Culture and Nightlife
Santiago's cosmopolitan area is home to 5 million people and supports many cultural and nocturnal opportunities - from theater to all night salsa clubs.  A wide variety of activities to supplement the Spanish language school.

* 1 lesson = 50 min. of class teaching "face-to-face"

There are two class schedules for group and one-to-one lessons. The assignment of a student´s shift takes place upon arrival after completion of the placement test:

• Morning: 9am - 1pm
• Afternoon: 2pm - 6pm

This is what a typical day looks like (example for morning shift):

• Classes normally begin at 9 am. Students and teachers generally show up a few minutes early for coffee, tea, etc.

• The first session lasts until 10:30 am. After a short refreshment break of 20 minutes, there is a second session until 11:50 am. And the last session is held from 12:10 am to 1 pm

• After class most students have lunch with other students and/or teachers.
• Afternoon classes (2 PM to 6 PM) will take place for students requesting additional hours.

At night most students enjoy Buenos Aires nightlife or take part in cultural activities such as cooking and Tango or Salsa courses.

Every class is held in the classroom, but for a change of pace, your class may occasionally take place outside of the school, at a cafe or a park for example, especially for those taking private lessons.

Teachers use our own course book, developed by a team of our teachers, for about half of the class, while the other half of the class is devoted to special class needs and supplements, such as selected audios, videos, and current readings.

Intensive PLUS Course: 25 lessons per week

• Standard Course 20 lessons per week plus an additional 5 lessons One-to-One*
• The course is ideal for students that want to focus on specific topics in additional one-to-one lessons

*One-to-One elements can be focused on Business Spanish or Spanish for Medical/Law purposes (Special focus for 25% more than the regular one-to-one cost)

• Many days include school activities in the afternoon or the evening

3. Super Intensive Course (30 lessons per week)

Super Intensive Course: 30 lessons per week

• The course is ideal for short stays with rapid progress. Recommended for Business purposes.
• Standard Course 20 lessons per week plus an additional 10 lessons One-to-One
• *One-to-One elements can be focused on Business Spanish or Spanish for Medical/Law purposes (Special focus for 25% more than the regular one-to-one cost)
• Many days include school activities in the afternoon or the evening.

This private course is designed for students who would like to focus on certain subjects following a course adapted to their individual needs. The personal attention of their teacher allows students to work at their own rhythm and to specialize in particular areas of interest, e.g. business Spanish, Spanish for medical/legal purposes. Students have two options:

• One-to-one lessons only
• One-to-one lessons combined with group lessons.

The DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera), issued by Spain's Ministry of Education and administered by the Instituto Cervantes, is an offical accreditation of Spanish language abilities. It is recognized by official institutions of Spanish-speaking countries as well as countries where Spanish is not the official language. The exam verifies abilities in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding Spanish with three levels of certification:

• Certificado Inicial: beginner
• Diploma Basico: intermediate
• Diploma Superior: superior

Apart from gaining Spanish language certification, the exam preparation course is an excellent way to arrive at a balanced level of proficiency.

Course Details

In order to prepare for the exam, we have courses devoted entirely to DELE exam preparation. The sessions are one-to-one and enable you to focus on your areas needing rapid improvement.  The course is taken as a private course, either full-time or as the private component of "group + private", 20 hours group plus 10 hours private.  Fees are the same as for standard courses. All exam levels consist of the following: reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. The preparation courses cover all components with particular emphasis on your areas of more limited capabilities.

DELE Exam Schedule

2007:

• May 12   (registration until Apr 6)
• Aug 24   (registration until Aug 10)
•  Nov  17   (registration until Oct 11)  

*  Registration for the DELE exam is separate from registering for the language program

Exam Fees

• Inicial: $75
• Intermedio: $85
• Superior: $100

With Santiago sitting at the foot of the Andes, the capital city provides great access for local skiing and snowboarding opportunities. Nearby peaks rise to over 5,000 meters (19,000 feet), giving the city a remarkable backdrop. The Spanish & Ski package includes two weekly lift tickets plus transportation (door-to-mountain).  One ticket during the week and another on the weekend.

Individual Supplemental Classes

Because you will miss a day's classes each week, the Spanish & Ski program includes two one-to-one hours per week to help cover missed topics. You may also schedule extra hours at a low hourly rate.

