Avis sur AIL Madrid

Last summer I took a 12 week course at AIL Madrid and had the most amazing summer! Apart from the obvious amazing Spanish weather and culture that I enjoyed, my Spanish classes were definitely the highlight!

Susana was my teacher and she was so helpful. I started at a low intermediate level and, although I felt my reading and writing was ok, I struggled with speaking and understanding “real” Spanish. She spoke so clearly though and was always happy to repeat if I didn’t understand something, and after my first week I already noticed the improvement in my comprehension and fluency because the classes are so small and you can participate constantly.

The themes of the classes were always different – usually we had a new topic every lesson that we focused on and based activities on this. Sometimes the topic was to get us to speak, sometimes an aspect of grammar – it really varied. I never found myself bored in the lessons, and after 12 weeks of classes I can’t even describe how much my Spanish has improved! I have no problem speaking now and feel confident interacting with Spanish people.

The school was also a stone's throw away from Retiro Park (which was handy for after class sunbathing!!) and was just 10 short minutes on the metro to the centre of Madrid.

There were also free activities offered by the school everyday, which meant that I saw so much more of Madrid than I ever imagined! (Personal higlight was the noche de copas every Friday with all of the students and some staff - great way to practice Spanish and have a good time at the same time!)

I also stayed with a host family while I was there and they were so kind and welcoming. On my first day they made me feel like a part of the family and they made the most amazing food – I’m definitely missing that right now!

Really can’t recommend this school enough, had an absolutely flawless 3 months and was very sad to leave. If I felt like I needed any more Spanish classes I’d be back there in a shot!

Tras una serie de llamadas a escuelas de idiomas en Madrid, encontré una chica muy maja al teléfono que me explicó muy rápido las ventajas de AIL e intentó además entender mis palabras incoherentes en español: decidí que aquella tenía que ser mi escuela de español.
Entonces, imaginar volver después de muchos años a una clase con estudiantes con los que no compartes nada menos tus faltas gramaticales no me apetecía mucho...De verdad, desde el primer día la escuela y las clases me gustaron mucho, y de repente cambié mi opinión: podía aprender y conocer a gente, que como yo, también sentía la necesidad de comunicarse a través de palabras (pocas) , sonrisas (muchas), y gestos (sólo entre algunas nacionalidades en particular ;).
Los compañeros de clase eran todos simpáticos, aunque al principio demasiado callados. Me acuerdo que las conversaciones durante la primera semana se desarrollaban sólo en el tiempo presente: no conocíamos otro tiempo verbal. Me encantaba esta situación: nadie tenía planes, ni pasado, pero todos estábamos muy centrados en vivir el momento.
Si alguien quiere aprender español en Madrid, AIL es una excelente oportunidad para estudiar, conocer gente y descubrir Madrid a través de las actividades sociales organizadas por la escuela durante la tarde y a veces por la noche.
Lo que más aprecié de AIL fue la metodología de la enseñanza, que parecía más una charla entre amigos que una lección.
Lo que más me gustó de AIL fue que el profesor nunca se rió de nuestra manera de hablar, que de verdad, a menudo no tenía ninguna lógica (un besito a Edu)
Lo que AIL podría mejorar son las bromas de algunos profesores (No te enfades Edu)

¡Que todos los próximos estudiantes tengan tanta suerte como yo y puedan disfrutar de una escuela tan buena como esta!

I recently spent 2 months in a super intensive course at AIL and had a really fun and rewarding experience. While I was in the process of researching and choosing a school in Madrid, Lara, the course advisor, was super responsive, answered all of my questions, and helped me choose the best course to meet my rather vague goal of simply “improving my Spanish.” My group class professor Blanca was incredible – she has a great sense of humor and brought so much energy and creativity to the class every single day. I was exceptionally happy with the individual classes that I took in the afternoons. I worked with a variety of professors and each one was prepared, motivated, and really pushed me to improve. Initially I was a little nervous that I would be in a school with only younger students, but there was a great mix of ages, nationalities, and personalities, and overall I found that while we all had a good time, everyone worked hard. I was in a class that committed to speaking Spanish together outside the classroom as well, which is not always the case when there is more than one English speaker in the group. In the end, I greatly improved my ability to speak, read and understand Spanish, and I have a lot more confidence with the language. I highly recommend the AIL experience and would definitely return!

If you want to learn Spanish, AIL Madrid is the place to go. I spent two excellent weeks there and fully expect to return next summer. Things I loved?

1) The accommodation was outstanding and the family I was blessed staying with were gracious and helpful. They not only shared their meals and conversation with me but helped me get around the city, took me on a trip, and drove me to the train station at the end of the stay.

2) The quality of instruction was excellent. A perfect balance of theory and practice with very knowledgeable and professional instructors. Every day I learned something that was fun and engaging. And I am a tough critic as I am a teacher myself!

3) The people at the school were excellent, helpful and very kind.

4) The extra excursions were fun and interesting ways to get to know the city and practice Spanish with the other students. It was very well organized.

5) The others students were from all over the world and of various ages. Mostly young but, as I am 56 I was worried I would be the only one over 25. Not the case, students of all ages where there for fun and learning. I even found out you are never too old to dance until 5 o'clock in the morning!

