Expresiones en español con HOMBRE

Great experience !! The teachers are very dynamic, smiling and think of fun ways to teach us Spanish. The school is very active and offers many extra-curricular activities and excursions. The shared apartment was comfortable enough, clean and close to the school, which is located in the city center. I would love to go back to Taronja soon 😊.

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!!

Spending eight weeks learning Spanish in Valencia has been a rewarding experience. When I first arrived here, I had a patchy understanding of how basic Spanish grammar works, which gave me a false sense of confidence coming into the country. I was placed into a class that was far too advanced for my level, and I quickly discovered that my listening and speaking skills were practically non-existent. It is fair to say that I was completely baffed in my first week of lessons. I eventually moved down two groups, so I could work on my listening and speaking skills. This level was much more enjoyable, as I wasn’t in a permanent state of confusion. I have noticed my progress continue to grow steadily over the weeks. Now, I feel like I have enough Spanish to get by on my own and develop my skill independently. Understanding street chit-chat is becoming easier, watching Spanish T.V. is becoming more enjoyable, and I can usually interpret written texts. The teachers at Taronja are young, fun and competent people. Rather than forcing us to fill out boring and repetitive exercise sheets, they make learning more enjoyable by providing innovative activities and games to keep the classroom engaged. The timetable is constantly rotating, so we can benefit from various styles and techniques of each teacher. Valencia is a truly beautiful city in a variety of different ways. The centre of the city is built around two lively squares, made up of old monuments, statues, restaurants, and constant buzz of passing tourists. The surrounding streets are full of character and are brought to life by the detail of their design, the classical Valencian balconies, and the numerous restaurants. The Turia park is another incredible feature of the city. It used to be a large river flowing through the centre of the city, but people decided to drain it after serious floods in the 1950s. Now, it is a riverbed, which has been converted into a lush garden, where people go to escape the city, exercise and relax.

Taronja is a great Spanish school and also great fun! I have been to Taronja twice before, both times for 2 weeks of their intensive course. The course is for 20 lessons a week, over 4 hours each day Monday to Friday and there are also lots of cultural and social activities run by the school for students, normally without extra charges. These include cooking presentations at the school, cultural walks, lessons off-site at interesting locations, group outings to restaurants, bars and other attractions and cultural presentations at lunch-times as well as the weekly paella party for current and past students.
Teaching is done in small groups (6-10) of people with a similar level of Spanish and is done in a creative way and all in Spanish. As well as following a broad curriculum and working towards the standard learning levels, the lessons include a lot of fun activities and all sorts of diversions into exploring Spanish language and culture.
I can recommend this school very highly and Valencia is a beautiful city well-worth exploring. It is especially good during the Las Fallas festival 15-19 March each year and I will be returning to Taronja again this year 2019 to see it.

