Escuela Montalbán

Located in the centre of Granada the school offers a variety of activities to do during the break between the Spanish lessons or after your classes have finished. The classes are very small which provide an excellent working atmosphere as well as an ambience of familiarity.

I was really happy when I got the confirmation for my two-months internship from the Spanish school Escuela Montalbán. My work consists of translation and web design of the school’s web site. Furthermore, I could calculate costs and complete data bases. The school offers a perfect opportunity for people who want to do an internship in the administration area. It never get’s boring.

In addition to my internship I got offered language courses in order to improve my Spanish. When you are in the classroom it does not feel like lessons. The hours of class are filled with humour and exiting topics to talk about. You will not notice how one and a half hour will pass by. Of course, the educational part is not missing, and you will see progress like I did after one week only. Complex topics are explained very clear and the teachers do their best to make a complex topic transparent.

Let me tell you about accommodation now. I shared a flat with students from all over the world and different ages. It is an unforgettable experience which I totally recommend to everyone. Meeting new people -for some people- might cost some overcoming but people who travel in order to learn a language are nice. Another advantage is that you get quicker in touch with new people and create a friendship which lasts beyond your stay here.

Apart from the fact that Granada is a fantastic city for university students because it offers historical heritage as well as a good night life, Granada has a lot of parks where you can you can just hang out or have a good time with your friends. Some parks are really easy to reach but for some you have to make a little effort, but it is totally worth it. When you are in Granada you definitely should not miss the park Carmen de los Martires. From there you can see the town from the birds-eye-view and the park has a lot of beautiful flowers and fountains. It is right next to the garden of the Alhambra.

The garden of the Alhambra is called Generalife. It is composed of the Lower Gardens, the Generalife Palace and the High Gardens. Nowadays the denomination of the Generalife is commonly accepted as the Garden or Gardens of the Alarife, meaning the garden of the constructor or architect. First you will see the New Gardens of the Generalife, which connect the Generalife with the Alhambra, integrating them with nature.

The language school Escuela Montalbán in the center of Granada is a cosy and matey place. It is situated in a small building on two levels with three small class rooms each. You get to know all the staff very quickly as there are about 15 people working here and some of them are – good for them – on holiday as it is high summer time at the moment.
The first and third week I took part in regular courses with only three students plus, of course, the teacher. We had two classes per day starting with a grammar class followed by a conversation class. The school’s administation goes to great length in organizing the courses concerning the students‘ language levels. They really strive to form courses consisting of people with a similar level of Spanish in order to make the classes effective and useful. I also took private lessons during one week which I can recommend because it is super-intensive and very effective when the teacher concentrates fully on you.
As far as I am concerned, I do not only study at this school but I also do an internship under supervision of Margret Fortman who is the school’s marketing and public relations manager. Therefore I review or write texts for the school’s website. I have to admit that these texts are in English or German (I am from Berlin) as my Spanish is by far not yet good enough for professional purposes.
When I arrived I was classified level A2 in Spanish, certainly an accurate classification in theory but in daily life I felt like level zero basically. That has significantly changed in only three weeks thanks to the lessons I took and thanks to the teachers that gave them. All teachers are professional, highly motivated, kind and funny at times, too.
As I enjoy biking a lot, I bought a bike second hand and so I am exploring the city and the countryside in my spare time. The landscape has flat terrain when you go along the river Genil that flows through the city into the plains and there are of course hills and the Sierra Nevada. A mountain range that goes up to about 3000 m (9000 ft). And for all of you who like biking, too or who are into a little challenge: To the second highest peak leads a path suitable for bikes with an average gradiant of only 5 percent.
The learning gradiant is for sure higher at Escuela Montalbán.

Escuela Montalbán has got quite a few things going its way.
Firstly, the location. Granada is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, and while there are other that are bigger, or have a beach right on the edge of the city, none has the charm that she does.
My second point is along the same tracks, but more precise. The location within the city. It is pretty much in the city centre so it’s easy to get to and you can go sightseeing straight from the class without wasting time. Yet it is not in the busy, noisy, tourist laden part, so apart from the lone dog barking from time to time, the area is very quite, which as you can imagine, is quite the ideal place for a school to be at.
Now since this is a school, let’s dive into the good stuff, classes. I spent a couple of weeks here doing the Standard course, and over the course of my time there, I had classes or at least contact with pretty much every staff member. They are, obviously, all different, but they do have one thing in common though, and that’s the passion for teaching and the patience required to do so well. All of them are very friendly and try to find new ways of reaching and captivating their students, as they know that the old ways are not necessarily always the best. Ranging from board games, through watching videos and movies to discussing the hot topics of the day (Cataluña in my case) there was always interesting to do. Obviously, you can’t just skip grammar, but it can be complemented by interesting and fun things to do, so after having learned something, you use it in order to remember it for longer than the first 30mins after the class is over.
And last but certainly not least, there’s the cultural program that they offer. Cultural program is an important part of language apprehension, as it’s not just the language classes that you need to have in order to learn properly, you also need to get to know the culture/s behind the language and socialize a bit either with other students or locals, which once again, promotes the use of Spanish, that is the only way that you truly learn and improve.
TL:DR - I had a blast while in Escuela Montalbán, and would deffo recommend to anyone.

I was 3 months at Escuela Montalbán in Granada doing an Intensive Spanish course, which included 2 classes of grammar and 2 conversation classes per day. I started from the very beginning and improved my Spanish very quickly thanks to a professionalism of the teachers and very well selected groups. In fact, I was able to communicate with other students with the same level of Spanish, which helped us learn Spanish more efficiently with a help of a teacher and have fun as well.

The staff of the Spanish school was extremely friendly and helpful, especially Paco. In the first day they helped me with my accommodation, informed me about different possibilities and important places in the city, and helped me get my debit card in a bank, which was incredibly important as well.

The accommodation was provided by the school. In the apartment I lived with 4 Spanish persons, who helped me boost my Spanish and experience Spanish culture and traditions. They were very friendly, kind and open-minded.

On the one hand, teachers were very professional and provided well-structured content. On another hand, they were very funny making a lot of jokes. Thus, they delivered a great combination of serious and funny content, which helped us feel comfortable and learn Spanish in a great atmosphere.

Another important part of learning Spanish language and culture took place outside of our classes. The school organized different social and cultural activities in the evenings and on weekends. In the first week we went to the Arabic bath, which helped me relieve stress from the first days of my adaptation to a new country. Moreover, I discovered an incredible art-form, which was born in Granada and called Flamenco. The flamenco show included very emotional and expressional music and dance. I fell in love with it and would love to experience it again. Another incredible activity was a tapa tour with the teacher Marisa, when almost all the students went out together to explore the tapas culture in different local bars. There is a tradition in Granada to give tapas for free when you order a drink.

I would definitely recommend this school to everybody, who wants to learn Spanish and discover a great culture of the beautiful Granada and Spain in general.

I was for 4 weeks at Escuela Montalban to follow a level intermediate B2 course. The quality of the lessons is really good since they offer only small classes and teachers are really friendly and knowledgeable! They only speak Spanish to you, therefore, it enforces you to speak and it develops your Spanish!

The atmosphere in the school is great! The school is cozy and the teachers, people that work there are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and warm. But also being able to experience the culture and lifestyle in Granada cannot be underestimated. Therefore, they organize different kind of activities, one of them was a tapa tour through the center of Granada with Ruben!

I definitely want to go back to follow another course, maybe in combination with cooking classes that they offer!