Choosing a language school abroad III – Quality standards in Spain, Germany, and Italy

Inspection and recognition of quality standards for language schools

Spanish schools in Spain

The Spanish Instituto Cervantes is the main official institution granting quality certifications to Spanish language schools in Spain and abroad.

The Instituto Cervantes carries out inspections and renews accreditation permits every two years to its accredited or associated centres. Some of the aspects evaluated are the quality standards in the teaching of Spanish, the legal requirements for carrying out teaching activities, adequate teaching resources, properly qualified and trained teachers, teaching plans guaranteeing satisfactory progress, maximum number of students per class, certificates of attendance, accurate publicity clearly reflecting the services offered as well as course and supplementary services fees, and policies for addressing complaints.

The University of Alcalá de Henares through its CEELE Quality Seal, the National Federation of Spanish Language Schools in Spain –FEDELE-, the Association of Spanish Language Schools in Madrid –AEEEM-, the Asociación Mediterránea de Escuelas de Español de la Comunidad Valenciana –AMEELE-, the Association of Spanish Schools Granada, etc, are other institutions and associations granting quality seals to schools of Spanish as a foreign language in Spain.

Choosing a language school abroad II – Quality standards

Inspection and recognition of quality standards for language schools

In my previous post I supported the small and medium-size language schools over the big, chain-type schools, as well as the small group classes with less than 15 students for language courses abroad. However, modest size does not necessarily imply modest quality.

High quality standards are also very important when choosing a language school abroad. After all, a language course abroad is an investment on your education. Of course, it’s impossible to find out about the academic quality of the classes until you actually start your course. Fortunately, there are quality seals issued by official institutions which inspect language schools and assign them quality labels when the inspection is passed.

As you will not be able to check the school’s quality before you start your language course, make sure you choose a school which has passed one or more quality inspections. Particularly, look for quality seals, homologations, recognitions or memberships from language related institutions which not only asses the accessibility, the infrastructure, the publicity, the administration, etc. but also the academic aspect.

In my opinion, a language school recognized by more than one official institution is truly concerned with achieving and maintaining a high standard of service and education.

Here are some of the institutions with an inspection and recognition scheme:

Choosing a language school abroad I – Size does matter!

Learning a foreign language is about interaction and active participation

If you are planning to take a language course abroad, here you will find a series of posts with tips to help you find a good, reliable school.

School size:

Give some thought to what you would like to find when you arrive at your destination: a big, chain-type school with hundreds of students coming in each Monday, or a medium-size or small school with a limited amount of newcomers per week.

My personal choice is a small to medium-size language school, with a relaxed, cosy and friendly environment. Chances are that in a small, laid-back school I will also find friendly and relaxed staff and teachers, who will really have time for me. Not only do I want to learn a language or improve my language skills, but also to get to know the local people working at the school, as well as my fellow classmates from around the world.

Usually, the “about us” section in the website of every language school has a description of the school. Some schools are cooperatives in which the administrative staff and the teachers equally share the profits, or even non-profit organizations. I like to favour this kind of schools whenever possible.

Language travel goodies

Language Travel: advantages of learning a language where it is spoken

Learning a foreign language is a reliable investment, both at a professional and at a personal level. No doubt about that. You will not only score higher for job openings, but you will also be able to enlarge your social circle and enrich your cultural education.

But the advantages do not end there, as learning languages is also good for your brain. There are studies which suggest that multilingualism brings an extra advantage as it improves other skills such as learning in general, complex thinking and creativity, mental flexibility, interpersonal and communication skills, and even a possible delay in the onset of age-related mental diminishment later in life.

Now, when it comes to learning a language, language travel is the winner. Learning a language in context, in the country where it is spoken and with every aspect of the language related cultural aspects right in front of you, is simply unparalleled.

Language travel is jumping in with both feet into learning the language, as you are completely surrounded by the language lessons, not only inside the classroom but in every aspect of daily life.

Día E at Instituto Cervantes Vienna & TANDEM Spain

Día E at Instituto Cervantes Viena & TANDEM Spain

Last year, the Spanish Instituto Cervantes launched an interesting celebration aimed at increasing the visibility of the Spanish language throughout the world, and at revitalizing the value of Spanish as a language of international communication.

