School Blog

Wednesday, 16.11.2022

17.00-19.30 h
Guided visit to the Arab quarter Albaicín
Guide: Paco
Meeting point: Puerta Elvira
Price: 10,00 €

Saturday, 19.11.2022
07.45-19.00 h
Guided visit to Cordoba
Guide: Juan
Meeting point: Congress Palace
Price: 70,00 €

Home to the largest old town in Spain and the only city in the world to have four Unesco-protected sites, Córdoba is a must-visit for any traveller. Every May, it’s also the setting for the Feria de los Patios, the flower-centred festival celebrated nowhere else in the country. You should visit Córdoba at least once, from its unique historic attractions to an exceptionally varied bar scene and warm, sunny climate.

From 03th to 04th of November 2022 the representatives of language schools in Spain and Germany met at Escuela Montalbán in Granada for their annual meeting.

The following schools from Spain and Germany joined the meeting:

Escuela Montalbán, Granada
Tandem Madrid, Escuela Internacional
Escuela Mediterráneo, Barcelona
Tandem München
Tandem Hamburg
Tandem Köln
Zentrum für deutsche Sprache und Kultur, Frankfurt

One of the characteristics that makes the Spanish-German network Tandem Language Schools unique is its ability to group very diverse schools into a democratic and collaborative partnership. Different countries (Spain, Germany, Chile), two languages and different realities are united through human and solidarity principles to promote their mutual growth, inspiring people to learn, connect, and engage with foreign languages in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Diversity makes us more human, unity makes us stronger.

The name "TANDEM" and its history are strongly associated with language exchanges as a method of learning. This is why we consider it our sign of identity.

There were several trial studies in the 1960's and 70's. Finally in 1979, Jürguen Wolff developed the procedures for exchanges between German and Spanish students in Madrid. In 1982, Wolff joined forces with a teachers' cooperative in Madrid – it later became TANDEM Madrid.

Throughout the 80's the organization grew through the formation of a horizontal network of partner schools. Each one maintained its individuality, but all of them shared some values and teaching methods. In 1994 this network was consolidated at the TANDEM Fundazioa, based in San Sebastian, Spain. Subsequently, in 2003, TANDEM Fundazioa shifted the focus of its work to universities and NGOs, and the partner schools created TANDEM International for the joint promotion of private language schools.

Tandem Language Schools network is currently comprised of schools in 12 destinations, teaching Spanish and German in 3 countries. We are open to incorporating new schools into our association, as long as they share our values and are able to pass a strict selection process, to ensure that they meet high quality standards and are permanently committed to people in the first place. Our network aims for more than to just develop the highest quality teaching standards. Our mission of inspiring people to learn, connect, and engage with foreign languages in once in a lifetime experience means a strong commitment to responsible social values, promoting cross-cultural awareness, and fostering understanding among students, staff, and the community.

Monday, 07.11.2022 /17.00-19.30 h
Guided visit to the Arab quarter Albaicín
Guide: Paco
Price: 10 €*
Meeting point: Puerta Elvira

Thursday, 10.11.2022 /14.00-16.00 h
International Lunch at the school
Each student brings typical food from his home country!!

Saturday, 12.11.2022/ 08.45-20.00 h
Day trip to the Alpujarra Mountains
Guide: Juan
Price: 55 €*
Meeting point: Congress Palace
* includes transport, guide, ham tasting and insurance

Granada is the privileged environment in which the most anticipated concerts of one of the longest-running, award-winning and respected jazz festivals in Europe take place: the Granada International Jazz Festival. Since that first edition in 1980, the Granada International Jazz Festival has spent forty years uninterruptedly welcoming the excellence of jazz history: Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Haden, Art Blakey, Tete Montoliu, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, Abbey Lincoln, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bebo and Chucho Valdés, Ron Carter, Eliane Elias, Robert Glasper, among an endless list of musicians with whom he has managed to create very intense and rewarding emotional bonds.

Fans who travel from many parts of Spain and Europe come to this event to enjoy extraordinary concerts in the beautiful and emblematic Teatro Isabel la Católica and throughout the city with Jazz in parallel with more than 80 concerts and activities, generating an exciting jazz atmosphere. The Granada International Jazz Festival, in the fall, is a must.

Monday, 24.10.2022 / 17.30 - 19.00 hh
Guided visit to an Arab tea shop
Guide: Teacher from the school
Price: each students pays his consumption
Meeting point: School

There is a narrow pedestrian street in Granada which seems to have been dedicated exclusively to Arab teahouses (tea shops) and shops. It is Calderería Nueva in the Albaycín. Calle Elvira is another area of ​​teahouses and tapas bars. There also some near the Bañuelo (Carrera del Darro).

Most teahouses in Granada (teteria in Spanish) serve Arabic and other more exotic teas. There are also a few creperies, kebab bars, some natural product stores, several Moorish craft shops and street stalls.