A beautiful school with helpful staff I am just back from a week in Valencia studying Spanish at Taronja School. This is a beautiful boutique school. The team at reception are helpful and I loved their speed in replying to emails - they are very good at that. Prior to my visit, as I was travelling solo, I asked questions about the school, the lessons, the type of classes and ages as I was looking for something suitable to over 30 y/o, the accommodation, additional dates and Valencia in general and they were always happy to answer at the speed of light! They are very good at that and it helps when you are in front of your computer, you are tryng to book a flight and you need a quick answer.
The school
Right in the middle of the city centre, great location, near bars, coffee shops, restaurants, metro, bus, taxis, everything really. The entrance is quite understated, the school is located at the first floor of a building. Every class is decorated differently and all have air-con whichis great at this time of the year, when the tempretaure in Valencia is above 32 degree celsius everyday.
All the teachers I had this week were very nice (Isabel, Manu, Sonia), friendly, helpful and they really ensured that we learnt from this experience. The teaching is not based on any book, we were provided with a handout and additional pages during the week to cover the areas which we were going to explore during each lesson. All lessons are interactive with plenty of opportunity to ask 'preguntas' (questions). Internet is used in the school by the teachers to explain words or provide images and other digital tools are also used to write as a board (instead of the out of fashion board and marker). Classes are small, I was in a class of 9. I know that some of the people I met there were in classes of 6 so the classes are of a reasonable small size which is good and allows the teacher to provide full attention to all. Classes last 50 minutes each. You would usually have 2 teachers a day, one for the first two hours of 50 mins each and the second for the remaining 2 hours of 50 mins each.
Oh yes, once you get to your class forget your language as all the teachers will speak to you in Spanish only, which is fine and correct in the approach as you are there to learn Spanish. However, if you are totally unable to understand a meaning of a word or a sentence they will try to tell you the equivalent in English or Italian or French to heelp you.
You may have a T1 or T2 programme. T1 - Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning classes, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon class. T2 - the other way round. I had a T1.
If you want to go to museums or go shopping it may be worth booking some additional days in Valencia so that you will have entire days to visit them as it is a little difficult when you have classes in the morning or the afternoon, you would just be rushing around and the majority of the museums close at 13:00 for the day or some reopen at 16:00 but only few of them.
Weekly activities
I did not participate in all the activities as some were aimed at the younger crowd (I'm not old, just in my early 30s but what may be fun for a 17/18 y/o may be less fun for a 30 y/o - however, it is always great to mix with all ages) but the ones I participated in were the following:
Noche the tapas - Monday:
A little bar not far from the school (can't remember the name) with seats outside-only. One drink included with your 'tapa' but you could not choose which tapas to go for as you were given what came from the kitchen so it was more about luck. I was fine as I am not allergic to any food but one of the girls in my group was allergic to dairy products and she got a ham and Cheese croquette which she could not eat so I and the rest of the group helped her what are friends for!!!
Fiesta de bienvenida con paella - Tuesday
This party for all newcomers was a great idea, a great opportunity to meet other students and the teachers, in a location near the beach. We all met in front of the school and then we all went to the metro, we all bought tickets and then we got to the other end and got the tram, then we walked a bit and got to the location of this bar. The idea per se is very nice but I think more can be done in relation to the place where the 'fiesta' takes place. The bar was just a little run down, the drinks were cheap but we all complained about the quality of them. The Sangria tasted bad, the white wine we wondered why it was sold with ice (?) and tasted bad anyway, a mojito was prepared from a mixer so forget mint leaves, brown sugar etc there was none of that so it didn't taste like a mojito but like something with a little bit of rum and the chupitos (shot) were of an unknown taste. The paella was nice, there was a meat and a vegetarian option.
The music was ok, some was from the 90s (not a problem for those over 30 y/o!) but generally fine.
I think Taronja should consider other options when organising this party in terms of the bar and the quality of the service provided by the bar. The idea of the party is great but the bar 'not so great'.
Noche de Orchata and historia - Wednesday
The Horchata is a typical Valencian drink made with chufas. It looks milky but it's not as it is made of a root (I think). It tastes nice, it is very sweet and it is supposed to be had with fartons which to me are like sweet light bread, to be dipped in the Horchata.
We all met in front of the school with Vito (he is a cool man!) and walked to Mercado de Colon to taste the Horchata, oh, yes, with a little bit of history of some buildings in between. There are several bars were you can have the Horchata in the Mercado so we did not all have to be in the same location. I think we sat in 'Daniel', it was ok.
There were other activities organised by Taronja during the remaining days but I and some others opted out and did our own thing!
30Hood - group for 30+ y/o - great concept and a WhatsApp group was created for 30hood to share ideas, activities etc. However, may be Taronja could consider putting together some activities which may be suitable for those in their 30s? Just a thought
Accommodation
I booked a single room with the school. Taronja provided all the details, map etc of the school, very good service. I had to pick up the keys from a specific location, a beautiful yellow building nowhere near a metro station so you could either come out of Angel Aguillera metro and walk to the building (about 15 minutes walk) or get the taxi service provided by the school at 55 euros or also get a taxi from the aiport which should cost about 25, 26 euros.
When I got to the building I was given the keys for the house and my room and some bedsheets. I was based in Ruzafa. I waited for a taxi which took me to Ruzafa and costed just over 6 euros. My room was beautiful, large, massive window, double bed, a wordrobe, a sofa a big table for at least 4 people, 4 chairs, 2 side tables and lamps. The only issue was the lack of a fan. Valencia is extremely warm in this period and I believe that fans should be provided. Although the room was big the heat made nights and even the the day uncomfortable. A fan or air con should be provided.
My room was quite big but I had a look at that of my other flat-mate/student, I think it was half the size of mine and not very spacious, there was also another room which was an inbetween size. I think I was lucky with the room but I guess what you get may depend on availability.
The apartment had 5 rooms but only 3 were in use, there was no leaving room which was a shame as we had to stand in the corridor to have a chat. The kitchen was very small and would have been impractical if all rooms were taken and all were using the kitchen at once. Luckily it never happened!
The apartment had 2 bathrooms which was quite good and we never queued. However, one of the locks in one of the batrooms didn't work so you had to ensure that you made people aware that you were in there - not an issue though although may be it is best if this is repaired.
Ruzafa is a very nice area for bars, restaurants and there is a nice covered market, Mercado De Ruzafa where you can buy fruit, veg, meat and fish. It is smaller than the central market and there is no sit down bar/restaurant inside of the one in Ruzafa but it is equally good.
The apartment was at a 15 minutes walk to the school, the distance was ok or you could take a bus, line 7, to Xativa which is 1 minute away from the school and the center of Valencia or 2 minutes from Placa de Ayuntamento.
All in a all a great school and I had a great time!!! The teachers are great and the staff at reception are lovely and helpful.

