Help to care for abandoned dogs and cats that have been rescued from the streets of Santiago. Volunteers are urgently needed!
Santiago de Chile
Programs Abroad
CHILE - Spanish Course in Pichilemu 
 |
Country: Chile Location: Pichilemu Minimum Stay: 2 weeks Start dates: all year round Price: from 2 weeks, 320 USD |
| More Photos... |
School
Our Spanish school is located in the very center of Pichilemu at walking distance from the beach. Close to the school you will find a variety of cafés, restaurants, take aways and internet cafés.The comfortable "patio" of the school and the nearby park invite to have lunch in the shade of the trees and the relaxing ambience invite to rest your mind after the Spanish classes. The class rooms of the Spanish school in Pichilemu are located on the third floor of a modern building. They offer an amazing view on the ocean, the headlands and the historic town center. The roof terrace is used as chill-out area and is equipped with sunbeds, chairs and tables. In the comfortable reception you will find an area for studying, having coffee, exchanging books and watching movies.
The Spanish school in Pichilemu was founded in 2005 with the objective of building a quality language school outside the capital Santiago de Chile. With its wonderful location at the seaside Pichilemu is indeed a very attractive alternative to the capital for learning Spanish. With South America Inside you can even combine your Spanish study in Santiago and Pichilemu. If you want to stay in both locations we are happy to arrange that for you.
The majority of the Spanish students come from North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. You will see that studying together with other globetrotters is even more fun!
The school also works as an English language learning facility for Chileans. The mixture of foreign language students and locals studying at the same school is conducive to cross-cultural exchanges and furthers your interest in the language of "the other".
Course
All of our Spanish teachers hold a university degree and have a two year experience of teaching Spanish as a foreign language in average. Speaking, text writing and oral as well as textual understanding are taught using workbooks and through various exercise activities. The school combines different teaching methods and attaches a great importance on applying the acquired knowledge outside the classroom. While instructors know English they only speak Spanish during class. During coffee breaks, teachers encourage students to have conversations with their classmates in Spanish.One big advantage of the school is that group sizes are small. Classes have a maximum of five students and are divided into five different levels (beginners up to advanced). Knowledge and understanding of Spanish are assessed through a small test taken on the first day of class. You have the possibility of booking private lessons or a special Spanish and surf course package.
The Spanish courses take place throughout the whole year and always begin on Mondays. Starting date and duration of the course can be fixed individually and there are no deadlines for inscription. Please keep in mind that you have to book a minimum of two weeks course.
Group Course: It consists of 15 lessons per week (60 minutes each) and has a maximum of five students in each class to guarantee individual attention and fast learning progress. A minimum of two students are necessary in order for the class to take place. Should this not be the case you will get 10 weekly lessons per week of Private Course.
Private Course: It consists of 15 one-on-one lessons per week (60 minutes each). In these lessons, the material is tailored to the student's abilities and expectations allowing the teacher to adapt each lesson to the student's individual learning speed and needs.
**Please note that the Private Course can be combined with the Group Course.
Spanish & Surf Course: Pichilemu offers you the unique opportunity to combine Spanish classes with a Surf Course. This beautiful beach town is very renowned for its perfect surf conditions (for beginners as much as for professionals). Our offer Spanish & Surf consists of twenty weekly Spanish lessons in the Group Course and five surf lessons per week. The instructors have a lot of experience in teaching surf. This package covers the surf equipment as well. Spanish lessons are taken in the morning and in the afternoon you can completely switch off on the surf board.
Spare time activities: Pichilemu offers a wide range of spare time activities from which you can choose to benefit a maximum from your stay. The Spanish school in Pichilemu can organize a lot of different activities as for example surf and kite courses. Beside the typical beach and water sports you can engage in other types of outdoor activities or discover Pichilemu's cultural offerings.At the weekend you can visit one of the world famous wineries or a national park; you can go horseback riding or take a trip to the famous town of Valparaiso, Viña del Mar or the country's capital Santiago. Besides, the school organizes yoga classes and can help you rent street and mountain bikes so you can discover the amazing surroundings on your own.
Being a hotspot of the international surf scene Pichilemu offers a great variety of nice bars, night clubs and restaurants. During the summer months from December to March Pichilemu hosts a number of famous surf competitions.
Accommodation
The best way to learn the language and the culture of your host country is to live with a local family. This is why we accommodate our Spanish students in Chilean host family during your stay in Pichilemu. The host families are carefully selected and commit to integrate their host in their daily life. Families host the student in a single room (double rooms available on request) and you have access to the common rooms of the house to share time with your host family.The accommodation with a host family includes breakfast, lunch and a snack in the early evening. The families all live at walking distance to your language school.
