Learning Spanish together when your levels are different

A shared trip to Valencia can include two different Spanish courses. One of you might be starting with greetings while the other wants to discuss films without searching for every verb. Write down those needs separately before choosing dates. Then decide which parts of the trip you want to share. That order makes it easier to ask useful questions and recognise a workable offer.

This planning guide is for partners, friends and relatives travelling as two adults. The examples are invented planning situations, not accounts of Taronja students. You will finish with two learning profiles, a shared calendar and a message you can adapt for an enquiry. A course enquiry helps establish options; it does not confirm a booking or guarantee matching class times.

Start with two short learning profiles

Give each person a separate page. Describe something you can currently do in Spanish, something that is difficult and a situation you want to handle during the trip. “I can read a restaurant menu, but I lose the conversation when the waiter asks a follow-up question” tells a school more than “my Spanish is bad”. Mention previous study without treating years of lessons as a precise level.

Complete the school's placement process individually. Helping your companion answer a question may feel kind, but it makes the result less useful. You can discuss the instructions together if needed, then let each person show their own Spanish. A stronger reader may still need listening practice; a confident speaker may want more control of written sentences.

Profile field	Person A	Person B
What I can do now	Introduce myself with preparation	Explain familiar situations
My useful next step	Ask and answer everyday questions	Give opinions and respond to follow-ups
Available dates	Write exact arrival and departure	Write exact arrival and departure
Time outside class	Leave space for review and rest	Note work or other fixed commitments

The table is a starting example. Replace its language descriptions with your own. Add any subject you want to practise, such as explaining your job or speaking with relatives. Keep the request realistic enough to discuss with a teacher. “Become fluent in two weeks” gives neither learner a clear activity to prepare.

Decide what being together means for this trip

You may care most about sharing accommodation and dinner. Your friend may picture walking to school together every morning. Put those expectations into words before either person chooses a course. Otherwise, “we want to travel together” can hide two incompatible ideas about the day.

Make two columns headed “essential” and “would be nice”. An essential might be being in Valencia during the same week. A preference might be finishing class at a similar time. Give each person space to write their own items before comparing the lists. You do not need to agree on every free afternoon for the holiday to be worthwhile.

Include ordinary commitments. One person may have a fixed online meeting or want an unhurried lunch. The other may prefer an extra lesson. These details belong in the plan because they affect timing. Avoid assigning the person with fewer classes the automatic job of arranging every meal or outing. Ask how you want to share those tasks.

A useful agreement is to reserve one flexible shared activity and leave its exact time open until the timetable arrives. You might choose a walk or a meal together without buying tickets for a fixed weekday slot. This keeps the intention concrete while leaving room for the school to confirm the teaching arrangements.

Consider three possible study arrangements

The same programme in different groups

Both people choose a similar course load and are placed according to their own language needs. You can compare what you learned over dinner even if the lesson topics differ. The beginner might practise asking for directions; the more experienced learner might explain why a suggested route would be inconvenient.

This arrangement does not imply adjacent classrooms or matching shifts. Ask whether both programmes can run on your proposed dates and when your actual timetables will be known. If sharing every morning is essential, say so before making plans around it. Treat an unconfirmed preference as an open question.

Different amounts of scheduled practice

One person may want additional conversation practice while the other prefers time to review the basic course. Compare the actual timetable, including breaks and travel between commitments. A difference in lesson numbers is a practical choice, not a competition over who is taking the trip seriously.

For example, the person with a free period could read, explore independently or rest. Agree where you will meet afterwards and what happens if one person finishes later. The school needs to confirm which programme combinations are available. These examples describe planning options rather than a special package for two people.

A shared group-course plan with a separate personal goal

Someone may also want targeted work on presentations, pronunciation or another specific task. Ask about an appropriate individual lesson and its availability. Describe the task precisely enough for the school to judge the request. A short example of the language you need is more useful than a long list of every weakness you have ever noticed.

If that extra work would consume your only shared free period, decide whether it belongs in this trip. You can prioritise one goal now and return to another later. The private lesson information explains that format; the decision here is how it fits around two people's plans.

Build a calendar with confirmed and open items

The current intensive course page describes alternating morning and afternoon shifts. It says the exact timetable is sent on the Friday before the course starts. Use that information to keep provisional arrangements flexible. The sample daily hours on a programme page are not a promise that two particular groups will attend together.

