Moving to Barcelona in August

antomorro-sei

I've literally only noticed this forum now

Anyway, as the title says, I'm moving to Barcelona in August for a year to study there. It's an erasmus exchange thingy like. The thing is, I havn't done Spanish since my Leaving Cert (got a C2) and havn't done it at all for my two years of college so far! :eek:

I know I'm leaving it late, but I really need to practice and improve my Spanish to an acceptable level by the end of August. The Catalan shouldn't be such a problem though, as I'll be doing a course through the Univeristy over there, so it's just the Spanish language I need to learn.

Any advice as to what way I should go about it? Rosetta Stone maybe? Don't think I've enough time or money to be going to classes and stuff though, which is rather unfortunate.

Anyway, any advice or help whatsoever would be much appreciated. So, thanks very much!

An Citeog

You could try that but I wouldn't be arsed paying for it tbh. You'll find loads of free resources online for learning Spanish through google. Try watching movies in Spanish and reading Spanish newspapers online. I've seen you post in the soccer forum, so you could always try reading the likes of Marca or the equally balanced Mundo Deportivo. El País would probably be a bit advanced but you can start reading that as your Spanish improves.

Basically, just try to immerse yourself in Spanish as much as you can while you're over there. Which University will you be going to and does it offer an intensive Spanish course before the semester begins?

antomorro-sei

An Citeog wrote: »

You could try that but I wouldn't be arsed paying for it tbh. You'll find loads of free resources online for learning Spanish through google. Try watching movies in Spanish and reading Spanish newspapers online. I've seen you post in the soccer forum, so you could always try reading the likes of Marca or the equally balanced Mundo Deportivo. El País would probably be a bit advanced but you can start reading that as your Spanish improves.

Basically, just try to immerse yourself in Spanish as much as you can while you're over there. Which University will you be going to and does it offer an intensive Spanish course before the semester begins?

Sound. Yeah, should get to a few football games over there too

It's University of Barcelona, and I'll be doing a Catalan intensive course two weeks before the start of the first semester.

An Citeog

antomorro-sei wrote: »

Sound. Yeah, should get to a few football games over there too

It's University of Barcelona, and I'll be doing a Catalan intensive course two weeks before the start of the first semester.

Yeah, the main UB campus is right beside the Camp Nou so no doubting you will! They've a decent sports complex out there aswell with 5-a-side pitches etc and social leagues. I don't know if the university is helping you find accomodation but if they're not, Loquo is a good place to start.

Also, if you play Fifa/Pro Evo, try switching the commentary language to Spanish. You'd be surprised how much football related vocab you can pick up from that!:pac:

antomorro-sei

An Citeog wrote: »

Yeah, the main UB campus is right beside the Camp Nou so no doubting you will! They've a decent sports complex out there aswell with 5-a-side pitches etc and social leagues. I don't know if the university is helping you find accomodation but if they're not, Loquo is a good place to start.

Also, if you play Fifa/Pro Evo, try switching the commentary language to Spanish. You'd be surprised how much football related vocab you can pick up from that!:pac:

Thanks very much. UB told me to use http://www.bcn-housing-students.com/ to book accomodation. I reserved a room in Ciutat Vella in a shared flat for 250 a month. Not too sure if thats bad or good or not but I had no idea what to do for the accomodation!

Yeah, I play FIFA a fair bit so I'll do that!

delighted.

Read any Spanish books you can get your hands on, and watch Spanish films/tv :]

I spent the past 10 months studying at the UB in Barcelona, philology department is a 5 minute walk from the centre of town. Had a brilliant time studying there! If you have any questions feel free to send them my way :]

greendom

Immerse yourself in the culture over there. If you can avoid the temptation of sticking with people who speak English. It's a relatively easy language to pick up and the fact that you already have a grounding in it will help. Get a tv and try listening to the radio as well

antomorro-sei

delighted. wrote: »

Read any Spanish books you can get your hands on, and watch Spanish films/tv :]

I spent the past 10 months studying at the UB in Barcelona, philology department is a 5 minute walk from the centre of town. Had a brilliant time studying there! If you have any questions feel free to send them my way :]

Cheers. Did you go on Erasmus yeah?

I'm going over without knowing anyone. Hope its not too bad :eek:

delighted.

Yeah it was Erasmus.

Going over without knowing anyone is in fact better, no English speaking friends to cling to!
UCC sends about 5 students over each year, so chances are you might find yourself in classes with some of them. Aw, you'll have the time of your life! And if you're living with Spanish people, all the better. Their friends can be your friends, helps along your Spanish nicely too :]

antomorro-sei

delighted. wrote: »

Yeah it was Erasmus.

Going over without knowing anyone is in fact better, no English speaking friends to cling to!
UCC sends about 5 students over each year, so chances are you might find yourself in classes with some of them. Aw, you'll have the time of your life! And if you're living with Spanish people, all the better. Their friends can be your friends, helps along your Spanish nicely too :]

Cheers. Yeah, I just rented a room in a shared apartment/flat thingy in Ciutat Vella so hopefully there's a few sound people staying there!