Gareth Bale takes three hours of Spanish lessons per week in order to improve his ability to speak the language playing for Real Madrid.
“He’s a good student," said Bale's teacher Michael Gómez. "He asks me to send him more homework and he’s keen to fit in as quickly as possible. At first I couldn’t believe it, I was sending Bale homework! Though from day one I felt really comfortable working with him. He’s very personable, and he even sent me a shirt for my birthday, which was a nice little personal touch.”
Gómez plays soccer for Trival Valderas, who were promoted last Sunday to Segunda B. Gómez is a 25-year-old left-back.
“Now we’re playing in the Copa del Rey, they’re saying I may end up marking him. I’ll have to give him more homework, or go over some irregular verbs with him during the game to put him off. If not it’ll be impossible.”
Gómez is bilingual as his mother is from California.
“He doesn’t know we’ve been promoted and I’m not so far behind now”, laughs Michael. “I’ll tell him and he might come and see us against Castilla in La Canaleja or the Di Stéfano. Just imagine!”