studying spanish in spain

It's not clear what you are intending to do. Do you want to enroll in a school, take private lessons, what? How long do you intend to stay?

thanks Nancy. I am going for 2 weeks and taking an immersion class. Trying to figure out where to go. I am thinking about seville and wondering if anyone has thoughts about it. I wish i could go for a year, but only have 2 weeks vacation left this year.

Go for it. Seville is lovely in September. If you insist on going the formal route, many people speak highly of CLIC (language school). Personally, I think that you'll learn more in your two weeks by just hanging out with natives at a bar, and chatting about bullfighting, art, politics, metaphysics, etc. Either way, you'll have a great time.
Look for a blog you're interested in from Seville, and you'll be halfway towards meeting new friends.

is it a good jumping off place to do weekend trips or day trips?

Check out Salemanca - they have the big university and I hear special language classes for visitors or students.

Depends where you want to go. It is the capital of an "Autonomous Community" (Like a State in the US) and therefore has a bunch of infrastructure. The AVE bullet train will get you to Madrid in 2.5 hours or Barcelona in 6. The nearest beach is 90 minutes away. Most international flights leave from either BCN or MAD, so you'd have to pay a bit more to explore the rest of Europe. On the other hand, if you only have 2 weeks, and have a minimally serious intention of learning some Spanish, how much travel will you really have time to do?

Exactly. Living 2 weeks in one place can afford me a chance to get to know it. Barcelona was an early choice, but the Spanish there is very different from the Calle Ocho spanish here in Miami. So to pick one city, is Sevilla the one?

Sevilla is a fabulous place, (I lived there for nearly 15 years) and would clearly be high on my list. It will give you a feel for the "real" Spain, that you might not get in a bigger place. On the other hand, there are plenty of other great places that might also work well. Caceres or Merida are smaller, and would "oblige" you to socialize more with locals rather than tourists. Some little town on the coast of Granada or Malaga will do the same. Really, where ever you choose, you'll get out of the experience exactly as much as you put in.
The Spanish in BCN that sounds different to you is not Spanish, rather Catalan, a whole different language. But we also speak Spanish here -- you'd have no problem communicating or learning.

Sheila writes:

"Barcelona was an early choice, but the Spanish there is very different from the Calle Ocho spanish here in Miami."

You will also find the Spanish in Seville very different from Miami Spanish. Good luck!

Hi Tyler,
yes, i am sure it is. i think it is different from all spanish speaking areas. that being said, i am still game. what's the worst that could happen? i go to sevilla and don't learn any spanish, but at least i go to sevilla.

is the good luck sincere, or an ominous warning? :-)

My son was in Sevilla for his summer semester of Spanish last summer and loved it, but, of course, that was thru his university.

sheila writes:

"is the good luck sincere, or an ominous warning? :-)"

Certainly not an ominous warning! I'm sure you will have fun.

You know the Spanish is so different in Spain -- they speak with what some people would call a lisp. Like, it's figarro instead of cigarro; Barthelona, not Barcelona.

They will probably laugh in Miami when you return with your Castillan accent! Buena suerte!

I was pretty set on Sevilla, having looked at all the big cities. Then Tom recommends Salamanca and now I have to keep thinking.

Tom, why Salmanca? I'd like to hear thoughts about this city.

Salamanca's a major university town, so there are young people, night life, parties, etc....all over the place! It also has the nicest Plaza Mayor I've seen in Spain. Its "old town" is compact and centered around the university and the cathedral, largely free of cars. It's also a lot smaller than Sevilla, less than a quarter of the size, so it'sm more intimate than Sevilla, which can be choked with traffic. Salamanca puts you in range of places like Avila, Santiago de Compostela, and the rugged but beautiful north and west coasts of Spain (and seafood dishes extraordinaire!)
On the other hand, Sevilla is the heart of Andalucia...flamenco, etc....with a special joie de vivre you can't find elsewhere in Spain. Sevilla puts you within range of the "White Villages" of the southern mountains, Granada and its Alhambra, the Costa beaches, Tangiers in Morocco, and even Gibraltar, if you wish.
Wow....what a decision!

Castilian is different from Latin American Spanish. I learned Spanish in Spain, I speak with a Spanish accent, and I have huge problems understanding Mexicans for some reason (they don't finish their words! I don't know why! It drives me crazy!)

I haven't been to Sevilla but I have been in Andalucia before, and they tend to really, REALLY use the famous "Spanish lisp," more so than where I learned (Valencia) and also talk very rapidly. However, they do tend to speak Castilian there rather than a dialect. People in Spain, as in most European countries with dialects, all speak Castilian - but at home and with friends they'll speak their own dialect. You can learn Castilian no matter where you go, it may be a bit trickier in a place with a strong dialect presence (Valencia, Catalunya, Basque, Galicia, etc) but no matter where you go, you'll be able to learn Castilian.

Castilian, of course, is the Spanish they speak in Spain - castellano. But I'm sure you knew that.

I got a little lost on the graffiti wall. I was on information overload for a while. I am still pretty much set on sevilla. Now i need advise on a weekend get away. I will arrive on a saturday and assume i will stay in sevilla to get accustomed to my surroundings. the final weekend i plan to stay in madrid. But i have the middle weekend where I will depart from sevilla and return to sevilla. Where do you suggest to go for the weekend?

Thanks for reading and replying.

I'd go for Granada or Cordoba (second choice). Both are close by and you'll get to spend your time visiting rather than traveling. Granada has a thriving nightlife, a good music scene, the Alhambra, etc. My experience has been better with the bus than the train in this case. Enjoy!

I'll second adynata's suggestions of Granada, then Cordoba. Bus and train Sevilla-Granada are about the same length of time.....three hours. The bus is a bit cheaper, and it also has more frequent journeys between the two cities. Be aware that when you purchase intercity bus tickets, they print your seat assignment on the ticket, just like the airlines. Sevilla-Cordoba are, of course, connected by the AVE high speed train....one-way journey time is about 45 minutes, and advance purchase tickets can be as low as 17.50 Euro each way.