Hi there, Just picked up a copy of Time Out and enjoyed reading it. I was wondering if you could possibly help me. I live in Abu Dhabi and have been trying to find a Spanish class to go to. I need one for advanced students, not beginners, although I haven’t been able to find any at all! I would be very grateful if you could help me find one.
Hola! We definitely applaud your ambition, because it can be really tough to learn a language in a country where it’s not the native tongue. But although you might not be able to immerse yourself here in the Spanish sounds, slang and signs that would really boost an intermediate and advanced learner’s language skills, there are some top-class teachers available to help. Maria Rodriguez is a highly qualified Spanish teacher with a master’s degree in Spanish teaching as well as a master course in acquisition of Spanish as a second language. She teaches everyone from beginner’s level to advanced, and has a huge wealth of experience. Her students rave about her teaching methods and she’s happy to customise her lessons depending on your requirements. You can contact her at bogusiakot@gmail.com or on 050 829 2845.
If you want to take your conversational skills up a notch, it’s always good to be able to chat casually with native speakers – you’ll pick up all sorts of idioms and casual expressions that you might not learn in a more formal classroom setting. So, if you want to meet other Spanish speakers, try signing up to expat social networking site Internations.org (read more about it on page 36). Alternatively, you can contact Abu Dhabi’s Spanish Embassy on 02 626 9544 or at embspae@mail.mae.es for information about events and get-togethers. For anyone keen to learn other languages, there are numerous skilled teachers dotted around the capital, although they can be hard to track down. Scholars of Japanese speak highly of the Japanese Embassy’s language courses , which take place at the ADOC building in Khalidiyah. Visit www.uae.emb-japan.go.jp for more information. If English isn’t your first language and you want to polish up your business vocabulary or conversational skills, the British Council runs highly regarded courses for adults and children. Visit www.britishcouncil.org for details. And if you choose to learn Arabic, you’ll be spoilt for choice as far as teachers go.
Get in touch with the Mother Tongue Arabic Language Center, which runs a range of reasonably priced courses from beginner’s level, to advanced or specialist Arabic. Call 02 639 3838 or visit www.mothertongue.ae.
