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Homestay, shared flat or student residence. The choice looks like a budget decision and is actually a language decision, because it determines what language your evenings happen in. This compares all three honestly, including the drawbacks of the one we arrange most.

What are the accommodation options on a Spanish course?

Homestay Shared flat Student residence Own studio
Spanish exposure Highest Depends entirely on flatmates Usually low Lowest
Independence Lower High High Highest
Meals Usually included Cook yourself Sometimes Cook yourself
Cost Compare totals, meals included Rent plus food plus bills Varies Highest
Sociability Family, not peers High Highest You arrange it
Best for 2 weeks to 3 months, language first Longer stays Younger students Couples, long stays

What is a shared apartment actually like?

You rent a room in a flat with other people, typically a mix of local students, young professionals and other international students. You share kitchen and bathroom, you cook for yourself, and you come and go without anyone noticing.

The honest catch: the language outcome depends entirely on who else lives there. A flat with two Argentines and a Brazilian is superb practice. A flat with three other international students becomes an English-speaking household within a week, and you have paid to live abroad while living in English.

Ask before you commit: who currently lives there, and what do they speak to each other?

Is a homestay better for learning Spanish?

Measurably, and for one reason: your evenings stop being optional. Breakfast, dinner, the television in the background and the conversation about the weather all happen in Spanish, which roughly doubles daily exposure without adding a class hour.

It also supplies the kind of practice classes cannot: unstructured, unpredictable and about nothing in particular. That is exactly the Spanish that fails you in the street.

The trade is independence. You are a guest in a household with its own rhythms. Most students find that a fair exchange for a few weeks; some find it constraining, which is a legitimate preference rather than a failure. We cover it fully in our guide to homestays.

How do you choose?

  • Under a month, language is the priority. Homestay, almost always.
  • Three months or more. Shared flat, because independence starts to matter and homestay etiquette gets tiring.
  • Under 25 and want a social life. Residence or shared flat with locals.
  • Travelling with a partner. Studio or shared flat; homestays rarely suit couples.
  • Working remotely. Shared flat or studio, because you need reliable quiet and your own schedule.

What should you ask before booking?

  • Does the school vet the accommodation, or is it a booking link? Someone to call when it goes wrong is worth a great deal.
  • How far, in minutes and by what transport? Not kilometres.
  • What is actually included? Bills, wifi, laundry, meals. Compare totals rather than headline rent.
  • Will other students be there, speaking what? The single question that decides your language outcome.
  • What happens if it does not work? A school that will move you is telling you how it operates.

We arrange vetted homestays and shared flats for students at both schools, in Buenos Aires and Málaga, with hosts and flats we know rather than a listings site.

Frequently asked questions

Is a homestay or a shared apartment better?

A homestay is better for language, because your evenings happen in Spanish rather than English. A shared flat is better for independence and longer stays. A shared flat with local flatmates can match a homestay; one full of international students will not.

What is included in a shared apartment?

A private bedroom with shared kitchen and bathroom. Bills and wifi are sometimes included and sometimes not, and meals never are. Ask for the total monthly figure rather than the rent.

How much does student accommodation cost on a language course?

Homestays include meals, so compare totals rather than headline prices. Cost varies far more by city than by accommodation type: Buenos Aires is materially cheaper than most Spanish cities for a visitor.

Can I change accommodation if I do not like it?

With a school-arranged placement, usually yes, and it is worth confirming that before booking. With a flat you found yourself, you are on your own contract and the answer is generally no.

Before you fly, sort four things: your entry status (most nationalities travel to Argentina as tourists for a short course, but rules vary and change, so confirm yours with the nearest Argentine consulate before booking), how you will handle money on arrival, what the climate will actually be like the month you land, and how you will get from the airport into the city. Everything else, from finding your favourite café to learning the local bus routes, is easier to sort once you are actually there rather than from a browser tab at home.

This is a practical checklist, not a sales pitch for the city itself, and it is not a budget breakdown either. For a full monthly budget, see our cost of living guide. This article stays narrowly on what to actually prepare before you leave.

What needs sorting before you fly?

