Feedback Spain

Spain feedback at a glance

Total number of students: female 36, male 28, (unknown 2) 66 Average age of students in years: 25 Average length of programme in weeks: 13.1 Average number of students in class: 6.9 Average number of hours language tuition per week: 20.7 % of students who found their course through an agent: 15 % of students who booked through an agent or adviser: 30 % of students who had been on another lang. programme: 26 % of students who would recommend their school: 94

Respondents by world region of origin		Top nationalities
W Europe (73%) Asia (14%) North America (9%) C & E Europe (1%) Unknown (3%)		1. German 17% 2. British 12% 3. Dutch 9% 3. Swedish 9% 5. Swiss 8% 5. US 8% 7. Korean 5% 8. Danish 3% 8. Irish 3% 8. Japanese 3% 8. Norwegian 3%

In my class there are...		How will you use your Spanish in the future?
Too many students (9%) Too many students of my language (8%) Too many students from one other countries (9%) None of these (65%) Unknown (9%)		Coll. study in Spain (11%) Coll. study elsewhere (2%) College study at home (23%) Current or future work (39%) For pleasure only (25%)

How did you find your programme?		Standard of the teaching
1. II found it on the Internet (56%) 2. It was recommended by a friend/relative (24%) 3. It was recommended by an agent (15%) 4. I saw it advertised (5%)		Excellent (74%) Good (24%) Satisfactory (2%)

Standard of your academic programme		What is your accomodation while in Spain?
Excellent (42%) Good (49%) Satisfactory (8%) Poor (1%)		Host family (29%) Residential/single room (23%) Residential/dormitory (32%) Other (16%)

Standard of your social programme?		Standard of your accommodation
Excellent (29%) Good (42%) Satisfactory (23%) Poor (1%) Unknown (5%)		Excellent (30%) Good (46%) Satisfactory (11%) Poor (6%) Unsatisfactory (1%) Unknown (6%)

Did you book your course through an agent or an educational adviser?
Yes (30%) No (59%) Unknown (116%)

Before looking for your course, did you know where you wanted to study?
Country Yes (80%) No (12%) Unknown (8%) City/town Yes (52%) No (40%) Unknown (8%)		School Yes (27%) No (64%) Unknown (9%)

Student nationality
Although the lion's share of international students at Spanish language schools in Spain continues to come from Western Europe, there are some indications that the market is attracting more students from further a field. This year, for example, 73 per cent of our Feedback respondents were from Western Europe, down on last year, when they made up 80 per cent of all student feedback respondents (see Language Travel Magazine, May 2006, pages 16-17). Instead, schools attracted a greater proportion of Asian students, up from four per cent last year to 14 per cent. The main Asian nationalities were Korean and Japanese, with some students from Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam also present. Nevertheless, the top five nationalities were from Western Europe, with German in first place, followed by British and then Dutch – which had slipped from first place last year to take joint third position with Swedish this year.

Student motivation
Despite the fact that 55 per cent of respondents gave their occupation as student, only 38 per cent said they currently used Spanish for their studies, and 36 per cent said they were learning Spanish for their studies either at home, in Spain or in another country. Twenty-five per cent of respondents were learning Spanish for pleasure only, which had slipped from 37 per cent last year. The age of our Spanish feedback respondents ranged from 16 to 71 years, although 70 per cent of students were aged between 16 and 25 years. The overall average age of this year’s students was 25 years, down on last year’s 27-year average.

Student enrolment
The Internet plays an important part in the enrolment of students for Spanish language schools, with 56 per cent of students saying they first found out about their school through this medium. Agent usage was exceptionally low this year, with only 15 per cent first hearing about their school from an agent, compared with 25 per cent last year, and 30 per cent booking their programmes though an agency, down from 40 per cent in 2006. Apart from following the recommendation of a friend, other decisive factors for choosing a school included an informative website, price, range of courses and the school’s location.

Standard of the schools
Although one class size topped 20 this year, the overall average size was only 6.9, and a high proportion of students (65 per cent) were satisfied with the size and nationality mix of their classes. Of the nine per cent who indicated that there were too many students in their class, they were in classes of between seven and 10 students. The standard of teaching was deemed to be either good or excellent by 98 per cent of students, while 91 per cent said the same of the academic programme.

Living in Spain
Sixty-three per cent of students found it quite easy or very easy to practise their Spanish language skills with Spaniards, and, when we asked students to put a number of aspects about Spain into their order of preference, the people came in third place behind the language, which was most popular, and the culture. The cost of living in Spain this year was found to be lower by 30 per cent of respondents, down from 54 per cent last year.