N 28° 17′ 29.6340” W 16° 37′ 44.8644”

Tenerife is known for its 365 days of spring (Primavera) and you can surf well all year round. The combination of Spanish lessons, sun, meeting new people and surfing, sounded like music to my ears. At the end of October, I fled the beginning of the Dutch fall for the everlasting spring of Tenerife.

Learn Spanish and Surf in Tenerife

After a fairly long flight, including transfer in Madrid, I landed at Aeropeurto Tenerife Norte. I had no transfer but got on the local bus to my destination Puerto de la Cruz. By the way, the entire island is easily accessible by bus. After my first unintended sightseeing through the city, I arrived with a 10% battery in the street or the apartment block. On arrival at the apartment there was nobody home so I could unpack my things in peace.
After fifteen minutes I heard the front door and my roommate came in. He was shocked, however, because he did not know that I was getting company. Hey was an American who also lived in Germany, had been alone in the apartment for more than 2 months and thought it would stay that way for the time being. After he got over the shock, we talked about our lives and different cultures. The next day was Monday and my first
Spanish lesson was on the program.

It was raining cats and dogs but that didn’t spoil the fun. I was classified at level A1 (beginners), not completely crazy, because I had some basic Spanish in high school. Learning Spanish has been on my list for a while, but it has never been possible because of studies and other obligations. The main reason for my trip was that it
seemed useful and fun to be able to speak the second world language and I also wanted to stimulate my language skills.

Surfs up!

Hablamos Espanol – De taalschool

My Spanish teacher was Sandra and talked Spanish continuously during the lessons. This first took some getting used to but you learn it so quickly and luckily she spoke very slowly, she made many jokes and came up with nice original teaching forms. I started the first week in a class with three other students, the second week we were seven. The small classes and various composition was very nice. One student stays five months and the other two weeks so it is a coming and going of young, old and all sorts of nationalities. There is always someone in between who you can talk about.

 

There were no other Dutch people, which was very nice since otherwise you would be inclined too quickly to speak Dutch instead of Spanish or English. So don’t go all at once if you read this and get excited. The coffee and sandwiches in the school canteen were not unimportant. The Spanish life in terms of food and drink is good and definitely not expensive. The school also organizes various activities to get to know the city better and to practice Spanish. The latter remains difficult and you really have to take the initiative yourself because the working language is mainly English and the levels vary widely. 

 

Tenerife Tips

Between lessons and surfing there was enough time for a number of trips to other places. Renting a car is handy for this, but that is also not expensive (€ 35 per day). Its also an extra fun to do that with new friends and to get to know each other in a different way. The tourist attraction of the island, volcano El Teide, is certainly worthwhile. It feels crazy to pay € 27 to go up a mountain with the Teleferico (cable car) but the view is crazy and the sun shines on top almost always. The Masca gorge is also spectacular if you survive the narrow motorway to it. There are also plenty of beautiful walking routes, bars and restaurants on the island. In short, plenty to experience and highly recommended! I will definitely come back so I say: Hasta luego Tenerife!