CELEC is a centre specialized in Spanish for foreigners. Our goal is that the students achieve a quick and effective knowledge of Spanish language, not only through traditional lessons but also through an immersion in the local culture and way of life.

The School

Teaching and learning is not only about giving and receiving specific contents; learning a foreign language inside a different culture is a much more complex process that requires certain material, organizational and emotional conditions in order to be successful. Generating these conditions is our main concern.

Our school is not massive; on the contrary, it provides friendly personalized attention, in which the student will find answers to his/her own needs and interests.

Our programs are designed so that the student develops a communicative competence and knowledge of the language out of specially selected linguistic and cultural material and by constant interaction with the Cordobian society as a whole.

For the immersion program, if you want to learn about a specific subject or field, whether professional, commercial, cultural or sport related, our school will provide the links with institutions or specialists.

The school is situated in a residential area, in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods of Cordoba. This is also one of the city areas more related to education, some of the best schools and an important private university are located here. Downtown is only a 20 minutes bus ride away. But the area has its own facilities, with many banks, shops, malls, restaurants, bars, pubs, cinemas and discos.

Our school also has a department that advises and helps the student in tourist, sports, leisure and cultural activities. Information about leisure and cultural activities in the city and how to get to them is offered daily.

This department also gives the student all necessary information for learning and practicing alternative sports such as gliding, mountain bike, rappel, climbing and windsurf.

If you wish to visit other regions of Cordoba and Argentina we offer you all tourist information and advice.

Methodology and Learning Material

Our Spanish course is designed specially for foreigners, lessons are given in Spanish using the communicative approach (that is, language use in real life situations and context). These perspectives are central if we want the students to achieve four basic capabilities in the process of learning any language: listening and speaking, reading and writing.

Study Programs

Our courses are divided into five different levels: elementary I, elementary II, intermediate I, intermediate II and advanced, depending on the student’s previous knowledge of Spanish language. In order to determine his/her level as well as his/her specific needs, on the first day, the student will be evaluated through an interview and diagnostic exam.
Our basic program offers twenty group lessons per week, but students always have the chance to take individual lessons if so desired, or to alternate between both, group and individual.

Classes

Clases are given from Monday to Friday. An hour class lasts 55 minutes. Intensive couses consist of 4 (four) hours per day divided in 2 (two) sections with a break of 20 (twenty) minutes.
The average size of our groups is three students and it never exceeds five. Groups are organized so that all students have the same level of Spanish. In case you choose the 20 lessons course and there is no available group, you can take 15 individual lessons instead.

Teachers

All our teachers are Argentine, and their mother tongue is Spanish. They are University graduates, specialized and with a wide experience in teaching Spanish for foreigners. It is also important to note their high cultural level, which allows them to have a fluid relation with our students. Most of our teachers have also travelled abroad, and therefore they understand the situation, the needs and the cultural differences of foreigners.

The school has a psychology department that guides teachers and allows them to evaluate possible interferences or difficulties that students may have during the learning process or their adaptation to a new social environment.

Learning Materials

Programs, activity books and learning material have been designed and selected by our teachers and are specifically focused on the teaching of Spanish for foreigners.

As we have said before, interaction and communication are at the core of our teaching methodology, and we intend that the student achieves the four basic capabilities: listening and speaking, reading and writing. We promote active and meaningful learning and to do so we work not only with written materials but also with video and audio. The text selection ranges from very elementary dialogues to magazine and newspapers articles from a wide variety of issues including Argentine culture, arts, politics and history.

Since the idea of the course is not only learning and perfecting the students’ Spanish but also promoting a full immersion in Latin American and Argentina, throughout the course students will be introduced to their host country’s culture in many different ways. This immersion will not only be supported in the classroom, but also through extra-curricular activities such as tango lessons, tours of historical and cultural sites, special interest courses and events.

Certificaties and Diplomas

Celec will give the students a certificate in which the length of the course, the amount of class hours and the level of Spanish attained will be detailed.