Sacromonte, which is actually known as Sacramonte by those who live in the area, is a famous neighborhood in Granada whose most important characteristics are the cave houses you can find there. The real origin of these caves is not clear, but they are definitely there and have served as homes to inhabitants since the 16^th century, coinciding with the expulsion of the Muslims and Jews from Spain, a population that subsequently united the nomadic gypsies who arrived in Granada.

This ethnic variety is still clear to see today. Flamenco was a highly developed art form in Sacromonte, more than anything because of the gypsies, where improvised parties were common, along with the impulse toward new artistic currents which attracted bohemians and those interested in art in general.

Today, Sacromonte still has its reputation as the “Mecca for flamenco,” even if the parties for fans and followers of flamenco are less frequent, since it is now more common for shows to be put on for tourists in the city in order to make money, than to have a traditional flamenco party with fans who come to the caves to enjoy a night of rhythm.

Even so, it is still possible to enjoy the best flamenco in the caves of Sacromonte. Some, like the Cueva de la Rocío have adapted to the times and offer the music and dance show along with a dinner menu so that visitors can spend a complete, enjoyable evening there.

The Cuevas los Tarantes is another location in Sacromonte where visitors can enjoy food and gypsy shows like flamenco. However, as many tourist experiences have shown, these places are much more expert in dance than in food. So it’s a good idea to go to the city center to enjoy better quality, traditional food from Granada.

Furthermore, the fame of the caves of Sacromonte is adapting to new times. There are now some that are also hotels that cater to tourists who want to live the flamenco experience from the inside out, spending a few days alongside their neighbors.

Those who have the opportunity can also take flamenco classes which are given in many of the caves in Sacromonte. The most outstanding students even get to perform at parties with a big turnout.

Enjoy your course in Greece

Hear the word ‘Greece’ and what comes to mind? Is it crystal clear seas? Is it the birthplace of democracy and civilization? Maybe it’s a traditional plate smashing ceremony, or is it Meryl Streep singing Dancing Queen on a boat jetty?! Whatever your initial reactions, ‘Greece’ has different meanings for many people. Having been on holiday to Greece many times, I can vouch for its stunning coastlines, welcoming population and amazing climate. But despite some of the world’s most recognizable traditions and practices originating from this country, its language is relatively unknown. Greek may not be the world’s most common language, so unless you have a business in Greece or you plan to spend a lot of time there, there seems little reason to learn it. Yet, the main reason to learn it is to gain a much deeper understanding of one of the world´s most ancient civilizations.

The oldest surviving record of Greek dates from the second millennium BC, when large tablets manufactured out of clay were inscribed for religious and administrative usage. As a side note, just to be clear, the difference between Ancient Greek and Modern Greek is huge, and a native speaker of one would not be able to understand the other. Despite this, learning Modern Greek will give you unparalleled access to one of the world’s richest histories. For example, Greece – officially known as the Hellenic Republic – is the birthplace of the Olympic Games, starting in Olympia in 776BC (although some historians place the first event at around 1000BC), primarily for the purpose of getting men fit. It also promulgated one of the earliest forms of democracy, when non-slave adult men were given a direct say in the state’s affairs. The English word ‘democracy’ itself comes from the Greek word for people, ‘demos’, and the word for rule or power, ‘kratos’ – both of which combined to make ‘demokratia’, rule of the people. What´s more, the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and countless others will all have a much deeper meaning when studied in their mother tongue (albeit its successor).

For many people, Greek may not be as difficult as it first appears. Approximately 30% of the entire English vocabulary consists of words that derive from a Classical Greek origin. Words like ‘phone’, ‘biography’ and ‘aero’ all stem from the Greek language, and many of these ancient Greek stems have retained their pronunciation and meaning in its modern day equivalent, making it a whole lot easier for native English speakers. Its influence on other languages around the world means learners are able to recognize and understand words from all sorts of different tongues. The opposite phenomenon has happened as well, with English’s global dominance meaning that new Greek words are constantly cropping up, such as ‘parkaro’ – the verb to park. Also, in a similar format to many European languages, Greek has three genders: not only the normal masculine and feminine, but also a neuter, meaning there are three different ways to say ‘the’.

So now you have the information you need to know, go out there and learn some Greek!