Task When Why it matters
Confirm your entry requirement for your passport Weeks before booking flights Rules differ by nationality and change; check the current requirement directly with the consulate rather than a blog
Tell your bank you are travelling and confirm international use 1 to 2 weeks before Avoids a card being blocked on first use abroad
Arrange a SIM or eSIM plan Just before or on arrival A local number makes taxi apps, maps and contacting the school far easier
Confirm your accommodation address Before arrival Often needed for entry paperwork and for your school’s records
Save school and emergency contacts offline Before arrival Useful if you land without signal or data

Do you need a visa to study Spanish in Buenos Aires?

For a short course, most Western passport holders enter Argentina as tourists and do not need a separate student visa. That said, entry requirements vary by nationality and do change, so treat any specific rule you read online, including this one, as a starting point rather than the final answer. Confirm the current requirement for your passport with the nearest Argentine consulate before you book flights, and check with our enrollment team if your course is long enough that the tourist entry might not cover it.

Is Buenos Aires safe, and which areas should new students know?

Buenos Aires is a large capital city, and the usual big city habits apply: keep valuables out of sight, use a card or a ride hailing app instead of flagging an unmarked taxi on the street, and be more alert in crowded tourist spots where pickpocketing is the main risk rather than anything more serious. Recoleta and Palermo are the neighbourhoods most language students end up based in or spending time around, largely because they are central, walkable and well served by schools and student housing.

The practical version of “stay safe” here is mostly about attention rather than avoidance: keep your phone out of your back pocket on the subte, split your cash and cards rather than carrying everything in one place on your first outings, and ask your host family, flatmates or the school reception which specific blocks to treat with extra care, since that changes street by street more than it changes by neighbourhood.

How do you handle money when you land?

Cards are far more usable in Buenos Aires now than they were a few years ago, but it is still worth arriving with some cash for your first day or two, before you have sorted a local way to pay. The details of exchange rates, the informal “blue dollar” market, and what to budget monthly are covered properly in our cost of living guide. The only thing to prepare before you fly is making sure you are not relying on a card that turns out to be blocked or unusable on day one.

What should you pack for the climate?

Argentina’s seasons are the reverse of the northern hemisphere’s. Expect hot, humid days from December to February, similar to a Mediterranean or subtropical summer, and mild weather from June to August that rarely gets genuinely cold but can turn cool enough in the evenings, especially in July, to want a proper jacket rather than just a jumper. Check the specific month you are travelling rather than packing for “Argentina” in general, since the difference between a January and a July suitcase is significant.

How do you get from Ezeiza airport into the city?

Ezeiza (EZE) is the main international airport, roughly 40 minutes from the city centre in normal traffic. The straightforward options are a pre-booked airport transfer, an official taxi from a marked stand inside the terminal, or a ride hailing app once you have a working SIM or airport wifi. Avoid anyone approaching you inside arrivals offering a taxi directly, and use an official stand or a pre-booked service instead.

Do you need travel insurance, and what else should be in your bag?

Check whether your course, your visa status, or your own comfort level requires proof of travel or health insurance, and sort it before you fly rather than on arrival. Beyond that, a few practical items make the first week noticeably easier: a universal power adapter (Argentina uses a different plug type to North America and most of Europe), comfortable walking shoes for the city’s uneven pavements and cobbled streets in older barrios, and a phone with offline maps and an offline translation pack downloaded before you land, in case your SIM takes a day to activate.

WhatsApp is how almost everything gets arranged in Buenos Aires, from your school to your landlord to a taxi driver confirming an address, so set it up with a working number before you arrive rather than assuming email will do the job.

What about daily life surprises new students?

Meals run later than most students expect: dinner rarely starts before nine, and it is common to eat later still. Greetings usually involve a single cheek kiss, even between people meeting for the first time. Spoken Argentine Spanish moves fast and carries its own slang, known as lunfardo, alongside the “vos” form instead of “tú”. None of this needs mastering before you arrive. Our guide to Argentine slang and lunfardo is worth a skim once you have landed, and our list of things to do while studying covers what your weeks will actually look like once class starts.

Our Buenos Aires school enrols new students on this exact checklist every intake, so none of it needs to be figured out alone. Start with our free placement test so your class is arranged before you land.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a visa to study Spanish in Buenos Aires?

Most Western passport holders can enter as tourists for a short course without a separate student visa, but this varies by nationality and can change, so confirm the current rule for your passport with the nearest Argentine consulate before booking.

Is Buenos Aires safe for students?

