As an avid baseball "béisbol" fan, there are many ways I can tie this into keeping my Spanish fresh. 

For one, MLB.com offers subscribers to pick which radio feed to listen to including home, away, English AND Spanish (if available).  Most cable systems offer a foreign language tier, which includes sports and baseball.  Take a look at your home teams roster and you are likely to find a whole host of players from Latin America.  After the season ends, you will find the leagues in Mexican, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican and the Domican Republican full of major and minor leaguers playing and honing the craft.

However, the last few years, I've found myself checking the baseball rumor sites during free agency and before the trade deadline.  By far the best site for baseball rumors is mlbtraderumors.com, so I was excited to recently discover its Spanish language sister site: www.rumoresdebeisbol.com.  So if you are a baseball fan or your interests lie elsewhere, find something that interests you and expand your language skills while having fun.

Tip: Our Nicaragua Spanish school is located in Granada, Nicaragua which has a nice baseball stadium where doing your homework might include catching a game.

Meet Laura Ruiz Gonzalez, Head of Studies at AmeriSpan's Granada Spanish school in Granada, Spain

What is your background?
I'm 39 years old and have a degree in Hispanic philology from Granada's own University of Philosophy and Letters. I live close to Granada and am married with two children, ages 4 and 7. All of my family lives in or near Granada.

Do you travel abroad often?
No.

Have you ever studied abroad?
No.

Which languages do you speak or have studied? 
I'm an Intermediate English speaker.
 

How and why did you get into the Study Abroad market?
I entered the world of language education following a course in Spanish for foreign professors ("OCR"- Oxford, Cambridge Royal Society of Arts of Great Britain).

  When did you start/join your organization?
20 years ago.

 What is your job or function at the organization?
I am the Head of Studies.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
Direct contact with people, I always felt true passion for intercultural communication and increasing others' familiarity with Spanish culture and language.

Was a person, group of people or organization instrumental in your success?
The truth is that I have to thank the Don Quijote staff, who 11 years ago gave me the opportunity to be a part of their team.

Tell us one of your biggest challenges in starting your organization.
The biggest challenge is to integrate new students into new groups every Monday, and making sure the open groups remain focused!

Tell us one of your biggest mistakes in your job, studying/teaching a language and/or traveling abroad.
Cultural misunderstandings!

Can you tell us about your school’s philosophy, specialty and/or why you think it is special?
It's special because we have a staff of teachers dedicated 100% to their work, and this really engages students!

Anything else?
-Always keep an open mind.
-It's important to know that you are able to learn from people of different nationalities – this will lead to incredible personal enrichment.

Find out more about our Granada Spanish school

1. Madrid
The Nebrija campus in Madrid is centrally located in the Dehesa de la Villa neighborhood, and is close to shops, landmarks, public transportation and a park.  Students can opt to stay in an apartment or with a host family, and have access to a computer lab, cafeteria, and library.  Semester programs are available in the Spring, Summer, and Fall in English and Spanish.

2. Granada
Granada is a captivating city located at the foot of the Andalusian Mountains and a short bus ride away from the Mediterranean.  The semester program has a unique layout, as it includes both a "Ten Day Intersession" in Madrid and an allotted ten days for personal travel time.

Classes at our partner university in Granada are taught half in English and half in Spanish, although no prior knowledge of Spanish is necessary.  This program is available during the Fall semester only.

3. Barcelona UAB
The UAB (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) campus has much to offer: proximity to the beach and mountains, three day weekends, excursions, lodging options, and opportunites to participate in a variety of group outings and school-sponsored cultural activities.

UAB is recommended for students with an existing low-intermediate or higher understanding of Spanish, as students take 90 hours of Spanish class with the option of Spanish or English electives.  The campus provides access to libraries, computer labs, cafeterias and other campus facilities.

Students may spend a Spring/Fall semester at UAB or select one of the shorter Summer semesters.

4. Barcelona BIC
Our BIC (Barcelona International College) campus also offers the pluses of study in Barcelona and homestay options/three-day weekends.  The main difference between UAB and BIC is that BIC offers electives in English only, so if your Spanish level is lower than intermediate, this may be the choice for you.  Additionally, this university caters to an even more international crowd and its program is easier to customize.

The campus is located three metro stops from the popular Plaza de Catalunya, and the facilities are excellent.  This program is available for Spring, Fall, and 2 different Summer semesters.