The Chilean ski season runs from late June through September. Most students may start classes on any Monday, however absolute beginners need to follow the course schedule.

Package includes:

• Intensive Spanish course (one day missed replaced with 2 individual lessons)
• Two mountain passes / week.
• Free transportation.
• Housing (optional).
• TOTAL HOURS SPANISH: 16 lessons group + 2 lessons private per week
• Supplement for Ski Package: 120 USD per week

NOTE: For a printable version of the course curriculum, please click here.

NOTE: Content descriptions are examples of topics covered. Discussion topics and themes vary.

Intermediate 2:

Preterite perfect subjunctive, passive voice, uses of "se", verbs with prepositions, adverbial expressions, diminutives and augmentatives, idomatic expressions, preterite imperfect subjunctive, prepositional phrases, synonyms and antonyms.

Advanced:

Passive voice; review of preterit v/s imperfect; indicative v/s subjunctive; subjunctive with expressions of emotion, influence,  will and doubt; Greek and Latin prefixes; subjunctive in subordinate clauses; use of different prepositions, conjunctions; pronominal complements; Greek and Latin suffixes; literal orthography.

Advanced Superior:

Advanced Superior: Punctuation; common errors of speech; “queismo” and “dequeísmo”; accents; neologisms, foreign influence and barbarism; Topics of conversation vary; composition and writing exercises. Oral practice is the main focus of the course.

There is a variety of elective courses available to Advanced students: Spanish Composition, Literature, Culture, Advanced Orals and Listening Skills.

University Credit:

All students receive a certificate upon completion of the course. This certificate is signed and stamped by the school Director and includes the course dates, attendance percentage, level(s) approved and grades.

For University credit, we can also provide the student University certification upon request. This is submitted by Universidad de Viña del Mar in Chile.

For credit approval, the process goes as it follows:
 

1.- We contact the student’s Study Abroad Advisor to get the approval of the course. Most of the universities have different requirements to approve courses. We appreciate that the student help us to get the Advisor contact information.
Then we provide the Advisor any documentation required for the course acceptance.

2.- We inform the student, once approval is confirmed.

3.- Student study abroad at our school(s).

4.- Upon completion of course. We submit transcripts to university for credit. Transfer credit fee: 200 USD

* Minimum course length for university certification= 3 weeks(one level)
 

Start dates 2007 for COMPLETE BEGINNERS: Jan 2, Jan 15, Jan 29, Feb 12, Feb 26, Mar 12, Mar 26, Apr 9, Apr 23, May 7, 21, Jun 4, 18, Jul 2, Jul 16, Jul 3, Jul 30, Aug 13, Aug 27, Sep 10, Sep 24, Oct 8, Oct 22, Nov 5, Nov 19, Dec 3, Dec 17

OFFICAL HOLIDAYS CHILE (No classes held - classes NOT made up):

Jan 01 New Year’s Day.

Apr 06 Good Friday.

May 01 Labour Day.

Sep 18 Independence Day.

Dec 25 Christmas Day.

 

OFFICAL HOLIDAYS CHILE (Classes* held from 9:30am to 1:30pm):

May 21 Navy Day

Jun 04 Corpus Christi

Jul 02  St. Peter + St. Paul Day

Aug 15 Assumption of Virgin Mary

Sep 19 Army Day

Oct 15 Dia de la Raza

Nov 01 All Saints' Day

 

*On these days special classes focusing on conversation and with no maximum number of students will be offered at 5 levels.

• Every Monday free welcome lunch for new students.
• Three activities a week, week days
• Two weekend excursions a month

The far south, in Chilean Patagonia, houses an area rich in marine life as whales, sea lions, and penguin colonies can be witnessed in this sparsely populated area.

Specific highlights include:

• Chile's port city of Valparaiso and nearby Isla Negra, home to Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda's most famous house.
• Weekend excursions in Chile include trips to the nearby mountains for white-water rafting .
• Santiago vineyard tours.
• School parties featuring regional cooking lessons and salsa practice

You still have questions? Visit our FAQs

More about Chile, Culture

Accommodation

Check in: Sunday at 12:30 PM
Check out: Saturday at 10:00 AM