1*Why learn Spanish? Today, around 500 Million people around the world speak Spanish. Spanish is the mother tongue of about 350 million people in 21 countries, so it’s safe to say, knowledge of this language would be very useful.

2* Also, the total Hispano-American population in the USA has increased by 60 % in one decade, which means they now represent 12.5% of the total North-American population. Because of this increase, demand for Spanish-speaking employees in the media market (radio, television, press etc.) has grown strongly!

3*Learn to speak Spanish for: The economical pulling power;  Latin-American countries have experienced strong economic growth, which makes them very important trading partners.

4*Usability and practicalities sake: Study Spanish and become fluent in the world’s third most spoken language, after Mandarin Chinese and English, and ranks second in terms of native speakers.

5*Spanish language qualifications are good for your career: it is a well-known fact that bilingual people are more marketable and therefore have more career choices in comparison to monoglots (people who speak just one language).

6* Spanish Language travelling: Learn Spanish to enjoy traveling in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Panama, etc. Speaking Spanish opens up new doors and lets you experience new things.

7*Learning other languages: If you can learn Spanish, you’ll have a head start in learning the other Latin-based languages such as French and Italian. And it will even help you learn Russian and German, since they too have Indo-European!

8*It’s easy: Spanish is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn. Much of its vocabulary is similar to English’s, and written Spanish is almost completely phonetic: Look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced!

9* Spanish Culture: This is one of the most renowned and celebrated cultures in the world. Whether you´re interested in tapas, dance, football, music, wine etc.. Spanish culture is one of the most diverse (and fun!) cultures to immerse yourself in.. And what better way to do this than through learning Spanish!

10*For your health: Last but not least, learn Spanish and age more slowly. Studies show that by learning a new language you can halt the age-related decline in your mental functions…!

 

Why not check our our Spanish courses today? Or read more about the social and cultural aspects!

 

Whats on?!

Blanco y negro; Art gallery/pub

Check out Blano y Negros newest art exhibition with beautiful art works by graffiti artist Manuel Mesa on display from May 17th to June 9th. Relax and take in the creativity of Mesa while enjoying a tinto de verano.

Music

Sala Milwaukee: Take a trip to this alternative music club during May and catch a variety of acts including: * The Farelli and Bourbon on Friday 20th of May at 11:30pm (Rock band)

* Alfred on Saturday May 21st at 9pm (Rock band)

* Octavia Kotan and Alba Molina on May 27th at 11:30pm (Fusion of music genres)

 

Theatre

With a 3 very different shows this month in the Teatro Municipal Pedro Muños Seca, theatre fans in El Puerto are spoilt for choice!

  • “Razas” de David Mamet is on Saturday 21st at 9pm. Described as a “legal thriller” it sure to impress!
  • “Sueño” de Javier Rubial begins at 9pm on Friday May 27th, accompanied by the melodic music of the Cordoba orchestra, this is a must for any Guitar/cultural Spanish music lover.
  • On Sunday the 1st of June, at 12pm, there is a theatre production “Graboncito Superstar”, children for 4+ are invited to attend the spectacle with the parents. (3€ entrance.)

 

Events taking place in neighbouring towns and cities

 

Benot Gallery

Check out this Art gallery in Cadiz from 26th of May to the 26th of June, on Ramón de Carranza, 10. Skilled artist and photographer Javier Lorente´s works are displayed.

Cadiz Musuem

Situated in Plaza Mina in Cadiz, this month, the museum offers free guided tours of the museum on Tuesdays at 12pm, (runs until June 26th). Arrive at 11:45am to ensure your place place. Open normally from Wed to Sat 9am-8:30PM, Tues 2:30PM-8PM and Sun 9am-2:30PM.

Enjoy your month!

If you´re interested in the culture and history of El Puerto, why not take  look at our social and cultural events programme? See what you can do with our Spanish courses!

 

Hola!

So, the last time I wrote, I had only experienced one night of El Puerto de Santa Maria Feria. Now, I have attended some more great nights of the festival.

Thursday
:On Thursday, Fiona and I went to Feria after work to meet with our friends…Unfortunately, due to lack of credit, dead phone batteries and general confusion; we did not get to meet anyone! However, we still managed to have a great time with some more delicious algodon dulce (I am addicted!), and going on some rides (including the bumper cars where we got trashed by kids). All the rides were half price on this day, so it is a great day to go if you love funfairs!

As for the Flamenco/Sevillans fashion, I did not see as many Flamenco dresses as I had expected for Ladies night. Nonetheless, there were some beautiful dresses to be spotted here and there.
We left Feria at about 2AM.. Exhausted… but with big plans to take a trip to Jerez, in order to find Flamenco dresses.. the following morning.

Friday:5 hours later, we groggily made our way to Jerez with another friend, Annie. When we arrived, we found the 2nd hand flamenco dress shop very easily and were all excited about our excellent navigation skills and indeed, the thoughts of new dresses. This excitement was short-lived as two men outside of the shop politely informed us, that the charity shop would not be open again until Monday “but there are loads of great dresses…!!” he added. Dilemma.
Disappointed and disheartened, we treated ourselves to a massive calorie laden breakfast involving 3 molletes (a tasty type of bread, toasted with olive oil, ham and tomato sauce, ¼ KG of Churros (a fried dough snack that originated in Spain), 2 cups of melted chocolate (to dip the churros in), 3 orange juices and some coffees. Nom.

