Section two: Finding the right school and choosing the right course:

So you're heading to South America for a few months to travel around, see some amazing sights, meet some quality people and hopefully pick up some Spanish while you're at it. Flight is booked, boyfriend\girlfriend is heart broken, family are concerned and your old boss believes you are some kind of disillusioned new age hippie.

You now just need to figure out where you are going to take classes. Traditionally, finding the right school was somewhat of a pain where the sun doesn't shine.. schools are difficult to compare when looking at their own websites (sometimes they don't even have their own website!), language travel agencies don't divulge much information for fear of you going directly to the school and language barriers don't help much. Good news is this is finally changing thanks to a certain new website...

Finding the right school

This site has been designed so that you can easily pick a school that matches you're interests and needs. Here at CatchtheLingo we only host reputable schools. All schools have been a.) verified as a dedicated education institute, b.) have been in existence for at least one year and c.) have a dedicated school building

There are several bodies that accredit schools in South America. We'll briefly mention who each body are and what it means to be accredited by that body as it's good to know for peace of mind!

NOTE: If a school is not accredited by a body that does not signify the school is not a quality teaching establishment. In Chile, for instance, there is no national body but some of the very best schools in South America are located there. You should see an accreditation as an extra positive but you not see the absence of an accreditation as necessarily negative.    

a.) Cervantes Institute \ Instituto de Cervantes:

 

 

 

Cervantes Institute is the official body set up by government of Spain to promote and maintain Spanish language and culture abroad. Just like the British council or Alliance Francaise set standards and overlook the teaching of English and French so too does the Cervantes Institute act as the authority on Spanish.

For a school to be accredited by the Cervantes Institute, it must pass a thorough inspection of the Spanish it teaches and the methodology it uses to teach that Spanish. Very few schools actually achieve this, less than 10% in South America as it is costly and often restrictive. Schools who can claim having this in their trophy cabinet should be considered the best institutions in an academic sense.

b.) SEA - La asociacíon de centros de idiomas de Argentina or in English, The National Association of Language Centres in Argentina - an excellent example of language schools self governing. The association has existed for some 17 years, is based in Buenos Aires and sets rigorous standards on the quality of teaching, the suitability of facilities and the manner in which schools are governed.

 

 

Importantly the association obliges their members to sign a pact titled "The defense of the student". This agreement sets in stone the rights of a student and critically puts in place a mechanism for resolving any grievance of a student. There really isn't anything this positive for student's elsewhere in South America and proves why Argentina is a great place to study Spanish.

SEA supports CatchtheLingo in our effort to create a better system for both school and student and encourages member schools to participate on the CatchtheLingo platform.

c.) AACELE

 

 

Also Buenos Aires based, AACELE are a group of solely Spanish schools who are dedicated to ensuring their students receive the best in education and are enjoy Argentina to the fullest. AACELE members are all quality schools that you can rely on.

From an academic side, AACELE work in collaboration with the best universities of Argentina and this ensures that the curriculum taught in these schools is top notch.

AACELE recognises the benefits that CatchtheLingo bring to students and schools and officially support this website.

d.)  Other indications of Spanish teaching quality include but are not limited to accreditation from a regional tourism board, from an international body such as NAFSA or the American chamber of commerce. Also if a school offers courses in conjuction with a university they are of a certain level academically.

Using a school profile on CatchtheLingo.com to find out which school is right for you.

When you land on a school's page coming from the search results you'll be presented with the "school overview" tab. The main piece on this page is a table of information titled "Important School Information". The information fields in this table are mandatory for the schools to complete and they allow you to make a comparison between two schools easier. This section will give you an idea how large the school is, if it is academically focused or it is tourism focused and will provide you with key statistics such as the average number of students per class. In terms of comparing schools this table is key but if you want to really understand what a school is like you should

1. Examine the media of the school. Examine the media of the school. As the old saying says a picture is worth a thousand words so look at the media the school has uploaded. We offer the facility for schools to upload video and photos and the style of their media will give you a taster as to what the school is really like. If for instance, the photographs are generally of classroom situations you could for instance say the school is less socially orientated than a school which has a you tube video of a night of beer tasting.

2. Check what social activities a school offers. Many Spanish schools will offer a activities in Spanish such as tours, movie nights and dance classes. 

3. Note the teacher profile section and the range of courses offered. This will give you an idea of how well qualified the school is and if they a focused as an institution.

What to check when deciding what course to study...

1. Read the description of the course and see if it is in line with what you want to achieve. Always make sure you can attend all your classes, otherwise you will fail to get value for money and will become demotivated as you fall behind. Dont sign up for a 20 hour a week course if you plan to go sightseeing or if have another commitment such as volunteering or teaching English.

2. Check the hours and relative cost of the course: remembering that most 'hours' consist of 50 minutes class time. As a general rule you should not be paying more than US$12 per hour of group class time and you should not be paying more than US$20 per hour of individual tuition. Of course most rates are considerably cheaper than that. Note because of the higher costs that a school has to bear in Chile you should expect to pay on average, 20% more for a Spanish course there.

3. Take advantage of discounts for longer term bookings: Schools seeking the security of knowing they have paying students in the future will often offer you a discount if you are willing to stay for longer. Take advantage and book your longer duration up front on CatchtheLingo. Of course with these longer term bookings the famous CatchtheLingo best price guarantee still stands.

4. Figure out a plan for accommodation. Arriving in a foreign country without anywhere arranged to stay might sound appealing to the adventurous spirit that has taken us to Argentina or Chile but the reality of turning up without a place to stay is rather grim. Imagine, for instance, running around Buenos Aires fully loaded with baggage in the height of summer as you try and find an apartment or hostel to stay in. It's 38 C or 100 F, there more sweat in on the subway than there is water in the taps and the pollution is beating you down. After the exhaustion of all this you inevitably end up taking the first place you find and a month later you move out, forsaking your deposit to find a better place.

Be smart, save the adventure for a trip to the Andes and plan your accommodation now! If you decide to book a course through CatchtheLingo you will notice that schools often offer home stay accommodation or apartments through the site. This accommodation is managed by the school and can be relied upon and the fact they are offering it through the website you can be sure on the fact that you are getting a best price guarantee.

If your school fails to offer accommodation then check out our section on verified independent accommodation agents or book a hostel through our link to hostelbookers.com (see bottom of page).

5. Research other interesting opportunities: Maybe you would like to try out a certain sport or activity or perhaps you wish to give something back through volunteering for a local organisation. All of these can be found on CatchtheLingo.com

Because of the limitations of time and sanity we have not covered everything in this guide.  If you are interested in writing for the site please email info@catchthelingo.com

And of course if you have any questions the same invitation and email address applies

 

For regions that we do not cover we recommend visiting one of the following websites:

http://www.allstudyabroad.com

All Study Abroad is a Study Abroad Directory designed to make it easy to compare study abroad programs.