I have always wanted to travel through Colombia – but not organized in a group, but individually – but with my very little knowledge of Spanish, I did not want to risk doing such a trip.

So I signed up for an intensive course at the language school Nueva Lengua in Cartagena. As soon as I signed up, I was pleasantly surprised by the support I received from the school. Payment, registration, everything went smoothly.

The school Nueva Lengua is located in the heart of Getsemaní, in the old part of Cartagena, in a very beautiful old building that has been restored.

Since I am already retired and therefore much older than all the other students, I was a bit nervous of course, but I was very curious how the lessons would go, and here too I can only report positive things.

After a placement interview, I was in a class with 4 other students. In the first 2-3 hours she taught herself, practiced, read and explained new material. In the last hour she became communication and conversation. The topics were always very different, as were the tasks. The spectrum ranged from sketches and discussions to writing or storytelling. The lessons were lively, interesting and very entertaining. Engaged teachers, always well prepared and in a good mood, helpful and also there for questions or problems before or after the lesson.

It was fantastic! In a very short time I was able to hold simple conversations and most importantly I began to understand conversations and people. Although all the teachers spoke good English or French, the only language that was spoken was Spanish, and that was very helpful to me.
After class I used to eat at the school (they cook fresh every day and you can buy the food there) and then there was a dance class or a cooking class. And I would not have wanted to miss these courses. Although it was very hot in June and the humidity was very high, dancing and cooking was a lot of fun. It felt good to dance salsa, champeta or merengue in a relaxed atmosphere!

In short: I can warmly recommend the school Nueva Lengua. You learn Spanish in a very family atmosphere with very ambitious teachers. I lived privately with an older lady, but the school also places families with family members. I also highly recommend this type of life, since you are forced to speak Spanish even after the lessons.

Katharina Krall – Wien, Österreich

This article was originally written in German