History

Its impressive array of Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque architecture gives evidence of the city’s historical past. It was occupied by the Carthaginians in the 3^rd century B.C before becoming a Roman settlement. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was invaded by the Alans, and later the Visitgoths. As with much of the rest of Spain, Salamanca was taken over the Moors in 712 AD, and remained this way until the 11^th Century. The university was granted a royal charter in 1218 by King Alfonso IX, and since then has become one of the most prestigious and popular universities in Europe. Originally, most of the classes were taught in churches and other buildings, until the majority of the university was built in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.

Student life

University

Salamanca is one of the top universities in Spain. As it is such a famous university, as well as attracting Spaniards, Salamanca draws international students from all over the world, as a popular Erasmus destination. It was also the first university to offer Spanish courses, so it now has the most prestigious language courses on offer, which attracts a great number of foreign students. Salamanca has over 30,000 students.

This gives the city an international and vibrant feel. It is quite a small city, with a small town feel, so it is easy to get to grips with the city straight away. It is possible to walk pretty much everywhere, which is an enjoyable experience in itself, as the city is extremely pretty with all its cobbled streets and beautiful buildings; there’s always something new to see. The biggest bonus of Salamanca is that it’s cheap, which is ideal for students; not only for accommodation, but for nights out as well! You could spend just 150 euros a month on renting a room in a shared flat!

Nights out

Salamanca is a great night out for students. You can expect to be surrounded by other students, and to have a good time without spending a fortune. It has a lot of bars that you can go to first, to enjoy a few drinks and some tapas; “ir de pinchos” as it’s known here. The best places for this are around Gran Via, or around Plaza Mayor, which would be a bit more expensive. Plaza Mayor is a common meeting place for students, located in the center of the town, with a good atmosphere. Calle Van Dyck in the north of the city also offers tapas bars, with very good prices and good sized pinchos!

If you’re looking for a night out clubbing, Salamanca can also give you what you’re after. Going out is possible every night of the week, although the students normally go out Thursday- Saturday. Nightclubs don’t get started until about 1am and can go on well into the early hours, which takes a bit of getting used to! There are many clubs you can choose from depending on the sort of music you’re looking for. The majority of the nightclubs are in the old town, and music can be divided between these zones.

You can find live music haunts around the Bordadores disctrict, often with medieval style décor. The area around Gran Via is full of places popular among foreign students with a range of bars and nightclubs of different music styles. More alternative music can be found around Plaza de San Justo. Most places offer some sort of special offer, such as a free second drink, but there are some other places you can look out for it you’re on a tight budget like most students. Liter bars are popular, and you pay a lot less than you would if you were in a club; around €3.50 for a liter of beer! There is also a bar dedicated solely to the one and only Michael Jackson, called “Jacko’s”, which has reasonably cheap prices too! Other popular places among foreign students involve “The Irish Rover” (a nightclub), and the “Chupitería” (a shot bar!).

A world of possibilities…

How to choose your Latin American destination? Perhaps a place where you can relax on the warm sand under sunny skies while surrounded by stunning beach scenery, or maybe within chilly Andean mountain landscapes, or how about in a big cosmopolitan city such as Buenos Aires? Here are three general categories you may want to think about to help you choose the perfect school in Latin America:  coastal, mountain, and big city.

Coastal destinations

The advantages of choosing a coastal destination are as clear as the sunny blue skies that hang over beach paradises along many Latin American coastlines. Schools in these destinations often offer the luxury of being able to walk to the beach after class, where you can spend the afternoon doing little more than listening to the soft sea breeze and the waves gently breaking on golden sands. Some schools even offer exciting coastal extracurricular activities such as kite surfing and scuba diving.

Mexico: Playa Del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta; Costa Rica: Tamarindo, Jaco Beach; Dominican Republic: Sosua;

Mountain destinations

Hot temperatures are not for everyone, so you may prefer a cool weather destination. Consider tossing on a new handmade, traditional, brightly colored wooly sweater that you just picked up from a local open air market high in the Andes. Visit nearby villages huddled between the summits of the vast Andean mountain range, places where the Inca Empire once flourished and continues to influence the region’s rich culture.  Mountain destinations are often decidedly less touristic than coastal ones, a factor many students looking forward to immersing themselves in a new language and culture find appealing.

Ecuador: Quito; Bolivia: Sucre; Peru: Cusco ;

Big city destinations

Want an exciting study destination where there is always something happening? A big city may be what you are looking for and there are many Spanish schools located right in the heart of all the action where after class you can step outside and explore vibrant urban landscapes. Big cities often offer an exciting and modern variety of restaurants, art galleries, museums and shopping possibilities.

