Here comes Laura’s second blog about our accommodation options on-site!

Hi guys,

It’s me again! As I promised in my first blog, I will give you more information about all the updated information about our new accommodation options available and hopefully should help you all to understand what you are reserving better and make for happy students! Enjoy!

As I used to work as a hotel receptionist some years ago, I am now working in our accommodation department here at Camino Barcelona in order to provide our students with the most suitable accommodation for their personal requirements. We always try our best to be supportive to all of our students and I personally am really enjoying making new contacts and working with people coming from all over the world!

With these new improvements in mind, I now want to take you through the different accommodation options that our school offers!

Not only can we arrange accommodation in one of our carefully selected Spanish Host Families, we also offer On-site Superior accommodation and Standard accommodation (Apartment or Residence).

Our most popular accommodation in Barcelona is our On-site Superior accommodation (situated right above the school). This is the reason why we always recommend our students to reserve their room as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment.

With this option of accommodation our students can choose to stay in our Apartments or Residence (with meals provided) which are both located in the same building as our school which is located right in the centre of Barcelona and the flats are shared with other students. Each apartment has a modern fully-fitted kitchen, dining area, flat screen TV and two bathrooms.

Focusing on the type of room, we offer the possibility to reserve a shared room, that is to say a twin room with a pair of separate single beds for two people travelling together or equally for those who are happy to share the room with another student when travelling alone. If you are travelling with your partner or a close friend then a shared room with double bed (a large bed) may be the best choice for you!

If you would like to book a room just for yourself then there are three different options available: a small single room (single rooms which are slightly smaller in size but which are the ideal solution if you would like a more economic option). These are very popular among students and people who have a tighter budget and would prefer to spend more time in the common areas of the apartment). An alternative options it a single room which is bigger in size than the small single room has a single bed big enough for one person only. There is also the option of a single room with a double bed (a room with a king-sized bed, ideal for those of you looking for more space and looking for extra comfort).

Last but not least, you can also book a twin room for sole use, which means you will stay in a twin room which is quite a large room; however this room will be just for yourself. Bear in mind that private bathrooms are also available at an extra cost and upon request!

Many of the rooms have balconies and there are extensive sun terraces on the roof of the building which are very popular with students on sunny afternoons after class, and at the weekend.

I hope this information may be useful to those of you who are thinking about reserving accommodation with Camino Barcelona which is the only school in Barcelona offering On-site accommodation!
So, if you are looking to get the most out of your experience in Barcelona then Camino Barcelona is the place for you!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Laura

Tags: on site accommodation, accommodation Barcelona, residence Barcelona, shared apartment Barcelona

Today we have a special blog from one of our student. Her name is Pooja and she has been studying with us for more than 25 weeks and her Spanish is perfect now :D. Pooja is from India and she has written a blog about the cultural differences between Spain and India and what she feels about her new country .

Hola amigos,

My name is Pooja and I am a student at Camino Barcelona. I come from the land popularly known as the “land of curries” and “snake charmers”, INDIA. Through this blog I would like to share with you my experience studying in Spain and encountering a difference of culture between India and the western world.

To be honest when I started to write this blog, I was clueless as to how to go about it. Coming from a metropolitan city, it makes it difficult to describe the real India. But I will try my best to put down my experiences to best of my knowledge and ability to put it in words.

I realized differences as well as similarities between the two cultures. Many debates surround the Indian and the western cultures. It is true that these cultures differ in many ways ranging from eating habits, the way of dressing, marriage and even on socio economic lives. While the modern West is individualistic and is based on the idea that autonomous and independent individuals make up the foundation of society, traditional India is what we might call community based. One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence. India’s languages, religions, dance, music, architecture and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality. The culture of India is an amalgamation of these diverse sub-cultures spread all over the Indian subcontinent. The culture and the way of life is however changing rapidly in modern India. The impact of globalisation and media has encouraged the people to look beyond their basic needs and has led them to broaden their perspective towards the conservative values hindering the progress of the country.

Another notable difference was the Spanish way of looking at life. It is very different from the Indians. Spaniards believe that life is short and every moment is to be enjoyed and cherished without worrying about the future whereas most of the Indians believe that life is a struggle. Every day effort is spent in making their future brighter and better than the present. The reason for this is more because of the history of the two countries. Spain always had been a sovereign nation unlike India which was under British rule for almost 150 years. India is a developing economy while Spain a developed one. Most of the Indian people come from a poor background and they want to ensure that the kids get good health and education. Weak Indian social security system compared to Spain’s is also another reason for this difference in attitude.

