Speakeasy BCN Spanish Language School — Attraction in Barcelona

I studied for just 2 weeks at Speakeasy but had a good experience, especially as regards changing levels. The placement test put me in a lower level than was appropriate, and the school admin were very flexible about me moving up and then up again, swapping out the textbooks each time for no charge. If you find you're in the wrong level upon arrival, I'd definitely recommend speaking to your teacher on the first day and making your learning objectives clear so you're not wasting time.

I had 5 different teachers due to the level changes and found them all well-prepared and knowledgeable. In general I'd say the students' level of grammar knowledge in this school outstrips their oral ability, at least at the B1 and B2 levels, so keep that in mind when figuring out the right level for you.

The only down side for me was that I didn't find the classes to be intensive. I had 20 hours a week of lessons, but I'd say it was really just 10 hours of instruction and 10 hours of what for me was filler: watching short videos, listening to radio clips, having random discussions that initially related to an exercise but quickly veered off into irrelevant topics, reading aloud, etc. I don't know if for the other students these activities were useful, but for me, they weren't because they didn't seem to have any objective. We didn't, for instance, watch a video and then watch it again with a transcript to pick up the new vocabulary and expressions. We just watched it, had a vague little chat, then went on.

The conversation too was all free-flowing, with little correction and no imposed structure that would require us, for example, to put a new grammatical point to use while speaking. This, I think, may explain why students at the school have such low levels of spoken Spanish as compared to their grammatical understanding. They're allowed to speak however they want in class, using very simple constructions, leaving out verbs, etc. New grammar isn't practiced orally.

During my two weeks I only had homework twice, and never found that I needed to review anything taught in class at home (it was practiced over and over and over in class using photocopies). On the one side, this is good, because your 20 hours of Spanish is just that, 20 hours, no more. But on the other, for someone like me who doesn't have 20 hours of free time a week, I'd love to see Speakeasy introduce a truly intensive class for people who prefer a more academically demanding setting and are willing to supply the effort outside of class to make the...

I do not recommend taking long-term courses (more than three months). I initially planned to continue, but I gave up. If you want to study Spanish for a long time, I strongly suggest trying it out first.

There is a significant difference in the quality of teachers. At the beginning, you will be assigned a highly competent teacher. During this initial phase, when you are experiencing excellent teaching, the school will ask you to leave a review on Google. However, this request will be specifically about that one outstanding teacher.

The real problem starts after that. The quality of the teachers declines significantly. • Some teachers spend most of the class chatting in English with English-speaking students about irrelevant topics. • Even during listening exercises, they keep talking, making it difficult for students to concentrate on hearing and understanding the audio. • While students are working on exercises, some teachers start talking about their personal matters. I’ve seen students having to ask, “Can we please just do the exercises?” The reason for this behavior is simply that the teachers themselves want to chat in English. They do not seem to care much about the students. • Some teachers frequently leave the classroom during lessons, leaving most of the work to the students. They briefly explain what they have written on the board, often without proper clarification, then say, “It’s easy, right?” and immediately assign exercises before walking out of the room. • Even in grammar classes, instead of actually teaching grammar, they just make students talk to each other. This is a clear sign of a lazy approach to teaching.

There are several teachers like this who are not sufficiently competent.

I only encountered two truly excellent teachers. If you are lucky enough to be assigned to one of the very few good teachers, it will be a great experience. Otherwise, you will have to request class changes at the reception multiple times.

Fortunately, class changes are very flexible. I recommend attending a few classes first, and if you are not satisfied, request a class change as soon as possible.

However, you may find yourself repeatedly going through this process due to the inconsistency in teacher quality.

The outstanding teachers I met were...

I attended Speakeasy for 1 year Nov 2020-2021.

Application and visa process: overall pretty straightforward and Kenny the manager was very helpful with explanations and problems. The Spanish consulate in San Francisco was a nightmare to work with. The administration at the front desk was always very helpful throughout the year with my visa issues!

The classes: *In person the whole time but wearing masks and temperature checks etc. *Size limit of 10 people with people coming and going every 2 weeks. *When you start at the school the teacher is able to quickly assess your level and discuss with you your options to stay, move up or down a level *Very international with people from Asia, Europe, US, eastern Europe *Conversation conversation conversation is what the class is all about. Almost no writing. It's quick paced to keep things interesting and engaging. *The teachers overall are all very good and I had 7 or 8 different over the year but some are better than others. *The teaching is all in Spanish so it doesn't matter what native language you speak *In particular I really really thought Bea Bonea was an amazing teacher in that not only was she truly skilled in teaching, she made everyday fun. I spent most of the year following her to whatever level class she was teaching at the time. She always made sure everyone was introduced, always wrote everything down on the board (I'm a visual person and really need to see it written), always did examples of the exercises together before working independently or in groups, always kept your frustration level low (doesn't let you flounder helplessly when you don't know) and incredibly patient. Most of the teachers I had did most of these more or less but she was very consistent and always did all of them. *At the end of the year I was not where I'd like to be with conversation but realize that it's my "ear" that has trouble with hearing. That said, I can read Spanish and watch TV in Spanish with Spanish subtitles and pretty much understand it

In short: I had an excellent experience with Speakeasy and would highly recommend them to anyone seeking to learn...