Learn Spanish in San Sebastian: Teaching
Let’s get you talking Spanish in San Sebastian
Teaching Method
The group courses (whether attending the Languages for Life, Gap Year or Standard courses) have been specifically designed to develop your ability to effectively communicate in Spanish. These Spanish courses are adapted to your current language level and are based on everyday contexts and experiences in order to develop your knowledge from the perspective of real-life experience. All of the group courses focus on the practical use of the language and immersing yourself in the Spanish way of thinking.
Students cover the four core skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, with plenty of grammar and vocabulary work included in order to develop all the essential Spanish language skills. There are classes in grammar, oral and written exercises, practice with video and audio material and conversation on subjects of general, social and cultural interest. Special importance is given to the communicative aspect of the language and its use in everyday life. For this reason, the college encourages students to speak Spanish in class, and whenever possible out of class as well.
Language levels & rate of progress
You will normally need at least 40 lessons of Spanish tuition at any one level before advancing to the next course level.
The table (below) gives an idea of how the Spanish language school levels compare to those established by the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF, in Spanish the MCER) and by the Instituto Cervantes for its Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) examinations.
| School system | CEF | DELE descriptions |
| Principante 2 wks duration |
A1 | Diploma A1 |
| To guide the beginner student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate in everyday situations such as in the home, city, shops, supermarket, bars etc. The course content is focused on functionality and includes grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, the content continues build on and enhance the students’ language knowledge. |
||
| Elemental 2 wks duration |
A1/A2 | Diploma A2 |
| To guide the A1 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate in everyday situations such as in the home, city, shops, supermarket, bars etc as well as basic participation and interaction with others. Meet, greet and introduce themselves to new people in new settings. Express and discuss likes, dislikes and personal preferences. Speak about everyday routines and leisure activities. Go shopping for and organize a birthday party. Describe moods and physical states. Organize and arrange to meet with friends. Speak about the weather. |
||
| Preintermedio 2+ wks duration |
A2 | Diploma A2 |
| To guide the A2 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate and exchange information about everyday activities, likes and dislikes, holidays and life experiences that occurred in the past. Additionally, an A2 level student should be capable of describing simply their current way of life and educational or work history. Meet, greet and introduce themselves to new people in new and formal settings. Speak about personal and general daily life including personal likes and dislikes and those of other people. Organize and arrange future plans. Discuss life experiences and recent past events. Recount their own life as well as that of a celebrity: when and where they were born, what they studied, general life experiences and holidays. Ask and converse about the future. Give advice and formulate hypothesis. Describe habits or changes that occurred in the past. |
||
| Intermedio I 2+ wks duration |
B1 | Diploma B1 (Incial) |
| See B1 notes below | ||
| Intermedio II 2+ wks duration |
B1 | Diploma B1 (Incial) |
| To guide the B1 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate in and deal with situations where Spanish is spoken. Additionally, a B1 level student should be capable of describing experiences, hopes, ambitions, desires and reactions and consequently be capable of explaining their own opinions and plans in a range of different time periods. Recount incidents and the circumstances surrounding them. Speak about past actions and the order in which they happened (using the correct Past tenses). Ask for and give instructions and advice. Give and refuse permission. Express wishes, desires and doubts. Form and express positive and negative opinions. Express feelings and appreciation. Propose or suggest highly likely or unlikely predictions, speculations and deductions. |
||
| Intermedio III 2+wks duration |
B1 | Diploma B1 (Incial) |
| See B1 notes above | ||
| Preavanzado 2+ wks duration |
B2 | Diploma B2 (Intermedio) |
| See B2 notes below | ||
| Avanzado I 2+ wks duration |
B2 | Diploma B2 (Intermedio) |
| To guide the B2 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate and participate in conversations fluently and spontaneously. Additionally, a B2 level student should be capable of explaining themselves succinctly and defending their point of views. Recount and describe anecdotes and incidents as well as the circumstances surrounding them. Express wishes and desires with differing degrees of likelihood. Correctly define known and unknown objects. Discuss topics conditionally with predictions, deductions and speculations about the past, present and future. Make assessments and judgements. Construct clause using concessions. Explain incidents in relation to their cause, effect and consequences. Articulate objectives and purposes. Anticipate problems and propose solutions. Display differences. Articulate regrets and remorse. Influence others with their personal opinions. |
||
| Avanzado I Alto 2+ wks duration |
B2 | Diploma B2 (Intermedio) |
| See B2 notes above | ||
| Avanzado II 2+ wks duration |
C1 | Diploma C1 |
| See C1 notes below | ||
| Avanzado II Alto 2+ wks duration |
C1 | Diploma C1 |
| To guide the C1 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes being able to communicate and participate in conversations fluently in spontaneously in different social situations. Additionally, a C1 level student should be capable of explaining their point of views in relation to the opinions of others. Critique and review constructively the experience and methodologies used to learn a foreign language. Comment on and make judgements about current affairs using verbs that express personal perception and general meaning (verbos de cabeza) and personal feelings and general influences (verbos de corazón). Discuss topics conditionally. Explain the cause or motivation behind an action. Explain cause, consequences and purpose. Argue and discuss topics. Have knowledge of aspects of Spanish history, Spanish culture and society as well as those of other nationalities. Speak about different time periods in life and express their attitudes and feelings about them. |
||
| Perfeccionamiento 2+ wks duration |
C2 | Diploma C2 (Superior) |
| To guide the C2 student through learning Spanish as a foreign language by enhancing their communicative abilities, improving their social linguistic skills and developing language capabilities suitable for their level. This includes a C2 level student being able to effortlessly communicate and participate in any conversation or debate and accurately communicate subtle differences in meaning. Introduce themselves in both formal and informal settings. Politely ask and converse about social customs and popular belief systems. Discuss and ask about leisure time and social activities. Critique and review constructively the experience and methodologies used to learn a foreign language. Explain, evaluate, summarise and comment on news stories from a variety of different media sources including online and print newspapers, radio and television. Develop an argument systematically about the economic development and R&D using information and data. Account for and give examples to illustrate changes, transformations and results. Explain, assess and describe history and art. |
||
In reality students chose to attend a short course or a longer “Gap Year” or “Languages for Life” course according to their linguistic goals, personal wishes and time constraints.
