· 
· 
As already mentioned in the introduction to this guide, the official language in Spain is Spanish or Castilian, spoken by the entire population. However, some Autonomous Regions have, in addition to Spanish, a second official language: Catalan in Catalonia, Galician in Galicia, and Basque in the Basque Country and Navarra. The Balearic Islands and Valencia also have their own local languages. For a smooth integration into these Autonomous Regions, it is recommendable to study also the local language.
Communication in other languages
English is by far the most important language for communication with foreigners,
followed at a considerable distance by French and German. The scientific community
prefers English for daily communication, as it is the language used mostly in
international meetings and for the publication of internationally-oriented research
papers.
If you want to learn Spanish before travelling to Spain, you might want to consider the Cervantes Institute. To locate your nearest centre, visit the website: www.cervantes.es or go to: www.cervantes.es/seg_nivel/mundo/Marcos_mundo_principal.jsp. There is also an Official Language School in each of the Spanish provinces. These Schools are public centres, depending on the local Ministries of Education of the Autonomous Regions, which offer specialised language courses for adults. They offer half-yearly courses of Spanish for foreigners at a relatively low cost.
In Spain, there are numerous private academies and institutes that offer courses
of Spanish and of the local official languages for foreigners. To check and
compare the prices of the language schools in Spain, please visit the website
www.languagecourse.net,
which also provides ratings from former students. Payment is made either monthly
or per term, and the average cost per hour is 10€. The web page of the
Ministry of Education and Science also offers Spanish language courses for foreigners.
For more information, please visit:
http://oasext.mec.es/Sisinfprd/plsqlprd/espaniol.
Another alternative are private language classes, organised according to the student’s availability and personal learning needs. Private classes are generally more expensive, but companies and public institutions often offer this service to their staff, and more specifically to their foreign employees. Prices vary from 15 to 24€ per hour. Private teachers can easily be located at the Faculties of Philology of the local universities. Many academy teachers also offer private language classes.
If you need a sworn translator for the translation of official documents (validation of degrees, driving licence, residence permit, etc.), you can find a list of professionals at http://www.mae.es/mae/. Type "intérpretes jurados" in the search window and click on the search button. On the next page, on the fourth line of the listed entries, you will find an up-to-date list of sworn interpreters in Spain (“Listado actualizado de Intérpretes Jurados en ejercicio en toda España”).
