Our Method

At Learn More Than Spanish we try very hard to give our students the Spanish learning experience they want, that provides them with useful skills and holds their interest.

Concentrating on speaking and listening skills

The majority of our students are younger people who have possibly learnt a language in school but have found that, for a variety of reasons, they have not been able to master the language.

Many of our students are travelers who wish to get their Spanish to a level that will enrich their travel experience and allow them to interact with a greater range of local people.

For these reasons we have a strong focus on speaking and listening skills. While writing and reading are important we believe communication with people is the quickest and most practical skills Spanish learners need first.

Practical Focus

Our approach is also very practical in its focus. Students often spend a large amount of their time outside of the classroom interacting with the Spanish world around them.

We leave it down to the judgement of our teachers as to the degree and nature of how this happens. In the past we have had teachers go with students into real world settings such as cafés, shops or markets. These situations are a great way to practice as well as giving confidence to the student.

In preparation for these real world interactions teachers practice beforehand with their students. They talk about the types of vocabulary they will need and possible questions and responses that make be useful. Afterwards the teacher can provide valuable feedback from the interaction, tell the students the things they did well and giving suggestions for improvement.

Other teachers have used practical situations in the form of games. Carlos, for instance, is now famous for his "Great Race" games where students are required to extract various pieces of information from local interactions in different parts of the city competing against each other.

This is also the reason we encourage students to take part in our extra activities. By using their Spanish as part of learning or taking part in an extra activity students are able to use their language skills as well as gaining an insight into the people and culture of Colombia.

High Quality Teachers

All our teachers have been carefully interviewed before being hired. We ensure they are native Spanish speakers, live locally and have a good knowledge base of Spanish as well as teaching it as a second language.

Part of our hiring process is to conduct a class situation with a student of Spanish, our director David is very useful in this capacity. We look for important traits such as speaking slowly and clearly, the ability to wait and allow students to speak as well as a strict dedication to correcting a student's errors in a positive way.

All student materials provided

Our teachers use a wide range of teaching resources including printed handouts, photocopies and their own resources. When possible we provide digital copies of the material as this make it useful for students to amend, is easier to pack and reduces the possibility of misplacement.

All these materials are included in the students fees.

Building a relationship with the teacher

We believe students working with the teacher to help improve their skills is the best way to ensure success. By forming a friendly but productive relationship with the teacher we find that students are keen to learn and achieve results.

At the start of the course the teacher will discuss and assess which areas you need to spend more time on and allow you to build on your strengths.