School Blog

Our school has organized the first teacher training programme for non-native teachers of Spanish in 2021. The course has taken place during one week from 24.05.2021 to 28.05.2021 with 3 participants from Portugal and the Czech Republic.

The teachers enjoyed very much the programme and sent us the following video. Have a look at it on the Escuela Montalbán Youtube Channel:
https://youtu.be/pCCibRgfe48

Many thanks to Margarida Ribeiro, Lidia Francisco and Eva Frgalová!

Qui ne rêveraient pas d'améliorer son espagnol dans une des villes les plus fascinantes d'Espagne?

J'ai eu la chance de pouvoir venir aider Escuela Montalbán durant le mois d'avril. En effet, Grenade étant ma ville «coup de cœur» depuis toujours.
J'ai été très heureuse d'apprendre que j'allais pouvoir réaliser cette mission de pratiquement 1 mois. Durant mon travail au sein de l'école, je devais traduire des documents espagnols et anglais en français comme par exemple des contrats, des manuels pour les étudiants ou des réponses de mail.

Ma famille vivant dans un village de Grenade. J'ai donc logé à Dúrcal pendant mon séjour. La belle ville de Grenade étant parfaitement située entre montagne et mer. J'ai ainsi pu profiter de mon temps libre pour faire de la randonnée en montagne, profiter de la nature et m'imprégner de l'ambiance animée du centre ville.

Participer à cette mission m'a donc permis de découvrir comment fonctionne une école de langue espagnole et également comment le monde professionnel espagnol doit faire face et trouver de nouvelles solutions durant la crise sanitaire du Covid-19.

Mon séjour fut d'autant plus agréable grâce aux merveilleux collègues avec qui je travaillais à l'administration. En plus de travailler dans la bonne humeur à leur côtés, ils ont su me partager de nombreuses de leurs connaissances.

Étudiante en master « Langues, Culture et Tourisme » en France, cette expérience culturelle internationale me sera donc utile pour mes prochains jobs et me permettra peut-être à l'avenir d'envisager un futur professionnel à Grenade ou bien dans une école de langues étrangères.

Vous souhaitez apprendre l'espagnol et découvrir la culture andalouse?

Un conseil, n'attendez plus, venez découvrir Escuela Montalbán et le charme de l'Alhambra, du Sacromonte ou encore de la Sierre Nevada.

Céline Puerta (France/24 ans)

Our student Hamza Belhouli from Morocco has been studying Spanish for 3 months at our Spanish language school in Granada. He has progressed at lot and has performed a Rap song for our teacher Marisa :). We wish you good luck for the next 3 months.

Check out our Escuela Montalbán YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Die zwei Wochen Herbstferien verbrachte ich in Granada/Andalusien zum C1-Spanischkurs. Wir waren drei Teilnehmer: Eine tunesische Ärztin, die in der Schweiz studiert hatte und beim Internationalen Roten Kreuz festangestellt ist und ein sehr junger Brite aus England. Sara kam gerade von einem zweijährigen Einsatz im Irak zurück, und Tim aus Djuba/Südsudan, wo er bei Oxfam arbeitete.

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Learning Spanish was the perfect way to spend my time in Granada! I really enjoyed my 5 weeks at Esuela Montalban in Granada. I had only planned to stay for 3 but decided to extend until the end of my trip. The Spanish classes are divided into grammar and conversation. Grammar in the mornings was well explained and the teachers are usually very good at explaining a new word or concept using only Spanish, although sometimes, and especially at the very beginning, I was not completely sure that I had understood correctly. Having the teacher that could confirm in English would have been helpful at the beginning. Since every teacher has a different teaching style, some weeks were better than other depending on if I had the teacher I liked for conversation.

The location of the school was absolutely fine. Close to the centre and within walking distance of the house I was staying at. The school was cozy and inviting as were all the staff. As for cultural activities, I feel like there could have been more organised opportunities to meet with the teachers and other students outside of class to speak Spanish in a more casual setting. I know that some of the other schools in the city did this and it seemed like a great opportunity to practice with your teachers. I felt like, as a younger student, I would have been better suited in some of the more activity oriented schools.

My housing was very comfortable. It was located in the Albaicín, a 25 minute walk from school, and I loved the area an was happy to be there instead of in the school provided facts, which I saw and were not nearly as comfortable as my room. However, I did not see or speak to the woman who was renting me a room in her house very often. She was renting out all the other rooms in her house to airbnb guests and another Spanish student. I did not have meals so I understand how this was the case, and while I would've liked more opportunities to speak Spanish outside of class, I was not bother by this and enjoyed the privacy I had.

I think that the school should give a Spanish assessment on arrival before they place people in classes, because sometimes I was in class which a wide range of skill level and it made it difficult to participate and understand when things were above my level, and frustrating when I was learning something I already understood. I also think if I could do it over again, I'd take the class with the extra private hours during the week because I felt that sometimes after learning new things, I really needed someone to sit with me and practice, and in a bigger group that wasn't always possible.

Jenny Eisner (20 years old / USA)

I was really happy when I got the confirmation for my two-months internship from the Spanish school Escuela Montalbán. My work consists of translation and web design of the school's web site. Furthermore, I could calculate costs and complete data bases. The school offers a perfect opportunity for people who want to do an internship in the administration area. It never get's boring.

In addition to my internship I got offered language courses in order to improve my Spanish. When you are in the classroom it does not feel like lessons. The hours of class are filled with humour and exiting topics to talk about. You will not notice how one and a half hour will pass by. Of course, the educational part is not missing, and you will see progress like I did after one week only. Complex topics are explained very clear and the teachers do their best to make a complex topic transparent.

