I'm going to Spain next year April to live with a host family and learn Spanish. Which is the best city?

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BarcelonaMan

Are you going to be studying at an academy or just to live there and learn Spanish on the street? This is an important question.

Madrid should be your first choice because the Spanish is "The King's Spanish" and there are also more families "hosting" students. And, since it's the capital of the country and chock-full of museums, history, and entertainment options Madrid has to be far and above all others.

Salamanca should be your second choice. There, the Spanish is also "The King's Spanish" but there'll be fewer host families and there's less to see/do.

Many never having visited Spain before would probably consider Barcelona but I would not recommend it. While academy teachers are surely teaching you Castellano/Castillian Spanish ("The King's Spanish") the people in the street are speaking a different language; CatalÃ¡n. CatalÃ¡n is a different language, not a dialect of Spanish although there are some similarities.

Best of luck and enjoy your experience in Spain!

Saludos, MadridMan/BarcelonaMan(.com)

ELF

You should go somewhere in AndalucÃa.(SEVILLA or GRANADA)
1.People are very nice.
2.You'll meet a lot of foreigners and students. A lot of international parties.And those cities are not as expensive as Madrid.
3.There are a lot of things to see. Check la Giralda, la Alhambra, Los Reales AlcÃ¡zares, La Mezquita de CÃ³rdoba on internet.
4.You'll be near the beach.
5. In spring there are a lot of parties: check feria de Sevilla, Semana Santa de Sevilla, Cruces de mayo en Granada.

You'll have fun anywhere in Spain, no matter where you decide to go. Oh and don't listen to some people who tell you that they speak very well in Madrid because their grammar is not good. (The switch direct complement with indirect complement sometimes and pronounce d as a z) so DÃgame should learn those thing before talking about. You are not going to catch an accent but if you learn the grammar wrong
it's going to be difficult to get ride of that problem in the future.

It's true that in some parts of Spain they speak also another language (Pais Vasco, CataluÃ±a, Valencia,Galicia and Bareals Islands) so maybe there you won't be able to practise your spanish that much.
In the rest of the country they just speak Spanish and nothing else.

I hope It helps. Have fun!!

wet26

Then you have to go to Madrid.

Sergio

I would definitely recommend you to go to Madrid, it's the capital of Spain, the liveliest city and it's got unlimited things to do and see, you will never get bored of it! It is also very international and hosts students from every part of the world, apart from being multicultural itself!

One of my friends from London has recently been there for some weeks on one of these language programmes in which you stay there with a host family and that, and he's been amazed at Madrid, he's loved it and he would do it again! Apart from that, I can really tell his Spanish has improved a lot, and even his accent!

Good luck with your Spanish!

eoloios

I think that you should go to a non-beach touristic place, far away from english speakers and to a well pronunciation spanish area.

I think that Madrid, Castille, AragÃ³n, Cantabria, Navarre or Rioja could be a good place to go.

Pimboli

between Madrid and Barcelona I'd say definitely Madrid. Barcelona is more touristy plus they have the whole Catalan identity issue. Madrid would allow you to have the whole Spanish experience.

Slick1

Be careful., the people in spain will try to knock you out!

SUE

You want international? Go to Madrid or Barcelona.

You want true, romantic Spain, with the deep-rooted flamenco and moorish art, go to Sevilla or Granada.

You want a party atmosphere that's full of students, go to Salamanca.

Every region, every town has a different flavor, but I can guarantee, that if you have a good relationship with your family, and nothing goes wrong (things rarely go seriously wrong) that wherevr you choose, you will always look back fondly upon your time, and the place will always seem like a second home town.

Use common sense, you will have a BLAST!!!

ok!

I am Spanish.
I really recommend you to go to Alicante.
Very nice people, a lot of good beaches, a lot of things to do...
You will spend a great time!
The climate is very hot, around 22-25 degrees Celsius in April and 30-35 degrees in the summer.
You have to see St Barbara's castle.
It is very near of Benidorm, known internationally because a lot of people from all the countries go there to enjoy the beaches and the good climate.
Alicante also have a very beautiful port.
The population of Alicante is around 300.500 people.
You must visit "El Palmeral", in the south entry of Alicante, it has hundreds of palms and abundant autochthonous vegetation, besides a lake and waterfalls that can be visited in small available boats to rent.

Alicante is the best!

Carousel

It has to be Madrid. It's the only place that speaks perfect Spanish. Everywhere else has a dialect. Don't come to Andalucia. They chop the ending off words and occasionally in the middle.

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