Course description

You've decided on Spain, or you're already there. The sunshine is easy; the paperwork, the phone calls and the conversation with the plumber are not. This course gives you the Spanish for the situations you'll actually meet when you move, settle or retire in Spain: the town hall, the rental contract, the bank, the health centre, the community meeting, the tradesperson, the traffic office, the post office and, if it ever comes to it, a call to 112.

It's a full course, not a phrase list. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each built around a real situation, with the words you'll see and hear, the sentences you'll need, a worked example, the mistakes to avoid and a practical task to finish. Grammar comes in as the situations need it, explained in plain English. You follow Janice and Trevor, a retired couple from Wigan, through their first seven months in a small town in Alicante, along with Claudette, who owns the flat upstairs and visits twice a year. They register on the padrón, open a bank account, sit through a community meeting, argue gently with a plumber and fail an ITV, and each mistake teaches something useful. Every section has a worksheet with model answers, a cheat sheet, a glossary file and practical tools, including a personal details sheet in Spanish, phrase cards for the town hall, the bank and the doctor, a health details card and an emergency card to keep by the phone.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: Spanish sounds and spelling your name aloud, polite Spanish for counters, rescue phrases, numbers, dates and money, and the words on Spanish forms.
• The town hall: booking a cita previa, registering on the padrón, your residence card appointment, official letters and notices, and working with a gestor.
• Home: adverts and viewings, contracts and the handover, electricity, water and gas, internet installation and faults, and reading and querying bills.
• Money: opening a bank account, everyday banking, card problems and fraud calls, markets, shops and returns, and local charges.
• Health: registering at the health centre, describing symptoms to the doctor, the pharmacy, urgencias and specialists, the dentist and optician, and a health details card.
• Neighbours: greetings and small talk, tú or usted, how a community of owners works, the annual meeting, raising a problem politely and joining in locally.
• Repairs: describing a problem at home, finding and booking a tradesperson, quotes and invoices, while the work is done, and when a job goes wrong.
• Getting around: driving and parking, the licence exchange, the ITV inspection, breakdowns, accidents and police stops, and buses, trains and taxis.
• Post, phones and emergencies: the post office, phone calls with confidence, emails and messages, calling 112, and reporting a theft or loss.
• Settling in for good: recognising Catalan, Valencian, Galician and Basque, everyday customs, your own settling-in phrasebook, three role plays and a plan to keep improving.

Who it's for

People from the UK who are moving to Spain, retiring there, spending long stays in their own home there or who have recently arrived. You don't need any Spanish to start, though some helps. It teaches Castilian Spanish as spoken in Spain, with a simple pronunciation guide in the text, as there's no audio. It isn't legal, tax or immigration advice: it teaches the Spanish for each situation and points you to GOV.UK and the official Spanish sites, where you can check the rules for your own case.

What will I learn?

• Handle offices and counters politely in Spanish: greetings, requests, rescue phrases, numbers, dates and the words on forms
• Book a cita previa and get through a padrón registration and a residence card appointment, and understand official letters
• Rent a home, set up and sort out electricity, water and internet, and query a bill
• Open and use a Spanish bank account, deal with card problems and recognise and end fraud calls
• Register at the health centre, describe symptoms to a doctor, use the pharmacy and cope at urgencias
• Get on with neighbours, follow a community of owners meeting, raise a problem politely and join in locally
• Describe a problem at home, book a tradesperson, understand quotes and invoices and put things right when a job goes wrong
• Manage the Spanish of driving, the licence exchange, the ITV, breakdowns and public transport
• Make phone calls, write emails, use the post office, call 112 and report a theft
• Recognise Spain's other official languages on signs and forms, and build your own settling-in phrasebook

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