Spanish Courses in South America

Spanish Courses in Cartagena, Columbia

Join our Spanish courses in Cartagena, Colombia, considered by many as one of the world's most beautiful, fascinating and magical cities. Cartagena, founded by Spanish conquerors, acted as a

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main port to bring Europeans and their goods into South America, and to transport gold, silver and all sorts of plants, animals, minerals and handicrafts from all over the continent across the Caribbean and on to the Old World.

Today, the city hosts intellectuals and plenty of beautiful refurbished homes amongst exotic, highly attractive and dynamic plazas, waterfronts and other public spaces. One of the most hospitable venues for any tourist who is looking for a good rest, Caribbean and Colombian magical realism, and tropical ambiance or natural wonders.

The city was one of the first sanctuaries of freed African slaves in the Americas and is currently populated by an ethnic mix representative of Colombia 's own variety.

Cartagena, located on Colombia 's northern coast and facing the Caribbean Sea, is the most visited city in the country by tourists. It gets extremely crowded in the December holidays and the holy week, when schools are out and most Colombians take their vacations. The city has basically two main parts where tourists go: the walled colonial city ("ciudad amurallada"), which is truly amazing and has many fancy restaurants and clubs; and a long strip of hotel towers and condos fronting onto the beach, known as Bocagrande.

Spanish Courses in Cartagena, Colombia - Fees

Accommodation Fees

Our Spanish School in Cartagena, Columbia

Our Spanish school in Cartagena is located on the Caribbean coast. You don't know the Caribbean until you know Cartagena; be prepared to meet the friendliest people of the world, live a musical atmosphere, eat an extraordinary and varied food, take the sun in astonishing beaches and dive near beautiful coral reefs, hear stories of pirates, slaves, and sunk Spanish ships, visit natural parks, live the Rumba (Party!) in the beach and enjoy the best weather.

Cartagena is a UNESCO World Heritage City, and on the “must see” lists of millions of world travelers. Ramparts and walls were built all around the city in order to protect it from pirate attacks. Now, nearly 500 years old, this majestic city on the Southwestern Caribbean, retains much the charm, history, architecture, romance and adventure of days gone by.

Nearby Cartagena is located the famous Rosary Islands Natural Park, which is a group of coral islands with the best beaches near Cartagena. Only 40 minutes from Cartagena is the Totumo swamp which is a shallow fresh water lake besides the sea, this is a paradisiacal place where a huge variety of migratory and non migratory birds nest being a delight for tourist and locals. There you can take a bath into the crater of a volcano, a mud volcano that's famous for being good for the skin. Other thing that you should do is to visit the charming restaurants and clubs inside of the so called old city.

Our Spanish school is located just 4 blocks from the main entrance to the "Old City" in a colonial house with a Caribbean atmosphere that you will love.

Forts and Castles: Forts and castles were strategically built around Cartagena de Indias to defend its inhabitants from the continuous attacks of English and French pirates who, well aware of all the new lands had to offer, sailed the Caribbean in search of treasures. Spanish military engineer Bautiste Antonelli reached Cartagena in 1589 and started on the construction of the monumental works that today constitute an example of the military architecture of the period. The forts of San José and San Sebastián and the castles of San Felipe de Barajas and San Fernando y Las Bóvedas are still standing today.

A respected historian of the 20 th Century, Englishman Arnold Toynbee, said, as he inspected the fortifications and ramparts of Cartagena : “This is the reason that South America does not speak English”.

At our Spanish school in Cartagena, Colombia we never compromise with quality teaching. Our Spanish courses are ruled both by the Common European Framework of references for languages (CEF) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) guidelines. That is why we offer six levels of learning, which is the number of levels required for a language study program to be considered professional, efficient and accredited. In addition, in any of our programs you will find:

Our Spanish school in Cartagena, Colombia has alliances with excellent universities in Bogota and Medellin : This guaranties the quality of teachers, good headquarters, computers availability, cultural life and a total immersion in the Spanish language.

Qualified Teachers: All our teachers have many years experience teaching Spanish courses in South America, and have an excellent reputation. Our teachers also have a service vocation and love for teaching.