La mejor escuela!!!!!! Era a única brasileira, o que ajudou muito na prática do espanhol! Não tinha nem portugueses, então sem chance de falar português... Perfeito!
Professores jovens, animados, várias atividades que facilitavam conhecer as pessoas!
E Valencia é fantástica, já quero voltar! Não tinha tempo pra dormir enquanto estava lá! Haha
Melhor viagem!!!

MEJOR ESCUELA DE ESPAÑOL EN VALENCIA! Estuve en taronja durante cinco semanas completamente sola, fue mi primera experiencia de viaje en solitaria. A ver, yo compartía un piso con 5 chicos procedentes de todo el mundo, por eso nunca me sentí realmente sola, las clases son extructuradas muy bien, los profes competentes, cada día hay actividades diferentes muy baratas/ gratuidas y muy divertidas,las mejores fiestas en la playa. Por cualquier duda son disponibles en ayudarte, si tienes un problema tratan resolver, personas estupendas, siempre piden opiniones de los estudiantes para mejorar el servicio. Lo único mejorable son los pisos, mi alojamiento tenía la ventana frente a las tuberías de alcantarillado, por eso olía muy mal...no es culpa de ellos, los edificios en Valencia son todos muy viejos, solo tenéis que tener suerte con los pisos aja y ellos podrían seleccionarlos un poco más, y no alquilar los pejores (otros amigos míos se lamentaban de eso..) Por lo demás, experiencia total, muy aconsejada, es dinero muy bien gastado, seguro te la vas a pasar bien. Siete dei fighi, bravi!

Amazing summer learning Spanish with Taronja I was here for two months in summer and had a really positive experience. I actually booked only for one month but ended up extending for an extra month. The classes were fun, interesting, and I felt comfortable talking, learning, (and making mistakes), with my classmates mad teachers. You need an intital assesment of your spanish skills (quick questionnaire, and a couple of minutes speaking) and then get placed into a class for your level. However, if it is too difficult, or easy, there is no problem with changing class, and I found the staff, and the headteacher, Jenny, very friendly and easy to talk to, and always happy to help with anything.
It is easy to make friends, which is important if you are coming here on your own (like me) and there were social acitivties every night. These ranged from paella nights, language exchanges, and generally drinking and socialising. Always fun. I was here in summer which would offer a bigger social life compared to low-season/ winter etc.
The lessons are varied and you use handouts, quiz games, group tasks, videos, songs, etc, in order to learn in a varied way.
I would recommend to anyone who values a more fun and social atmosphere to learn and I definitely feel like I improved a lot. In 2 months, I went from a low A2, to a B1 level, and I had a lot of practice actually speaking the Spanish that I had learned.