From your perspective, what is a good reason to study Spanish in Chile?
Chile as the most secure and politically stable destination in South America has become a very interesting alternative for studying Spanish. Tourism to Chile is increasing every year and the fact that our seasons are inverse to the seasons in North America and Europe makes it interesting for those travelers who want to go skiing in the northern summer as for those who are looking for sun in the northern hemispheres winter. Nevertheless having the driest dessert of the world in Atacama you can travel Chile the whole year round, without getting wet.
Where do the majority of your students come from?
We have a good mixture of North Americans, Europeans and Brazilians and Asians in our Spanish courses. Most of our Students are from Brazil and Germany.
When is it the best time or season for students to attend your Spanish language school?
This depends on the interest of the student: If you look for a low number of students you should choose May, June or December and take advantage of our low season discount. For those who like to ski June to October are the month of the snow, January and February are full of open air activities and cultural events like the international Theatre festival “Teatro Mil”, or the Jazz festival of Providencia. March and April are still warm and try but not as hot as December to February. September is the month of the National festivities and the flowering of the vegetation. In certain years the fantastic flowering of the Atacama dessert can be seen.
Could you tell us briefly about the philosophy behind your Spanish language school? What makes your school different?
Our schools philosophy is to teach languages bringing people together instead of using technology. We believe that there is no better way to learn a language practicing it in the direct contact to people who speak it. So we are providing instances for our Spanish students to meat Chileans, offering according to the TANDEM Method language every Friday 90 minutes language exchange in groups and on a individual base. Additionally every Friday night we have an outing, called “TANDEM Meeting“ in a bar of the neighbourhood, which is very popular in Santiago.
What other factors should be considered when choosing a school to study Spanish
The most important aspect is the professionalism and experience in teaching. Another question is how many levels are offered? It makes a difference for getting in the right level if the school offers 3 levels of each a month duration or eight levels which are only a week apart.
Stefan Meffert from TANDEM Santiago de Chile: www.tandemsantiago.cl