Monday Mornings in Madrid

I prefer to keep things fresh and exciting in my life because I’m cool, edgy, hip and happening like that. So each Monday, as I make my way to Inhispania’s sister school on Calle de las Infantas where we have extra classrooms and a top-notch student zone for our diligent students of Spanish, I take this opportunity to explore Madrid a little. The nearest metro stops to this school are Banco de España (line 2) and Gran Vía (lines 1 and 5) but as my nearest station is on line 3 (4 and 6, it’s a great station I won’t brag), I prefer to walk rather than lose time going out of my way and changing lines.

Toledo

Each week, we, the good folk of Inhispania, kindly organise a range of optional extra curricular activities for you, the students, to enjoy. These range from the more simple “Tapas en El Tigre” or a football match against the teachers to excursions to local places of interest such as Toledo.

So here is a little background information to excite you ...

Luis Miguel

Luis Miguel aka "El Sol de México" (The Sun of Mexico) or simply "El Sol" (The Sun) will be performing at the Palacio de Deportes on the 11^th and 12^th May 2012. His self-titled album celebrates his 30 years in music since his debut at 11 years old.

This Mexican native has won numerous Grammys, Latin Grammys, other awards and distinctions including this album achieving gold and platinum status in four countries, including the United States, within just three days of its release.

Personal “a” Guidelines

This tiny one letter word is important to remember because in English there is no difference in the structure of the following sentences:

I saw the book.
I saw John.

Whereas in Spanish this short preposition must precede the direct object if it is a specific person:

Vi el libro.
Vi a Juan.

This “a” is not translated into English, it normally means “to”.

Learn from Spanish cinema

Check out films like Historias del Kronen, Todo sobre mi madre and Abre los ojos:
What can you learn?
At Inhispania there is an extensive DVD collection including films such as these for you to peruse and enjoy. Learning Spanish isn’t just about grammar exercises; films are a perfect way to improve your listening skills and vocabulary. You can also learn about Spain’s culture and even discuss with the other students and our native Spanish teachers about interesting topics such as this example of the importance of the body in the films Historias del Kronen, Todo sobre mi madre and Abre los ojos.

How to get a NIE

The Spanish government requires you to have an official “Número de Identificación de Extranjeros”, more efficiently known as the NIE, if you want to conduct any sort of buying or selling in Spain. It is more important for real estate, cars, boats etc. but if you want to open a Spanish bank account, you will need one.