How we teach Spanish

Small groups. Everything in Spanish from the first minute. A curriculum built on the CEFR and the Instituto Cervantes plan. And an afternoon programme that drags the language out of the classroom and into a tapas bar, a tango hall or a market.

We have been doing this in Buenos Aires since 2009 and in Málaga since. The method has not changed much, because it works: people learn a language by using it, with other people, about things they actually care about.

Four things we do differently

Groups of 3 to 5

Not twelve. In a group of four you speak for a quarter of the lesson instead of a twentieth of it, and your teacher hears every mistake you make.

All in Spanish, from minute one

Even at A1. It feels uncomfortable for about two days, and then it stops feeling like translation and starts feeling like communication.

A real curriculum

Structured on the CEFR and the Instituto Cervantes curricular plan, so your level means the same thing here as it does anywhere else in the world.

The city as a classroom

Cooking workshops, tapas tours, tango, film nights, excursions. The afternoon programme is where the morning’s grammar becomes something you can use.

The six levels, and what you can actually do at each

Every student starts with a placement assessment. Our academic director looks at your Spanish, your language-learning background and any other languages you speak, then puts you where you will be stretched rather than comfortable.

A1

Principiante
Your first conversations

You can introduce yourself, order in a bar, ask where something is and understand the answer if people slow down for you.

Greet people and say where you are from
Order food and drink without pointing
Ask for directions and prices
Talk about your family and your day in simple sentences

A2

Elemental
You stop translating in your head

You handle everyday situations on your own and start talking about the past, which is where Spanish begins to feel like a language rather than a puzzle.

Shop, book a room, deal with a pharmacy
Tell someone what you did at the weekend
Describe people, places and routines
Follow a slow conversation between two locals

B1

Intermedio
You can hold your own

You can keep a conversation going, explain what you think and deal with almost anything that comes up while travelling or living here.

Give opinions and reasons for them
Handle a problem at the bank or the doctor
Understand the main points of the news
Write a clear message or a short letter

B2

Intermedio alto
You can work in Spanish

You take part in fast conversation with native speakers without either side straining, and you can argue a position rather than just state it.

Work or study in a Spanish-speaking environment
Follow films and series without subtitles
Defend a point of view in a discussion
Write structured, detailed texts

C1

Avanzado
You use the language, not the rules

You express yourself fluently and spontaneously, and you catch the implied meaning, the joke and the register rather than only the words.

Study at a Spanish-speaking university
Understand long, demanding texts
Use the language flexibly for social and professional life
Hear irony, idiom and regional colour

C2

Maestría
Near-native command

You understand virtually everything you hear and read, and you summarise, reconstruct and argue with precision.

Follow anything, including fast regional speech
Write with nuance and control of register
Reconstruct arguments from several sources
Express fine shades of meaning

What a week actually looks like

Morning

Four hours of class

Monday to Friday, with a 30 minute break. Twenty hours a week on the intensive course. Speaking, listening, reading and writing, in that order of emphasis.

The break

Coffee, in Spanish

Half an hour with your group and your teacher. It sounds trivial. It is where a surprising amount of the learning happens.

Afternoon

Workshops and activities

Cooking, culture, city walks, conversation exchanges. Included, optional, and the fastest way to stop being shy about speaking.

Any time

One to one, if you want it

Private lessons slot alongside group classes to push a weak spot: pronunciation, the subjunctive, an exam, a job interview.

The social programme is not an extra

It is half the method. Students who come to the afternoon activities get far more real speaking practice than students who go back to their flat, because they spend the afternoon making mistakes in front of friendly people instead of avoiding them.

Tapas tours
Cooking workshops
Tango classes
Film nights
City walks
Conversation exchange
Museum visits
Football
Asados and picnics
Volunteering

Who teaches you

Native speakers, qualified in teaching Spanish as a foreign language, who chose to do this rather than fell into it. They teach in Spanish, correct you honestly and tell you what is actually holding your Spanish back rather than what is easiest to mark.

Meet the Buenos Aires team or meet the Málaga team.