Student Interview: Spanish Program
We sat down with one of our current Spanish students Kristina, from Vienna, Austria, to ask her a few questions about her Spanish course. She has a Masters’ degree in English and Psychology and is a teacher back in Vienna. She came to Valencia for a year to be a teaching assistant in a Valencian public school. She is studying Spanish with Euroace at the same time and here she shares her experience with us.
Why did you decide to come to Valencia for your teaching assignment and to study Spanish?
Valencia is a very nice city, the third biggest Spanish city, perfect format – not too big and hectic and not too small. It gets hot but bearably hot, with lots of sunshine and a beach, lots to see and lots of events going on. There is a high quality of living and the living costs are not too high.
I chose Euroace over other Spanish schools because of its central location but also due to the personal approach and friendliness of the Euroace team. Another great thing about Euroace is their flexibility to put me on a course that would allow me to combine the classes with my work as a teacher. They were also very professional when checking my level via a placement test as well as a talk I had with one of the teachers. I am very satisfied with the group in which I study, I study with students with very similar level of Spanish.
What improvement do you see in your Spanish and how are the lessons at EUROACE helping you with your job?
The Spanish lessons at Euroace help me a lot. As a teaching assistant, I help the head German teacher, a Spanish national, thus we teach together. Now I am able to understand what my colleague says to the students in Spanish. I have started understanding the Spanish I hear at work and the things I don’t understand I ask my Euroace Spanish teacher in class. I have gotten much more confident to speak Spanish and I can now socialize more easily with my fellow teachers.
What do you like the most and what do you find the most difficult about living in Valencia?
Valencia is a culturally rich city, with very nice weather and lots to visit and explore. The most difficult, well that would be the late meal times, especially in the evenings and the fact that many people do not speak English. It makes it difficult when I need to arrange something and just for daily communication.
What would you advise other students coming to Valencia to study Spanish?
I would advise them to use every chance to speak Spanish, to have the courage to speak to locals, to waiters in restaurants, and to practice what they learn in their lessons. I would recommend them to go to EUROACE due to the very flexible, personal approach of the staff.
I like the teachers here very much, they are very nice and encouraging the students to speak and get involved. They customize the content towards what students need Spanish for. There are also Spanish-English language exchange evenings organized by Euroace in a local pub in Valencia once a week. I attended some of those and I really liked that I met local people from Valencia and Spain, spoke to them in Spanish and also met some of the EUROACE students that otherwise I would not get to know.
If you are like Kristina and you would like to take a Spanish course in Valencia, check out our available courses here.