Yes, with the same awareness you would use in any large capital: keep an eye on belongings in crowded areas, use official transport options, and stick to the well established student neighbourhoods like Recoleta and Palermo, especially in your first days.

Should I bring US dollars in cash?

Having some cash for your first day or two is sensible, since cards are usable but not universal everywhere. For the full picture on currency and the informal exchange market, see our cost of living guide rather than relying on a single packing tip.

What is the best time of year to arrive?

That depends on what you want from the trip rather than any single “best” month. December to February is hot and lively with a strong social calendar; June to August is quieter and milder, with fewer travellers around generally. Either works for studying, so choose based on climate preference and course availability rather than worrying there is a wrong time to start.

Start with sound and survival phrases, not grammar tables. Spend your first two weeks on pronunciation, the alphabet, and around 100 high frequency words and phrases you can use immediately, then add a handful of sentence patterns before you touch a verb conjugation chart. Grammar makes far more sense once you already have something to hang it on.

Most beginners do this backwards. They open a grammar book on day one, memorise the present tense of ser and estar, and still cannot order a coffee three weeks later. The material is not the problem. The order is.

What should a total beginner actually do first?

Spanish pronunciation is close to phonetic: five vowel sounds, used consistently, with almost none of the spelling surprises English has. Learning to hear and say those sounds correctly in your first few days pays off for months, because once pronunciation is set, reading new words aloud gets much easier.

A few sounds trip up almost every English speaker at first: the rolled “rr” in words like “perro”, the soft “j” that sits further back in the throat than an English “h”, and “ñ”, which is its own letter rather than an accented “n”. None of these need to be perfect on day one. They just need enough attention early that you are not building fluency on top of a habit you will have to unlearn later.

After sound, go straight to survival phrases rather than a vocabulary list: greetings, numbers, please and thank you, and the two phrases every beginner needs constantly, “no entiendo” and “¿puede hablar más despacio, por favor?”. Add a core set of 100 to 150 words next: pronouns, the highest frequency verbs (ser, estar, tener, querer, ir, hay), and a few connectors. That small set carries an enormous amount of real conversation.

Do you need grammar before vocabulary?

No, and trying to learn it first is where most beginners stall. Learn a handful of sentence frames and swap vocabulary into them: “Quiero…”, “Necesito…”, “¿Dónde está…?”, “Me gusta…”. You will be producing real sentences within days, using grammar you have not formally studied yet.

Formal grammar earns its place a few weeks in, once you are already making sentences and need to understand why some of them come out wrong. At that point a rule explains something you have already felt, instead of sitting in your head as an abstract table with nothing to attach to.

Which format fits a true beginner: app, class, or immersion?

All three work. Almost none of them work well alone for a complete beginner, because self-study has no one to catch your mistakes, and mistakes that go uncorrected for months are hard to unlearn later.

Format Realistic weekly time Best for Typical pace to a basic conversational level
App or self-study 15 to 30 minutes a day Testing whether you will stick with it, building daily vocabulary habit Slow alone; many learners stall without any feedback
Evening or weekend group course 2 to 4 hours a week Building a habit around an existing job or routine Roughly six to nine months
Intensive group course abroad Around 20 hours a week Learners who can take real time off and want fast, forced progress Four to six weeks for a solid beginner level
Private tutor 1 to 3 hours a week Fixing specific errors alongside another format, not replacing one Depends entirely on what it is paired with

The practical answer for most complete beginners is to combine two of these rather than pick one: an app for daily repetition of words and sounds, plus a class or tutor for the correction loop that self-study cannot provide. If you can take a few weeks away, an immersion programme compresses that timeline further, because the volume of contact hours does in weeks what an evening course does across months.

What should your first month look like?

A rough week by week shape, assuming a few hours a day or a structured course:

  • Week 1. Pronunciation, the alphabet, greetings, numbers, and survival phrases. No conjugation drilling yet.
  • Week 2. The core 100 to 150 words, plus the sentence frames above. Start swapping vocabulary into them daily.
  • Week 3. Present tense of the five or six verbs you actually use, learned in context rather than as a table. Add ten minutes of listening practice a day, even if you understand very little of it.
  • Week 4. A real conversation attempt, with a tutor, an exchange partner, or a class. This is where errors surface, and surfacing them is the point.

