When it comes to choosing the right city to enjoy a Spanish language course, Malaga, on the south coast of Spain, has a lot going for it. With over two thousand four hundred lecturers and teachers, around sixty undergraduate degrees, fifty master’s degrees and forty doctoral programmes are on offer. The first courses for foreign students began way back in 1947 and, today, students come from all over the world. About forty three thousand students attend Malaga University each year, five thousand of whom are foreign students, two thousand of whom are involved in the Spanish language courses. Malaga enjoys good weather all year and, for those Spanish language courses, this university is one of the cheapest options.
Location
Spanish language courses are located in a small village some twenty minutes outside the city centre, meaning that students don’t have to fight the hordes of workers and students heading into the heaving city, in an attempt to get to the classroom on time. This location also offers the student the opportunity to indulge in the local cuisine in the many restaurants and also the popular tapas bars (bars which offer small portions of food with drinks), as well as pass time on the beach which is only minutes away. While the classes may not be held in the main university building, students still have access to all of the facilities on offer, including a language laboratory, sports facilities, student room, garden and terrace.
Courses
Its flexible range of courses can’t help but meet most needs and these range from short courses of four weeks of intensive learning, to a year of indulgence in the Spanish language and culture. Courses cater for the absolute beginner and also offer the already advanced student the opportunity to enrol on specialist courses in Spanish history, literature, film or art, as well as society and politics, colloquial Spanish and more. Malaga offers six levels of language ability, ranging from elementary to proficient, so identifying the right course for you will ensure that you’re not being held back in a class that doesn’t stretch you and, the reverse, you don’t have to pit your wits against students who are way ahead of you, something which can damage your enthusiasm if you’re struggling from the outset.
Intense learningÂ
The intense learning courses are extremely popular and are suited to people who either can’t spend a lot of time in Spain, or need to learn a lot over a short period. Starting at the beginning of each calendar month of the year, these short courses involve ninety hours of learning and the eager student cannot help but be proud of his or her resulting achievement. Class numbers are small, averaging out at about eight to ten students, so learning becomes more comfortable with more individual attention at hand. These courses include five days of four hours of learning and are tailored for different levels of ability, so a learner will be concentrating on grammar, listening and reading, whereas a student in a more advanced class may be studying advanced grammar, giving presentations and taking part in debates.
Quality
Spanish language courses for foreign students began in Malaga University way back in 1985 and so time and experience have perfected what is on offer, not only with content but also with cultural involvement and orientation. Teachers of Spanish all hold a degree in philology, an all-round study of the Spanish language, its history, religion, culture, art, archaeology and more, though some guest speakers may sometimes be invited to present specialist information to students on the advanced courses.  Students come from all over the world, with around sixteen percent from the United States of America, thirteen percent from Germany and eleven percent from China. This means that the eager student also gets the opportunity to widen his or her knowledge of other cultures as well.
Extra-curriculars
Free time activities are also part of the curriculum and students benefit from a few activities arranged by the university like visits to local places of interest. Effective learning should always have free time interaction built into it, because feeling part of the group which, in this case, is students with a common purpose, is an integral party of soaking up the language and culture. Having said that, there are occasions when some free activities planned by universities are cancelled for one reason or another and so using an organisation like GoStudySpain, who can arrange a stand-alone package of free activities, means that you don’t have to miss out on that ever-so important element of living and experiencing the cultural side of Spanish life.