Study programme: Level 4

This course is an advanced Spanish language course, designed for students who have already completed the Diploma in Spanish.

The timetable includes a minimum of 25 hours of tuition with experienced native teachers of Spanish, plus optional language workshops and activities.

You will be working with your personal tutor in some classes, and you will also be taught by other tutors in the course, to allow you to experience a variety of teaching styles and native accents.

Group sizes are small, with a maximum of 12 students per class. This allows for plenty of interaction with different people in the classroom.

We provide you with all the necessary course materials, but we do recommend you bring a small dictionary. The materials we provide for this course include a course book.

Course description:

This course is an advanced Spanish language course, designed for students who have already completed the Diploma in Spanish. It includes grammar workshops, in which we will study in depth several areas of the Spanish language that are problematic for advanced levels. In addition, the course encourages oral practice in the form of presentations, debates, and information exchanges, as well as looking at how to improve your language learning skills.

Here is a sample timetable for the week:

Time	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8.00 - 8.45	10.00 - 4:00 Registration	Breakfast
9.00 - 10.30		Session 3	Session 5	Session 8	Session 10	Session 12	Session 15
10.30 - 11.00		Break
11.00 - 12.30		Session 4	Session 6	Session 9	Session 11	Session 13	Session 16
12.30 - 1.00		Preparation Alicante visit	Free time				Course closure
1.00 - 2.00		Free time	Free time	Free time	Free time	Free time
2.00 - 3.00	Lunch (registration continues)	Lunch
3.15 - 4.45	3:00 - 4.00 Registration	Alicante Visit	Session 7	Afternoon Excursion to Elche	Free afternoon	Session 14
4.45 - 5.00	4.30 - 5.00 Welcome		Break			Break
5:00 - 6:30	Session 1		5:15 - 8:30 Film and discussion			5.00 - 6.00 Options
5:00 - 6:30	Session 1					Break
6.30 - 7.30	6.30 - 6.45 Break					6:15 - 7:15 Options
7.30 - 8.30	6.45 - 8.15 Session 2					Break
8.30 - 9.30	Dinner
9.30	Welcome drink	Film	Free time	Film	Film

Please note that the timetable is provisional, and might be subject to minor changes. The swimming pool will be available in the period before lunch, and in the afternoons.

As you can see, we have packed the week with plenty of learning opportunities: you will have approximately 4 hours' tuition each day, and there will be optional activities too. Options may range from grammar activities, speaking activities, pronunciation practice, or aspects of Spanish culture. The visits are an integral part of the programme, and give you the opportunity to practise your language skills with the locals. But it's not all work! We have included in the programme plenty of opportunities to get out, enjoy the location and all it has to offer.

The excursion on Tuesday afternoon:

The excursion on Tuesday afternoon is to Elche. Elche is a small town situated 23 km south of Alicante. It is famous for being the place where “La dama de Elche” - an Iberian sculpture from around the fourth century B.C. - was found, and for its palm trees. Its palm groves (known as El Palmeral) are a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are over 200,000 palm trees in Elche, approximately one per inhabitant! Elche has many wonderful sights, including the castle (now an archeological museum), the Basílica de Santa María, la Casa de la Festa (where you can find out about the famous “Misterio de Elche”), the Arab bathhouse, and the town hall.

To find out more about Elche you can visit the Turisme d'elx site.