Bene says on Oct 3, 2007, 13:58:
Hello RedDevil,
I'll share with you the point of view of a standard european person having lived in Colombia for about 8 months now.
Despite my boyfriend being Colombia, I was also a bit scared before coming to Colombia, had no idea of how Bogota would look like. And when I arrived, I was impressed! I have never so many buildings in construction, so many taxis all around the city, people selling so much stuff at traffic lights,... In short, I like the city very much. Now, it depends on where you decide to live, some neighborhoods being much more enjoyable, convenient and safer than others. This city has everything you want, people are nice (but still watch out for your personal belongings in public transport, they robbed me too).
Studying Spanish here is great, as the accent is very neutral and Bogotanos don't speak very fast. On top of that, everybody's willing to help you when you need.
About where to study Spanish, good question!
In Colombia, you have 2 types of universities: the private ones (expensive) and the public ones (cheaper).
Amongst the private ones, I know:
- the Javeriana has great reputation gives daily classes, 4 hours a day, for a price of around 600 euro. More info on http://www.javeriana.edu.co/Facultades/comunicacion_lenguaje/centro_la...
- Universidad de Los Andes is from the best too, but pretty expensive.
- Universidad Externado (cepex at uexternado.edu.co) - website: www.uexternado.edu.co/cepex/espanol/index.html
For the public universities, I personally went to 2, and they give 2 hours of classes per day, 5 days a week.
- Universidad Nacional. Considered as the best private university of Colombia. More info on http://www.humanas.unal.edu.co/lenguas/cursos_extension_2007_I.htm
They will only issue a certificate for the course you have paid for and registered, ie for 2 months maximum. This means that you have to renew your Visa every two months.
The 1st level you take will cost you 175 euro for 2 months.
If you continue taking classes for the next levels, they'll give you a discount and you'll only have to pay 110 euro for 2 months of classes.
- Universidad Pedagogica. http://www.pedagogica.edu.co/atra/pages/contenido.php?pag=cont&esquema.... If you start learning Spanish from scratch, you'll need to take their 6/8 levels. They will make you the document so you can get your Visa directly for the whole training you need. If you leave the class/country earlier, you'll need to inform them.
Private institutions I don't know about but you can get more info from them.
- www.nuevalengua.com
- www.berlitz.com.co (25 euro per hour)
About your accommodation, you can look on this website. Another option is to go to www.metrocuadrado.com, which is a website dedicated to real estate in Colombia.
About your funds from UK, you have 2 options.
1/ You receive a Visa superior to 3 months in Colombia, which will entitle you to receive a Colombian ID. Thanks to this, you can open a bank account in Colombia.
2/ Another option is to take money from the ATM. Personally, I have my bank account in Citibank, so I can take out money from the Citibank ATM here, decreasing the cost of international transaction.
The Visa card is also largely accepted in supermarkets, restaurants, etc
Last, a great way to get to know the city, other foreigners and colombian people is to give classes. You'll find on this website various schools looking for teachers (no experience accepted too). I can tell you that, beyond taking Spanish classes, this is a great way to meet people with diverse backgrounds and nationalities.
I hope this helps you.
Good luck!
B.
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