time of year for the schools. Seventy percent of our students come from June to the end of September,” says Fernando Ribas, director of the AIP Idiomas school in Valencia. Such is the case with Carola Moerenhout
from the Netherlands who is spending a two- week break from college to learn Spanish at Colegio Internacional Alicante. Moerenhout, who is studying tourism, asked her Spanish teacher in the Netherlands for recommen- dations. He gave her three options. After researching all of them online, she decided on Alicante. “Though she is only there for a two-week course, 21-year-old Moeren- hout laments, “I wish I could stay longer.” Across from
Moerenhout sits Ted Lata, a 40-year- old Connecticut res- ident. Lata is a business manager and part time student at Eastern Connecticut State University. “I’m taking Spanish so I can understand all the Latin Americans working in the U.S,” he explains. He will be in Alicante for one month.
Learning Spanish A four-week course at one of the Spanish language schools is equivalent to one Amer- ican course credit, says Armada. Students attend class approximately 20 hours a week. At Colegio Internacional Alicante, for exam- ple, a typical day includes lessons in grammar, conversation and culture. Part of the experience of learning a for-
eign language in its homeland is learning about the land itself. Along with classroom lessons and host families, students take week- end excursions to places like Barcelona, Madrid and other parts of the Valencia region. Other organized activities may include dance classes, museum visits, water sports and wine tastings. “We try to show them everything,”
explains Marilo Estevan of the Boarding Department at Caxton College in Valencia. Estevan coordinates summer Spanish courses at the school. “They have fun.”
Getting the word out The internet is a great marketing tool for the AMEELE schools. “Mostly we do every-
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thing by internet,” says Samantha Torruella Ortega, marketing manager for the Proyecto Espanol school in Alicante. Along with inter- net marketing, admissions staff attend con- ferences and events and sometimes travel abroad to meet with university managers. “Our office organ-
izes all the details,” Ortega explains. “Visas, flights, work-
ing with the students’ universities to get them credit for the courses, and so forth.” Special- ized courses can be tailored for groups, such as Spanish for law, business, medicine, or tourism. AIP Idiomas has a partnership with the
State University of New york. SUNy handles the money and credits for the American stu- dents, while AIP arranges and oversees the student experience in Spain. Both Audio Gil and AIP can arrange internships for students to work on their newly acquired Spanish speaking skills in a business envi- ronment.
TC
Florence Kizza is a freelance writer. She can be contacted at
florencekizza@gmail.com.
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