Evaluation of the student progress from the beginning: It is very important to locate you in the adequate level so you can take the maximum of advantage of your staying at the school. Therefore, the first day you will be evaluated in order to set a learning plan that fits your needs. Furthermore, your teacher will evaluate you every two weeks so you can frequently see your improvements and keep learning Spanish.

Excellent headquarters: Adequate classrooms, library, sports facilities, computer with internet and cultural activities, are important to create a friendly learning environment. In all of our school's you will find all this and much more.

Small classes: The classes are small, making the learning process easier.

Our Spanish Language Courses in Cartagena, Columbia

Standard Group: Is a half a day course, making it easier to combine classes with tourism, work or social life. This Spanish course focuses in improving your communication skills, working on listening, conversation, grammar, vocabulary, reading and pronunciation. The course is 20 hours per week; 15 hours of Spanish lessons and 5 hours of cultural activities to get to know Cartagena, its history and its culture.

Intensive Group: This course is the same standard group Spanish course but it has a longer daily schedule. Consists of 25 hours per week; 20 hours of Spanish lessons and 5 hours of cultural activities to get to know Cartagena, its history and its culture.

Individual: You could take modules of 15, 20 or 25 hours of Individual instruction per week. Each one to one Spanish course will include five hours of Merengue and Salsa lessons, and five hours of cultural activities.

Our Spanish school in Cartagena, Colombia also offers the following courses :

• Spanish for Business
• Spanish and Volunteer
• Spanish and Dancing
• Spanish and Short Scuba Diving Course
• Spanish and Scuba Diving PADI OPEN WATERS certification course
• Medical Spanish
• Spanish and Kite Surfing (Kite Boarding)
• Spanish and Windsurfing
• Spanish and Sunfish

Spanish Courses in Cartagena, Colombia - Accommodation

In order to fully enjoy the experience of learning Spanish abroad, it is necessary to get adequate accommodation in the right place. It is clear that people have different tastes, and this is why we offer different types of accommodation to our students:

With a family (homestay accommodation): You will live and share your daily life with a Spanish speaking family. Breakfast and dinner are included and there is washing machine available or your clothes will be washed once a week. Families are chosen carefully, and during your stay you will be another member of the family. We visit the families regularly and we permanently assess their human qualities and the location of their house.

Apartment: If you want more privacy or are planning to come with your family, we can get an apartment for you. We are aware of how important it is for our students to be accommodated in well situated, nice apartments located in safe and pleasant neighborhoods. This is why we are always ready to help you to find an adequate apartment if you are coming for two months or more and you want independence. In Cartagena it is possible to find low-priced small, well located apartments provided with all utilities. Rental of an apartment must be negotiated directly between the student and the landlord. Our school will help the student find convenient accommodation.

Hotel: We have agreements with hotels in each one of our sites. There are hotels for all budgets ranging from US$20 per night to 5-star hotels. The hotels that we recommend are always well located and they have been qualified as satisfactory by other students, regardless of the hotel's price. We have also contacts with very good B&B (Bed & breakfast).

Live at the Spanish school in Cartagena : If you are looking for a clean, convenient and affordable place to stay in Cartagena you can stay at the school. We are aware of the fact that many students have a very limited budget or they prefer to have more independence and therefore they want to live with other students instead of living with host families, or in apartments. This is why we can provide a very affordable accommodation at the school, for students planning to come to Cartagena. The school accommodation is basic, clean and very affordable.

Some important aspects of the apartment accommodation are:

• Meals for a very affordable price (USD 1- 2)
• Near to main landmarks of Cartagena
• Single or double rooms
• Daily general cleaning service
• Living room
• Furnished
• Air conditioner
• Lift
• Balcony
• Kitchen
• Swimming pool
• 2 toilettes
• You will need to rent it directly to the landlord Col $120.000 pesos/day = USD 50 / day

Please note: All prices are quoted in $US. For the equivalent in your currency, please visit www.xe.com/ucc. The price in dollars may vary, as the exchange rate is susceptible to change.