EVER since I was a child, I have studied here in Spain all my life. I have taken up my kindergarten, primary, elementary and high school years here in Benidorm. Then in college, I studied international diplomacy at St. Louis University in Madrid. During my high school years, we were forced to take on a second language as the medium of instruction because it’s a European Union mandate, according to the school authorities. I took up English.

That was the first time that I was enticed to learn English more. During my stint here in studying at the St. Louis University, I was interested in learning English more. Thus, after college, I took up TOEFL or Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. It was a grueling course. It took me six months to complete it or another academic semester right after graduating from St. Louis University.

The language institute that I enrolled in here in Madrid made me recite an essay in English that I wrote in front of the class. That was pretty easy enough for me until our instructor told us to write longer essays to recite in front of the class. It was very fun learning English here in Madrid as we were taught two types of accents – the rhotic accent which the Americans use and the non-rhotic accent which the British use.

I’m more familiar with the latter one since there are lots of British tourists and expatriates here in Benidorm that I grew up with. Later after graduating from the basic course in TOEFL, I took the intermediate and the advanced courses as well. That means two more academic semesters for me. I was also assigned a language partner. She was a Briton from London and she helped me out with my concerns in acquiring English as a second language. I also taught her a few Spanish words that I know. But I was rewarded with a certificate and the knowledge that I will be using my TOEFL course to teach English in countries where I will be assigned.

We belong to a family of ambassadors. My granddad was the Spanish ambassador to the Philippines during his prime and even went on to become Spanish deputy foreign minister. He’s now retired in Tenerife. I plan to go there one of these days. In the meantime, I will be pursuing my master’s degree in international diplomacy here in St. Louis University. And the London girl by the name of Baby Jane has now become my girlfriend. She’ll be dropping by here in Madrid to also study at the St. Louis University and also pursue a master’s degree in international relations. With this compelling statement of hers, I began to ponder.

And I’m honored to know that the educational system in Madrid and the whole of Spain is still a force to reckon with. A lot of foreigners would want to go to Madrid to study because I believe that we have the most respected educational institutions not just in Europe but the whole world as well.

WHEN you’ve been born in such an exotic city as Valencia, then you’ll be lucky. Valencia is a fairly modern city in the Mediterranean side of Spain and your kindergarten, elementary and high school years there will surely be boosted up. Just like any other country in the world, public school systems here in Spain, particularly in Valencia for example, are subsidized by the government and therefore, tuition is free. Of course, there are a fair number of miscellaneous expenses such as transportation and meal allowances but that’s just it. Even officially-sanctioned laboratory fees are waived but these are only for students who are members of indigent families.

Those who can afford to send their children to well-off schools run by religious orders can fairly do so. Most of the private school systems in Valencia and in all of Spain for that matter are run by Catholic religious orders in ode to the dominance of Catholicism in the country. There are some madrasahs and some Jewish schools which will pop out every now and then particularly in regions where they have the most influence such as Granada. But the majority of the schools here are run by such orders as the Jesuits. Then there are also schools here which are part of the Waldorf and the Montessori systems.

They offer a wide variety of subjects such as arithmetic, geometry, biology, zoology, human physiology, physical education, the arts, music, home economics and everything in between. Once you have graduated from high school, there are several choices to consider. You can go directly to a regular college or you can go to a vocational school and assure yourself of a collegiate education. Before you can go to a regular college, you need to take the institution’s entrance exams but once you’re a graduate of a two-year vocational program, you can immediately enroll in a regular college without undergoing the college admissions essay test. But for those who are yearning to get to a regular college immediately, you must pass your college admissions essay with seriousness. There are also other means to get tertiary education – you may apply for both academic and varsity scholarships. But these are only intended for indigent individuals. Well-off students must pay their tuition because are also used to offset scholars.

There are various programs to choose here in Spain which lead to a bachelor’s degree ranging from agriculture to food technology and electronics engineering to nursing. The most common trend nowadays is for students to go to the medical and information technology path. Thus, we hear of schools offering degrees in medical transcription, medical technology, phlebotomy, caregiving, physical therapy, reflexology and the like. We also hear of schools offering courses in information technology, information management, computer science, computer engineering, sonar and acoustics technology, digital engineering and similar outings. Aside from traditional colleges with classroom-type settings, there is also an emergence of online schools here. Just like your regular college, online institutions are accredited by the Spanish educational ministry and the diploma that you’ve earned there as a graduate is as good as in a regular university.

CHILDREN of English-speaking diplomats or those who can’t speak Spanish at all troop to international schools here in Madrid. They have to be here for the four years in high school if their family live here. But they have to take elective Spanish classes though as later on after about six months in staying here, they are expected to adjust in the educational system of Spain.

Spain is not that bad as a country. For example, if you’re coming from the Philippines because your dad is an ambassador to Spain, then it’s nice to learn a few things about your country’s former colonizer. You may want to enroll in a curriculum which espouses English as the main medium of instruction but later on, you may be encouraged to learn Spanish as well.

But this must only be for elective subjects such as the Spanish language or Spanish history or European history. For practical purposes, you must continue insisting that you learn such subjects as algebra, geometry, biology and astronomy in English. That is for practical purposes, I must stress. No one in the international world will go for you if all you have is a degree in mechanical engineering but only learned in Spanish.

Spanish though is not a language to be cursed. In fact, it is one of the official languages of the United Nations as it is used by 21 countries all over the world with a total population of 400 million. It is a Romance language as its etymology originates from Rome. Since it is a Romance language, one can deduce that Spanish can also be called as the tongue of lovers (no pun intended there).

Here in Spain, you may want to enroll in a school which is not located in Madrid but rather elsewhere. You can have your choice between Barcelona, Benidorm or even in the Balearic or Canary islands. Just like academic years all over the world, school year in Spain starts after summer in early September.

If you are the son or the daughter of a diplomat, think of yourself as one who has undergone a student exchange program. You will be having friends with other people of other nations who are also children of ambassadors just like your dad. Right now that winter is approaching; it tends to get cold here in Spain but not as cold as the rest of mainland Europe. The temperature here may be from 3 to 18 degrees Celsius during winter and that’s tolerable enough.

While the holidays are still approaching, concentrate much on your studies. It may be a different learning environment but the curriculum is still similar to the rest of the world. Emphasis is still being focused on the academic side of things although international schools also send in their varsity and various extra-curricular groups to competitions with other schools here in Spain.

International schools here in Spain are mostly run by Catholic religious orders such as the Jesuits, the Montessori and others. They abound mostly here in the country and it’s not surprising to see that since Spain has strong and devout Catholic roots.