5 tips to learn Spanish in Madrid

Are you a student of Spanish language? Are you considering studying abroad for some time? Or are you already in Madrid and planning on learning some Spanish to improve your social life? In this article I want to give you 5 tips to learn Spanish in Madrid.

But first let me answer a question on my own: Why Madrid? You may find the reason here or here as well.

1. Enroll in a course in one of the many Spanish schools. Come to Cronopios Idiomas, we are in a perfect spot between Museo del Prado and Parque del Retiro, in a beautiful and quiet neighborhood but also in walking distance of Barrio de las Huertas and Puerta del Sol. We offer you the chance to study a couple of hours in the morning every day, our school is full of international students, and we plan at least one free afterschool activity per week. Also, you can ask our Spanish teachers for firsthand recommendations for restaurants, places to go, activities and so on.
2. Choose a homestay family. We have a network of homestay families that we´ve carefully selected for our students to live during their time in Madrid. All of them are lovely hosts with vast experience accommodating students and are situated mostly in the center of Madrid (there are a few of them in more residential areas should it be the interest of the student). Sharing your everyday routine with a Spanish family will help boost your language skills. Not only that but you will also learn plenty about the Spanish culture, taste authentic Spanish homemade meals and definitely make friends that are almost like family.
3. Find the language exchange that suits you best. Madrid is a sparkling city bursting with activities, events and people, many people from every corner of Spain and the world. There are quite a few bars that host language exchanges, you may find one for each day of the week. Check out: the Beer Station, Thursdays at 22:00, Veinti7 bar Saturdays evening, Madreselva Cocktail bar for karaoke and language exchange… Or join an exchange language group like Meet and Speak in Café Echegaray.
4. Discover Madrid´s Public Libraries and here as well. Each district in the city has its own Public Library. Libraries are much more than books, there are one of my favorite places in the city. In a Library there is space to rest, sit down and recover from the accelerated rhythm of the capital. The newspapers of the day, space to study or do your homework, obviously books, thousands of books, books to practice Spanish, books in different languages and digital books, movies… And events and activities, also for the youngest ones. Get your own library card and start enjoying one of the sadly few quality public services that are still around. Visit Eugenio Trías Library, situated in the old Casa de Fieras in the Retiro Park, or discover Ivan de Vargas Library in La Latina.
5. Go out! Talk to people! Madrid, we say, is like a big town… The city doubled its population in just a few years during the sixties. People from every corner of the country came here to make a living and hope for a better life. As a result, and still today, madrileños are quite a chatty kind, people will talk to you in the bus stop, in the supermarket, in the doctor´s waiting room. About the weather, about the prices, they will answer your questions and ask you some in return. When I came here, more than twenty years ago, I was expecting the big city anonymous life, but I found that people were mostly the same as in the small town where I was born.

When you come to Madrid to learn Spanish, you may be tempted to choose a lodging in the center and I can see the appeal, I lived in Tirso de Molina for five years and it was wild… But also, eventually, tiresome. Madrid´s center is not so big, compared to other European cities, so if you stay in a house in the center you can walk to the pubs in Malasaña, Chueca, Lavapies, etc., and enjoy the night life without spending much time getting around.

But if you choose to stay in one of the neighborhoods outside of M30, traditionally the boundary between the downtown and the rest of the city, you will not only save money, since the rent will probably be cheaper, even nowadays, but also you will find bakeries, butchers shops, fish market, parks, gyms, bars and plenty of places where they will call you by your name after some time and who knows, maybe find the person you were looking for!

So, I hope my 5 tips to learn Spanish in Madrid help you and you take advantage of the unique personality of the city: both the capital and Spanish biggest city and also, in its own way, just somewhat of an overgrown town with its ups and downs. The perfect place to learn Spanish.