Flamenco Dresses

We discussed the predicament in question and tried to come up with some ideas…! We headed back to El Puerto with our minds set on: flowers to put in our hair and fans to keep cool with. These two things were the closest we could get to taking part in this cultural Spanish event.
Back at the ranch in El Puerto (aka our apartment), Ky (a new girl from Australia who has recently moved in with us), showed us her options for the evening.. She had 2 skirts and 1 dress.. She chose to wore a black skirt with pink lace trim and she offered Fiona a green polka dot skirt.. There was one dress remaining. Ky thought it was too much/tacky..But, I fell in love with its satiny red, ruffled goodness! I tried it on and

I wanted it. Its safe to say I was delighted when she suggested I wear it! Thanks Ky!
Dressed up to the max we made our way to Feria, where we met with our workmates in one of the “casettas” or marquees. There, we chatted and had some lovely pimientos fritos (fried peppers) and some “rebujitos” (the traditional Feria drink made from Sherry and 7up).
Ky, Maria, Jessica, Inge and I all donned the traditional Feria dress to mark the occasion. After that, we meant with some more people and went for a walk around the different casettas, checking out the fashion, food and sevillanas. The fashion was gorgeous; so extravagant, colourful, bright, and beautiful! Personally, Friday felt far more like Ladies night than Thursday had.
Friday was definitely my favourite night of Feria,( even though I also attended on Saturday and Monday night) as there was a real buzz about the place and I enjoyed feeling part of the Spanish culture

Learn more about the Spanish Culture with our fantastic free programme!

Or the “Alumbrao” as Spaniards call it..This took place in El Puerto last night, and lucky for me, I was there to witness it!

The first part of the night began (for me) at about 10pm, when I watched the fireworks from the roof top of my apartment. They consisted of gorgeous bright pinks, cool greens, tranquil blues and fiesty reds! It really was a beautiful site to see lighting up the night sky.

Next, Fiona, Sanne and I caught a bus to Feria. When we arrived we were amazed at all the lights, food, stalls and the electric atmosphere.

We managed some candy floss (algodon dulce), some sweet waffles with chocolate and cream (gofres con chocolate y nata) and a tinto de verano, of course! The pink candy floss was my personal favourite.

After gaining about two stone from the food stalls, we looked around the markets, paradise if you like bling bling jewelry, or anything cheap and cheerful really!

Then, we meet up with Josh and Hazel and went to the back of the Feria grounds, where there is a massive funfair. I went on one roller coaster with Sanne and thought I was going to die. Luckily, we both survived and the adrenaline rush afterwards was well worth it!

At about 2AM, we made our way back to the bus, not without noticing the masses of “Sevillanas” tents/marquees, where all ages of men, women and children could be seen following the movements of Sevillanas.

The fashion at Feria was so extravagent and colourful and beautiful, but tonight is Ladies night, so I can imagine it will become 100 times better than it was yesterday…!

I’ll keep you posted!

Hola a todos!

I’m back, it has been a while, I know! I have been in El Puerto de Santa Maria for over 3 months now, and the time is flying by.
The weekend just gone, was one I had been dreading; A work weekend in the mountains. Although I had been told by numerous of my work mates that it would be “really fun” and “not just work”, it safe to say I was not one bit convinced.

The work weekend started off on Friday night, in Zapata, the Mexican restaurant that we went to on our very first night. Here, I met lots of new people, the majority of which were returnee TECS summer camp staff. There were over 20 of us, and I enjoyed meeting new people… a lot of whom were close to my age.

Saturday began early, we had to leave El Puerto at 9, and with 4 girls and 1 bathroom, it was essential to be up in time to fight for your hygiene.. Luckily, there were no fights and we all managed a shower…!

When Niall picked us up at 9, he joked there was a cat trapped in the engine of his van.. We laughed it off and made our way happily to the station. As we drove down by the port, we heard a noise… A feline sounding noise… Horrified, we realised that Niall had not been joking (although he had thought the cat had escaped by the time he picked us up).

At the station, we meet with nearly all the other TECS staff that were going on the Training Planning Weekend (TPW). After telling them about the cat, they became just as worried as us, until Maria Canos saved the day by rescuing the tiny ginger kitten out of the engine.

After that adventure, Niall drove us to Grazalema, which took about an hour and a half. On arrival we were greeted by a delicious breakfast, introductory presentation by Doug and a tour of the area by Niall. Then we set to work for a few hours.

I worked on a presentation for Spark, while the others worked on TECS summer camp objectives. We also had a music session where we sang and danced to the TECS song and the brand new Spark Spanish song. (It is awesome!)

After a relatively short day of work, we had a tasty BBQ and relaxed out doors with a few drinks. At about 1AM, we took it inside where Fiona and Kylie split us into teams and gave us a quiz, with rounds including; tecs knowledge, who am i, random facts and music.

I am proud to say my team, which consisted of Doug, Henry, Ella, Jill and me, won. We celebrated with a bottle of bubble and some chocolates.

After that, most people went to bed, while the lively young ones (Rosa, Niall, Fiona, David, Guille, Ali, Fiona and I), managed till at least 5am…

On Sunday, work began at 11 and finished at 2. It was a relaxing work day and I felt the calm atmosphere surrounding the weekend was excellent.

In the end, it was a productive weekend, which turned out to be a lot more fun than I anticipated, and I really enjoyed it.

This week, I am planning to go to Feria. I will keep you updated!

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The Spark Languages team

Puerto strand

El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, met 5 van de beste stranden in Spanje en veel van de beste restaurants en nachtleven.  Wat wil je nog meer?

Puerto beach

El Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, with 5 of the top beaches in Spain and some of the best restaurants and nightlife.  What more could you ask for?

Onze lessen

Bij Spark weten dat het leren van een taal dynamisch en interessant moet zijn, daarom hebben we Spaanse cursussen voor iedereen.

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At Spark we know learning must be dynamic and enjoyable which is why we have Spanish courses for every learner’s needs.

Wat wij geloven

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What we believe

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