The accent of the community of the area where you choose to learn Spanish is very important. As you would probably want to understand most, if not all, of what is going on around you even when you’re out of class as sometimes the conversation might include warnings and the failure to understand may be dangerous. An accent that you may not be used to may therefore hinder communication, and your ability to learn. Go for the big institutions The main reason why bigger schools are better is that they offer more flexibility compared to smaller schools. In fact, you might need to change classes due to factors such as time constraints, not getting along with the teacher or lessons going too fast or too slow for you and you can do so more easily in a school that provides a greater variety of courses. Origin and native language of the other students Spanish attracts interest from people all over the world and some institutions might receive more students from some parts of the world than from others. In this case, it is important to consider the language spoken by your classmates, as this often determines the rate of understanding Spanish. For instance, Portuguese is more similar to Spanish than Chinese so Portuguese or Brazilian students might progress more quickly than Chinese students. Cultural activities offered by the school Besides learning Spanish, you may want to get close and be actively involved in cultural events in Spain. In this case, you may want to focus more on schools that combine language classes with activities such as cooking and flamenco dancing. Possibility of tranfering to a different city Learning the language in different cities would add value through exposure to different accents and culture. Schools with different branches are best suited for this.