Teaching programme structure
Class Size
The smaller your learning group, the more personalized your course will be. The maximum amount of students per group is twelve. The average number of students per group is around 8 in low season and 10 in high season, with a maximum of 12 students per class.
Class Duration
At the school in San Sebastian, lessons run from Monday to Friday and are 45 minutes long.
First Day
Time of arrival: For those with prior knowledge of the Spanish language: 08:30 hrs
For complete beginners: 09:15 hrs on the first Monday of your course
From 8:30 to 11:00 hrs: Non-beginners will undertake a written and oral test, and students will be introduced to the school and the staff. At approximately 11:00 hrs students will be notified of their classes, teachers and timetables, and generally by 11:30 hrs lessons will begin. At 11.00 hrs (break time): Students go to the office reception to collect details of any additional classes booked; private lessons, surfing sessions etc. Please note that some groups may have lessons in the afternoon, and the college cannot guarantee in advance whether you will have group lessons in the AM or PM. After the first days lessons, at 17:30 hrs there will be an orientation tour of the town of San Sebastian for all new students, followed by a welcome party.
Timetable
Group Classes Timetable:
9:30 am -11.00 am & 11:30 am – 1.00 pm
Alternative High Season Timetable:
1:15 pm – 2:45 pm & 3.00 pm – 4:30 pm
Individual Class Timetable:
1:15 pm – 2.00 pm or 1.00 pm – 2:45 pm
DELE Exam preparation
Students whose dates fit can opt to do a preparation course for the official DELE exams (Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera) which test students’ level of competence in Spanish, granted by the Instituto Cervantes in name of the Ministry of Education and Science, which are recognized world-wide. These are organized according to the European Framework of Languages (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).
The school in San Sebastian enables students to prepare for the DELE Incial (B1), Intermedio (B2) and Superior (c2) level exams (three times a year; May, August and November). There is a specific 4 week DELE preparation course offered leading up to the exams.
- 4 wk courses offered three times a year
- B1: Lower Intermediate
- B2: Upper Intermediate
- C1: Effective operational proficiency
For other levels please contact the CESA team, to see whether we can arrange preparation at a lower level.
A specialized course to prepare you for either the B1, B2 or C1 DELE Exam. This course concentrates on exam content, the skills and strategies required as well as doing mock exams to ensure that you’re well prepared for the official exam.
Timetable: Monday to Friday
Standard Course/20 group lessons, from 09.30 am
DELE exam preparation lessons, from 1.15 pm to 2.45 pm
Textbook: María José Martínez et alii, Las claves del nuevo DELE (B1, B2 or C1 as appropriate). Barcelona: Difusión. 2013
Certificate of Attendance
At the end of the course, every student that attends a minimum of 80% of classes and passes the school’s evaluation system (a combination of the fortnightly test results, class participation and overall progress) will receive an accredited Certificate of Achievement noting their level of Spanish.
Spanish Teachers in San Sebastian
All of the teachers are native Spaniards and they are all full time Spanish teachers (generally 25 to 45 yrs of age). They use the Spanish school syllabus, a tried and tested method developed in accordance with the school’s teaching ethos.
Spanish Students in San Sebastian
Students come from all over the world, predominantly Europe, but also from as far afield as Australia, the USA or Asia. Fundamentally, if you want to learn Spanish – you’re welcome. Age wise there a lot of younger students (18 yrs to 27 yrs of age), but the oldest student to date was in their 70’s and some 20%+ of the student body last year were over 30 yrs of age, again everyone is welcome.
There are students that stay for one or two weeks and others who stay for 12 to 24 weeks. The longer you stay the better your Spanish language skills will be!
On the first day that you begin a Spanish course, there is both a written and an oral placement test.
Lessons will begin on the following morning (generally speaking Tuesday AM)