How many words do you actually need to get started?

Fewer than most beginners assume. Language teachers commonly point to a core of a few hundred high frequency words, mostly pronouns, common verbs, and connectors, as enough to build simple, real sentences well before you have any formal grammar. Depth comes later. The early goal is coverage: enough words to describe what you want, ask a question, and understand a short answer.

How should you split time between listening, speaking, reading and writing?

Weight it towards listening and speaking early, even though reading and writing feel more comfortable and controllable. A beginner who only reads and writes builds a passive vocabulary that stalls the moment a real conversation moves at native speed. A beginner who spends time listening, even to material that is mostly incomprehensible at first, trains their ear to the rhythm and sounds of the language, which pays off the moment they start speaking.

A workable rough split for the first month is close to half listening and speaking, a third on active vocabulary and sentence practice, and the rest on reading short, simple material. Writing matters less at this stage than the other three. It is easier to add once you already have something to say.

What mistakes slow beginners down the most?

The same handful, repeatedly. Waiting until you feel “ready” before speaking, which never actually arrives. Learning vocabulary lists in isolation instead of inside sentences you will actually say. Skipping listening practice because it feels unproductive when you understand little of it. Avoiding correction because it is uncomfortable, which just means the same mistake gets repeated for longer. And switching method every few weeks instead of giving one approach a full month before judging it.

If you want a longer set of ongoing habits once you are past the absolute beginner stage, our guide on learning Spanish effectively covers resources and methods in more depth, and our answer to how long it actually takes sets realistic expectations by level.

Both our schools, in Málaga and Buenos Aires, run dedicated beginner classes in every new intake, so you are never the only person starting from zero. Start with our free placement test so you are placed in the right level from your very first class.

Frequently asked questions

Can you learn Spanish for free as a total beginner?

Yes, for the first stage. Apps and free listening material can cover pronunciation and core vocabulary well. Progress usually slows once you need someone to correct your speaking, which is why most beginners add one class or tutor session once the basics above are in place.

How long until a beginner can hold a basic conversation?

With regular practice, a simple functional conversation is realistic within a few months. An intensive month abroad can get a true beginner there faster, purely because of the number of contact hours involved.

Should a beginner learn Spanish in Spain or Argentina?

Either works, because the fundamentals, grammar and core vocabulary, are the same everywhere. The accent and some vocabulary differ. Both our schools teach absolute beginners from the first day of every intake, so the choice usually comes down to which country you would rather spend the time in.

Is it too late to start Spanish as an adult beginner?

No. Adults often pick up structured grammar faster than children because they can study a pattern consciously instead of only absorbing it slowly. The trade-off is that adults usually need more deliberate speaking practice to build the same instinctive fluency children get for free.

A student’s week in Buenos Aires is not a checklist of tourist attractions. It is class in the morning or afternoon, an intercambio or a walk through a new barrio after class, an asado or a feria on the weekend, and one day trip if you have the time. This guide covers what that week actually looks like, not what a guidebook says you should see.

What does a typical week look like for a Spanish student in Buenos Aires?

Most students take class for three or four hours a day, either in the morning or the afternoon, which leaves a full half of the day free. The rhythm that works best is not trying to fill every free hour with sightseeing. It is picking one or two things a day, doing homework or self study for thirty minutes, and treating the rest of the time as ordinary life in the city rather than a vacation.

Here is a realistic shape for a first week, adjusted to whichever half of the day your classes fall in.

Day After class Evening
Monday Coffee and homework at a café near school Rest or a quiet asado at home
Tuesday Walk a new barrio, Palermo or San Telmo Intercambio or language exchange
Wednesday Gym, park, or errands Cook or eat with your homestay family
Thursday Museum or bookshop Tango class or a milonga
Friday Light homework, pack for the weekend Dinner with classmates
Saturday Feria, Palermo Soho, or a day trip Whatever the day left you energy for
Sunday Laundry, self study, slow morning Family lunch or an early night

Weeks two and three tend to look thinner on this table and fuller in real life, once you have a routine and stop needing to plan every afternoon.

What can you do after class on weekdays?

The afternoons or mornings you are not in class are where most of the Spanish practice actually happens, more than in class itself. A few things fill that time well without turning into another obligation.

