BG's students experience the Spanish language, history and culture in Granada

BG's 3.g Spanish students were bombarded with linguistic input from the time they arrived until they left the city of Granada, which is just over an hour's drive from Malaga airport. They spoke Spanish with host families, the language school's teachers, waiters and occasionally with each other, we heard. The Spanish "mothers/fathers" came to pick them up in the city center, and they were welcomed with hugs and two kisses - one on each cheek, and in one go they had their first encounter with Spanish culture.

Living with people from Spain should be seen as an adventure, where you get to practice the language, taste their food and live exactly as they do. We saw many happy faces, but also some students who were a little tired and confused when they showed up at the language school in the morning, where we just had to ask if everything was as it should be. You can get a little tired in the head from speaking a foreign language all the time, but the students took it in stride. They tried Spanish lessons from another teacher, a Spaniard, so they also got input with a lisp and a real Spanish accent. There are not that many foreign tourists in Granada, and they don't speak other regional languages like Catalan or Basque, so the young people could hear the Spanish language wherever they went. All worth it!

Something very special about the city of Granada is the diversity and mix of very different cultures, religions and ethnicities, something that characterizes both the architecture, the food, the people, yes, everything! The students tasted Spanish tapas as part of a school assignment, heard and used the language. They saw, heard and danced flamenco, and overall they had a sensory encounter with Spanish culture. They also experienced one of the seven wonders of the world, the Alhambra castle, with palaces and gardens, which bear witness to the 700 years the peninsula was under Arab rule.

The people of Granada also show with their ethnicity that the entire city is the result of various cultural encounters, because there were groups who at one time had to live outside the city walls, such as in the caves of Sacromonte. We visited the caves and heard about los gitanos, a marginalized group who until the 1960s were not part of society, but lived in the caves. In modern Granada they are now part of the city. They move up and down the streets, eat out until late, sing and dance flamenco. They enjoy the diversity that exists. So did we. Before we could look around, the 5 days had passed. We had overcome the challenges on the road, and we were all on our way home to Copenhagen, tired, but enriched and happy after an intense, but good study trip 😊

/Spanish teachers