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OVERALL As a school teacher (of Maths and some other things), I had supported the Spanish trip here with my pupils in April 2023. I could see what a transformative experience it was for them so much so that I wanted it for myself. My time at Taronja can only be described as excellent. Everyone at the school tries to ensure you have the best time possible which is impressive based on the carousel of students who come-and-go each week. All the staff treated me with kindness and respect. Thank you to Maxi and Fernando for running such a unique place. The last 4 weeks at Taronja have been exciting, interesting, eventful, busy, enjoyable and compact with information. The last time I studied a language was 14 years ago. I was not very keen on languages in school but my time spent at Taronja has made me believe that I can learn a language to a much higher level than I ever thought possible. That alone has been worth it. LEARNING EXPERIENCE The teachers were fun and engaging. As an absolute beginner, I did the Intensive course + conversation class + private lessons. That helped with my exposure to the language and the private classes were helpful in ironing out some issues. I did this for the first three weeks, then extended by a week and "dropped down" to "only" the intensive course, which is plenty. If I were building up for an exam I would definitely pick up the private classes again. And the conversation classes were energetically delivered to give you important insights of Spanish conversational etiquette. Overall, I was able to enjoy lessons taught by patient, *knowledgeable* and kind teachers, who have reminded me about the importance of these characteristics in my own teaching practice. Teaching beginners must be tough and it was done with grace, style, poise and importantly, a smile. Thank you Laura, Carmen, Antonio, Miguel Angel, Nestor, Carol, Jenny, Nerea, and especially Mica and Paula for your infectious energy and humour. ACADEMIC ADMIN The organisation of the timetable and classes was clearly communicated in advance via WhatsApp. I know some people didn't feel as though they were in the right class for their level and changes were made almost instantly to help. This was managed by the academic team. SUPPORT Organising, arriving, and extending my stay was made very easy by the ladies at the front desk, in particular Elena and Roza! Emails were responded to promptly and they were always so helpful. Waving to them in the morning and getting a wave back made things feel a bit more like home! SOCIAL Plenty of opportunities to socialise with others at the school. Most people I attended school with were between 19-25. But there was also a considerable contingent of older pupils too (e.g. 31, 40 and 70!). This is all taken into consideration when forming classes and social activities. There are activities organised by the school for every day of the week. I went during high season (i.e. the summer) so there were a lot of people. Some activities are linked to other language schools which broadens your pool of potential connections. A lot are free. Many are heavily subsidised. Because there is a fluid change of people from week to week the extent to which you find things socialable will depend on who you share your time at the school with. But similarly minded people would pay money to attend a summer school, so it's likely to be fine for you, as it was for me! As an over-27, I was added to a WhatsApp group for additionally organised activities. BOCARIOS (Interns) An excellently led intern team support the activities and were a good group to talk to in general. Very helpful! GENERAL THOUGHTS When in Spain and doing things, there is a naturally occurring opportunity to practice the language. Whether you decide to is your own choice! And indeed your experience in general heavily depends on you 😇 . Approach it with an open heart and fresh eyes.

Fijne, gezellige school met veel extra activiteiten! Al een paar jaartjes probeer ik de Spaanse taal onder de knie te krijgen door privéles en zelfstudie. Dat gaat vrij aardig, maar lezen, schrijven en luisteren is niet genoeg. Vorig jaar (2018) was ik voor het eerst in Valencia voor ‘un curso intensivo’ om vooral mijn spreekvaardigheid te verbeteren. Prachtige stad trouwens! Taronja is een hele fijne, gezellige school, midden in het centrum, waar je je vanaf de eerste dag op je gemak voelt. De lessen zijn lekker afwisselend en worden gegeven door twee verschillende docenten. Daarnaast zijn behoorlijk wat extra activiteiten, waaraan je tegen een kleine vergoeding of soms zelfs gratis kunt deelnemen, zoals de wekelijkse kookdemonstratie van chef Nando, diverse gezellige avondactiviteiten en excursies, die zelfs doorgaan in het weekend… en ook dan wordt er lekker veel Spaans gesproken. Afgelopen zomer (2019) heb ik mij opnieuw laten onderdompelen in ‘el baño valenciano’ en mij opwerkt van ‘nivel B1’ naar ‘nivel B2’. Inmiddels heb ik voor de derde maal bij Taronja geboekt voor twee weken cursus in 2020. Dan ga ik proberen de lat weer wat hoger te leggen. Nu alweer zin in!

