Hi,
I work in Germany. I am considering taking a one-year time-out to live
and study in Spain to learn Spanish, primarily.
I am looking for a small, non-tourist city in Spain, where
"high-level" Spanish is used, instead of some dialect. The city should
have a university where I could enroll or take classes. I am
definitely looking for a nice city/town, but I definitely want to
avoid any tourists whatsoever. Large cities therefore don't qualify by
definition. The smaller, the better. I prefer the answering party to
be from Spain or at least know the country very well.
I was considering taking a low-budget flight over there and simply
look around, but that still is a very costly undertaking, and hard to
do while working a 9-5 job. Research over the internet is tedious, I
am looking for someone with real experience, someone who can share an
insider's tip on great parts of Spain that are mostly unknown. Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by boquinha-ga on 06 Aug 2006 19:08 PDT

Hello awayand-ga!

In researching your question I spoke with my uncle who lives and works
in Spain. He is very familiar with the country and had some
interesting information for you. He says that finding the location you
are describing is nearly impossible since the universities in Spain
that would meet your needs would be in slightly larger towns, and that
university cities there are not completely tourist-free. He did have a
suggestion of one university that he said would be "perfect" for a
foreigner looking to learn Spanish. Here are highlights of the
location.

*University with Spanish programs for foreign students
*Speak "pure" dialect there
*Few tourists, other than the foreigners at the university
*Population around 180,000

He mentioned a couple of other locations that may also fit your needs.

Please let me know if this type of a setting would work for you and I
can go ahead and post this as an answer.

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

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Clarification of Question by awayand-ga on 06 Aug 2006 21:53 PDT

Sure, go ahead! Thanks for all your efforts.

Hello awayand-ga!

I spoke with my uncle who lives and works in Spain. He immediately
thought of several locations, including one in particular that seems
meet your needs the most. He said that Spain is full of tourists, and
that university towns, because of their rich educational and cultural
traditions, tend to draw a disproportionate number of them. So, you
may never be able to completely escape all of the tourists, but
Salamanca is probably the ideal place for your purposes.

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SALAMANCA

?The province of Salamanca [is] situated in the South-west corner of
Castile & León on the borders with extremadura and Portugal. . . . The
city is large enough (180,000 inhabitants) to be able to offer the
advantages of a real city, but at the same time it keeps the intimacy
of a village. In Salamanca, the inhabitants speak the "purest" Spanish
in Spain?Castilian. For this reason Salamanca is enormously popular
with people all over the world who want to learn Spanish.?
http://www.aboutsalamanca.com/


Here is some information about the Spanish language program at the
University of Salamanca.

?The first Spanish language course for foreign students was
established more than 30 years ago and since then approx. 150,000
foreign students have participated in the Spanish language courses
arranged by the University. The University is recognized as one of the
best Spanish language schools in Spain. . . .

Salamanca University arranges both short and long-term Spanish
language courses from 2 weeks to a full year. The short-term Spanish
language courses are arranged throughout the year and begin the first
week of each month. The long-term Spanish language courses are divided
into 3 semesters of approx. 10 weeks each starting in October, January
and April.

In both the short and long-term Spanish courses you can choose between
15, 20 or 25 class hours per week. The 15-hour course is the basic
Spanish course, which only covers Spanish grammar and communication.
In the 20-hour Spanish course apart from the Spanish grammar and
communication students can also select one of the following subjects
for the remaining 5 hours per week: Spanish Culture, Spanish
Literature, Contemporary History of Spain, Written Practice. For the
25-hour language course students can furthermore select between
History of Spanish Art, Oral Practice and Business Spanish. (Students
at beginner's level will have special communication and Spanish
language classes).

 Facts about the programs: 
* Maximum 15 students per class 
* Minimum age 18.
* 5different levels
* Certificate given at end of course. 
* Books and study material as well as medical insurance are all
included in course fee.?
http://www.unispain.com/Salamanca_University.htm

Here is the link to the university?s Spanish language program website.
http://corintio.usal.es/home.aspx?IdIdioma=55


There are also smaller, Spanish language schools for foreigners. Here
is a link to the don Quixote school.
http://www.dq-salamanca.com/

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OTHER POSSIBILITIES

My uncle also mentioned a couple of other cities that would be good
places to learn Spanish, and while they may not exactly meet your
other requirements, they may be places to at least consider.

* Jerez de la Frontera: This area is a lot more ?touristy? than
Salamanca, and the nearest university is in Cadiz, about 30 minutes
away by bus. The University of Cadiz does offer Spanish courses, but
they are only available in the summer.
http://www.uca.es/

* Seville: He says this is a beautiful part of Spain with an excellent
university, but that it has many tourists there year round. I looked
at the university and wasn?t able to find any courses dedicated to
foreign students wanting to learn Spanish, so this one is probably
lower on your list than the others.
http://www-en.us.es/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I hope that you find this information useful! It looks like Salamanca
is the place for you! And, if I might put in a personal plug, since
it?s so near Portugal, I think that adds to how good a place it is.
You see, I?ve lived in Portugal and it is SUCH a beautiful country, so
rich in culture. I cannot say enough good about that gem of Europe.
But I digress. :) Salamanca seems to be a great fit for you. I hope
that you have a wonderful experience with your new adventure!
Researching this answer and learning about these neat programs sure
can tempt a person. If you have any need of further clarification,
please let me know how I can help.

Sincerely,
Boquinha-ga

Search strategy:

Speaking with my uncle who lives and works in Spain
Online search

Search terms:

Salamanca
Salamanca University
Jerez de la Frontera
Cadiz University
Seville
Seville University

Thanks for the great answer. I was hoping for something a little less
known inside-information in addition to the mainstream/obvious. But
this will do.

Thank you very much for the 5 stars. I hope you have a wonderful
adventure and that this suits your needs or at the very least, gets
you started with what you're doing!

Sincerely, 
Boquinha-ga