LEARNING SPANISH IN ENGLAND

A lot of colleges in England run evening courses which are aimed towards mature learners (18 years old plus). These can range from languages courses through to flower arranging, law courses, photography and even how to decorate your bathroom.

In 2012 I carried out a beginner’s level course in Spanish at my local college. Although every teacher and education establishment has different methods of teaching, I got a good insight into how foreign languages are taught to adults in England.

The structure of the beginner’s course I took followed the layout of the course material, which was the Pasos 1: Spanish Beginner’s Coursebook (shown below). This book started off focusing on meeting and greeting people, then works its way through to family and food and drink, with many other subjects in-between. I found the book very clear and the accompanying CD was appreciated. This is a great book for beginners and really helps with learning the basics quickly.

The Pasos 1 Spanish Beginner's Book

I found the way the Spanish class was taught was good, although there was probably too much of a focus on the book. What could have improved the course would have been if more time spent interacting with one another through role playing scenarios.