Your Family in Spain

The appropriate family is crucial for a successful Teach Abroad Program. They are going to be the ones who introduce you to the Spanish culture and lifestyle. For that reason the selection process is a task of great responsibility and dedication.

The Spanish families participate in the program because they are open-minded, and because they have an intercultural approach to daily life and education. Their curiosity to know another culture and desire that you share theirs are the main reasons for receiving you at their home.

Our host families open their doors to a new world, exchanging and sharing customs and ideas, discovering themselves and how their own culture is perceived from outside and creating friendships that will last a lifetime. Through the Teach Abroad Program, COINED Spain gives young foreign people and Spanish families the opportunity to live an intercultural experience, in which both parts benefit from learning a foreign language, and from becoming familiar with another culture.

Teach Abroad in Spain Locations

COINED Spain places Teach Abroad participants all over Spain, our main destination being Barcelona.

Barcelona

Barcelona is the Catalan capital and the second city of Spain, both in size and importance. Since the return to democracy, following the death of Franco, Barcelona had a head start consolidating its own cultural identity. Catalan people have a deeply felt historical identity, and Barcelona has a reputation of being at the forefront of Spanish political activism and of radical design and architecture, but these cultural distinctions are rapidly becoming secondary to the city's pre-eminent position as the most dynamic and prosperous commercial centre in the country.

In addition to being a major port and industrial center, Barcelona has a distinctive language and culture. It is Europe's most enigmatic capital in terms of design, fashion, architecture and business. Barcelona owes much of its popularity to three great creators: Gaudí (whose architecture is often the symbol of the city); Miró (Catalonia's most famous artist) and Picasso (not a native of the city, but he spent his youth here). In fact, their creations are symbols of the city's creative energy. Barcelona has an impressive architectural heritage that includes the Gothic Quarter, with its cathedral, the old City Hall Building, the Episcopal Palace and the splendid Palace of the Generalitat, the site of the Catalan government.

Barcelona offers a great combination of big city variety with the added benefits of beach life, and a climate that many consider to be ideal. The Gothic Quarter is the oldest part of Barcelona which features a 13th-century cathedral, medieval buildings, and the City History Museum.

Two official languages coexist in Barcelona. The official government language is Catalan, a romance language with elements of French and Spanish as well as its own unique charm. Banned during the years of the Franco dictatorship, it has re-emerged with renewed strength. Everyone also speaks Spanish, as in the rest of Spain. This represents an advantage for you, since you will not only have the possibility of learning Spanish, but you will also be able to learn about a different culture within Spain, and even get to understand and say some words and phrases in Catalan!