School Blog

Let's be honest, it's not just about our Spanish school. In Andalusia and especially in Granada there's rich culture everywhere you look. Try everything from hiking over churros tasting to flamenco dancing on our cultural activities. And a visit to the world-famous Alhambra is a must!

Our preparation programme Spanish course and access to the university allows you to learn Spanish in Granada and to prepare the Specific Competences Tests (P.C.E.), to sit the exams and to enter any university in Spain.

Our school is a accredited by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes. This accreditation is a requirement to apply for a study visa for Spain in the case of language studies.

We are also a collaborating center of the UNED. UNEDasiss manages the admission process to university degrees for non-EU students with a foreign baccalaureate. The UNEDassis evaluates the academic records of international students and performs the necessary tests to access undergraduate studies at Spanish universities. To get a place at a university in Spain, the student will have to plan in advance what to do. Students can obtain information about the whole procedure on the UNEDassis website itself.

For many studies you need to take Specific Competency Tests (P.C.E.). Our Intensive 20 + PCE/UNEDasiss university access programme is aimed at those non-EU students who come with a very low level of Spanish and who need to prepare 4 to 6 P.C.E.

You will prepare your language level at our school during 6 months. Then you continue the P.C.E. preparation at a partner school in Granada. This institute is also a collaborating center of the UNED and is specialized on the preparation of the P.C.E. tests.

For further information visit our course section

The Sierra de Huétor and la Alfaguara Natural Park is relatively small and covers 12,127 hectares. It was designated a natural park in 1989 and is characterized by its incredible diversity. Geographically, the limestone bedrock has produced some spectacular ravines, steep cliffs and is home to some of Andalucia's most impressive caves, such as the Cueva del Agua.

The altitude differences are relatively minor when compared to its neighbour, the Sierra Nevada National Park, with heights that range from 1100m to almost 1700m. The highest point being the Cerro Buenavista which stands at 1675m high.

The remains of trenches and fortifications bear witness to the battles that were fought here during the Spanish Civil war. The Cerro de Maúllo was the front line between the Republicans and Nationalists for many years.

The Huerta de San Vicente in Granada takes an important place during the studying of Federico Garcia Lorca as a poet. It was his family home.

His parents bought this house on the outskirts of Granada, where the orchards of the Vega were located. This place, situated on the border between city and countryside, served as his summer residence from the time of the Arabs, where Federico returned to find his roots.

Here he wrote many of his best works (Romacero Gitano, La Casa de Bernarda Alba) in the summers of 1926 to 1936.

Today the building is the García Lorca House-Museum, which presents the poet's original objects, drawings, manuscripts, furniture and paintings. The Federico García Lorca Museum maintains its structure and furnishings from the time the poet lived there. The building dates from the early twentieth century, with a simple design and decoration, typical of this type of houses in the Vega of Granada. These buildings are perfect for maintaining cooler internal temperatures, and at night they are pleasantly warm.

This week our school has offered a nice event for teachers and staff.

Hammam Al-Andalus, the Arabic baths in Granada, invited all their partners to visit the exhibition #INGOYA at the Granada Congress Palace. The event finished with wine and tapas :). From here a big thank to our colleagues from the Hammam.

The exhibtion includes more than 1,000 images on 35 screens, each of them five metres high, synchronised to music by Spanish classical masters such as Albeniz, Falla, Granados or Boccherini.

This is the main event of the cultural calendar in Granada this year, and once it leaves Granada, it will travel to Madrid and other cities in Spain before going beyond national borders.

Check the exhibition website for further information: www.ingoya.com

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!

Our teacher Paco organized a fantastic hiking tour in the Sierra de Huétor Santillán Natural Parque:

Located above a thousand metres above sea level, Huétor Santillán is part of a mountain range which bears its name and forms the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Huétor. This protected area is surrounded by diverse landscapes, including Mediterranean mountains, canyons, forests of oak and maple trees.

The town is of Arab origin and offers a broad range of outdoor activities, including hiking and cycling. This area is hugely popular among locals and visitors that come here to relax surrounded by nature.

Huétor Santillán has some beautiful places nearby including the Fuente de la Mora, the famous Venta del Molinillo and Prado Negro Village, as well as the sources of the Río Darro and the Río Fardes. Their waters come from the same mountain range, and meet the Río Genil and Río Guadiana Menor respectively.

The Andalusian Agency of Cultural Institutions in collaboration with the Alhambra organizes, from July 20 to August 21, 2021, the twentieth edition of the Lorca and Granada programme in the Generalife Gardens.

We already have enjoyed twenty editions since its inception, in 2002, with the staging of Blood Wedding directed by Antonio Gades. It has been two decades in which the Ministry of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Junta de Andalucía has punctually fulfilled, every summer, with its commitment to offer Grenadians and visitors a first-rate artistic and technical appointment around the figure and work of Federico García Lorca.

In 2021, the Andalusian Flamenco Ballet returns to the Teatro del Generalife with THE HEX OF THE BUTTERFLY, a performance about women and dances in the times of Federico García Lorca. The show, directed by Úrsula Lopez, will have the special collaboration of Manuel Lombo at its premiere and every Thursday and Friday.

Enjoy this new edition of Lorca and Granada in the Generalife Gardens!

Contact for tickets: https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/lorcaygranada/

Just a few metres away from the Alhambra, Granada keeps one of its most delightful gardens, the Carmen de los Martires. The garden is an oasis hidden away from the hustle of the city. Here you will find an unique environmentwith a spectacular view of the city.

It's a 19th century mansion surrounded by an oasis of plants, statues, grottos, waterfalls and even a lake, with a romantic tower and a bridge. It's the ideal place for a stroll, to relax or even to feed the ducks and swans living there.

Boabdil, the last Nasrid king, left the city by crossing this area and keeping it in his memory. Queen Isabel requested a chapel to be built there in memory of the martyrs who died. This is how it came to be known as Carmen de los Mártires.

To get to Carmen de los Mártires you can walk up from Campo de Príncipe, behind the cross towards the Alhambra Palace hotel, or from Plaza Nueva, via the Arco de las Granadas. You can also take the Alhambra bus from Gran Vía, or electric train from Plaza Nueva.

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)