Volunteering
If you would like to put into practice your language achievements and fully immerse into the local culture you can book your Spanish classes in combination with a volunteer work. As volunteer you get the opportunity to assist teachers in local public schools in preparing and giving English classes (you will obviously not only speak English). You can volunteer for up to twenty hours per week, from Monday to Friday. A minimum of three months volunteer work and a minimum booking of three weeks Spanish course are conditions for participating in this program.
 Social commitment is in great demand! Experience a different side of life in Latin America and help giving hope to some people!
throughout Chile
|
Prices
| in USD |
Group Course |
Private Course |
Surf Package |
Host Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 weeks | 320.- | 540.- | 350.- | 420.- |
| 3 weeks | 480.- | 810.- | 525.- | 630.- |
| 4 weeks | 640.- | 1,080.- | 700.- | 840.- |
| Additional week |
160.- | 240.- | 140.- | 210.- |
Enrolment fee 65 USD. Check-in accommodation the sunday before the course starts, check-out on Saturday after the course has ended (extra days can be booked).
No classes on National Holidays: 2013, Jan 01, Mar 29, May 01,May 21,Jun 29, Aug 15, Sept 18 - 20, Oct 31, Nov 01, Dec 25.
For volunteer positions please see the information about Volunteer Placements in Chile...
What’s included:
- Orientation kit
- Local support
- 24h-Emergency Number
- Free internet access at school
- Quality Spanish Course
- Teaching material
- Evaluation test
- Refreshments, coffee and tea at school
- Activity calendar
- Language Certificate
- Accommodation as booked
What’s not included:
- Flight
- Medical Insurance
- Local Travels
Location
Pichilemu is located 3.5 hours southeast from Chile's capital Santiago de Chile. The town is known for its deep huaso (cowboy) culture. However, it is most famous for its spectacular beaches with beginner to advanced surfing waves. In addition to surfing, guest can spend time mountain biking, kayaking, learning to kite surf, doing yoga, horseback riding, and visiting nearby farms, artisans, and wineries.Pichilemu is still considered off the 'gringo trail'. It has primarily been a summer tourist resort for Chileans escaping inland heat in January and February. Consequentially, summer time is packed and off season allows many accommodation options. Pichilemu holds on to many cultural traditions rarely seen in other parts of Chile. Huaso (cowboy) culture is prominent: Cowboys in ponchos and square hats roam the dirt roads and school children often participate in traditional dance competitions called Cueca Dancing.Despite the deep "campesino" traditions, modern life is rapidly coming to Pichilemu. International big-wave surf competitions happen every year during the summer months and several regional and national surf competitions occur throughout the year.
Source: Google Maps
 Chile is truly a country like no other in South America. This long and narrow country embraces the Pacific Ocean on the coast to the east, squeezed by the Andes Mountains and Argentina to the west, and borders Bolivia and Peru to the northwest. Chile takes great pride in being the longest country in the world with an incredible length of 2,700 miles a width of only 115 miles. Due to the country’s vast length, a wide range of climatic zones and weather conditions exist with an average daily difference of thirty-eight degrees between northern Arica and southern Patagonia.
While the country’s total population adds up to about 16 million, almost 6 million or 40% of Chileans live in the country’s capital of Santiago. About 85% of the country's population live in urban areas, while an incredible 15% of the population are responsible for agricultural productions of oranges, avocados, flowers, melons and numerous other products. Moreover, the relatively small central valley around Santiago dominates the country in terms of agricultural resources. If your Chilean travels take you outside the economic and cultural side of Chile, you will find landscape variety in forests, grazing lands, spectacular volcanoes, rocky and sandy coasts, and shimmering lakes. With a little extra local knowledge, you might be lucky to discover the labyrinth of fjords, beautiful inlets, remote islands and historic glaciers. Chile’s most known attractions for adventurers and culture seekers alike are Easter Island, Robinson Crusoe Island, the southern region of Patagonia and famous Altiplano in the north. Further, within a two-hour radius from Santiago are spectacular beaches, glacial hiking, climbing, biking, surfing, wine tours and much more. From the world’s driest desert in the north, endless coastline in the west, majestic Andes in the east, smoking volcanoes, virgin forests, lakes, fjords, rivers and glaciers in the south, there is something for everybody in Chile. The best time to travel to Chile depends greatly on what you hope to see and do. If your mission is to play hard in the southern region, the most accessible months to the backcountry of Patagonia are December through March. The months of November through February are fantastic for long days, hot, dry weather and empty city streets in central Chile. For skiers, along with rain in the city, snow begins to fill the mountains again from July through September. In northern Chile, the Atacama Desert is easily accessible all year. March is a general all around ideal month to explore Chile from north to south because this is the transition time from summer to the winter cold and rainy seasons. We believe you’ll find Chileans are generally quiet but welcoming people. They are very proud of their amazing country and love to talk about its endless variety. The Chileans are very kind, helpful and will soon consider you to be their “amigo” so you will never feel lonely.
|
Photos
|
|
|
|
|
|