Argentina: Buenos Aires, Córdoba; Chile: Santiago; Colombia: Bogotá; Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo;

Guanajuato, the childhood home of Diego Rivera, is a charmingly unique colonial city, located in central Mexico. A mid-sized university town brimming with history and art, copious plazas filled with cafés and restaurants and narrow, pedestrianized streets lined with colorful houses – a perfect city for strolling. La Bohemia is a small restaurant in Jardín De La Unión, Guanajuato’s main plaza. It is open seven days a week from eight in the morning till eleven at night. For fifty-five pesos (that’s just over 3 euros) the restaurant offers a meal of the day which includes a bowl of homemade soup, a starter, freshly prepared rice and salad, a round piece of bread known as a bolillo and a refillable glass of agua fresca (a Mexican fruit drink). The restaurant owner has about 50 dishes that he rotates for the meal of the day. It appears that the prices at the restaurant are about the same, if not a bit lower, than other eateries in downtown Guanajuato.

Oaxaca is one of the best places in Mexico to enjoy cultural holidays. Around Day of the Dead (on the 1st and 2nd November) families descend upon the local cemeteries to clean the grave stones of their deceased ancestors and have a picnic in their honor. In the city center, street vendor’s spring up selling marigolds and coxcombs (a velvety red flower typical of this season) and market stall owners attract customers with wonderful displays of candy skulls and special bread known as Pan de Muerto. The cuisine in Oaxaca is very rich and varied: from the chocolate-infused meat sauce known as mole to the crunchy fried grasshoppers not for the faint-hearted! As well as a selection of exotic dishes, Oaxaca is also famous for its alcoholic beverages: tequila always took center stage in the past; but over the years, it has risen considerably in price so its “brother drink” mescal has become the tipple of choice for all those who appreciate fine liquor.

Mexico City, the fifteenth most populous city in the world, might seem a bit daunting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. The most popular tourist attractions are mainly concentrated in the heart of the historic city center, for example, the main plaza (known as the Zócalo), the Alameda Park and the Palace of Fine Arts. The Plaza Garibaldi, located a few meters away from the Palace is the best place in Mexico City to listen to live Mariachi musicians. The Rosa, Roma and San Angel zones, home to some lovely parks, shops and cafés are considered to be the “artsy” areas in town. The affluent neighborhood of Polanco is the place to be if you’re looking for a good night out. Further south, the UNAM campus (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) is renowned for its famous work created by some of Mexico’s most well-known artists.

It is a well known fact that France has one of the best schooling systems in the world. According to recent research, French students are more likely to face up to a challenge, pay close attention to the rules, produce high quality work and consequently achieve academic success. It is unsurprising then, that an increasing number of families are relocating to France to take advantage of their seemingly superior teaching methods. For many parents, their child’s ability to integrate is a huge cause for concern.

Besides the obvious advantages to be gleaned from relocating abroad such as language acquisition, there are the inevitable feelings of isolation and alienation that come from being an expatriate. Luckily, there are ways to avoid these unpleasant sensations such as employing a personal tutor. This is more important the older your child is given that younger children tend to be faster learners. Youngsters will almost certainly start to feel comfortable conversing in French before their parents and/or older siblings. There are three main reasons for this, each of which is discussed in moderate detail below:

1.    It may be argued that children have an advantage over their parents when learning a foreign language given that they focus on the most important parts of sentences only. They block out words and phrases that they consider confusing, instead focusing on what they understand. Adults, on the other hand, attempt to process everything they hear, often failing to interpret anything at all.

2.    A portion of the blame for slower language acquisition in adults can be attributed to “neural commitment”. A child learns his/her mother tongue through the strengthening and weakening connections between neurons in their brain. When that child becomes an adult, those connections become fixed and harder to change when learning a new language. If the second language is acquired while a person is still young, those connections are changeable and so language acquisition is less complicated.

3.    The simplest explanation is that, more often that not, young children are surrounded by people speaking the language they are trying to learn. Children are at school all day, every day and so they are immersed in the target language almost all of the time. Even if adults take evening classes, this will only occupy a small portion of their time. Moreover, if they are taking beginners French for example, they are bound to be surrounded by other non-native speakers. Finally, children are less inhibited about speaking in a group situation and less self-conscious about making mistakes. Therefore, a child will generally spend more time talking in the target language than an adult which speeds up the learning process.

French children start school at the age of six and leave at the age of sixteen. School days are generally longer in France than the UK however there is normally one day off a week in addition to the weekend. School holidays are structured a little differently too. Rather than a long summer break, French students have four lots of two week breaks spread throughout the year rather than one long six to twelve week holiday as enjoyed by British and American children. It has been proven that shorter holidays minimize summer learning loss (the loss in academic skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation).