  • Walk a barrio with no agenda. Palermo, San Telmo, Recoleta, and Villa Crespo each reward an aimless hour more than a rushed checklist visit. Our guide to Palermo Soho is a good starting point if you want a barrio with cafés, shops, and street art in one stretch.
  • Go to a language exchange. Buenos Aires runs several weekly intercambios where you trade English for Spanish over a drink, and we cover where to find them in our guide to practicing Spanish outside the classroom.
  • Sit in a café and do nothing productive. Porteño café culture is slow on purpose, and reading a menu, ordering, and chatting with the mesero is real practice.
  • Take a class that is not Spanish. A tango class, a cooking class, or a running group puts you in a room full of Spanish speakers who are focused on something other than teaching you the language, which changes how you use it.
  • Go to the gym or a park. The Bosques de Palermo are large enough for a proper walk or run and free to use.

How should you spend your weekends?

Weekends are where the tourist instinct is strongest, and where it is most worth resisting. One well chosen thing on Saturday and one on Sunday beats a packed two day itinerary that leaves you exhausted for Monday’s class.

Saturday mornings are for ferias. San Telmo’s Sunday fair is the famous one, but the Saturday feria in Plaza Serrano and the smaller weekend markets in Chacarita and Belgrano are quieter and less aimed at tourists. Saturday afternoons work well for a longer barrio walk, since shops and galleries are open and the streets are busier than on a weekday.

If you have a full weekend day free, a single trip outside the city is worth it once during your stay, most commonly to Tigre for the delta or to an estancia in the countryside for an asado and horses. Do not try to combine a day trip with a full evening out afterward. Traveling and being social both use energy, and Monday’s class is easier after a quiet Saturday night than a loud one.

Sundays work best kept slow. Laundry, a bit of homework, a long lunch if you are in a homestay, and maybe a milonga in the evening if you have the energy. Our guide to homestays in Argentina covers what a typical Sunday looks like if you are living with a local family rather than in a flat.

What fits a student budget without feeling like you are missing out?

Buenos Aires is one of the more affordable cities for someone earning outside Argentina, and several of the best things to do in a student week cost little or nothing.

  • Free museum days. Several major museums, including MALBA and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, have free entry on specific days or times each week.
  • Parks and plazas. The Japanese Garden has a small entry fee, but the Bosques de Palermo, Plaza San Martín, and most neighborhood plazas cost nothing.
  • Ferias. Browsing is free, and the food stalls at most markets sell a full lunch for a modest amount.
  • Free walking tours. Several operators run tip based walking tours of the center and San Telmo that are a good way to learn the layout of the city in your first week.
  • Milongas with a class included. Some tango venues bundle a beginner lesson with entry, which is often cheaper than a standalone class.

Expect an evening out, dinner included, to run somewhere in the range of ten to twenty five dollars depending on where you go and how much you drink, and treat any specific number as a starting point to check once you arrive, since prices in Argentina move quickly. Our guide to the cost of living in Buenos Aires breaks down a full monthly budget by category rather than a single figure.

How do you avoid turning your week into nonstop sightseeing?

The instinct on a short trip is to see everything, and it works against you when the trip is actually a study period. Three habits keep a student week sustainable rather than exhausting.

Pick a neighborhood, not a landmark list. Getting to know one or two barrios well, where to get coffee, which bakery, which corner store, teaches you more about how the city actually runs than visiting every recommended sight once.

Protect one slow day a week. A day with no plans, where you do laundry, catch up on homework, and go to bed early, is what makes the following week possible. Students who skip this tend to burn out by week three.

Let repetition do the work. Going to the same café, the same feria stall, or the same intercambio every week builds the kind of familiarity and small talk that a new location every night never does. If you are staying long enough that this matters for your paperwork, our guide to the student visa for Argentina covers when you actually need one.

If you are still in the planning stage before you arrive, our guide to preparing for a study abroad trip covers what to sort out before you land, so your first week in Buenos Aires can look more like the one above and less like jet lagged improvisation.

Our Spanish courses in Buenos Aires are built around a similar idea: enough class to make real progress, a schedule that leaves your afternoons free, and a team that can point you toward the intercambio, the feria, or the asado that fits the week you are actually having.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours a week should I spend outside class practicing Spanish?