Let me tell you about accommodation now. I shared a flat with students from all over the world and different ages. It is an unforgettable experience which I totally recommend to everyone. Meeting new people -for some people- might cost some overcoming but people who travel in order to learn a language are nice. Another advantage is that you get quicker in touch with new people and create a friendship which lasts beyond your stay here.

Apart from the fact that Granada is a fantastic city for university students because it offers historical heritage as well as a good night life, Granada has a lot of parks where you can you can just hang out or have a good time with your friends. Some parks are really easy to reach but for some you have to make a little effort, but it is totally worth it. When you are in Granada you definitely should not miss the park Carmen de los Martires. From there you can see the town from the birds-eye-view and the park has a lot of beautiful flowers and fountains. It is right next to the garden of the Alhambra.

The garden of the Alhambra is called Generalife. It is composed of the Lower Gardens, the Generalife Palace and the High Gardens. Nowadays the denomination of the Generalife is commonly accepted as the Garden or Gardens of the Alarife, meaning the garden of the constructor or architect. First you will see the New Gardens of the Generalife, which connect the Generalife with the Alhambra, integrating them with nature.

Irene Tschemeretzki (Germany / 21 years)

The language school Escuela Montalbán (Granada, Spain) in the city center is a cosy and matey place. It is situated in a small building on two levels with three small class rooms each. You get to know all the staff very quickly as there are about 15 people working here and some of them are – good for them – on holiday as it is high summer time at the moment.

The first and third week I took part in courses with only three students plus, of course, the teacher. We had two classes per day starting with a grammar class followed by a conversation class. The school's administation goes to great length in organizing the courses concerning the students' levels. They really try to form courses consisting of people with a similar level of Spanish in order to make the classes effective and useful. I also took private lessons during one week which I can recommend because it is super-intensive and very effective when the teacher concentrates fully on you.

As far as I am concerned, I do not only study at this school but I also do an internship under supervision of Margret Fortman who is the school's marketing and public relations manager. I review or write texts for the school's website. I have to admit that these texts are in English or German (I am from Berlin) as my Spanish is by far not yet good enough for professional purposes.

When I arrived I was classified level A2 in Spanish, certainly an accurate classification in theory but in daily life I felt like level zero basically. That has significantly changed in only three weeks thanks tot he lessons I took and thanks to teachers that gave them. All teachers are professional, highly motivated, kind and funny at times, too.

As I enjoy biking a lot, I bought a bike second hand and explore the city and the countryside in my spare time. The landscape has flat terrain when you go along the river Genil that flows through the city into the plains and there are of course hills and the Sierra Nevada. A mountain range that goes up to about 3000 m (9000 ft). And for all of you who like biking too or are into a little challenge: To the second highest peak leads a path suitable for bikes with an average gradiant of only 5 percent. One thing is for sure: the learning gradiant is much higher at Escuela Montalbán.

Ronny Dojahn (36 years / Germany)

Ahora puedo constatar sin ninguna duda que vuestra escuela de español ha sido la elección perfecta. Los chavales han estado muy contentos con las clases de español, para ellos ha sido un cambio muy refrescante de ambiente y profe. Muchos me han dicho que les ha encantado vuestro guía Juan. De hecho una chica me comentó que siempre le escuchaba muy atenta y le encantaban las cosas curiosas que contaba, aunque también me confesó que le costaba comprender sus bromas y su sentido del humor. También les han gustado mucho todas las actividades culturales y lúdicas, y eso pese a la lluvia que nos acompañó en algunas. El marido de Marisa ha triunfado tanto con sus churros que en Bratislava ahora existe un grupo de absolutos aficionados al chocolate con churros. En fin, podría contarte muchas de las cosas buenas que he escuchado sobre la estancia en Granada.

Por mi parte no tengo más que palabras de agradecimiento. Mercedes es una mujer encantadora, nos trató a Carolina y a mí también que a veces nos daba la sensación de que estábamos en nuestra propia casa. Yo fui muy nerviosa a Granada porque era mi primer viaje con alumnos, pero me alegró mucho Adela cuando me dijo que nuestros alumnos eran muy buenos, se portaban muy bien, eran muy educados y listos. Me quité un peso de encima porque no sabía si estábamos manejándolos lo suficientemente bien.

El domingo fuimos al Parque de las Ciencias y por la tarde a la tetería Nazarí. Muchos querían fumar cachimba, y como yo no estaba segura de que fuese algo que les gustase a los padres, les dijimos que llamasen a sus padres. No hubo problema y muchos de ellos me dijeron que fue una de las cosas más divertidas del viaje. Después subimos al Carmen de los Mártires y, aunque ya estaba cerrado, el paseo y las vistas fueron impresionantes. ¡Gracias por vuestra recomendación!

En fin, podría seguir contando miles de impresiones de este viaje tan maravilloso. Esta semana se me ha hecho dura no por el hecho de tener que trabajar sino por la nostalgia de querer haberme quedado una semanita más en Granada.

Saludos a todos/as vuestros compañeros/as y a Juan de parte de nuestro instituto ... nos alegramos mucho de haber compartido una semana con vosotros. Y que sepáis que en Bratislava tenéis vuestra casa (mejor dicho casas, que somos muchos).

Un cordial saludo,
Cristina Simon + Carolina Herrera (Profesoras de español / 23.04.2018)
Bilingválne Gymnázium C. S. Lewisa, Bratislava
En la página de nuestro instituto hemos publicado impresiones de nuestro viaje: http://bilgym.sk/jazykovy-pobyt-v-granade/