Metro Madrid iPhone Application

If you are an iPhone user, there is a good Madrid metro application by Presselite.

Things I like about this application:

-It works without internet connection.

-It has a station search when you cannot find the metro station on the map.

-It tells me the quickest way to get to the destination, as well as the route with minimum transports.

For more details, click here: http://www.presselite.com/iphone/metrodemadrid/

Facultad de Filología

Getting to the Facultad de Filología Edificio A where CCEE is located.

Facultad de Filología of the Compultense University. This is the A building (edificio A) where most of the CCEE classes take place. Secretaría is also located on the first floor of this building. In order to arrive to this building, the fastest is to walk towards the end of the Avenida de Compultense, and cross the street twice as explained in the earlier post. This will take you to the entrance near the Secretaría wing of the A building.

Another option is to take the G bus, it will take you closer to the main entrance of the building.

The G bus takes you to this bus stop. When the bus announces a bus stop for the Facultad de Derecho (Faculty of Law), that is the bus stop to get off. The Facultad de Filología is right next to the Facultad de Derecho. After getting off the bus, walk further in the direction of the bus. The Facultad de Filología is on your right and a big football court is on your left.

Welcome to Universidad de Compultense, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras...Although the sign doesn´t mention Filología, it is in this building. It is surprising even on the faculty sign, there is graffiti. Graffiti is all over the campus!

Edificio A is this building behind the parking lot. Facing the building's main entrance, there is a library on the first floor on your right and there is Secretaría of Centro Compultense de la Enseñanza del Español.

How to get to the Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español

 

Ways to go to Facultad de Filología (where Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español is located):


The closest metro station is the Ciudad Universitaria, on the line 6 (grey line on the metro subway map). The metro station just has one big exit. After you climb up the stairs to exit the station, turn right and walk down the Avenida de Compultense. Keep walking on the Avenida de Compultense until the small rotunda. You will see the Jardín botánico (Botanical Garden, picture on the right) on your right and Santander bank on the left. Link of the Compultense Moncloa Campus map is here.






Although walking only takes less than 10 minutes from the Ciudad Universitaria to the Facultad de Filologia, there is also a bus route that takes you to the end of the Avenida de America. These buses are #132 (La hospital la paz), #82 (Peñagrande), and the university buses called G and U. If you get on the bus in front of Ciudad Universitaria, stay on the bus for 2 stops. The bus stop closest to the Facultad de Filologia, is right in front of the Botanical Garden on Compultense Campus. Get off at the bus stop.

Cross the street from the Botannical Garden side to the Santander side. You will see a box-like building with a sign "UniVerde" like in this picture. Keep walking further away from the Ciudad Universitaria station, towards the next cross.







After passing the UniVerde, cross this street. When you wait at the traffic light, you will find a bus stop on your left.

After crossing the street, keep walking.....you will see a building on your left and that is the Facultad de Filología.

This entrance is the one closest to the Secretaría de Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español. The registration and information office of the CCEE program is here. This entrance is always crowded with smokers.

Class levels at Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español

Class divsions at Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español

In the winter semester (curso de invierno from January 10 to March 23), the class levels were divided just like in DELE exam (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) as follows:

Inicial

A1 (The initial level of DELE)

A2

B1.1 (Intermediate level of DELE)

B1.2

B1.3

B1.4

B1.5

B2 (Higher intermediate of DELE)

C1

C2 (the most advanced level of DELE)

As you can see, there are many more students who are grouped into B1 level, which is the intermediate level of Spanish. According to the placement exam that we took on the first day of the class, we were divided into smaller classes within the B1 level.

Last semester, the students were divided into classes by numbers from 1 to 13 (if I remember correctly) according to their results of their placement exams. I think it is easier to know your level when the levels are categorized as in DELE exams, because many students are here to improve their Spanish, and DELE is probably the only official exam recognized worldwide that certifies your level of Spanish.

General class atmosphere and students' background

Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español (Compultense Centre for Spanish Learning) of the Compultense University in Madrid has a very international class atmosphere.

So far I have met students from Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Russia, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The class size is 10-15 students in which typically there are occupied by American students (40%), European students (30%) and Asian students (30%).

There are mainly two groups of students: university students who are in Madrid for an exchange program such as Erasmus, and those who have already graduated from universities with job experience who are looking for a career change, enrichment of their language skills etc. Most of the students fall between 20 to 40 years of age. Majority of the students are in their 20s, so it is a group of young students and professionals.

There are classes in the morning and in the afternoon. I was placed in the afternoon class for the fall semester (October-December). I am not too familiar with the morning classes, but it seems there are fewer level distinctions. in the morning There are more class levels in the afternoon and so students can be placed in the appropriate level for their Spanish. 

Class levels will be posted next time!

Introduction

Hola a todos! Welcome to my blog "Conjugating every day"!!

I made this blog so that I can share my experience in Madrid and specifically my student life at Centro Compultense para la Enseñanza del Español at Compultense University. First of all, I hope that it may help students who wish to study Spanish at this institution to know what it is like to study at CCEE. When I started to look for Spanish language courses in Madrid, it was difficult at first since I did not know which academic programs had good evaluation by the students or what kind of academic environmentsn each insitution provided. I also may not have had enough Spanish level to understand what options I had. So, this time I am writing this blog in English so that it will be communicated to those who are interested in learning Spanish in Madrid in the future! While my initial plan is to right about my academic life, I also want to write about what it is like to live in Madrid from my point of view. It is an exciting city to live and there is a lot to explore. Let the blog begin!!

(Barajas airport-Madrid, Spain)