There is no fixed number, but students who spend even a few hours a week in Spanish outside class, at a feria, an intercambio, or a homestay dinner table, tend to progress noticeably faster than those who only attend lessons.

Is Buenos Aires safe for students exploring after class?

Central barrios popular with students, including Palermo, Recoleta, and much of San Telmo, are generally safe to walk during the day and in the early evening. Use the same common sense you would in any large city at night: stick to busier streets, keep your phone out of sight, and take a taxi or app based ride rather than walking long distances late.

What if I only have two or three weeks in Buenos Aires?

Skip the day trip and put the time into one or two barrios instead. A short stay benefits more from a routine you can repeat, café, class, walk, intercambio, than from trying to see the whole city once.

Should I plan a day trip outside the city while I am studying?

One is worth it, usually to Tigre or an estancia, but treat it as a single weekend event rather than something you repeat. Most of the language and cultural benefit of a study trip comes from routine inside the city, not from time spent traveling to see something new.

A semester of Spanish in Spain or Argentina can count towards your degree. Whether it does is decided by one office, and it is not in Spain. Your home institution’s registrar decides what transfers, and everything else in this article is about giving that office what it needs to say yes.

Credit rules differ by institution and change over time. Use this as a map of how the process works, then confirm every specific with your own academic adviser and registrar in writing before you pay a deposit.

Does a semester abroad count towards your degree?

It can, through one of three routes, and they are not equally easy.

  • Your university’s own programme. The institution has an existing agreement with a partner abroad. Credit is pre approved and the process is close to automatic. Easiest, least flexible.
  • A third party study abroad provider. A provider packages the semester and arranges a transcript through a partner institution. Widely accepted, more expensive.
  • Direct enrolment with an independent school. You arrange it yourself and seek credit through your registrar’s transfer process. Cheapest and most flexible, and the route where you have to do the work up front.

Language schools such as ours sit in the third category, and often alongside the second, since providers and universities frequently contract schools to deliver the language component. That is a normal arrangement, but it means the approval conversation has to happen before you go, not after.

How do European credits convert?

European institutions measure study in ECTS credits. A full academic year is normally 60 ECTS, so a semester is normally 30.

The conversion into US semester credit hours that most registrars work from treats roughly two ECTS as one US credit, which makes a 30 ECTS semester roughly a 15 credit semester. That is a widely used rule of thumb rather than a rule, and individual institutions apply their own formula.

Abroad Common US equivalent Notes
60 ECTS Around 30 credits A full academic year
30 ECTS Around 15 credits A standard semester
6 ECTS Around 3 credits A typical single course

Do not plan your graduation timeline on that table. Ask your registrar what conversion they apply, and ask before you enrol, because a shortfall discovered in your final year is expensive.

What paperwork do you need before you go?

Four documents do most of the work, and the order matters.

  • Written pre approval. An email or form from your adviser or registrar confirming that the specific course, at the specific number of hours, will be considered for credit. This is the document that protects you.
  • A course syllabus. Registrars assess content and contact hours, not brochures. Ask the school for a syllabus stating the CEFR level, the topics covered and the total class hours.
  • Proof of contact hours. Most transfer decisions come down to hours. Get the weekly hours and total hours in writing.
  • A transcript or certificate at the end. Confirm before you enrol what the school issues, what it states, and whether it can be sent directly to your institution.

The failure pattern is always the same. A student enrols, has a superb semester, comes home with a certificate of attendance, and discovers the registrar needed a graded transcript with contact hours. Ask what format is required first.

What is the difference between a language school and a university semester?

  University semester Language school semester
What you study Subject courses, sometimes in English Spanish language, all day, every day
Contact hours Spread across several subjects Concentrated, often 20 a week
Start dates Fixed academic calendar Flexible, often any Monday
Credit route Usually established Usually needs pre approval
Language gain Variable, depends on your choices High, it is the whole point

If your goal is to graduate on time with a broad transcript, the university route is the safer default. If your goal is to come back genuinely able to work in Spanish, a concentrated language semester does something a scattering of subject courses will not.

How many hours does a semester of Spanish involve?

A full intensive semester at twenty lessons a week over a standard sixteen week block runs to several hundred contact hours, which is normally enough to move a beginner several CEFR levels and to satisfy the contact hour threshold most registrars apply.

