Learn Spanish in Spain with focus on communication

Academia El Capitán: Learn Spanish in Spain

When we learn a new language, we usually want to broaden our horizons, learn new things, experience a culture more intensively, or simply be better at our new job. Love too, can be a strong motivator for learning a new language, especially if you've just fallen in love and you would like to take an active role in your next voyage through your partner’s home country with your partner. If you have landed on this page for one of the reasons listed above, it may be because you wish to improve your Spanish or because you already know that learning Spanish in Spain by taking a Spanish course in Spain is your next big goal. Our language school Academia El Capitán offers you the ideal Spanish course in Spain and looks forward to being your partner for learning Spanish in Spain!

A Spanish course in Spain? ¡Pues claro que sí! (Yes, of course!)

Around 560 million people speak Spanish worldwide. Spanish is spoken not only in South, Central and North America, but also in Morocco, Western Sahara, Equatorial Guinea and the Philippines. And if you want to be one of the approximately 75 million people who call Spanish their second or third language, then learning Spanish in Spain is almost a must. Spanish is one of the six official languages of communication of the United Nations. As a person who wants to enter the international arena professionally, one can hardly avoid the Spanish language. Spanish is not only predominant in Latin America but also in many parts of North America, where trade partners or business people are likely to speak Spanish. Every year, thousands of people decide to learn Spanish in Spain. From personal experience, you may already know that communicating with people is easiest when you have a common language. Not only can you build a more efficient business relationship, but you can also create a more direct and, above all, more emotional connection that makes life easier. Due to its widespread distribution, the Spanish language has developed differently in many places and every Spanish-speaking country has developed its own vocabulary. For this reason, when choosing where exactly to learn Spanish in Spain, it is advisable to choose a place where "pure Spanish", that is castellano, is spoken, in order to be able to build up a vocabulary that is comprehensible in as many parts of the Hispanic world as possible.

To choose Gran Canaria for a Spanish course in Spain may sound exotic at first, but it offers ideal conditions for improving your knowledge or introducing you to the Spanish language as a beginner. Many Spanish beginners, understandably enough, are not yet familiar with the culture of Spain when they choose their place to learn Spanish in Spain and they do not know that castellano is not spoken in large regions of Spain. On the contrary a mix of castellano and the local language is heard in those regions in everyday life. As things are, the local languages are Galician for Galicia, Basque for the Basque Country, Catalan for Catalonia and the Balearic Islands and Valencian for the region around Valencia. Therefore, learning Spanish in Spain can quickly become a frustrating experience because you can not apply the newly acquired knowledge on site and the main reason for learning Spanish in Spain gets lost. Not so, on Gran Canaria. Take your Spanish course in Spain there and you will be able to speak and practice Spanish in everyday life. This point leads us directly to the core of our language school Academia El Capitán: the practical application of the language while learning Spanish in Spain with the help of our teachers who are all native speakers, of course. We select our staff carefully and offer you language teachers with experience and the best academic education. In many language schools, lessons are given in the mornings and the student is left to himself in the afternoons. But with us at the Academia El Capitán this won’t be the case – we will try to give you plentiful opportunities to practice.  Academia El Capitán was founded by us because we were abroad ourselves and we have learned what difficulties have to be mastered by a foreigner and because teaching Spanish is a joyful mission to us to which we truly commit.  Hence, we also know how to promote and challenge our language students on an individual level, while they learn Spanish in Spain and how to help them reach their learning goals. In our opinion, learning Spanish in Spain should focus on verbal communication right from the start. After all, most language students most often need verbal communication in their particular application of Spanish. For written communication you usually have a lot of time for reflection, in which you can find the right words and the correct expression. To practice this, learning Spanish in Spain is not imperative. Opposite to that, in verbal communication it is important to have as many words in mind as possible and to develop a wide range of grammatical automatisms. Of course, this can only be achieved through repetition and copious training. Thus it is clear to us that during your Spanish course in Spain you should experience a maximum of situations in which you can practice and try out your verbal communication skills. Through daily use of the language while learning Spanish in Spain, vocabulary learning and the eradication of grammatical mistakes will be much easier. Inspiring our students to speak and talk is an integral part of our courses and we encourage you to embrace it at every opportunity that your Spanish course in Spain may offer you. During the lessons you should use our common exercises to practice speaking. But it should not be forgotten that our afternoon activities will also have verbal communication as the main focus of your Spanish course in Spain. Whether it is the casual shopping walk through the city, water sports or guided city tours, we involve our students in real communication with locals and promote both your understanding of the language and the active use of newly learned vocabulary or expressions. For those students who find themselves a bit shy and unwilling to be the focus of attention during their Spanish course in Spain, or who are reluctant to express themselves in front of an audience, we are happy to use patience and empathy to help express their abilities and make them fully enjoy their Spanish course in Spain. We do not leave behind any student and we fully understand that it may be difficult for someone to express himself in a foreign language that he is currently learning, in front of an unfamiliar group of people. This is exactly where we lend a hand and try to give everyone the feeling of being able to develop freely in a cozy atmosphere where he can learn and experience the Spanish language with lots of humor and joy. After all, learning Spanish in Spain should not be a bitterly serious education event, but an experience that leads to a learning success through fun and curiosity and that remains unforgettable both linguistically as well as in cultural and emotional terms. We do our best to offer a Spanish course in Spain that makes learning Spanish in Spain a top experience for you.

Your Spanish course in Spain on Gran Canaria: a short preview…

Gran Canaria is the dream destination of many visitors from all over the world. Every year, about three million people visit the island. Before anyone feels deterred by this, it should be noted that the majority of tourists concentrate on a few tourist resorts in the south of the island, while the location of our language school Academia El Capitán in the center of the capital of the island, is inhabited almost only by locals. In the rest of the northern half of the island you will rarely come across a tourist, so chances are that you will only be able to continue with Spanish, thus enabling you to really learn Spanish in Spain. Gran Canaria is one of seven islands in the Canary archipelago, yet it stands out for its variety of cultural and scenic offerings. Choosing us for your Spanish course in Spain gives you the opportunity to learn Spanish while enjoying the sun, the beach and the sea. The fine sandy beach of Las Canteras, which is only a few minutes' walk away from our language school, can, in our humble opinion, easily compete with the famous city beaches of the world, such as the Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, hence making your Spanish course in Spain something special from the very beginning. From this beach you may enjoy the view of Spain's highest mountain, the Teide, with 3715 m of altitude located on one of the neighboring islands of Gran Canaria. The beach is nestled in a relatively quiet and sheltered bay and is lined by a beach promenade, which has both daytime and evening entertainment, good food and the occasional surprise by a street artist or a spontaneous, musical performance. The concert hall "Alfredo Kraus", which is now famous far beyond the city limits, has seen some world-famous stars, such as the Chinese pianist Lang Lang or the ensemble of the Russian State Ballet. On this beach you can also find our partner surfing school, where you can learn various types of water sports or rent the necessary equipment for the time of your Spanish course in Spain. Although the beach of Las Canteras is protected from lateral winds due to its location in the bay, a natural reef ensures regular waves, which can surely delight experienced surfers, too. Learning Spanish in Spain, should also give you some historical background information. So, if you are interested, you may join us during your Spanish course in Spain and follow the footsteps of Christopher Columbus. You will discover Spanish colonial history in the beautiful old town of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Vegueta. Our tour guides will gladly answer your questions and show you some hidden corners of the city, whose historical significance will surely be surprising. From the Museo de Colón, founded in honor to the discoverer, the cathedral made of volcanic stones, to the old harbor docks, telling stories of pirate attacks and conquest attempts, you may expect a lot of exciting places during your Spanish course in Spain. As already mentioned, your Spanish course in Spain on Gran Canaria also offers a variety of options in terms of landscapes and geography. One of them is our trip to Agaete, a picturesque fishing village in the northwest of the island, which became famous for a rock formation called "The finger of God" (El dedo de Dios). Unfortunately it became the victim of a storm a few years ago. Nevertheless, the immediate surroundings of the village are also worth seeing, which is why we would like to recommend you a visit to the world's most northerly coffee plantation as a highlight of your Spanish course in Spain. The plantation is only a few miles away from Agaete. You’ll be able to have a guided tour through this family-run finca, where several Canarian specialties are created in unique handcraft and own production. When tasting locally produced wine and cheese, you may of course share your feedback in Spanish. During your Spanish course in Spain you may also chose to visit with us the dunes of Maspalomas, the pine forests of the island summits or the steep cliffs on the west coast. In the evening you can enjoy tapas in the old town of Vegueta and try the local specialties papas con mojo (small potatoes with spicy sauce) and mousse de gofio (mousse based on roasted cereals). We are constantly expanding and diversifying our offerings to make learning Spanish in Spain a special experience for you. We also try to adapt our program as good as possible to the needs of our student groups, to enable all of them to apply the acquired knowledge during their Spanish course in Spain.

Learning Spanish in Spain: what to expect of a Spanish course in Spain

Learning Spanish in Spain should be more than an academic holiday. It should be something unforgettable and a special cultural experience, where the student can associate an exciting holiday experience with each newly learned word. We therefore offer our students the opportunity to stay overnight with host families to make the most of learning Spanish in Spain. We cooperate with selected families, who enjoy the accommodation of foreign students and help them with patience and empathy in everyday communication. Obviously every course participant is free to look for an adequate accommodation for his Spanish course in Spain. However, we also like to help those who decide that they want to immerse themselves in Spanish culture as intensively as possible while learning Spanish in Spain. They may want to get to know the country and its people better by living with a host family who shows them Spanish culture and traditions. Host families offer accommodation to students in close proximity to our classrooms, located right in the heart of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The old town is within walking distance. Likewise is the central bus station and the beach promenade.

Learning Spanish in Spain: Individual offers for individual needs

The Academia El Capitán wants to customize your Spanish course in Spain according to your needs, such that you can set achievable learning objectives for yourself. Of course, this includes the placement test, prior to starting learning Spanish in Spain, but also the possibility to choose courses of different length and to book extra lessons or private lessons during your Spanish course in Spain. All of our teachers are native speakers who will try to teach you the Spanish language with great patience and humor, encouraging you in each lesson to present what you have learned in a cozy, familial atmosphere. After all, a Spanish course in Spain should provide you with the maximum personal benefit, and that is why our team always strives to give you the best possible support during your language exercises, either in group or in one-to-one lessons. We hope to welcome you soon at our Academia El Capitán in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
 

Intensive Courses