One striking similarity which surprised me is lack of punctuality. I had heard about Westerners being very particular about time. Indians are very bad at keeping time. Similar such trait is exhibited by most of my Spanish friends.

Though both cultures have more differences then similarities but the warmth of love, care and friendship I received from people here was same as I found in India all these years. Never once I felt that I am living in a foreign land away from my loved ones. In fact, my trip to Spain gave me an opportunity to find more loved ones in a foreign land. It has instilled belief in me that love and friendship knows no boundaries or borders. Even though people in different parts of worlds look different they all share the same language of friendship, it’s all about extending one’s hand towards it. The best way to put it is that it has been a life changing experience for me. I have met so many people from all around the world and made friends for life. Without second thoughts in my mind, I would love to call Spain “My Second Home”!!!

Tags: student barcelona, india, barcelona, cultural differences,

As many of you may well know, I am rather passionate about wine and I never go very long without completing another course to find out more about this hobby of mine.

For if it were of interest to any of you, today I am going to talk about the most recent course that I did which was quite attractively named: Cheese, wine and foie gras, a marriage made in heaven. Furthermore, if it interests you, you yourselves can take part in this course, starting from the 23rd April 2012 onwards, taking place on Mondays from 6.30pm-8pm. The course lasts 6 weeks and costs around 60€!

‘La Casa Elizalde’ is a large community centre situated in the heart of the Eixample district of Barcelona and where they organize all manner of courses which are open to everyone. For example they offer cookery courses, yoga, wine courses, general training courses, art, city tours, music and much more… there is something to be had for everyone at the Elizalde centre. It is a unique, cheap and easy way to learn and to get to know other people who share the same interests as you.

As I personally am interested in fine wine and good food, in particular cheese, this course proved to be an excellent way to spend my Monday afternoons learning something new and tasting along the way. They explained to us during the course the basic differences between red, white and rose wine and cava too, so that we could then start to understand these products better. We later tasted various different flavors of wine for example: sweet, sour, savoury and acid. For me, this was the most interesting and useful part because I didn’t previously have any knowledge of how to differentiate between these basic differences in taste.

After quite a lot of wine and cava tasting (and the feel-good sensation that we had now acquired ) I finally felt like I had learnt to understand everything a lot better. This knowledge and appreciation of each of the flavors is fundamental in being able to choose the right cheese to go with each wine and to therefore best bring out each of their individual flavors and characteristics. Here is a small summary of the basic principles which will help you to better experience and understand the wines you drink:

• Young red wine: Best combined with soft and blue cheeses with a strong flavor (goats cheese, camembert, stilton, Roquefort..)
• Crianza red wines (Oaky flavors): Goes well with smoked cheeses and soft cow’s milk based cheeses (Smoked Tetilla or mild cheeses)
• White wine: Generally goes well with more salty and strong mature cheeses such as Manchego
• Dessert wine: Is perfect with Foie Gras if it is not too sweet and also goes well with more mature cheese for example ‘Maó’
• Cava: Is the king of perfect combinations, is doubles the taste of the majority of cheese and goes well with all types.

So therefore the best advice is; if in doubt, go for a cava and always try to choose one that is a Brut o Brut nature (without added sugar) and where possible a Reserva. You can find some excellent cava´s for around 8/10€ that will do wonders for your cheese!

There’s no need to spend lots of money to find a good cheese or good wine, just ask me for recommendations.

Happy tasting,

Anita

First photo taken from www.hogarutil.com
Second photo taken from www.drinknectar.com

So, the sun is up again and I am sure we will have a wonderful sunny weather to spend on the beach this weekend.

Here is a new blog from our new Italian work placement David. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hi guys!

How are you? My name is David and I’m from Rome and this is my first blog so I really hope you will all enjoy it!
First of all, here’s a brief presentation of myself: I’m an Italian Erasmus student and this is my second week here at Camino Barcelona, I was awarded a scholarship for international students and so I’m going to spend the next six months here in Barcelona !

Today I want to talk about the DELE exam and its importance from a professional and academic point of view. I decided to take this exam last year after having lived in Spain for 6 months and It seems that I had really underestimated how useful this exam would be for me! As I study languages, I signed myself up to try and pass the highest level: C2, and luckily… I did it!
It was however quite difficult as I couldn’t attend any form of preparation course and I had to study on my own, but I would say that if you have the opportunity to do this exam… take advantage of it, you won’t regret it!

When I then started to look for some jobs I thought that the employers would only be interested in my English level and I hadn’t even considered that a Spanish official Certificate would be required… but it’s true. Maybe I wouldn’t even be here at Camino if I hadn’t have passed the DELE. All the effort that I made to study for the exam definitely improved my speaking skills, and it would have been made even easier if I had had the opportunity to attend the DELE preparation course. So my suggestion is to go for it! It doesn’t matter which level you take, even an A1 Certificate can help you in your professional life, it’s always important to have a good CV and of course for your own personal satisfaction as well!

