When it comes to studying Spanish at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the eager student will find that a GoStudySpain package brings everything together. That’s because practising outside the classroom is just as important as what is learnt in the classroom and getting involved in the local culture with students of the same ilk can only enhance the experience.

GoStudySpain Package

The package starts with a pre-study preparation program, which really is a good starting point but, even before that, a GSS package will mean that your accommodation will have been identified for you, which gets you off to a good start.  Imagine trying to organise your own accommodation, if you have never been to Barcelona before.  One, it’s a big place and two, you won’t have the knowledge of good, or not-so-good, areas, or where to find the best price.

Accommodation options 

With GSS, your choice can be a student residence, a shared flat, or a host family.  A student residence means that you will be close to other students and this can be good or bad.  Being with like-minded people will give you a feeling of belonging and that’s good but not all students have their noses to the grindstone, so you could get a little distracted with this option.

Shared flat

A shared flat means that you will share the living room, kitchen and bathroom with other students in the flat but will have your own private bedroom.  This one feels good, as you are now in a quieter environment and one that will most likely be more conducive to studying.  That smaller group of acquaintances might form into a good social group for looking around the local vicinity and finding the places to go for the things you want to enjoy.

Host family

Living with a host family will have advantages.  For example, you can book in for bed and breakfast or for half board, so that’s food preparation off your list of personal responsibilities.  You’ve also got the advantage of having a real live Spanish family at your disposal, both for practising the Spanish language and for asking for advice about things that might crop up in your time outside class.  That family may be made up of only adults, or they may have children so, taking everything into consideration,  you will need to weigh up if a host family will be the best environment for your learning needs.

Catalan

One thing you need to know about Barcelona is that it has its own language of Catalan.  While your host family may use the country’s Castilian Spanish when communicating with you as their guest, Castilian may not be the dominant language in the streets of Barcelona.  This fact could be positive, in that you have the opportunity to listen in on very different brand of Spanish but it could be negative, if all you want to do is practise, practise, practise the Castilian language.

Whichever option you choose for your preferred accommodation, you choose with the comfort of knowing that GSS supplied you with the best student accommodation available to make that choice from and that accommodation will be within thirty minutes of your place of study, unlike what might have been the case in finding accommodation, had you tried to go it alone.

Once you’ve settled in to the accommodation of your choice, you can start enjoying that pre-study preparation program.  This usually takes the form of two days of guided tours and includes visiting restaurants and attractions within the immediate area, as well as soaking up some of the local culture and getting to know the ways of the locals.

And now you’re ready to both study and enjoy.