That volume is the argument to take into the approval conversation. You are not asking for credit for a holiday. You are asking for credit for more classroom hours of a language than most students accumulate in two years of campus study. Our guide to how long it takes to learn Spanish sets out what those hours realistically produce.

Which route should you choose?

Work backwards from what you actually need, because the three routes optimise for different things.

  • You must graduate on schedule and cannot risk a credit gap. Take your university’s own exchange programme. Pre approved credit is worth more than flexibility when a delayed graduation is the downside.
  • You want the semester handled for you. A third party provider arranges housing, insurance, transcripts and support. You pay for that, and for many students it is money well spent on a first time abroad.
  • You want maximum language gain per euro. Direct enrolment with a language school. You do the approval legwork and the logistics, and in exchange you get more class hours and lower cost.
  • Credit is a bonus rather than the point. Direct enrolment, clearly. If you are taking a gap semester, a year out or studying between degrees, the transcript question stops being the constraint and you can simply pick the best course.

One thing that is true on every route: the language gain is decided by how much Spanish you speak outside class, not by which administrative structure you booked through.

What can go wrong with credit transfer?

  • Verbal approval only. Advisers change roles. Get it in writing and keep the email.
  • Level mismatch. Credit is sometimes refused for beginner language study if you already have prior credit at that level. Check how your placement level maps to your existing record.
  • Wrong document at the end. Attendance certificates are frequently rejected where a graded transcript was required.
  • Residency and financial aid rules. Some institutions cap transfer credit or restrict aid for non affiliated programmes. Ask your financial aid office as well as your registrar.
  • Timing. Approval processes can take weeks. Start a full semester before you intend to travel.

We run a university intensive Spanish program in Buenos Aires built for students coming through this route, and our schools in Málaga and Buenos Aires can issue syllabi and contact hour documentation for your registrar. Ask us for that paperwork before you apply, not after, and confirm the requirements with your own institution first.

Frequently asked questions

Will my study abroad credits transfer?

Only if your home institution approves them, which is why written pre approval before you travel is the single most important step. Approval typically depends on the syllabus, the contact hours and the type of document issued at the end.

How many US credits is a semester in Spain?

A standard European semester is 30 ECTS, and a commonly used conversion treats two ECTS as roughly one US credit, giving around 15 credits. Institutions apply their own formula, so ask your registrar for theirs rather than relying on the rule of thumb.

Can I get credit for a language school rather than a university?

Often yes, but it needs arranging in advance through your registrar’s transfer credit process. Ask what documentation they require, then ask the school whether it can issue exactly that before you enrol.

Do I need a student visa for a semester abroad?

Usually yes for a full semester, since it typically exceeds the visa free period for many nationalities. Requirements and processing times vary by nationality and consulate and change, so check with the consulate that covers your area well before you book flights.

Erasmus sends you to a Spanish university. It does not, on its own, make you able to follow a lecture in Spanish, argue with a landlord or make friends outside the exchange bubble. That gap is why a lot of Erasmus students add a short private Spanish course to the start of their placement.

Erasmus rules, funding and language support change between programme cycles and between universities. Everything below explains how the pieces normally fit together. Confirm the specifics with your home university’s international office and your national agency before committing money.

Do you need Spanish to go on Erasmus in Spain?

To be accepted, often not. Many Spanish universities run a set of courses taught in English for incoming exchange students, and plenty of people complete a placement without ever getting past ordering coffee.

To get anything out of the year, yes. This is the honest version that nobody puts in the brochure. Without functional Spanish you will study in English, socialise with other exchange students in English, and come home with a stamped transcript and very little else. The students who look back on Erasmus as the good decision are almost always the ones who could hold a conversation by November.

What language support does Erasmus already give you?

The programme includes an online language support platform, with a placement assessment and self study courses in the language of your placement. Universities also frequently run their own Spanish classes for incoming students, sometimes free, sometimes at a reduced rate.

Take both. They cost you little and the online assessment is a useful baseline. But be realistic about what they are:

  • The online course is self study. There is no one waiting for you, and completion rates for self study platforms are what you would expect.
  • University classes start when term starts. That is precisely the weeks when you most need Spanish and have least of it.
  • They are usually large. A university Spanish class for exchange students can be big enough that you speak very little in each session.

Availability and cost differ by institution and by year, so ask your host university directly rather than assuming.

