Our new intern Florian from the s-w-e-p team took the chance to learn Spanish and did a 4-week language course in our partner language school in Puerto de la Cruz prior to his internship. Why did he like the course and why would he recommend it to other interns? You can find the answers here:

Gain work experience, meet new people, having a sunbath on the beach – that’s how you imagine the life of an intern on the Canary Islands. But the longer you think about it, the more you get concerned about other topics. How do you communicate with Spanish people? Will you starve in the restaurant because you can only order “una cerveza, por favor”? These questions and much more crossed my mind. That’s why I decided to learn the language that is spoken the second most common in the world. As I would work as an intern on Tenerife, it was obvious for me to do the language course prior to my internship on Tenerife too.

My new home for the next 4 weeks was Puerto de la Cruz. I was very excited about my student flat and didn’t spare time to explore it. The 4-room-flat was nice and spacious. I lived together with two German guys and two Asian girls and they welcomed me very friendly. Fortunately there were no language barriers because we all could speak English. The Spanish lessons lasted from 9am to 1pm each weekday. We were 4 students in the beginner class: another German girl, one guy from Holland and one girl from the UK. During the break most of the students met in a café near the language school and had a coffee.

All in all I liked the language course very much. The atmosphere was relaxed and it was fun to go back to school after several years of studying. Everyone could ask questions at every time and our teachers always answered and explained everything promptly. After our morning classes we had the opportunity to attend the cultural lessons in the early afternoon. In these lessons we got to know some characteristics of the Spanish culture, for example dancing salsa, learning about Spanish food, singing Spanish songs as well as being told interesting facts about the history of this remarkable country on the Iberian Peninsula.

After a short period of time I determined first successes. In the supermarket and in the restaurant I was able to understand the people and could manage to say some easy sentences. In addition it was very helpful to live in a Spanish-speaking environment because I was confronted with Spanish every day.

I hope you could get an impression about my great experience here on Tenerife. I benefitted from the language course and I really would recommend you to also learn this fascinating language!

¡Hasta luego!
 
Flo from your s-w-e-p team