Intensive Spanish course A

I took a very short Spanish course (1 week). That was actually way too short. The location is very nice, in the old town of Palma. The classrooms were not big, but adequate. I was in a class of 4 or 5 students and I really liked that. As a result, everyone got enough attention.
It felt very homely, the staff and teacher were all equally nice.
Despite being so short, I really enjoyed the experience (also getting to know other people here on the island).

The course exceeded my expectations. Even though we were in the classroom for a few hours it didn’t feel like that. The range of topics, pace, fun was great and the teacher was encouraging and supportive. My spanish has definitely improved and I’ve booked on another course!

Excellent location, though building works across the road were noisy and slightly distracting. This is hopefully only temporary. Class size was small (5 max) and the teacher engaged each pupil appropriately.

The beginning was a little bit chaotic. Most of our classmates started with our course the week before. So for us there wasn‘t a real start. Because we already knew some Spanish, it wasn‘t such a big problem. The classmates were nice, so we had a good time. The teacher wasn‘t very motivated and worked a lot with copies from different kind of textbooks, mostly grammar. We also had some communication rounds, which were good to practice our spanish sentences. But we also read texts about southamerican gods, which is not necessary in a beginner course. I would have prefer more vocabulary and useful sentences for the daily life, like to order in a restaurant, to go shopping or conversations like this. But I‘m sure, that we learned some useful things and practised some spanish.

The location of the Die Akademie is perfect, easy to find well located for all the amenities Palma has to offer.

Unfortunately there is a building site opposite the school, and my classroom was right next to it, so it was noisy with the window open, but stuffy when the window was closed as a member of our class, who had a heavy cold, complained every time the air-conditioning went on and we had to turn it off!

I really enjoyed my week and thought the pace of the course was good. I did realise that, to really get benefit and improve, 2 weeks absolute minimum is required, as things were just beginning to make sense at the end of the first week.

I did find myself at a disadvantage, as all of my classmates were German speakers as well as our Tutor, Jasmin.
Understandably, as we were a complete beginners class, a lot of explanations were given in German.
As I do speak a little German I found that my brain was trying to recall my rusty, german language and slipping into german, rather than the Spanish!!
(If I didn't understand any german, it would have just gone over my head and not distracted me!)
Jasmin did make an effort to remember to explain in English too, but it was too late, as my brain had already switched to german to try and understand what was going on! I would most definitely benefit from a natural spanish speaker on further courses.

I hope the above summary makes sense, I completely understand you are a German speaking acadamy, and, when I signed up I thought it would be great to hear and speak some german again, but it just got in the way.
It would be worth bearing this in mind for other, non german speaking students, and they would get a better experience if paired with a spanish native speaking tutor.

I would like to say I felt the acadamy had a very happy, casual and fun atmosphere and a great place to learn Spanish.
I intend to come back next year, probably for 3 or 4 weeks, but I will speak to you nearer the time about what tutor/class would be best for me.

Hope the above observations are of interest.
Kind regards,
Diana Hales

Super nice teacher (her name is Milka). We also made a practical walk and talked with artist and bought food at a local market to train our Spanish. My level of Spanish improved in one week very well and all in a nice atmosphere.

Triedy malé ale vyhovujúce pre výučbu, avšak bola v nich zima. Učitelia na kvalitnej úrovni, avšak škola by si zaslúžila modernizovať - projektor, TV a internet - viac podnetov, lepšia zapamätateľnosť pre žiakov. Umiestnenie školy priamo v centre je perfektné.

Everything was excellent (Location and teacher and all the staff)

Lessons good, teacher good,
I have heard that the teachers worked a lot. During the long touristic period, they work every days (7d/7) without day off. I was on holidays with sun and to have teachers "exploités" is not good.

After having visited many language schools in Spain as well as in France and Italy, I can say I found this one very good. Not only is the location excellent, the schools classrooms and facilities good. Our teacher Sara was excellent! Also the group of students very nice. The housing had nothing to do with the school. I just decided to stay in a youth jostel as it was near the school and price was acceptable, as hotels in Palma very expensive. (Of course a nice hotel would have been better, but couldn't afford one.)

My stay was all in all very pleasant, actually perfect. Would like to return.

My teacher was really kind and the class size was small (between four and seven depending on the week). My CEFR level is B1 and after the first week I noticed that most of what we were doing in class I had already learned, so I asked if I could move up a level but was told there wasn't a higher level. I understand this and didn't have an issue with that, but if that's the case I'd have liked my class to be a bit more challenging. I think overall we were quite a mixed-level class which made it difficult to plan activities suitable for all. We rarely received homework, and while I could do a few writing activities myself and ask my teacher to make them, it would have been better if we'd been set specific tasks.