I had an absolutely amazing time at Taronja!! I loved my four weeks here (May-June 2019)! I felt that I managed to learn loads in the short time that I was here - the school was very professional and organised, providing lots of excellent resources to aid learning! The lessons were very interactive and always lots of fun - loads of opportunities to practise speaking! Also, the social side was superb - every day there was at least one optional social activity organised, often more! I would love to return one day in the future! A big thank you to all the amazing people here! 🙂

I was a student at Toronja for 2 weeks & really recommend it. The teachers are all really motivated to help the students learn Spanish. There is also positive atmosphere around the place which helps you to study in a relaxed environment. The extra circular activities are a great way to meet other students outside of lessons (especially paella night!) There are also optional interactive lessons during the afternoon where you learn things ranging from Spanish dance to how to cook Spanish food. I would definitely recommend this school & will be going back there to study myself for 2 months. Muchas gracias a todos y nos vemos pronto!

Замечательная школа Брала две недели уроков испанского языка, они просто пролетели за одно мгновение) Школа потрясающая-современные аудитории, индивидуальный подход, на протяжении всего обучения ощущается мощная поддержка, как будто оказываешься в кругу семьи. После занятий (а они идут зиг-загом, то есть в один день можно отоспаться подольше, а в другой день наборот-встать пораньше и посмотреть закат на пляже, к примеру. Сам город тоже очень интересный, есть множество мест, которые стоит посетить-например, по воскресеньям все муниципальные музеи бесплатны.
Жила в квартире, предложенной от школы, она располагалась в самом центре и в 10 минутах ходьбы от самой школы-очень удобно.Также в школе есть огромная вариация культурных мероприятий-после учебы не заскучаешь 🙂 Можно сходить послушать песни на испанскомкаждый вторник это вечера паэльи, когда собирается вместе вся школаеженедельные экскурсии по городу. В общем, замечательная школа и собираюсь сюда вернуться еще ни раз!!

My experience with Taronja School in Valencia was a positive one without any exception. The teachers were very well-trained and well-prepared, the lessons in perfect-sized groups interesting as well as creatively organized and the activities varied, informative and entertaining. Furthermore the school offers a library as well as some DVDs to practice your spanish at home. Regarding any wish or request the employees of Taronja were more than willing to assist or to help. They were constantly trying their best to keep their students happy and satisfied. I highly recommend Taronja to everybody who wants to learn spanish in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere with a lot of professionals to help you to reach your highest personal results in this new language.

I spent a fantastic week at Taronja in May 2019. The booking process was really straightforward (and I appreciated being able to sort out my accommodation through the school too) albeit a little embarrassing when recording a video of myself to have my level assessed 🙈. The booking information I received indicated that someone would be there to greet me at the accommodation upon arrival, but this wasn't the case – I didn't mind though because I'm a grown up and don't really need looking out for like that. The teachers and supporting staff were really friendly and helpful. The classes were challenging and taught entirely in Spanish, which I think is really beneficial and, for the level I was at (~B1), falling back to English shouldn't really be necessary. In the week I was there we alternated between days studying grammar (the present subjunctive) and more 'relaxing' days where we dived deeper into other topics such as ser/estar and por/para (though I would have been happier doing even more grammar studies, but maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment). I think what really stood out about my week at Taronja was the effort put into the social activities. There were things to do every evening and a weekend excursion had been organized too (but unfortunately I had to fly home that day and couldn't attend), so even if you arrive as a solo learner/traveller, you'll be able to find people to hang out with fairly quickly. In case it isn't clear, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend studying at Taronja, however I feel that attending for 1 week simply wasn't enough. Many of the people I met were staying for any amount of time from 3 weeks to 3 months. It's for this reason that I intend to return to Taronja next month for 2 weeks to try and really press on with improving my Spanish (and escape the miserable Dutch summer).

Great experience I went to this solo for 1 week. I wanted to try it first and then extend to 2 more weeks.
(when you extend you need to do it early in the week or risk all spots getting full)
Complete beginner intensive course, I was in a class of 7 people of various ages.
4 young teachers - enthusiastic and made the classes fun. When you have 4 hours (with 1 break of 20m) it's a good thing to make them fun, otherwise you will get bored and lose focus.
I can't say much about if the structure of the lessons was optimal or not, it worked for me, I was able to speak with people for a little bit after only one week without studying extra at home.
And again, they make it fun, if they just give you the top 100 verbs and conjugation for all of them and ask you to repeat them for 4 hours - it might be more effective but it would bore you to tears and you could easily do that on your own.
The best part for me was also to meet different people there from all over the world. The school has daily extra activities that you can optionally attend to and there you get to meet them.