Why is choosing the right city so important for improving your Spanish and enjoying your stay?

When choosing a Spanish course or a language course in general, students tend to choose the cities that appear most often in the media. This doesn´t mean that they are better or worse than others, but that they have more money at their disposal for the marketing of their cities. This point is important because very few people are aware of it.

In the end, people tend to opt for places where they suppose there is lot going on, which stems from the fact that the city has invested a lot of money in its publicity. A further draw is friends or family acknowledging that the city is attractive and interesting, purely because the name of the city evokes certain images in their minds.

In this sense, cities, as well as countries, have a “brand” and when you choose one certain city, you are choosing a brand. This is why the well-known slogan “smile, you are in Spain” was chosen, since this is what foreigners imagine when they think of Spain: constant smiles on everyone´s faces because they relate Spain to sun, festivals and holidays. In this way, it is popular to go to Nice or Paris if you study French, or to head to London or Edinburgh if you learn English, simply because of the powerful marketing strategies utilized by these cities.

Having said that, it´s important to mention that it´s one thing visiting these cities at a tourist level (always more expensive, with more tourists and sometimes a higher crime rate as well) but it´s another thing entirely living in these cities to check whether they are the right places in which to learn a language. A typical example of this is Barcelona, a city with countless Spanish schools, yet it is almost impossible to find anything in Castilian Spanish there. The majority of things are only in Catalan, which is also the main language learnt in schools. This fact doesn´t normally occur to the foreign tourist, who is typically between the ages of 18 and 35 and in search of a language course. Generally, the degree of ignorance of a country and its reality are worlds apart. As a consequence, these people lean more towards choosing a “brand” they already know and recognize in order to feel more secure about their choice. They don´t mind paying a bit more for their language course in these heavily-marketed cities, because they are buying into the brand. Other times, the cities are recommended by language agencies who simply want to give peace of mind to their customers and make a quick sale.

To this end, it´s important to ensure you know where you´re going; talk to the local people and ask if the places you have in mind are the best places to go. If all your information comes purely from your fellow countrymen, you will almost certainly end up in the same place as them, surrounded by hundreds of foreigners just like you, who speak your native language and limit your opportunities to learn the language of the host country.

Instituto Hemingway is in Bilbao. We work with a smaller number of students in each class, the city itself is medium-sized and has many fantastic things to offer: excellent transport links, beaches, mountains, an international airport and a reasonable climate. Bilbao is, in terms of tourism, a very up-and-coming city. It is therefore very difficult to find a student who, without prior knowledge of Spain, has chosen to come to Bilbao. It´s not important if the language school is good or bad, the important thing is the “brand.” If people haven´t heard of the brand, they don´t come.

If you would like to learn Spanish in small groups, go surfing or try out other watersports, or if you want to enjoy a rich Spanish eating culture, the surrounding nature, beaches or architecture in a perfect mix of old and modern, your ideal location is Bilbao. As the slogan says, “come to Bilbao and savour it for for yourself!” .