I also felt that we rarely consolidated our knowledge, we'd rush over things like tenses, indirect and direct object etc. without really using them in practice, the teacher would just explain the concept then we'd move on to something else.

The classes had a lot of speaking practice but it was just general conversation which, while still useful, I could do with any Spanish speaker so it didn't really seem worth the money. I think it would have been better to do a speaking or writing task using a specific grammar point we'd learned, rather than just a general conversation.

I do think that my Spanish improved, but not as much as I'd hoped. We also covered a wide range of grammatical points, I just would've liked to have done it in more depth.

I'll also note that the staff in the reception were very friendly and helpful with any queries, and we were also able to do a class tour of a Palace in central Palma which was a very fun activity.

I liked the teachers, and the location is perfect in the old town. It was nice to drop in to the classes

It was a fun experience
I mainly refreshed the Spanish I learned before I moved to Mallorca

It definitely helped the teaching as it was all done in Spanish
Plus you get to know a lot of different people by doing this
The school is located fairly centrally in Palma, easy to get to both by car and public transport

I loved the class and the teacher, Sara, she was very good at matching the level after the students.

The only problem i have, and the reason for only 4 stars, is that new students entered the class every week and in that way putting unneeded pressure on the teacher every Monday. The location is 5 stars, right in the old part of town.

If I could have stayed another week or two, I would have (time didn't allow). The school, a modest suite of offices and small classrooms, is located in a cute corner of old town so just walking to class was a great experience, even when the street began to fill with large groups of tourists. The class, five of us in an advanced-beginner level (everyone had a good foundation of Spanish experience but needed lots of work) was a perfect mix of vocabulary and tense instruction interspersed with fun conversation-based activities. Our teacher, Sarah, was warm, fun, and outgoing, and gently corrected as we worked through conversational exercises. My fellow students were all from different countries and were all different ages, and the challenge of learning this language together made for a really lovely, friendly class experience.

The location of the school was excellent- close to the old city of Palma. Both teachers whom I had were excellent. However, unfortunately I fell between two classes. After the online test, I was placed in the top class but the teacher and students spoke much too quickly for me. So I requested to transfer to the next lower class. However, the level there was too low as I had studied by myself for a year; so again I asked to transfer back to the top class. I felt that neither class was at the "correct level" for me.

There were no activities organized by the school .This I found unfortunate because my fellow students were very interesting and from different background and it would have been a lovely experience to share extra curricula outings..

The facilities were good- clean toilets, coffee or tea could be had at will.

Housing was not relevant as I organized my housing privately.

There was actually nothing I didn’t like. Overall everything was good. I made fast progress and I think it’s a Good school if you want to learn a language fast. But you have to have to want to learn the language and pay the same effort as the teachers do.

The facilities are nice and the location is absolutely perfect for it is situated near the city’s great attractions. I preferred private lessons over group lessons for in my opinion they are more effective because the level of education is better suited for my individual level. The teachers are great - motivating, positive and fun. I am very satisfied with my experience!

The location of the school is excellent, in the middle of the old town in a historical building. Classes are small, teachers very nice, open and really professional.
I staid in a private home, with an elder lady who was not at all welcoming. I had the feeling, that she is not interested in hosting a guest, but more interested in getting the money without any effort. Would not recommend private stay with families, because I didn't get any positive critic from other students about their housing.

Hola,
The classes were well planed with good variation with grammar, oral practice and history.
Our teacher, Ana, was very good, nice and empathic.
The location is perfekt.
The facilities are sufficient, and the possibility of coffee or the, magdalena/muffins and fruit is very pleasant.

Periodically the knowledge among the participants/pupils varied a bit to much.

Thanks for two very worth-while weeks with good teaching!
Best regards
Kristina Forslind

Good points:
- the location in the center of palma in the historic district
- the availability and kindness of the teachers

negative points
- small school, great disparity of levels in 2 classes only
> beginners have a hard time keeping up
> confirmed students are bored
- no consideration of the level announced on booking
- no level test on arrival
- outdated teaching methods: whiteboard and photocopies
- no off-course activities to discover Spanish culture and create links between students

I choose Die Akademie in Palma Mallorca for 2 reasons: online ratings at 5 stars and it is in the heart of historic old town. I decided to learn Spanish for 2 weeks and truly had the best experience of my life. The school is super with great structure, teachers, and staff. The lessons are outlined well to really walk you through all you need to know. Professor Carmen is a superb teacher and really attentive to your individual needs to grow and learn. The school matched me with a host family to stay. This added to my full experience which I recommend. I can’t wait to come back and learn again.