Spanish students love learning in Sidmouth

ELEVEN Spanish students in Sidmouth for a month to brush up their English, met with Sidmouth Herald’s chief reporter Di Bowerman on Monday to quiz her about being a reporter for an English weekly newspaper.

They decided, after hearing how reporters could work late into the evening covering council meetings and other major events, that being a journalist is hard work.

The group, aged between 14 and 22, in the town with Meca Fast school from Guadalajara near Madrid, offered their own report of why they are in town.

They write: “We come from different places like Madrid, Guadalajara and Azuqueca.

“We stay with host families for a month in June/July…We want to improve our English.

“In Spain English is very important because nowadays if you want to get a job you have to speak English. Also, English is spoken in lots of countries so you need English to travel.

“We have chosen Sidmouth because it’s better to talk with people here because it is a little place and the people are less busy than in a big city like London.”

They said it was different from Spain in many aspects – language, religion, political views and the way we live.

“We prefer the food in Spain, but we also like to try the food here. People here are nice and our host families are great, they feed and look after us really well.

“We think people in Sidmouth are healthier than people in Spain because there are more sports halls here.

“We like Sidmouth because it is peaceful. We love the sea, the villages and the interesting places to visit. We are busy every day with lessons in the mornings and planned activities in the afternoons and evenings.”

Telmo said: “I like the pebbles and ice creams”, while Je?us added: “In school it is fun, I’ve learnt a lot and the people are lovely.”

Rodrigo says he would like to return to Sidmouth in the future, and Luis adds: “I like the cliffs and seashore, it is beautiful.”

The school has been coming to Sidmouth for 27 years and Cesar Campoamor is interested in hearing from potential host families or from people wanting to know more about the school at cesarcampoamor@gmail.com.