The horchata (or horchata de chufa) is a sweet and refreshing drink, very characteristic of the city of Valencia. People have it all year round, but it is without a doubt one of the favourite drinks of the citizens and students in the Spanish schools in Valencia to cool down during the hot summer months.
It is made with water, sugar and tiger nuts, small tubers obtained from the roots of a plant named juncia avellanada.
A glass of horchata and fartons
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Be it to dip bread, to put on toast, to season a salad or to fry in the pan, there is nothing better than using the Spanish liquid gold, the olive oil. Together with iberian ham and wine, it is one of the favourite products of Spanish, tourists and students from the Spanish schools in Spain.
Also, it is not only a basic ingredient for many dishes of the Spanish gastronomy, but also experts state it is very beneficial for the health and prevents illnesses. So, if you are undertaking a course in a Spanish school in Spain do no hesitate to use it in all your recipes.
A toast with olive oil
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When we talk about Spanish gastronomy we all think about the paella, the tortilla de patatas and the jamón (ham), but there is another traditional dish from the Spanish food, internationally known: the gazpacho. A sort of cold soup made with a mixture of vegetables (cucumber, tomato and pepper), and with old bread, olive oil, salt, garlic and vinegar. Students from the Spanish schools in Spain usually love it.
There are different varieties for this dish but the most famous one is the one named gazpacho andaluz, as it is from Andalusia and it is most consumed over there. It is one of the tourists’ favourite dishes in the south of Spain, mainly for its great flavour and for its ingredients from the Mediterranean cuisine.
A dish of Gazpacho Andaluz
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One of the main objectives for any Spanish student is to achieve a level of knowledge of the language allowing him to communicate without problems. The best way to know if the level is achieved is to pass one of the examinations from DELE.
The Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) are official certificates given by the Spanish Ministry of Education that certify your level of knowledge of Spanish. These diplomas have a great international prestige, not only because they provide a guarantee of a good understanding of Spanish, but because they help your access to work in Spain and in other countries.
A group of students conducting a review
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The city of Barcelona is a very lively place which offers a great variety of activities for students undertaking a course in a Spanish school. We leave you 8 pieces of advice to never get bored:
La Rambla of Barcelona
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The city of Madrid is a place that offers different activities for students staying in it to undertake a course in a Spanish school. Here we give you some advice:
Gran Vía of Madrid
►…continúa leyendo sobre las mejores cosas que los estudiantes de español puede hacer en Madrid
The match of the year, the confrontation of the century, the Derby, the classic of the Spanish football…many are the names given to this match, a confrontation that all football fans have marked on their calendar and that Spanish students from Spain cannot afford to miss out on.
It will be on Saturday, the 10th of DecemThe match of the year, the confrontation of the century, the Derby, the classic of the Spanish football… a match that Spanish students from Spain cannot afford to miss out on.ber at 10pm, in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, and it will be shown on the television channel La Sexta, freeview.
The Real Madrid and the Barcelona are the best football teams in Spain, two of the most famous internationally, in fact, currently, they are the teams with the biggest budget in the world, both with numbers higher than 450 million Euros, with an advantage on Manchester United, in third place, with 384 M€ for the 2010/2011 season.
The Santiago Bernabeu stadium of Real Madrid
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Spanish’ opening times are different from most of Europe, it is therefore very important that students coming to study in a Spanish school in Spain know about it.
One of the main differences between Spaniards and the rest of the world is the usual timetable, people’s daily lives. InSpainit is customary to get up and go to sleep later than in the rest ofEurope, the same goes for lunch and dinner, which are usually not as early. In our country we usually have lunch between 2 and 4pm, and have dinner between 9 and 11pm.
Opening hours of a business
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Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Björn Borg, Boris Becker… all are on the list of best players in tennis history, Rafael Nadal has to be added to this list now. A sportsman you must have heard of during your Spanish lessons in the Spanish schools in Spain.
He became one of the biggest symbols of Spanish sports history and one of the best tennis players seen on the tennis court. He was born in Mallorca 25 years ago and has beaten many records during his short sports career with a lot of work and humbleness.