For details, check out:

Madrid College Study Abroad
Granada College Study Abroad
Barcelona UAB College Study Abroad
Barcelona BIC College Study Abroad

Browse all of AmeriSpan's College Study Abroad programs

Watch this video of our Spanish school in Granada, Spain, one of our Spain Fever locations. For more information on our Spanish program in Granada, visit our Granada Spanish school. 

Known for its cultural events, breathtaking cultural attractions (such as the majestic Alhambra), and its place as an up and coming modern Spanish city, Granada provides a fitting and inspiring background to your collegiate Spanish course studies.  It’s only a couple of hours away from Madrid by car or us, and even closer to a plethora of gorgeous beaches and other lovely destinations.

Our Granada School Building

Our school is even more enticing; Complete with a great view and balconies, multimedia room, an international student body, and recreation area, our Granada campus stands at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains and just 45 minutes from the Mediterranean Ocean. 

Set up through the University of Southern Mississippi, your coursework will include thirteen weeks of customizable classes in English and Spanish, excursions including a 10-day intersession art course in Madrid, and  various cultural activities.  This program is ideal for a student wishing to save money on college tuition who wants a great college semester while discovering Spain!

See AmeriSpan Semester Abroad in Granada
See All AmeriSpan College Study Abroad Programs

I have traveled to Spain before on business, but this time it was different. I was unemployed and on a budget, but the flip side was that I was the master of my own schedule and had the luxury of time. I decided to fly into Madrid, spend a few days there before heading to Sevilla where I would start my Spanish study. I was landing on 31st evening in Madrid and looked forward to spending New Year’s Eve the traditional Madrid way; in Puerta del Sol with everybody else, eating a grape with each strike of the clock and ushering in the New Year. I was looking forward to an interesting international experience.

Since I had booked the hotel at the last minute and it was New Year’s Eve, there was hardly any choice available. I booked what looked like the only decent hotel in my budget range, going by the travel web site’s advice that it was in central Madrid. I considered myself lucky that I had even found a hotel. However, when I landed in Madrid, jetlagged and exhausted after a 16-hour flight, and instructed the cab driver (using my newly practiced Spanish phrases) to take me to my hotel in central Madrid, I was surprised to find him quite confused. He spoke rapidly in Spanish and gesticulated wildly, I was able to make out that he was telling me that no such address existed in Madrid. Exasperated, I called the hotel (an expensive roaming call from the US cell) and handed my phone to the driver to sort out directly (my “Habla ingles?” got a resounding “No!” from the hotel front desk). They spoke for a while, then driver handed me the phone, looking satisfied. I heaved a big sigh of relief. Finally I would get to the hotel – I badly needed a shower and a nap before the evening’s festivities.

The driver whizzed off and in about five minutes, I was surprised to see him leaving the city of Madrid. My alarm grew exponentially after fifteen minutes, when our cab was most definitely out of the city headed towards, what seemed, the middle of nowhere.  With no Spanish phrases handy for this emergency situation, I was in a state of panic. After twenty-five minutes, the cab pulled up in front of a lonely hotel in the middle of an industrial zone. There was nothing but a few large supermarkets and some desolate looking industrial complexes around me. The name of the hotel matched that on my Internet confirmation slip – so it was the right one after all. The web site had just conveniently forgotten to tell me that it was 20km outside Madrid, where I would stare at the back of Carrefour from my hotel room instead of some vibrant plaza in central Madrid.

I had no choice but to check in and then spent the immediate 20 minutes fighting with the travel agency over an expensive international phone call. They didn’t apologize for their mistake, but asked me to file a formal complaint. I decided to stay the night and check out the next day and move to Madrid anyway. The money was sunk, but I could not possibly stay here in this industrial wasteland for two days and ruin the beginning of my trip.

So much for eating grapes in Puerta del Sol and having an interesting beginning to the New Year! Everything (including the hotel restaurant) was closed for New Year’s Eve and I was doomed to my hotel room in this industrial wasteland, feeling hungry, frustrated and jetlagged. Fortunately the hotel manager was nice and he fixed me some bread and cheese when I told him I was hungry. So, I stayed in my room, watched TV, ate bread and cheese, drank Coke from the mini-bar and ruminated on the perils on international travel. But tomorrow would be a new day, a new year in fact, and there was still hope for better things. Happy 2010!

Click for more information on AmeriSpan’s Spanish programs in Spain.