Gethsemane, our home 

the spanish school Nueva Lengua was born in 2003 with the desire to work for the promotion of tourism in Colombia, offering cultural and language experiences to visitors from all over the world. We launched our website in June of that year, and in less than a week we were already welcoming our first Spanish student to Cartagena, heart of the Colombian Caribbean Coast.  

Since then, Nueva Lengua has had a permanent headquarters in the city, which, together with our schools from Bogotá, Medellín, Ibagué and Guaduas has become a true cultural center: a meeting place for people from all latitudes and with a unique human richness. The first of these venues was located on the island of Manga, and a year later we had moved to Calle del Pozo, in the Getsemaní neighborhood, a place that adopted us and has been our home in the city ever since.

El lisp 

Getsemaní is a neighborhood of Cartagena de Indias, a city on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia, in Latin America. And, as you may already know, one of the most marked characteristics of Latin American Spanish is the famous lisp, that is, the tendency to pronounce the S and the C with the same sounds. An example of this is the word “cepillos”: while in Spain the first and last letters of this word would be pronounced in two completely different ways, here in Latin America both would sound the same.  

For this reason, there is a question as to whether the adjective for Getsemaní is “getsemanicense”, with C, or “getsemanisense”, with S: no matter how you write it, in the Spanish we speak in Colombia, both forms sound the same.  

So... what is the name of Gethsemane? 

Faced with this problem, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), as well as the Urgent Spanish Foundation (Fundéu), indicate that the spelling rule for demonyms is very simple: How do you write and pronounce a demonym? As the locals prefer it! They are the ones who give life to the territories, and that is why they themselves are the ones who decide what they want to be called.  

For this reason, if it is written with a C or an S, it really doesn't matter: the important thing is that Getsemaní belongs to its people, to the Gethsemane people and Gethsemane people at heart, who work every day so that this neighborhood —our neighborhood— continue living the transformation process that today leads it to be cataloged by the magazine Forbes as one of the 12 coolest neighborhoods on the planet.  

Learn Spanish in Getsemani 

The headquarters of Nueva Lengua in Cartagena it is located in Getsemaní, half a block from the historic Plaza de la Trinidad. There we have classrooms, terraces, a swimming pool, a gazebo for dance classes, and the student residence. In addition, during your time at the school you will have the opportunity to get to know Getsemaní with us through tourist activities, such as walking tours, gastronomic tours, visits to its main points of artistic and cultural interest, and much more.  

Led by our teachers, teaching professionals with experience in Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), your time in Cartagena will become a total language and cultural experience. 

Check the plans that we have for you in the city, or write to us at info@nuevalengua.com for more information about our Spanish courses and cultural immersion In colombia.