Which is the best city to learn Spanish in (spain only..no south america)?

Question

I am currently learning Spanish and looking to go to Spain in around 4 months to teach English.

Where is the best place to learn Spanish?

I think I heard the south people speak very fast(and so it is harder to learn) and in the north slower and whether to stay away from Barcelona and Valencia because of their own district languages?

advice on anywhere in Spain welcomed!

thanks in advance

Answer 1

The best place to go to hear a clear accent would be Salamanca. I've lived in Spain for ten years now (in Barcelona) so obviously the best accent for me is from here, it is a relatively easy one. In Andalucia the accent is very closed, so unless you've studied with a teacher who has this accent you will find it difficult to understand.

Answer 2

if you want to learn the real spanish accent, try Madrid, Valladolid, Santander, Zaragoza, Burgos, León, Salamanca, Segovia, Albacete, Ciudad Real...

i would do this if i were you.

good luck

Answer 3

Hello! I´m Spanish and in my opinion if you want to speak Spanish to be understood all over the world you must try to learn it in some city of Castilla y León. In other places like Extremadura, Andalucía, Galicia, País Vasco, Catluña, C. Valenciana...you can learn Spanish but with special things that maybe aren´t understood in other countries. Good luck!!!!!

Sorry me because of my "dirty" English but I´m only a student.... ^^

Answer 4

The purest castillian spanish is said to be spoken in Valladolid. Yes the andalusians speak rather fast and have a tendency to "swallow" the last letter or syllable of many words.

Also you are quite correct... Certain zones have their local language... Galego en Galicia, Euskera in Basque country, Catalán in Catalonia, Valenciá in Valencia, Castellón and Alicante. Plus the similar language in the Balearic Islands (mallorquin).

Your best bet as a language student would be the university cities... Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid, Alcalá de Henares (near Madrid) and Madrid itself.

Otherwise, if you know what city you are going to teach english in, you could check the local university. Most good sized cities and towns in Spain have university facilities.

Here is a listing of the spanish universities...

http://www.ua.es/es/internet/listado.htm

Answer 5

Wherever you go, you are bound to think they speak very fast at first, but, as one who went to Sevilla on my student trip, (I lived there for ten months - a full school year) I can say that it was pretty difficult at first, but the people are wonderfully accomodating, and will help you along, and then, once you have been there long enough, you will be SURELY able to understand any Spanish speaker!  Harder to learn = easier in the long run.

I DO hope you plan to spend that long.  The problem with only one semester (or term) is that you come home fluent, but it slips much more quickly.

In Barcelona and Valencia, you have to contend with the other dialects (which are very similar to each other - but a bit further from Spanish).  

Personally, I LOVED Sevilla!!!!  I recommend it highly, not only because I feel able to understand ANY accent, but also because it is such a beautiful city...the true, romantic, Moorish, flamenco-filled Spain that people EXPECT.  (lots of other beautiful places, too, but Sevilla is just, the textbook typical, what you think of when you think of Spain.)

The people there are incredibly warm and wonderful, I was just back, some things HAVE changed, but THAT has not!

Answer 6

Hello, I have been living in Spain for 11 months.  I initially went to Madrid for 10 months and now live in Valencia.  I moved to Valencia because I loved it when I travelled here a couple of years ago and I wanted to live by the beach.  It's a great place with a real feeling of community.

I enjoyed my time in Madrid.  However, it is a large and sprawling city and you can feel anonymous.  The cost of living is high and rent is expensive.  It is harder to meet new people there.  It is by far the easiest place to find work as a teacher as so many people want to learn english.  I found a job on the first day I started looking in early September.   There are also many museums that you will want to visit if you like that sort of thing.  

You have not said how long you intend to live in Spain.  Do not limit yourself to one city if you have the time.  Madrid will be very cold when you arrive in 4 months and will only get colder.  The climate on the coast around Valencia will be much milder.  This would influence my decision.  Or maybe spend the winter in Madrid and move to the coast for the summer.  Don't worry about accidentally learning Valenciana as everyone speaks spanish.  It is easy to differentiate between the two languages.

Answer 7

Well, I don't want you to change your mind because of me, but I went to Spain for a week (yes I know, not very long at all) but I promise you I learnt SO MUCH from the people there. I went to Cadiz - in the south, and it was amazing. The people are fantastic (I'm sure they are everywhere!) and the atmostphere is just amazing.

Good luck in going to Spain, I'm doing the same after my A-Levels :D!

Answer 8

Hi, I'd recommend Salamanca, the whole town seems to be devoted to teaching Spanish to foreigners!!! As some other people have written before, the Spanish accent spoken there is one of the best and the atmosphere and night life is just awesome.

The University of Salamanca is the oldest in Spain and there're so many uni students there that you'll easily make a living teching English.

My boyfriend is from there so just get in touch with me if you need extra info or tips.

Regards

Answer 9

Learn Catalan Spanish if you want to be understood everywhere,we used to live in a tiny fishing port of the beaten track and picked up the local accent and were not easily understood outside of the area,,Buenos Dias was always shortened to "bueno" and said very sloppily,so learn the proper Spanish

Answer 10

true, people in the south of Spain (Andalucia) speak very fast and sometimes they can be naughty and skip out certain words as they can't be bothered to say long sentences and stay away from barcelona and the north of Spain, they speak catalan there which is not Spanish its like French Spanish Latin mixed together so I think you should either go to Madrid as they would have many English speaking schools there which would be in need of English teachers although I just love the south, the people are so friendly warm and welcoming and even though they do speak fast you will adapt to it! so I think you should choose between a city in the south (Andalucia) or Madrid

Hope this helps and if have any question or need advice or anything don't hesitate to e mail me I'd be more than happy to help!

Much love x*x

Answer 11

Spain is full of different accents and way of speaking, that sound very different and genuine (at least, for us, the Spaniards) altough obviously we understand them, because, nevertheless, they're Spanish too!.

And yes, The Basque Country, Catalonia, Valencian Community, Galicia and the Balearic Islands have their own dialects (euskera, catalan and galician), but Spanish is also official there.

In your case I will try to learn Spanish in university towns in areas with no dialect (only Spanish as official language) and not at the South (because you'll find hard to understand it because of the accent), check for example: Salamanca, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Santander, Albacete, Toledo...

Some city in Castile-la Mancha or Castile-Leon or Zaragoza, in Aragon.

Hope it helps