it is central. My accommodation was only minutes away and was comfortable and convenient. Due to the time of year I was the only student in the class, therefore my class time was reduced so I had to self study. The staff in the centre were very pleasant. My class teacher was very nice but I found the lessons difficult as the entire lessons were communicated in Spanish. I found it difficult to understand grammatical concepts taught in a foreign language. I was not aware of any activities on offer. Overall I enjoyed the experience and I would recommend as I definitely spoke more Spanish than usual. The owner of my living accommodation invited me out for an evening with her friends to an historical site which was both interesting and useful.

In general it was good. Due to the summer there weren't many students. In my level we were just two students, which was good, because we could speak a lot. The problem is when you don't like the other person, but that's not the problem of the school.
I liked it

Spanish has me demystified!
It was my first time ever learning Spanish. I have so much love for the language.
Marissa, my professor is the definition of a GOOD TEACHER.

The school was perfect! The learning material served it's purpose and my teacher took her time to carefully and effectively lead me through my introduction to the Spanish language.

I only had a one-week course but I came out of it so very satisfied. I am definitely going back for my next class. Can't wait!

Classes and teachers were excellent. Facilities v good. Location perfect. Housing perfect.
It would be good if there was a student room for study or to relax between classes.

Because it was the summer when there were few students I luckily ended up spending my entire week with just me and a Spanish teacher. That teacher was Vanesa who was simply brilliant. She had always prepared interesting material for each of the daily 2-hour classes, spoke to me all the time as if I were a local (so no concessions on speed!), was extremely patient and didn't constantly correct. (The worst teachers keep interrupting so you never get a flow going.) I'm still at that stage where I use use quite a lot of English syntax and over the week she gently started to move me towards Spanish syntax. Sra. Galván was enthusiastic, energetic, dramatic (at times I thought I was at the theatre) and wonderfully friendly. I greatly enjoyed my lessons with her and genuinely believe that my Spanish will have improved provided I take on board all I learned from her. To put these comments into context, at the end of my week I was classified as B2 though I'm well aware that I'm probably at the lower end of this level. I stayed in a hotel, not with a family.

Would I return? Only if I could have one-to-one classes with Sra. Galván. There's no doubt that in classes of even 2 or 3, progress is a lot slower and much less personalised. You have to remember that with a system that classifies language ability into just six groups, ranging from absolute beginners (A1) to totally fluent speakers (C2), within each of the groups there's still a big difference in ability between students allocated to that group - and that impacts on the dynamics in the classroom. A fellow English student studying at the same time as me shared her class with just one other and her experience was not very satisfactory. But that's the risk when you go to any language school. If you can afford it, go for one-to-one lessons. I reckon that in just an hour a day of one-to-one tuition you'll achieve more than in four hours in a class of 10.

The classrooms and other facilities were fine. The location was good. I did not have housing from IH and did not participate in any activities outside the normal classes.

My teacher was fantastic, patient, and knowledgeable, but the structure of the Tapas and the books themselves were horrible. 1) The books cost an extra 8 euros but never had enough space to write answers in and you cannot make erasures in the book. If I wanted the CD that CAME WITH the book, I actually had to pay even more. The listening activities on the CD were very discouraging. As someone just starting to learn a new language, I could never understand what was being said. Often times, the character spoke more rapidly than a person in the street.

As for the structure of the course, 2) all of the instructions were in Spanish which WOULD be a good thing if I had peers to learn from as well. As the only student in my class, I could not take notes, I was the only one asking questions, and I was the only one making mistakes. It was very difficult to stay positive when I was constantly incorrect. This, in general is to be expected, but students learn from each other's mistakes as well. We are encouraged when someone makes a mistake or correctly answers a question and we learn from that. This was missing from my course. If I were in a more advanced level, being the only student would be a wonderful thing, but as I was just beginning, it was a hindrance.

Also, before I learned when to use Ser vs Estar, Por vs Para, or indefinite vs imperfect tenses, I was learning recipes. That was extremely disappointing. There is no doubt that a cultural element is needed when learning a foreign language. Unfortunately, I still couldn't speak to people in the street but I was learning to make tortilla. I was also disappointed that my schedule changed weekly.

Now, I have more knowledge of the Spanish language but I would have to take another Spanish course to learn how to use that knowledge.

My teacher Marisa was wonderful and very patient! I was a complete beginner and she spent two weeks giving me one-on-one teaching for a solid foundation of Spanish, as I now have moved to work in Asturias. It was a good location, and I took advantage of the free tickets to the museums which the school provided.

Thinks for this experience - very interesting! A good class, teachers, location, etc. I can speak Spanish better.

Thanks.

The teacher and the class at International House was a great learning experience. I found everyone to be respectful and supportive. The school was in a convenient location. With regard to my host family, my host family was a match for my age and lifestyle.