Learning Spanish on the Costa Blanca

Lots of sound advice already given above.

I would also like to point you in the direction of James Bretherton (https://jamesspanishschool.com/) who does both classroom courses in Pilar de la Horadada and also online courses. Highly recommended.  

Thanks guys, A lot of the youtube sites like Butterfly I have seen but the pronunciation and lots of the verb uses are different I gather, so it seems best to steer clear of them. 

I want to find someone who does online courses for while we are here in Manchester and classroom when we are in Spain. 

Thanks Bimblebob, I went to  website www.jamesspanishschool.com and watched the practice lesson and then watched two more videos, one about him. Apparently he has been in Pilar de la Horadada, since he was four, educated in the Spanish school system and went to a Spanish university. But he speaks perfect English, better than us.

We have a lot of word usages different to other languages, so someone with a strong English and Spanish background, seems to be the right choice.

Anyone done courses with him?

Hi Greg,

Glad you found James's website useful. The classroom courses are very good - my wife is better than I am 🤔, I need the discipline of the classroom !! The classes are all well attended.

If I can be any further assistance by all means private message me.

Cheers,

Bob

Hi Greg

I’m currently learning.Spanish with Paul is great,I find it really enjoyable and so easy to pick up,

Just can’t wait to get back out there to try it out

Give it a go I’m sure you will enjoy his courses as much as I do 

Hi Greg,

If you want the "best of both worlds" try:

https://lightspeedspanish.co.uk/

Gordon is English and Cynthia is Spanish.  If you scroll down to the heading, "Free Spanish Lessons", you can look at the free lessons available for each level.

My own Spanish teacher, Ricardo Garcia, lives in Pilar de la Horadada, but comes up to Rojales 3 days a week to do lessons here.  Once you know where you're going to settle in Spain, I'd be happy to ask him if he has any availability in classes closer to your location.

Kind regards,

Kim

Greg,

I would strongly recommend you sign up with James Bretherton of James Spanish School, who I have just noticed is advertising on this forum now.

First up, you can do his online courses which are designed for remote learning and depending on the speed you progress, you can join his classroom courses when you come to the Costa Blanca or Costa Calida.

Three other students and I have been driving from Los Alcazares to James` Pilar de la Horadada hour-long classes, (he had almost 400 students studying with him before lockdown) for almost two years now.

Since the lockdown, in March we have been receiving lessons via video.

Some of our class had done courses before and lots of coffee mornings, but they say James allows them to make more progress than any other way.

Others of us were complete beginners, and I guess we had to study a little bit harder, but every week we learn heaps

James, in the first 50 lessons, provides all the tools you need to be able to say anything you need to say, as long as you put the work in learning the vocabulary you need. He has some excellent online quizzes which you can do as often as you like, for instance, to help you learn the most important verbs and some smart short cuts to help you make good sentences.

Now we are back in the classroom for an hour each week, enjoying James jokes and making good progress. We have homework and another practice video every week as well.

We can access the first year's lessons on video for revision and 10 lessons of practice. It's an outstanding resource.

Like most of us, I've been working hard on my bar, and restaurant words, (someone has to do it) and have been expanding my needed DIY words and townhall, transport and medical words week after week.

It's, of course, one thing to be able to string together anything you need to say. The real trick is understanding Spanish speakers, and this is the year two and three focus.

While those of us in the classrooms move at a fixed pace, if you are doing the course online, if you reckon you are an intermediate student, you can motor through the course. At the same time, beginners can repeat anything they want to make sure it sticks.

If you need any more info on his course, have a look at his website www.jamesspanishschool.com or his Facebook page.

I tried different "schools" and I felt I was getting nowhere. A friend recommended the El Principe Centre in San Miguel. The School is owned and run by Vicki Riley who has been teaching Spanish for about 20 years. I am an ex-teacher and for me I need structure. I do not want to be flitting around all the time. The structure is quite gentle and she is very kind and understanding. She has written 4 Course Books that take you from the basics through to the preterite and beyond if you wish. Vicki is from Manchester and she teaches through English giving the explanations in English. She does Classes where people can go at their own pace, and also e-learning (?). During the lockdown, she has had to do more distant teaching/learning. 

In my past life, I had to assess teachers and I can honestly say I can not fault Vicki's teaching. People can learn at their own pace. Her books are available on Amazon and they are called "Break the Language Barrier". In addition to the course books, she has also written short storybooks in Spanish as a fun way of learning and reading. He has an Assistant Teacher who is Spanish whom she works with. Periodically she holds weekend intensive courses with Spanish Speakers. Part of the weekend includes having lunch and dinner at a local Spanish Restaurant where you cannot speak English. Even the owners will tell you off.

Vicki also does some lessons on Youtube.

Last summer I spent a month on my own in Galicia surrounded by exclusively Spanish speakers. I would not have been able to manage that had I not had the benefit of  Vicki Riley's classes. 

My recommendation to anyone wanting to learn Spanish is to invest in a good Dictionary and try to avoid using a dictionary on a Mobile. The Dictionary I found most useful was the Collins Spanish/English with Conjugations and parts of speech in the back. There are also lots of other useful things in the back, like numbers, etc..  

email:[email protected] 

When I first posted here, I was looking for a Spanish language school with whom I could learn online while here in the UK and then continue within Spain in the classroom. Thanks to everyone who responded.

Following recommendations on the thread, I watched the demonstration lesson on James Spanish School website and then found James on the James Spanish School Facebook page.

Thank you Bimblebob and Roberto for your comments too.

I was impressed by the reviews there on the Faceboo page  so I signed up and have started the online course which I bought via  www.jamesspanishschool.com

Its a breath of fresh air, much better than anything I have seen before. I am rocketing along, up to lesson seven already, they are about 45 minutes long on average. Better than going to a dangerous pub at the moment.

The price is right, can't justify or afford one on one lessons.

Through James' video lessons I am learning heaps, much better than any book, the PDF notes are great and I can watch each video lesson, as often as I like. 

This is not phrasebook Spanish which is a complete waste of time, it's actually understanding the language building blocks.

By the time I get to Spain, I am expecting to have completed the first 50 lessons, be up to speed with my verbs and vocabulary and be ready to join in the classroom lessons.

Honestly, I don't fancy going out on organised expeditions. I've done it before, ended up talking pigeon Spanish and drinking way too much wine. A waste of time and money. 

When I can confidently construct sentences, in Spanish,I will talk to neighbours and friends of friends, tradesmen and shop people.  That is after all, what it is all about. 

Now back to lesson eight. 

Great feedback, Greg.  I agree about learning the building blocks of the language, especially as sentence construction in Spanish is so different to English.  This was where I found DuoLingo lacking.

Enjoy!

Kind regards, 

Kim