The structure of French state schools is as follows:

•    2-5 years  Ecole Maternelle
•    6-11 years  Ecole Primaire
•    12-16 years  Collège
•    16-18 years  Lycée
•    18+  University

The names of the top 5 French universities are listed below in English along with a brief description:
1.    The Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University (UPMC) situated in Paris is the 2nd best university in France and the 42nd best university in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.  Graduates of UPMC, the biggest medical complex in the country, have won (and continue to win) various awards in the field.

2.    The Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 is one out of three public universities in Lyon. It specializes in science and medicine and was named after Claude Bernard, the French physiologist who suggested that blind experiments (where some of the participants are prevented from knowing certain information that might lead to bias) ensure the fairness of scientific experiments.

3.    The École normale supérieure (ENS) is a French grande école (a higher education institution that is not a public university) The idea to establish the ENS was first generated during the French Revolution and has since developed into an first-class establishment producing some the brightest young scholars that France has ever seen, including 12 Nobel prize winners.

4.    The University of Paris-Sud has its main campus in Orsay in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. The other campuses are distributed around other cities in France. Paris-Sud is the biggest university in France, famous in the fields of mathematics and science in particular. It has been ranked the 1st best university in France, the 6th best in Europe and 37th best in the world according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

5.    The Pantheon-Sorbonne University situated in Paris is one of the biggest universities in France with 40,000 students.  The university is divided up into 5 institutions offering degrees in economics, humanities, law, management and political science.

Amerispan recently featured in the New York Times! An article entitled “Single for the Holidays” by Stephanie Rosenbloom discussed in depth the benefits of travelling alone as well as some of the best solo traveler destinations. It seems that Rosenbloom is experienced in the field of “flying solo” and would recommend it for the following reasons:

1. If you are away from family & friends at Christmas time, then a Parisian café is much nicer place to be alone than your living room where the chances of being approached by a beautiful stranger are considerably less.
2. Tour operator Abercrombie and Kent have noticed a 29% increase in solo travel compared to last year. This demonstrates that it is an increasingly popular option and no longer a risky thing to do with “Singles” tours ensuring safety in numbers.
3. Tours for solo travelers attract people with no romantic ambitions whatsoever as well as eligible singles.
4. Solo travel is a great opportunity to engage is solo activities such as a being scrubbed at a Turkish bath.
5. Overseas travel is a great opportunity to learn a foreign language (this is where Amerispan comes in!)

Amerispan offers over 15 languages in more than 45 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Africa. Not only is knowledge of a second language a hugely gratifying thing to have, but you will be more marketable and have more career choices than your monolingual counterpart. What’s more, your travel experience will be utterly transformed: Spaniards are kindhearted and hospitable and if you can speak their language, you will find that you receive a much warmer welcome than your monolingual counterpart.

According to Rosenbloom, some of the best solo traveler destinations are as follows:

• Anne Banas, executive producer of www.smartertravel.com says she particularly likes the European Cities in the winter given that they are cheaper out of season. Additionally, many travelers say that they have a more authentic experience in winter time given that the locals aren’t all out of town holidaying themselves.
• Venice, although renowned as a couples retreat, is allegedly a great place for a “contemplative escape” according to Alison Bing, writer of 40 books for www.lonelyplanet.com. She reminisces on a day she went bar-hopping with a group of Venetians during “high water” (when the Venetian Lagoon rises and everyone is left ankle-deep in water).
• You can take Courses in sun soaked places like Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Amerispan offers fun solo breaks such as Spanish & Windsurfing, French & Wine and Portuguese & Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music). Amerispan also offers language courses in France, Spain and Italy specifically designed for daring adults over the age of 50.

For all those of you who have always had problems with the Spanish numbers, here comes the solution!: A memory hook on how to internalize the numbers in Spanish! First of all, it can be said that knowing the Spanish numbers one to ten is already most of what you need. If you are not acquainted with these numbers, here is a little list to recap:

one        -              uno (fem.: una)

two        -              dos

three    -              tres

four       -              cuatro

five        -              cinco

six          -              seis

seven   -              siete

eight     -              ocho

nine       -              nueve

ten         -              diez

The other Spanish numbers are merely easily made combinations of the numbers you have just learned and the decimal numbers which are listed here:

twenty                 -              veinte

thirty                    -              treinta

forty                     -              cuarenta

fifty                       -              cincuenta

sixty                      -              sesenta

seventy                 -              setenta

eighty                   -              ochenta

ninety                  -              noventa

As you can see, these numbers are quite easy to internalize since they look almost like the single-digit numbers with the ending –enta.