Why do Erasmus students add a private Spanish course?

Almost always for the same reason: to arrive already working, rather than spending the first two months catching up. The pattern that works is an intensive course in the weeks before term, then the university’s own classes to maintain it.

  University language class Private language school course
Starts With the academic term Any Monday, including before term
Group size Often large Small by design
Intensity A few hours a week Up to 20 lessons a week
Cost Free or subsidised Paid
Main use Keeping it going all year Getting to a usable level fast

The two are complements, not competitors. Two or three intensive weeks in September is a small amount of money against the cost of a wasted year abroad.

When should you take the course, before or during?

Before term, if you can. Arriving two or three weeks early and taking an intensive course does three things at once: it lifts your Spanish while you have no other commitments, it gets you settled in the city before the chaos of enrolment week, and it gives you a group of people to eat with before term starts. That third one is underrated.

During term, if you cannot. Evening and weekend classes fit around a university timetable, and they solve the specific problem of a placement where all your friends speak English. A few hours a week for a semester compounds.

At the end, rarely worth it. Adding a course in your final month is better than nothing, but you have spent the year with the resource you needed sitting unused.

Can Erasmus funding pay for a language course?

Sometimes, and it depends on rules that vary by country, by university and by programme cycle. Your Erasmus grant is a mobility grant rather than an earmarked tuition budget, and some national agencies and universities have separate provisions relating to language preparation.

The practical answer is to ask two specific questions of your home university’s international office, in writing:

  • Is there any linguistic preparation support available to me, and under what conditions?
  • If I take an external language course, can it be recognised, and would it need to appear on my learning agreement?

Do not assume either way based on what a friend on a different programme received. Verify with your own institution and national agency, because this is exactly the sort of rule that differs between countries and changes between cycles.

What do Erasmus students regret afterwards?

Ask returning students what they would change and the same three answers come back, none of which are about the academic side.

  • Living with other exchange students. It is the easy option in September and it quietly decides your whole year. A shared flat with Spaniards is harder to find and worth the extra fortnight of searching.
  • Waiting to start speaking. People decide they will speak Spanish once they are good enough, and the threshold keeps moving. The students who improve start speaking badly in week one.
  • Treating the language as the backdrop. The subject courses get a timetable, deadlines and revision. Spanish gets whatever is left, which by November is nothing.

A booked course fixes the third one by turning Spanish into an appointment rather than an intention. It partly fixes the second, because a classroom is a low cost place to speak badly. The first one is on you, and it is the one that matters most.

How does a Spanish course fit around a university timetable?

Reasonably easily, because language schools are used to it. The usual arrangements are an intensive block before term, evening or weekend classes during term, or private lessons scheduled around a timetable that changes each semester.

One thing worth planning: Spanish university timetables are often confirmed late and can shift after the first week. If you are booking a course that runs during term, ask the school how much flexibility you have to move sessions, rather than locking a fixed slot in August.

It is also worth being honest with yourself about January and June. Those are exam months at Spanish universities, and a language course you booked in optimism will be the first thing you drop. Plan the intensive work for September, and keep the term time commitment small enough that you will still turn up during revision.

We run a course built for exactly this situation. See our Erasmus in Málaga page for the format and dates, or the intensive group course if you are arriving early to get ahead. If you are still weighing up cities, our guide to studying abroad in Málaga covers the rest of the picture.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to speak Spanish for Erasmus in Spain?

For admission, often not, since many Spanish universities offer courses in English for exchange students, and required levels vary by institution. For the experience to be worth having, yes. Check the specific language requirement of your host university, because it differs by faculty as well as by university.

What level of Spanish do I need for an Erasmus placement?

Requirements vary, and where a level is specified it is commonly around B1 for courses taught in Spanish. Some placements set no requirement at all if you study in English. Ask your host university for the level attached to your specific faculty and confirm it in writing.

Is it better to take a Spanish course before or during Erasmus?

Before, if your dates allow it. Arriving two or three weeks early for an intensive course means you start term already functional, settled, and knowing some people. During term, evening classes work well and fit around a university timetable.

Will an external Spanish course count towards my credits?

Only if your home university agrees to recognise it, usually in advance and usually through your learning agreement. Never assume recognition after the fact. Ask your international office before you enrol and get the answer in writing.