WHERE can you find the best language schools in the world? That may be a dilemma. And it really is since the answer to that question is relative. It really depends on the money that you have. If you have lots and lots of money, then you can splurge on the best language schools in Paris and Geneva. But if you’re the average middle class type, then you can enroll in an online school so there is minimal tuition involved.

However, there are some persons who embark language study tours abroad with a fashion. Take for instance my sister. My sister and I live in the Philippines. Last year, she left for college in Quebec. Since Quebec is a French-speaking province, their medium of instruction there is also French. My sister is taking up biology there. And she is slowly coping up because she takes intensive French studies on weekends.

Her story is similar to that one experienced by Anna. Anna speaks English as a first language. Both her parents are New Englanders so they never knew French. Anna is taking up French studies in New Canaan, Connecticut and she soon became the president of her school’s French Club. As such, she was successful in raking in sponsors for her summer sojourn in Paris last August. That experience even strengthened her knowledge of the French language and boosted her self-confidence in speaking French to the real French guys like actor Gerard Depardieu whom he happened to meet while on an educational trip at the Eiffel Tower.

In Spain, language studies here can be divided into three stages – the basic, the intermediate and the advanced. During the first day of class, the instructor will ask each one of the students to recite in front of the class something in Spanish. The student will likewise be asked to write down a one-page essay. And that’s just for the first day of class. Imagine what an entire six-month session can accomplish.

Derived from the antique Roman language, Spanish has spawned half a dozen dialects of its own. This you will also encounter in a typical Spanish language class. It has a distant similarity to Portuguese and the German and French languages. Why? Simply because German and French languages also come from the Roman language.

And it’s not just in mainland Spain where you can find the most complete Spanish language schools. You can also find them in the Canaries and the Balearic archipelago. You can even find them in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico. Most of the Spanish language schools in Florida are run by Cuban refugees. On the other hand, the ones in El Paso or Laredo, Texas are manned for Caucasians who want to do business in nearby Mexico. When researching the place you want to study in, assure yourself that you’re going to be happy there - speak to assistants in agencia de viajes, speak to people you already know living abroad and use sites like this - you can then guarantee you’ll be happy!

Now let’s go to studying English. First of all, English has two distinct accents - rhotic or non-rhotic. The non-rhotic accent is practiced in the United States while the rhotic ones are used in England and Australia. Now which language do you want to study?