Here at Camino you are able to attend a specific DELE preparation course, all the teachers are highly qualified and I know for sure that they will give you the best preparation for the exam that you need!
If you need any more information feel free to contact us or to visit our school, our e-mail address is info@caminobarcelona.com and we will respond to all of your questions as soon as possible.

Look out for my following blogs which I’ll be posting in the near future!

Cheers,

David Campora

Tags: DELE preparation course Barcelona, DELE, school Barcelona, spanish course Barcelona

So, you fint it difficult to learn a new language? Problem solved!
Our colleague Olga has some very useful tips for you to learn Spanish.
Do not miss this blog!!!

It is not easy to learn languages! It is a very interesting process but it is also very difficult. I am always eager to find new ways to make learning languages faster, easier and more effective and I would like to share some of these ways with you today.

Use different learning methods
Try to approach your learning in more than one way. The brain can remember things better if it receives this information through several different channels. For example including images and colourful drawings in your notes for a new concept you have learnt or reading the words aloud whilst studying. By learning in various different ways, you will be able to easier retain information in your mind and on a more permanent basis. Here is an example of one of these methods.
For two words that you need to memorize and that have no semantic relationship, you can create your own phrase which carries meaning.
For example: “gato” y “naranja” (cat and orange)
Mi gata se llama Naranja.
In English - My cat is called Orange.

You can then go on and further develop this phrase. Use your imagination and creativity!

La gata Naranja iba a la fiesta de cumpleaños de su amigo gato Limón con una cesta de mandarinas.
In English - The cat Orange went to the birthday party of his friend the cat Limon with a basket of tangerines.

This way, you can learn much more than just 2 new words! By using the imagery created by the sentence it helps you to remember what each word means as our brain can process images very easily. Try using these special memory tricks and visualising new words, you will be amazed how well it works. Believe me, you will never again forget these words you!

Divide and Conquer
You forget half of what you learn within the first hour, but through repetition you will remember for longer whatever you learn. Therefore it is a good idea to try and pick up some of these new tricks in order to achieve this “long term memory” as hopefully once learnt, they will never fail you! Another thing to remember is that our brains work much better by digesting small pieces of information but more frequently instead of lots of information at once.

• Always create small blocks of 5-7 words and go over them several times.
• Take your time; you need about 45-60 seconds per word.
• Review the words you have learnt at least 6-10 times so that they stay in your long term memory.
• You shouldn’t try to learn more than 30-35 new words per day.

Share What You Have Learnt With Others!
One of the really good ways to memorize what you have learnt is to teach it to another person. Educators have long known that one of the best ways to learn something yourself is to teach it to someone else. So simply just explain what you already know to a friend and share with them your knowledge!

All Around You
Look around and say the name of the objects you see (for example: if you are in the living room; “sofa”, “televisor”, “sillon”, “libro”, “alfombra”). If you don’t know the name of an object look it up in a dictionary and expand your vocabulary.

Watch and Listen!
Reading books, magazines or newspapers is important and aids your language learning. You do not need to understand everything, because it helps you get a feel for the language as well. Even Spanish TV or radio is helpful, even if you don’t understand everything. Music can also be very helpful. Search for Spanish music which you like to listen to, read the lyrics while listening to the songs. It’s also a fun way to learn and it will help you to develop your knowledge of sentence structures and grammar.
Here is a Spanish song for you:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sleep Well!
Before going to sleep, repeat the new material over again for 10-15 minutes. This way your brain is processing this information while sleeping as at night your subconscious processes the final experiences and thoughts of the day. Your new knowledge will be consolidated without your influence.

Post-Its
Another trick to learn easily is to write difficult vocabulary or grammar rules on post-its. Stick them in different places, such as on the refrigerator, the mirror, the door, above the sink. Writing them down is a good learning habit anyway and the regular repetition and reading really helps your memory. Regardless of whether you have even read properly the post-its or not, your brain subconsciously deals with the learning material every time you look at them. This trick really helped me!!!
Do not be scared of making mistakes. Don’t be afraid to speak, even if you uncertain about it. No one will be angry with you; in fact you will find that it is quite the opposite. The important thing is to say something and to learn from your mistakes!
I hope all my advice will be useful for you. Try them out and tell us about how you found them.

Last but not least, enjoy the learning process, enjoy your Spanish! Discover the wonder of the language you are learning and the essence of the happy and beautiful words they use!