When we take a closer look at the other decimals, we see that they are just an adding up of numbers. Thirty one is for example treinta y uno which is to say thirty and one, and this rule is true for all two digit numbers, except….

As always in life there are some few exceptions which are detailed below:

For the twenties, instead of the “y”, we use an “i” and connect both the multiples of ten and the one-digit number. Here´s an example: “veintiuno”. This is true for all numbers with twenty and thus very easy to learn. The same holds true for the majority of the teens, namely sixteen through to nineteen only that, in addition, the “z” in diez becomes a “c”. For example, nineteen in Spanish is: diecinueve.

In the same group of Spanish numbers with ten and twenty there is another exception with the numbers ending in two, three and six. Here, an accent is put on the “o” or “e” respectively such that, in the end, the numbers look like this: dieciséis, veintidós, veintitrés and veintiséis.

Q: Why did I not mention the numbers twelve and thirteen? A: Because they belong to the third and last group of exceptions. To be honest, the numbers eleven to fifteen are very weird and do not follow such a logical structure like the others. But they are very few and can be learnt directly in one row with the one-digit numbers. Here they are:

eleven                 –              once

twelve                 -              doce

thirteen               -              trece

fourteen             -              catorce

fifteen                 -              quince

My recommendation is to first learn the Spanish numbers from one to fifteen and then the multiples of ten, before finally combating the rest! The pronunciation isn’t a problem either since the numbers are pronounced exactly as they are written.

I hope this small lecture helped you a bit to find your way through the Spanish number jungle! In any case, you can always do an intensive Spanish language course at one of our language schools in Spain or Latin America. We offer Spanish courses at every level, from beginner to professional.

We are waiting for you!

Even though many people who study Spanish might not know, there is more than one version of Spanish spoken in Spain. There is a variety of languages and dialects to be encountered when traveling from north to south and from west to east that are influenced by the various cultures and languages of invaders during the country’s history.

Castilian, or Spanish, which is taught in Spanish schools is the official language in Spain. It’s the mother tongue in almost all communities in Spain. However, six of the seventeen communities also have, alongside Castilian, another official language. This bilingualism is commonplace in Spain.

According to a survey taken in 2005, Castilian is the mother tongue of 89% of the Spanish population, the Catalan language of 9%, the Galician language of 5%, and the Basque language of 1% (some declared two mother tongues). Except Basque, all of these languages belong to the family of romantic languages.

The origin of the Basque language is more or less unknown. Most popular theory says that it stems from the Caucasian languages which are spoken in the region between Russia and Turkey. This could be explained by the presence of people from this region in 1200 BC on the Iberian Peninsula. However, the expanse of the language was reduced by Latin and Castilian such that today it is only spoken in the Basque country in the northernmost parts of Spain.

The Galician language of the northwest of the peninsula is strongly influenced by Portuguese and, typical of a romantic language, results from the evolution of the Vulgar Latin. The language sank into oblivion at one point but then experienced a revival during the 14^th century when great poets came up writing in Galician.

The Catalan language at on Spain’s eastern coast, including the regions of Barcelona and Valencia, evolved directly from Latin. Catalan literature saw great success during the Middle Ages but was almost abandoned from the 14^th until the 18^th century when the use of the language was limited to administrative documents. Today, with almost eight million speakers, the language is more important than ever.

Next to the different languages, there also exists a variety of dialects in Castilian which are however mutually intelligible. The two main families of dialects are those of the north and the south with its border running laterally at the latitude of Madrid. The dialects of the north are not as strong but more diverse than their southern counterparts. The southern dialects, on the other hand, tend to be characteristically strong and swallow, for example, the endings of words or even consonants in the middle of the word.

In all parts of the country are Spanish schools which offer courses in Castilian Spanish. All the guest families and hosts for students subscribed to these courses speak Castilian too. However, if you want to do a Spanish immersion program by being entirely surrounded by the most “pure” Spanish, the region Castilla y Leon is highly recommendable. The city of Salamanca, for example, is a popular destination for many students from Brazil, who are keen on learning the original Spanish rather than going the easy way to neighboring Spanish speaking countries: Argentina, Bolivia or Colombia.

The languages and dialects in Spain form a colorful mix and make studying Spanish in Spain all the more interesting and diversified!