Calendar item	What to write now	What still needs checking
Travel	Your available arrival and departure dates	Whether both courses fit those dates
Lessons	The programme each person is considering	Actual groups and shifts
Fixed commitments	Work calls or appointments that cannot move	Any collision with teaching time
Shared activity	One idea with flexible timing	Which day works after confirmation

Keep a short written record of the answers. “We will try to arrange it” means something different from “your timetable is confirmed”. If the message is unclear, ask which elements are settled and which remain subject to availability. This is especially useful when two people receive separate emails about their courses.

Check starting arrangements for each learner. A complete beginner and someone with previous Spanish may need different start-date planning. Ask about one shared arrival window, then compare the reply with your travel options. If the dates cannot align, decide whether to move the trip, travel for partly overlapping periods or consider another suitable arrangement.

Ask about accommodation for two actual people

“We would like to stay together” needs a few details. Specify whether you mean the same room, separate rooms in one apartment or nearby independent accommodation. Say whether you need one bed or two. Those preferences affect the search and should be checked for the particular property, not inferred from a photograph.

The accommodation page currently lists housing with courses of at least two weeks. Confirm the conditions for your dates and for each member of the booking. A category described as suitable for couples does not establish the occupancy, beds or price of a specific available room.

Ask how the quotation is calculated: per person, per room or for the entire studio. Request the exact arrival and departure coverage, any extra-night arrangements and the applicable booking conditions. If one traveller stays longer, the answer for the shared period may differ from the answer for the remaining days.

Make a simple decision sheet. Write the confirmed room arrangement, the total quoted accommodation amount, the included meals if any, and the unanswered points. You can then compare accommodation options on the same basis. Leave detailed household conversations to the dedicated accommodation guides rather than trying to solve every domestic situation before departure.

Ten questions to settle before choosing

1. Can each learner start an appropriate course during our shared date window?
2. How should each of us complete the placement process?
3. Which programme is suitable for each stated goal?
4. When will we know our individual class timetables?
5. Can you confirm any overlap in free time, or is that still uncertain?
6. How would our fixed commitments affect the available options?
7. Is the requested accommodation arrangement available for both people?
8. Is the accommodation quotation per person, room or property?
9. Which dates, extras and booking conditions does that quotation cover?
10. What information or action is needed before any place is confirmed?

You need not send all ten questions if the current product pages already answer some of them. Use the list to identify the unresolved parts. A concise enquiry with two clear profiles is easier to answer than several messages that gradually reveal important conditions.

A message you can adapt

“We are two adults planning to study in Valencia from [date] to [date]. Person A has [previous experience] and wants to practise [specific task]. Person B has [previous experience] and wants to work on [specific task]. We can complete the placement process separately. Our essential shared requirements are [requirements]. Our flexible preferences are [preferences]. Please advise which programmes could fit these dates, when the timetables will be confirmed, and whether [specific accommodation arrangement] is available. Please distinguish confirmed conditions from options that still depend on availability.”

If you want to ask a short question in Spanish, try ¿Podemos hacer cursos adecuados a nuestros niveles durante las mismas fechas? It means “Can we take courses suited to our levels during the same dates?” For the timetable, ¿Cuándo podremos confirmar los horarios de cada persona? asks when each person's hours can be confirmed. You can send the main enquiry in the language you can use accurately; the website language does not determine the teaching language.

Test the plan with one ordinary day

Imagine that one person studies in the morning and the other in the afternoon. This is a planning exercise, not a prediction of your timetable. Each person writes down when they need to leave home, a possible meal break and any fixed work commitment. Then identify one realistic shared activity, such as breakfast or an evening walk. If your only acceptable plan requires both courses to finish together, write that as an essential requirement in the enquiry. A plan that works on paper can still depend on travel time and the confirmed class hours; check both before booking an activity with a cancellation charge.

Make the final comparison together

Read the reply once for Person A, once for Person B and once for the shared arrangements. Each learner should be able to explain why their course makes sense. Both should know what is confirmed about accommodation and what remains undecided about timing. Keep unresolved essentials visible instead of hoping they will sort themselves out after payment.

You do not have to join the same class to have a shared study trip. Different programmes may be workable if their dates and conditions fit. If an essential cannot be confirmed, ask for an alternative before committing. Explore the intensive programmes and send your two learning profiles to check suitable options for the dates you want to share.