The Spanish Rafael Nadal during a match
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He is part of one of the Spanish cinema’s most famous families, Javier Bardem is not only one of the most important actors in Spain, he also knew how to slowly conquer Hollywood, and his films are therefore a very good resource to use to learn Spanish for the Spanish schools in Spain’s students.
He had small roles on television as a child, and his first big appearance on the cinema screens came when the director Bigas Luna directed him in the film “Jamón, jamón” in 1992, inwhich he starred together with his actual wife Penélope Cruz and Jordi Mollà. From this moment on he started playing in many films for which he received numerous awards such as the Goya he received in 1994 for the film “Días contados” and one year later the Goya again for “Boca a Boca”.
El actor español Javier Bardem
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He is considered as most representative of architecture modernism and one of the most famous figures of world’s architecture history. He revolutionised the construction world with his work, looking for perfection and originality in everything he was doing.
His ability to look outside the box and create solutions looking for a new architecture language gave Barcelona its modern character, and every student undertaking a Spanish course in one of the many Spanish schools in Barcelona has therefore the opportunity to enjoy the extensive work of Antonio Gaudí.
Portrait of Antonio Gaudi
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One of the actions that all students will have to make at any time during your stay to learn Spanish at one of the Spanish schools in Spain, will be to get a taxi.
In our country you can take a taxi in three ways: call for city taxi service, go to a taxi rank or stop a taxi on the street, like in the movies. We will are going to teach you a series of words and phrases to practice Spanish in this situation:
General Vocabulary:
Taxi: taxi City centre: centro ciudad
For hire: libre Occupied: ocupado
Taxi rank: parada de taxis To stop: parar
►…continue to learn Spanish with our vocabulary practice
It is one of the traditional dishes from the Spanish cuisine, mainly when it gets cold and we have to warm up in the morning before going out, or to enjoy a sweet treat in the afternoon. Hot chocolate with churros is one of these Spanish habits that any foreign student coming to learn Spanish in a Spanish school in Spain does usually enjoy during his stay.
It is a tradition which is closely linked to Madrid, the Spanish city where it is consumed most, where having churros and hot chocolate for breakfast goes back to the XIXth century. History says that this tradition first started in Cataluña, or that the Arabs brought it to the peninsula, but in reality nobody really knows when and where this pair got popular for breakfast, in Spain.
Hot chocolate with churros
►…continue reading about the best breakfast against the cold,hot chocolate and churros
There is a town in Spain, at less than 40 kilometresfrom Valencia, where the tomato, one of the most important ingredients in our country, has the leading role in one of the most unusual celebrations from Spain, La Tomatina de Buñol. A celebration where participants throw tomatoes at each other for 60 minutes.
This festivity is celebrated during the last week of august in the Valencia Community town of Buñol, so, if you are undertaking a Spanish course in Valencia there is no excuse not to go. The event turned into an advert for Spanish citizens and foreign tourists, attracting more participation year after year. It is undoubtedly, one of the best opportunities for those who come to study Spanish in Spain, to enjoy one of the most famous festivities in our country.
Participantes lanzando tomates desde un camión
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Cooking a potatoes omelette is a very common activity practiced by students who are studying Spanish in Spain. It is one of the most popular where families often cook it to eat in their own homes, although it also appears in the menu of the best restaurants. Anyway, it´s often eaten as a tapa or as appetizer in bars to accompany a caña (glass of beer) or glass of wine.
Pincho de tortilla
It is prepared in about 30 minutes, including preparation and cooking. The ingredients are simply eggs, potatoes and onions, to fry in a pan with oil, preferably olive oil, and a little salt. The popularity of the ingredients and resources facilitates the practice as an activity in the schools of Spanish for students learning Spanish in Spain.
Cut the transverse potatoes in thin circles, although somewhat thicker than the potato chips, and the onion into small pieces. Fry the potatoes and onion into the pan, once heated the oil is heated. The time of frying to fry the potatoes can be used to prepare the eggs and beat them in a dish or bowl. Both beaten eggs as potatoes and onions are often put some salt, independently.
►…continue reading about Spanish omelette, a recipe to practise in the Spanish schools in Spain