I came home with a good solid foundation in Spanish, and email connections to people all over the world.
Thank you AIL!

I spent 11 months in AIL. It was a great experience for me. This school offers everything to make living in a foreign country easier for you. Besides learning the Spanish language they offer a huge variety of leisure time activities. I got to know a lot of people in this school and the motivation to visit a language school in a foreign country was a different one for each of them. But there was always a common agreement amongst all of us: The quality of AIL is great. The teachers are the best ones I’ve ever had. Each one tries to take into consideration the wishes and needs of all of the students, which is not an easy thing, but they manage and they do it with a lot of charm and professionalism at the same time. One can learn Spanish at this school, have a lot of fun and even make friends. The school is situated quite central but also beside a huge park, called Retiro-Park. An incredible place to chill out during lunch time and to recuperate the Spanish you learned during the day. I just can recommend AIL for everyone that wants to improve his Spanish knowledge or also for those who want to learn the language from the very beginning.

I spent 11 months in AIL. It was a great experience for me. This school offers everything to make living in a foreign country easier for you. Besides learning the Spanish language they offer a huge variety of leisure time activities. I got to know a lot of people in this school and the motivation to visit a language school in a foreign country was a different one for each of them. But there was always a common agreement amongst all of us: The quality of AIL is great. The teachers are the best ones I’ve ever had. Each one tries to take into consideration the wishes and needs of all of the students, which is not an easy thing, but they manage and they do it with a lot of charm and professionalism at the same time. One can learn Spanish at this school, have a lot of fun and even make friends. The school is situated quite central but also beside a huge park, called Retiro-Park. An incredible place to chill out during lunch time and to recuperate the Spanish you learned during the day. I just can recommend AIL for everyone that wants to improve his Spanish knowledge or also for those who want to learn the language from the very beginning.

Ich habe 11 Monate dieses Jahres an der Schule AIL verbracht. Die Zeit hier war für mich einfach grandios. Die Schule bietet alles, was einem hilft, sich in einem „fremden“ Land einzuleben. Neben dem Erlernen der spanischen Sprache wird hier auch ein immenses Pensum an Freizeitaktivitäten angeboten. Ich habe an der Schule sehr viele Menschen kennengelernt und die Motive eine Sprachschule im Ausland zu besuchen waren sehr unterschiedlich. Aber in einem waren wir uns alle einig. Die Qualität der Schule ist einzigartig. Die Professoren bei AIL sind meiner Meinung nach die besten, die man sich vorstellen kann. Ein jeder von ihnen versucht, auf die speziellen Wünsch und Bedürfnisse der Gruppe einzugehen, was nicht immer leicht ist, aber sie machen das mit sehr viel Charme und Professionalität gleichzeitig. Man kann hier Spanisch lernen, nebenbei sehr viel Spaß haben und auch Freunde finden. Die Schule liegt sehr zentral, aber auch in der Nähe des bekannten „Retiro-Parks“, wo man in der Mittagspause die Seele baumeln lassen kann und das gelernte nochmal verinnerlichen kann. Ich kann AIL nur an jeden empfehlen, der sein Spanisch verbessern oder aber von Grund auf lernen möchte.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 weeks in AIL Madrid. Not only was I placed in the appropriate level, the pace and quality of teaching is superb. Cultural activities were really interesting as well, giving us a glimpse of life in Madrid.

I strongly recommend AIL Madrid to anyone looking for a good learning experience. I must add that their customer service is quite excellent and you should contact them for any clarifications.

I have recently finished a four week intensive as a complete beginner. I wanted to say that I had a fantastic time. The amount of structure combined with friendliness and flexibility from all of the staff gave a fresh and professional feel to the school. I felt welcome in a place which has the potential to be rather intimidating to a new learner of Spanish, so many thanks- one to pass on to all of the staff.

By far the most important component to this, however, was Lucia. She was my teacher for the four weeks and was an exemplary teacher. I am not sure that I saw her become frustrated even once. Her activities and demeanor were always fun and engaging. She would go out of her way to give me extra material when I asked and would happily mark this work or sit with me to go through it. She was accomplished at recognising needs and tailoring activities to specific persons when required.

As a teacher myself it was refreshing to see and experience this from Lucia and the staff as a whole.

Fui a AIL Madrid una semana en mayo de 2015, en un grupo de nivel B1. Aprecié la organización durante toda la estancia. Me asignaron una familia acogedora cerca de la escuela. La escuela estaba situada en el centro de Madrid cerca de transportes públicos y de parques, museos y edificios históricos. Estaba en un grupo de mi nivel con estudiantes de diferentes países, lecciones bien construidas con un equilibrio entre gramática, vocabulario y conversación, preposiciones de actividades extra y lecciones que permiten el descubrimiento de algunos aspectos de Madrid, así como crear relaciones de convivencia con algunos estudiantes.
La semana pasó demasiado rápida, pero he hecho algunos progresos para atreverme a hablar y a construir frases correctas. He querido también visitar a Madrid durante el tiempo libre.
Con una “low cost” compañía el viaje no es demasiado caro. El coste total de la semana fue razonable.
Una única semana es una buena experiencia y buena solución para aprender la lengua.