Sol, Primavera, Disfrutar,

Camino Barcelona!

Tags: learning tips, learn spanish, spanish course barcelona, tricks language

Today, Laura, our new intern at Camino Barcelona will give you her first impressions about the city and the school.

Enjoy reading it!

Hola a todos!

I hope you are all enjoying the arrival of the sun in Barcelona!

This is my first blog I have written for Camino and I would like to use it to present myself to you all.

Now, to introduce myself; my name is Laura and I come from the Italian island of Sardinia, well-known for its impressive coastline and landscapes as well as its sandy beaches and crystal waters that make it a little piece of heaven on earth!
After getting my high school diploma I decided to move to another city, Genoa, to study at University where I finally got obtained a Bachelor’s master degree in Foreign Languages for International tourism.

Since my teenage years I have been travelling abroad on my own as I have always thought that visiting new countries helps to broaden your horizons and view on life. So here I am in Barcelona, currently working as an intern at Camino Barcelona, a Spanish school for international students. This work experience opportunity has allowed me to come back to Spain, a country which I have grown to adore after my previous experience at Salamanca University in 2008 and 2009.

As well as having been given the great opportunity to work in a lively Spanish language school surrounded by a multicultural environment I have also been able to benefit from living in a vibrant city which is considered as the capital of modernism and famous for its buzzing night life.

The city is full to bursting with masterpieces of Catalan architecture for example Parc Güell, Casa Batlló and la Pedrera (amongst many others) which are all spectacular examples and they will leave you lost for words! On top of all of this, the year-round mild climate makes Barcelona a potential sun and beach holiday destination at any time! I consider a visit to this city an experience not to be missed out on!

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and I look forward to publishing further entries in the future. I am currently writing a blog explaining our new and improved accommodation options available to give you all a better understanding of the options that are now available to you for your stay with us so make sure you keep checking our blogs for this coming up entry!

Thanks for reading!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Laura

Tags: barcelona, spanish school, spanish cours, workplacement barcelona

It is nice to be back on our blog!

Today, my Italian colleague Claudia  will give you very useful information about one of our popular courses Our Evening Course.

If you live and work here in Barcelona, I am sure that you will find it very useful!

Hi everyone!

 Long time no seen.

As our next session for our Evening Course will start again next week, I decided I would write a blog about this course this week.

Do you live and work in Barcelona? Do you struggle to understand what your colleagues are saying and want to improve your Spanish? Maybe you speak Spanish very well but you need to be able to understand specific vocabulary in your field of work? Do you work during the day and would prefer to do a course which fits into your busy schedule?

 

If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions then Camino Barcelona has the perfect course for you!

Our Evening Spanish Course takes place two evenings per week. The classes can either be Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday from 19.30 - 21.00 and they last for one and a half hours each day.

As these classes are held in the evenings they are best option for those of you who do not have enough time to take a full-time Spanish course during the day.

They are especially practical and also offer plenty of resources so that students can continue to learn outside the class room. Also our teachers understand if the students are tired from working all day, because of this their classes are flexible and interesting!

Another good thing about this course is that you can choose the duration you are interested in studying. Our packages are 4 weeks long so you can choose to take as many packages as you like.

Next Monday we will be organizing written and oral tests for the people interested in joining this course.

As this date is opened to all levels, do not worry if you have never studied Spanish at all, you will just need to come and register!

If you would like to be part of our Level tests next Monday or simply register for the course (if you are a beginner), just send us a quick mail and we will reserve a teacher for you!

And of course do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or questions about this course and we will get back to you the same day.

I hope that this new entry is helpful to you!

¡Hasta pronto!

 Claudia

Are you all enjoying the sunny days we are having in Barcelona? The days are getting longer so you will have more time to enjoy this beautiful city!

And here comes Claudia’s turn te present herself.

Hi everyone!
My name is Claudia and I am from Verona in the north of Italy, famously known as the city of Romeo and Juliet! I am currently doing an internship at Camino Barcelona Spanish language school in Barcelona. I have been working here since the beginning of January after having obtained a three-month scholarship from my home University. Working at Camino is a good opportunity for me not only to improve the languages I have been studying up until now, but also to gain valuable experience working in a young, international and professional team. I study foreign languages and literatures at the University of Verona and I have always been interested in travelling abroad to learn about new cultures and people. I really do believe that gaining experience living abroad is an invaluable opportunity that broadens your horizons and helps you get to know yourself better.

