All the social and professional
opportunities you have in London to actually put your
Spanish into practical use is rare in a non-Spanish speaking
country. It’s a very good reason to take your Spanish
lessons in London over any other city in
England!
The best schools are central, which can be
a problem for some students as London is so big it often
takes a while to travel anywhere. This can make it difficult
to keep up with your classes over the weeks and months it
takes to learn a new language. An extra hour of travelling
on the tube or bus is an extra hassle after a long day at
work.
Because of this you may find it easier to
keep up with learning Spanish over time if you use a good
home-study course. It’s easier to keep consistently focused
on Spanish lessons from the comfort of your own home. These
are by far the best home-study Spanish lessons I have come
across:
When you begin your Spanish lessons it’s
important to make a real effort to think about your Spanish
in between lessons. And ideally to put it to use in
conversation. If you manage to practise even a little in
your own time your Spanish will improve drastically in
comparison to any students who forget about it as soon as
their lessons are over.
London offers plenty of good opportunities
for you to find this practise. Above all, I’d recommend you
find an ‘inter-cambio’ partner. This is a native
Spanish-speaker who you can meet up with regularly,
perhaps for an hour every week in a cafe, to practise both
your Spanish and their English. Remember as an
English-speaker you have a very valuable skill to
trade!
You can find potential partnersatwww.englishforums.com orwww.gumtree.com
. You can also look for Spanish communities in your local area,
and see if you can get involved with their events or social
activities.
Too many students take Spanish lessons but
then never really practise outside of lessons, and when they
finally visit Spain they break into a cold sweat the moment
they have to ask for directions! Make sure you're not one of
them.
But remember, while an inter-cambio
partner is great for practising the language it definitely
isn’t a substitute for good lessons. You need a solid
understanding of grammar and sentence structure before any
conversation. Which you can get from a good home-study
course: