Language school overview
Accreditations
· Babylon Idiomas has been accredited by Instituto Cervantes in 2008.
· Babylon Idiomas has been accredited by the Swedish Ministry of Education (Högskoleverket) for courses in Spanish language courses in Spain.
· Babylon Idiomas has been accredited by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce for its exams.
· Babylon Idiomas has been accredited in Germany for Bildungsurlaub in all German states where this scheme applies.
· Two renowned MBA schools in Europe recommend Babylon Idiomas for learning Spanish: INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) and IESE (Barcelona, Spain).
Organisation memberships
Instituto Cervantes, EDUESPAÑA, NAFSA
Language School description
Our school is situated on the 1st floor of a typical ''Eixample'' building in the heart of Barcelona. The Eixample was built in the late 19th century and is one of the architectural highlights of our city.
School facilities description
Babylon Idiomas is located on the first floor of a historic ‘Eixample’ building; high ceilings, mosaic floors and spacious rooms.
The school has 10 classrooms which all has air-conditioning and heating to make you feel comfortable regardless of the weather. A book and DVD library complement your academic course and there is a living room with student PCs, cold drinks and coffee at your disposal. There is also one large terrace where you relax and mingle with your classmates.
Courses
Language Course type
 Au pair program
 Courses for Academic purposes
Courses for Business/Executives
Courses for Specific purposes
Courses Plus (sport, culture etc.)
Examination preparation courses
General and Intensive courses
Group programs
High school preparation courses
| | Language immersion at teacher's home
One to one courses
Senior programs
Summer or camp programs
Teacher training programs
University Foundation/Access courses
Vacation courses for adults
Vacation courses for young learners
Work experience programs
|
Language courses description and prices
We offer a large variety of courses. Here is a brief description, pricing and start dates 2009 details are available in our brochure.
Intensive Spanish course
At the heart of our academic program stands the Intensive Spanish course that offers 20 hours per week of Spanish classes. The course is setup in such a way that there are always 8 different levels active which allows a new student to join the appropriate level every Monday.
Super Intensive Spanish course
The Super-Intensive course adds 2 class hours per day to the Intensive Course and is offered for levels 2 to 8. We highly recommend it as the ideal program for those students who want to totally immerse themselves in the Spanish language or who want to progress at a higher pace.
The extra 2 hours are mainly spent on applying the newly learnt grammar in daily conversation. It quickly boosts the confidence and enjoyment a student finds in speaking Spanish.
We recommend absolute beginners to start with the Intensive Course and switch to the Super-Intensive course after two weeks.
Español Expres
Español Expres caters for students who need to achieve a decent command of the Spanish language in the shortest possible time. We offer a 20 or 30 hours of private classes per week.
The 4 or 6 hours per day are split into blocks of 2 hours. Each block is taught by a different teacher to keep the student and the teacher fresh.
Individual classes
Individual classes can be tailor-made to the student’s specific needs (exam preparation, living in Spain vocabulary, interview practice, etc.).
Spanish + Salsa
Barcelona has one of the biggest salsa scenes outside of Central America which means that you can learn Spanish and enjoy Salsa at the same time. Dance classes are held at the school and the dance instructor will also take out the students to salsatecas at night so that they can practice what they’ve learned on the dance floor.
Certificates & exams preparation
D.E.L.E Exam preparation course
The “Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera” (DELE) is the only official Spanish language certificate issued by Instituto Cervantes and recognises three levels:
- Inicial,
- Intermedio and
- Superior.
Each level corresponds to a different exam and preparation course. Babylon Idiomas offers preparation courses for the Intermedio and Superior level. An absolute beginner needs a minimum of 14 weeks of general Spanish before embarking on the Intermedio preparation course. At least 20 weeks are required to be ready for the Superior preparation course.
The exam is held three times per year in Spain in May, August and November and the course starts four weeks before the exam date.
Please download our brochure for more details.
Student nationalities, average age & average number per class
There is big range and a good balance of different nationalities and no nationality dominates more than 20% of total number of students.
Our students come mainly from Western Europe (80%) and North America (15%) with Asia and Africa accounting for the remaining 5%.
Average age: 28 years old
Maximum students/class: 8
Average: 5
Activities
Culture class
Culture classes are offered free of charge every Tuesday and consist of a 90 minute long presentation held by one of the teachers or an outside expert about such topics as: History of Spain, History of Argentina, Architecture, Spanish wine tasting, Spanish painters, Learn to dance Flamenco / Salsa, Spanish film history, Spanish writers, Regional cuisine etc.
Excursion and social activities
The school organises a social activity every Wednesday evening at the school premises. Each Wednesday has a different theme such as “salsa classes”, “paella night”, “degustacíon internacional” (students bring something from their own country to dinner) and “copas y tapas”.
The school offers a wide range of weekend excursions to its students on a paid for basis. Examples: wine region tour, sailing, local excursion, walking tour of the city.
What they say about this school...
Posted by Claire F. (SAINT BRIEUC - France)
on March 2009 - France
I was delighted with the three weeks that I spent at Babylon Idiomas school, Barcelona, in the summer of 2008. The teaching was excellent, the teachers were a lot of fun and very helpful, as was the whole course in general. I made some super friends and I was sad to leave! I would highly recommend this school to anyone wishing to learn Spanish. I had such a marvellous time that I'm returning this summer! Claire
Posted by Jim S. (Ann Arbor - United States)
on March 2009 - United States
I have come to Barcelona for the past several years. The last two years I studied intensive Spanish at two institutions for three weeks both times. [Unfortunately I was unable to stay for three weeks this year, so I was solely a tourist for ten days.]
My best expereince by far was with Babylon Idiomas. The teachers were better, the classes were better organized, and the handouts were very helpful. Two special experience of my three weeks at Babylon were (1) in practicing a very useful skill--talking all at once, as Spaniards do in social situations, and (2) studying a popular song in Spanish. There were other interesting activities, and as a teacher myself, it was easy to understand the Babylon methodologies.
The facilities were excellent, especially the terrace, a place to get some fresh air! I heartily recommend Babylon Idiomas in Barcelona, and will study there again soon!
