Sandy Allain arrived in Madrid as a Spanish student, then spent years working in the marketing department of language schools. One year you are the person choosing a school with no idea what to ask. The next you are the person writing the brochure. My Language Break exists because of the gap between those two jobs.
School websites are written to sell. They will tell you about the rooftop terrace and not about the class of eighteen in August. They will quote a price per week that halves at four weeks. They will not tell you that the residence is forty minutes from the classroom, or that the neighbourhood you booked is lovely and completely silent after nine.
From inside the industry, all of that is common knowledge. From outside, it is invisible. We think you deserve the inside view, and we think you should still book directly with the school so nobody sits between you and your money.
To make independent, expert language travel advice free at the point of use — and to make sure the student, not the agency, keeps the difference.
A market where nobody books a course abroad blind, and where the price you see is the price the school actually charges.
Say the downside out loud, show the working, and never recommend a school we would not send a friend to.
No exclusivity deals, no owned schools, no volume targets. If the right answer earns us nothing, it is still the right answer.
You see the real price, the real commission and the reasoning. If we cannot explain a recommendation, we withdraw it.
Every school has one. The August classes are bigger, the residence is a long walk, the material costs extra. We write it down.
We do not chase, do not create urgency and do not invent expiring offers. You go when you are ready or not at all.
Every booking is in your name, with your card, in your account. Nothing about your trip depends on us still being here.
Five short steps covering language, level, goal, timing, budget and how you like to travel. Vague answers are welcome; we ask follow-ups if we need them.
Cost of living, accent, season, visa rules and what you said you enjoy. Sometimes the honest answer is a city you had not considered.
Accreditation, class size in your month, teacher qualifications, real prices including the extras, and what former students said. Usually three or four make the cut.
Host family, residence or flat, with the walk to class measured and the neighbourhood described honestly.
We agree a price with the school on your behalf and confirm how it is applied to your own direct booking.
You pay each provider yourself. We keep answering questions before you fly and while you are there.