This internship has helped me to become more confident with my competence in the foreign languages I study, especially with Spanish, and to gain experience in an administrative and academic environment which has been something quite new for me! I have also been able to acquire a lot of customer service skills by working on the school reception which has also helped me to understand the importance of being able to attend deal correctly and professionally with all potential clients’ and handle their queries in the most effective way. I am really happy with these experiences and skills that I am attaining at the school and at the same time I am also enjoying meeting many new, lovely and interesting people and making lots of new friends, especially amongst the other interns! The international atmosphere which is so central to this place of work, with students and colleagues coming from all over the world makes the job very interesting and there is always something new to learn about other countries and their traditions!

Last but not least, the location of the school, being right in the heart of Barcelona makes it a perfect choice to carry out a work experience placement in beautiful Barcelona! This multicultural city always has something new to offer, from cultural to sporting activities, as well as a great variety of clubs and bars where you can chill out after working or studying and enjoy the great local food! Going for tapas is a typical Spanish tradition and allows you to try the local cuisine at an incredibly cheap price! In addition to all of this, the weather here is real plus point as it rarely rains and all the sunshine helps to create a positive attitude in everyone living in the city so you are always ready to face the day with a smile! The warm climate makes me feel very relaxed and sometimes we are also even lucky enough to enjoy some sunny and warm days at the beach amongst the beautiful surroundings even during autumn or winter!

So, all that is now left to say is…come and visit this exciting, multicultural and open-minded city that is Barcelona!

Cheers,

Claudia

Tags: barcelona, work placement, spanish school

Welcome to spring in Barcelona! Finally the winter is over and the sun has started to shine!

It has been a while since the last time we updated our blog with news about Barcelona and our school however today our new colleague Olga (a previous student of the school) will present herself and her favourite places in this beautiful city.

Hi everyone!

My name is Olga and I am a new intern at Camino Barcelona and I feel really lucky to be here! Not just because it’s the beginning of a new experience in my life, or because I am now working in one of the best Spanish schools in Barcelona, but most importantly because I am back at the school where I first learnt to speak Spanish just two years ago! It feels amazing to be back in my favorite school, with my favorites teachers and with my the new friends I have made!

I have been living in Spain for more than 2 years now and from what I have experienced, Barcelona seems to be a city which will always surprise you. Every day, every second, at any moment you come across something that you hadn’t seen before and had not even noticed.

I have now finally discovered my favourite places in Barcelona: Plaza España and Montjuic. Here you will find magnificent architecture and indescribable beauty such as the fountains found all over these areas. They are places where you can find both incredible history and today’s modern society existing side by side.

In the morning you get to experience the incredible beauty of the scenery that surrounds you for example when the morning mist settles around this area and only see the vague outlines of the National Palace are visible. And then in the evening you can let your imagination run away with you whilst watching the spectacular shows that take place here where color and light dance around the fountains.

In the most unexpected of moments this city seems to reach out its hand and open its heart to you. You will quickly form a great bond with the city and it then starts to lead you to its most beautiful and unbelievable hidden treasures.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to become a part this legendary city’s history.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and will soon find your special places in Barcelona!

Olga

Tags: barcelona, work placement, spanish school,

Last week we had a really nice activity organised by Vahri and Cara: Language exchange.
All our students had the chance to practice Spanish with natives. Vahri has written a blog about this activity, so you have more information.

I personally was there last week and had so much fun! It is great to meet so many people from all over the world in one place and speak about different topics while enjoying a nice afterwork coctail.

Hello!

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed New Year, especially if you were lucky enough to celebrate in Barcelona!!

Today I wanted to let you know about a new and exciting activity that the school is running – an English/Spanish language exchange!! We had our first sessions last Thursday and it went really well and so we hope it will continue this way!

This will be an ideal opportunity for those of you learning Spanish or English but who rarely get the opportunity to put it into practice with native speakers of that language. You will have the opportunity to meet Spanish and English native speakers from many different countries and therefore practicing and experiencing different accents and dialects of these languages. It is an open and COMPLETELY FREE activity for all of our own students as well as your friends or any other people studying these languages in Barcelona!

It will take place every other Thursday at 8.30pm lasting around one hour, the next session therefore being Thursday the 26th of January, in the Italian bar “San Tropez” on the corner of the same street where the school is! It will be lead by Cara and myself (two native English speaking work placement students at the school) with different themes each week to get the conversation started.

If you are interested then come along on the 26th of January and try it out, we will meet outside the school doors at 8.30pm and go together to the bar or if you prefer you can meet us there! Don’t forget that it will be happy hour in the bar so feel free to treat yourself to a cocktail or two at the same time!

We hope to see you there and whoever else you may bring with you!!

Vahri

Tags: intercambio lingüístico, linguistic exchange, language exchange, spanish language, english, Barcelona