Students exchanged their house in Chicago in order to learn Spanish in Dénia
Students from United States- Intensive Spanish course 20
Brad and Karin are two students from Chicago, United States. The chance to study Spanish in Dénia came by chance when they arranged a house exchange between Els Poblets and Chicago. They finished their three months in the Spanish school TLCdénia and now they have told us about their experience.
Hi, my name is Brad. It’s the end of March, 2014, and my wife Karin and I are just completing our final week in a 3 month course of Spanish studies at TLCdénia. Wow, what an amazing 3 months!
Why did they come to Denia…
We came to TLCdénia in an odd way, first finding a couple from a nearby small village who needed to be in Chicago during the first few months of 2014, so we arranged to exchange houses. We moved to their home in Els Poblets and they moved to our home in Chicago. We had been searching for just the right chance to study Spanish, and a free house for 3 months was too much to pass up.
So, once we settled on Els Poblets as our destination, we began searching for Spanish academies nearby in Denia. A few times we came across recommendations from former students of TLCdénia, so we checked it out. Since TLCdénia is accredited by the Cervantes Institute, we felt comfortable about the quality of the curriculum, and slightly lower slow season rates didn’t hurt either.
The registration process was handled wonderfully by Mari Carmen, giving us all the information we requested and assuring us of a high-quality, productive and enjoyable time. It’s a big step sending most of your pre-registration money overseas, and Mari Carmen was very professional in making all the arrangements.
“From minute one in class we were learning Spanish”
From our very first appearance on a January Monday morning, we were made to feel welcome by the staff and introduced to our professors and our classmates. From minute one in class we were learning Spanish grammar and vocabulary in an engaging and fun way. Each day of the week includes opportunities for fun local activities after class, most of them free, and each of them offering a chance to learn more about Spanish culture and practice, practice, practice.
We also made great friends in class, spending time together after school exploring Denia and nearby towns, tasting local cuisine, attending local festivals and cultural events and so forth. “Winter” in Denia is too strong of a term, as the days are mild and almost always sunny, which allowed us to bicycle to and from class for most of our stay. We enjoyed Denia and the local coastal towns being quieter to explore without the summer beach crowds.
Both my wife and I learned a LOT in such a short time and we are both glad we selected TLCdénia for our studies. Mari Carmen, Santos, and all the staff were wonderfully flexible in responding to special needs that came up now and again during our course of study. One thing we’d do differently next time would be trying to stay with a local family to increase our opportunities to speak Spanish throughout the day. We highly recommend TLCdénia, and we particularly enjoyed studying in the off season when the towns are quiet and the classes less full.