Friday, 28.10.2022 / 20.00 h
Flamenco at the Jardines de Zoraya
Guide: NO
Price: 25 €*
Meeting point: C/ Panaderos, nº 32
* optional dinner at the restaurant

Saturday, 29.10.2022 / 08.45-20.00 h
Day trip to the Alpujarra Mountains
Guide: Juan
Price: 55 €*
Meeting point: Congress Palace
* includes transport, guide, ham tasting and insurance

RESERVATION AT THE OFFICE:

Hammam Al-Andalus
C/ Santa Ana, nº 16 - 18009 Granada
For more than eight centuries of Muslim customs the Arab baths have been part of the culture in Granada. Price: 55 € (90 minutes; includes 15 minutes massage)

The Sierra de Huétor is a Natural Park to the north-east of Granada, which can be accessed directly from the A-92 motorway. We offer the Cañada de Sereno trail often to secondary school groups. It is a great walk with a lovely meadow where you can stop for a picnic half way round. Stone benches with fantastic views mean that there are plenty of places where you can stop for breather.

In October our students from the Sct. Knuds Gymnasium from Odense (Denmark) and from the Berufliche Oberschule Amberg (Germany) have participated in this activity.

THE FESTIVAL
Organized by the Granada City Council, Granada Provincial Council, the Culture and Historical Memory Delegation and the AguaGranada Foundation, the Young Filmmakers Festival has been committed for three decades to the discovery of new talents, celebrating the diversity of contemporary cinema with a special interest in debut films and short films by the most promising filmmakers on the world scene. An international festival, open to the selection of films that explore new audiovisual forms without distinction of genre, duration or format.

The twenty-eighth edition will take place from October 25 to 30, 2022 in order to generate a space for reflection and meeting between creators, industry professionals and the public of Granada. A place of experimentation and approximation between artistic expressions that continues the trail left by the Granada-born filmmaker José Val del Omar, whose influence is historically linked to the contest, which awards the Val del Omar Award for the best film.

With the Isabel la Católica Theater as the main venue, different proposals will fuse cinema and live music. Special sessions with which to bring the public closer to the creators and recover the value of the big screen experience.

The Palacio de Conde Gabias will host the sessions of the International Competition and the Aguaespejo Competition, while La Madraza, the Espacio V Centenario and the Filmoteca de Andalucía will be other spaces that will host events and screenings related to the festival, which will include master classes, round tables, concerts, presentations and training activities to take cinema beyond the theater, overflowing the city.

Hola Beatrix & all at Escuela Montalbán,

Thank you all for the support, kindness & patience over the past week.
The experience will stay with me forever.
I am proud of my certificate & tried to work hard...poor Paco !!
I return to Scotland tomorrow but Granada is in my heart❤️.
I will return & hope to continue with my studies.
The pleasure wa so mine.

Kindest regards
Irene Coupland (from Uk)

Tuesday, 11.10.2022
21.00-23.30 h
Flamenco at the Albaicín
Guide: NO GUIDE
Price: 25 €*
* dinner not included; students can have dinner at the restaurant before the Flamenco performance start at 22.30 h
Meeting point: Jardines de Zoraya
C/ Panaderos, nº 32 - 18010 Granada (Albaicin)

Saturday, 15.10.2022
08.45-20.00 h
Day trip to the Alpujarra Mountains
Guide: Juan
Price: 55 €*
* includes transport, guide, ham tasting and insurance
Meeting point: Congress Palace

The region of mountain villages known as Las Alpujarras clings to the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada, cloven by deep, sheltered valleys and gorges which run down towards the Mediterranean. The Alpujarra, as it is popularly known, in the singular, is famous throughout Spain because of its unique mini-ecology. Its terraced farmlands are constantly watered by the melting snow from above, constituting a high-altitude oasis of greenery which stands in dramatic contrast to the arid foothills below. This is ideal hiking terrain for adventurous travellers, provided you take along a tent and well-padded sleeping bags - the average altitude is 4,000 feet above sea level.

Ich war im Rahmen eines Bildungsurlaub (Sprachkurs Spanisch) an der Schule. Ich war/bin immer noch ein Anfänger. Dennoch konnte ich dem Unterricht in weiten Teilen gut folgen. Das lag an den guten und engagierten Lehrern. Sie wechselten sich immer wieder ab, so dass sich Ermüdungserscheinungen in Grenzen hielten, obwohl mein Bundesland den ganz grossen Stundenumfang vorschreibt. Die Stadt hat mich ebenso positiv überrascht. In jedem Fall eine Wiederholung wert.

Estuve en la escuela como parte de una licencia educativa (Bildungsurlaub en alemán). Todavía era/soy un principiante. Sin embargo, pude seguir bien la mayoría de las lecciones. Esto se debió a los buenos y comprometidos maestros. Se alternaban una y otra vez, de modo que los signos de fatiga se mantuvieran dentro de los límites, aunque mi estado federal estipula la gran cantidad de horas.
La ciudad también me sorprendió de manera positiva. Definitivamente vale la pena repetir.

Mirko Krause (Bildungsurlaub Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)