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Spain Feedback
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Agent usage was down among the students taking part in our Feedback survey on Spain this year. Instead the Internet and advice from friends and family were popular methods used by students to find their course.
Spain Feedback at a glance
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Total number of students: 127 (female 73, male 37, unknown 17)
Average age in years: 30
Average length of programme in weeks: 11
Average number of students in class: 6
Average number of hours of language tuition per week: 18.4
% of students who found out about their course through an
agent: 23
% of students who booked through an agent or adviser: 31
% of students who had been on another language programme: 37
% of students who would recommend their school: 95
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| Respondents by world region of origin |
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Top nationalities |
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1. W Europe 66%
2. N America 16%
3. Asia 9%
4. C & E Europe 4%
5. Latin America 2%
6. Middle East 1%
No reply 3%
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1. German 15%
2. American 14%
3. British 11%
4. Swedish 9%
5. Dutch 8%
6. Danish 6%
7. French 4%
7. Swiss 4%
8. Japanese 3%
9. Austrian 2%
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| In my class there are... |
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How easy is it to practise your language skills with native speakers? |
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1. The right amount of students (78%)
2. Too many students (5.5%)
3. Too many students who speak my language (5.5%)
Too many students from one other country (4%)
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1. Quite easy (50%)
2. Quite hard (28%)
3. Very easy (16%)
4. Very hard (5%)
No reply 1% |
| How did you find your programme? |
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Did you book your course through an agent or an educational adviser?
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1. I found it on the Internet (37%)
2. Recommended by a friend/relative (32%)
3. Recommended by an agent (23%)
4. I saw it advertised (6%)
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Yes (31%)
No (62%)
Unknown (7%)
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Student reasons for school selection included:
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“It was the only school that had the course I wanted in February”
“The school organises a lot of social programmes”
“Emails were answered very quickly”
“It was said to be great. Full of young people and great classes”
“Well known, good offers, very personal”
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| Before looking for your course, did you know where you wanted to study? |
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Country
Yes (92%)
No (4%)
Unknown (4%)
City/town
Yes (62%)
No (33%)
Unknown (5%)
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School
Yes (34%)
No (60%)
Unknown (6%)
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Student nationality
The proportion of students from Western Europe and North America studying Spanish in Spain increased this year according to the results of our Feedback survey on Spanish language schools, at the expense of Central and Eastern European students and Asians. This year, 66 per cent of the student body were from Western Europe (compared with 59 per cent previously), while 16 per cent were from North America (compared with 13 per cent). In contrast, Central and Eastern European students decreased from 11 per cent last year to just four per cent and Asian numbers decreased from 13 per cent to nine per cent (see LTM, August 2009, pages 24-25). In Asia, this can perhaps be explained by economic problems discouraging students from long distance travel. The top three nationalities in Spanish language schools remained the same as last year; namely American, German and British.
Student motivation
The largest group of respondees described themselves as being either university students (42 per cent) or professionals (16 per cent) and learning Spanish for future work purposes was the most common motivational factor for survey participants (44 per cent). A further 17 per cent of students were intending to use their Spanish skills for college study at home while another 14 per cent intended to go on to college study in Spain. A large 27 per cent of respondents gave more than one response to this question, while just 15 per cent said that they were learning Spanish for pleasure alone. Student ages ranged from 16 to 76 years and a sizeable 10 per cent of students were aged over 51 years.
Student enrolment
The two most popular methods for students to find their school this year were either via the Internet or through friends or family. In total, 23 per cent of students found their course through an agent, a decrease on the 34 per cent recorded previously. A slightly lower number (31 per cent) booked their course through an agent, compared with 34 per cent last year. Just 37 per cent of students had been on a previous language travel trip – quite a low figure when compared with the results of our Germany student Feedback feature when this figure was 45 per cent (see LTM, May 2010, page 36-37). Of these, just 19 per cent had been on a previous study abroad trip to Spain.
Standard of the schools Teaching staff received the greatest satisfaction levels with a whopping 99 per cent of students deeming them to be either good or excellent. Of the six per cent of students who said that there were too many students in their class, class sizes ranged from five to nine. Overall, there was an average of six students per lesson, down slightly on the eight student per class average recorded last year.
Living in Spain
Spain was seen as being comparatively cheaper than their home countries by 46 per cent of respondents, while 21 per cent found the country to be more expensive. Spanish people were also given the thumbs up for being friendly and easy to talk to as 66 per cent of students found it either very easy or quite easy to practise their Spanish skills. The average spend for a one week course including accommodation was E298 (US$404) this year, a decrease on the E347 (US$471) recorded in 2009.
Thank you to the following schools for participating in our survey: Academia Hispánica, Córdoba; AIP Languages, Valencia; Bonanova, Fuengirola; Castelar College, San Pedro del Pinatar; Castila, Granada; Centro de Enseñanza, La Herradura; CLIC-IH, Seville; Colegio Maravillas, Malaga; Escuela Montalban, Granada; Fundacion General de la Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid; Hispana Continental, Salamanca; inlingua Las Palmas, Gran Canaria; Instituto Andalusi de Español, Malaga; Lacunza IH, San Sebastian; Malaca Instituto, Malaga; Malaga Sí, Malaga; Pamplona Learning Spanish Institute, Pamplona; Taronja School, Valencia; Universidad de Almería, Almería; Universitat Jaume, Castelló de la Plana; University of Extremadura, Cáceres. |
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Contact any advertiser in the this issue now
The following language schools, associations and accommodation providers advertised in the latest edition of Language Travel Magazine. If you would like more information on any of these advertisers, tick the relevant boxes, fill out your details and send.
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