The Día E or Día del Español is organized as an open doors day celebrated in the Instituto Cervantes centres throughout the world. This year, the Día E was held on June 19.

The TANDEM Spain schools, accredited by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes, joined the celebration at the Instituto Cervantes in Vienna, which activities which focused on the way the Spanish language is perceived, as a diverse, warm and happy language of connection.

About 500 people enjoyed the activities organized for the open doors day at Instituto Cervantes Vienna which included a parade, folk dances of the Hispanic countries, music and paella tasting.

TANDEM Spain member schools accredited by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes:

• TANDEM San Sebastian
• TANDEM Madrid
• TANDEM Valencia
• TANDEM Granada
• TANDEM Cadiz

English Language Learning for Visually Impaired Students

English Language Learning for Visually Impaired Students

TANDEM Hamburg and TANDEM Florence are participating in the COMENIUS project ELLVIS, which intends to improve the access of visually impaired persons to language learning.

As good learning material for visually impaired children is rare, it is essential to create innovative material which opens up new possibilities for this target group.

Learning tools based on iconic material (images, pictures, animations) are practically unavailable for visually impaired persons. This language course is aimed at those who are unable to use these technical aids, who need further assistance and prompting through a system that supplies feedback in other than audio-file form, namely by the «force-feedback» reaction that the joystick offers.

A bid farewell to José Saramago

José Saramago

Today, at 87 years of age, the Literature Nobel prize José Saramago departed this world from his home in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Born in Portugal in a peasant family, he forged his way from car mechanic to translator, then journalist and finally writer. Unable to finish his grammar school education, he managed to get a self-taught education in the public library.

A communist and atheist, he caused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially among the Catholic community, which led him to move to Spain.

His book, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, which is may favourite Saramago’s work, was particularly controversial. I read it many, many years ago, but I still have a distinct memory of the pleasure I felt reading this novel.

Writers are immortal, as they come alive each time a person reads their books. So is Saramago to me, as I still have many of his books to read.

English in England for the little ones!

Summer English courses for children and teenagers in Totnes, England

TANDEM Totnes – Totnes School of English offers very interesting courses for children aged 7 to 11 and teenagers aged 12 to 16. If you have brothers, sisters, cousins or friends between the ages of 7 and 16 who want to learn or improve their English while making new friends and having lots of fun this summer, keep reading!

Play with English Course (for 7-11 year-olds)

The Play with English course is addressed to children aged 7 to 11, and it aims at offering the child a gentle introduction to learning a foreign language. Play with English includes 3 interactive sessions a day with daily afternoon workshops in arts, crafts, sport and play. The emphasis of this course is on enjoyment and fun, rather than on formal teaching.

Learn French: the 3rd most spoken second language in the EU

Learn French in France and Canada!

French is spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. It is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries.

French is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (or 26% of the Union’s total population), in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million are native speakers and 69 million claim to speak French either as a second language or as a foreign language, making it the third most spoken second language in the European Union, after English and German.

Twenty-percent of non-Francophone Europeans knows how to speak French, totalling roughly 145.6 million people. In addition, prior to the mid 20th century, French served as the pre-eminent language of diplomacy among European and colonial powers as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe.

Most French native speakers of the language live in France, where the language originated. The rest, live essentially in Canada, particularly Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and certain places in the U.S. states of Maine and Louisiana

Exposure, exposure and exposure when learning a foreign language!

Exposure is key to learning a foreign language!

According to a study, just listening to the language we want to learn is critical, even if we don’t understand the words yet. Apparently, our ability to learn a second language is directly influenced by our exposure to the combination of sounds with which words are constructed, as it sets up the structures required to learn the language in our brain.

Dr Sulzberger from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, claims that the neural tissue required to learn and understand a new language will develop automatically from simple exposure to the language, which is how babies learn their first language.

His research was prompted by his interest in finding out why it’s so difficult to learn foreign words when we are constantly learning new ones in our native language. He found the answer in the way the brain develops neural structures when hearing new combinations of sounds.