Course types
1– The first thing you should be clear about is that unless the school indicates that there are individual or private classes, the courses will have group classes whose size depends on what the school decides, but usually they are a maximum of 12-15 students, who can be of any nationality. Having said that, usually the groups are international and that is to your benefit, because it forces you to communicate with your classmates in the language you are learning and gives you the possibility of making friends from any corner of the world. If you take your course during the low season, the groups will be smaller than in the high season, where it is very likely that they are at their maximum capacity. You can also find options for classes in small groups at any time of the year.
2– Choose the type of course that suits your needs. Below you will find a description of each type of course that the schools offer in Ynsitu, your Booking of language courses abroad.
3– Choose the intensity of your course, meaning the number of weekly classes. The most common offer is of 15, 20 or 25 classes per week. There are schools that have classes of 45, 50 or 60 minutes, and you should take this into account. For example, a course of 20 classes of 45 minutes per week, means 15 real hours of class per week. However if the class duration is 60 minutes, it would be 20 real hours of class.
4– The classes are taught entirely in the language you are learning so the lower your level of mastery of that language, the more effort you will have to put in, but you will also progress more quickly. Needless to say, you would learn much faster than taking classes in your home country.
GENERAL LANGUAGE COURSES
General language courses are primarily focused on improving your fluency in a language. These courses consist of classes in which all skills are worked on: speaking, listening, reading comprehension, and written expression.
The topics covered are mainly useful situations for everyday life such as: work, sports, vacations, meals, trips, experiences, etc.
The objective of this type of course is that you learn the selected language and improve your overall fluency. Our advice is that you choose this type of course, if what you are looking for is a general improvement in your language of choice.
LANGUAGE COURSES WITH ACTIVITIES
The language courses with activities combine general language classes with recreational activities. During these courses, you can continue to improve your language level after class whilst practicing your favorite hobby, and even meeting people with similar tastes.
LANGUAGE COURSES FOR PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
The language courses for pre-university students are general language courses especially designed for students from 16 to 18 years old. The themes of the classes are adapted to your tastes and needs. Today, to successfully find a job it is fundamental to have an advanced language level. Most companies demand this standard of skill of young recent college graduates. Likewise, if what you want is to pursue your university studies in another country, you must prepare yourself to have the minimum level of languages required to be admitted. If you are a good student and want to prepare well for your future, this is the course you need.
EXAM PREPARATION COURSES
Exam preparation courses are focused on preparing for official language exams that certify your level. Certification may be a requirement to access university or postgraduate studies and is increasingly in demand by companies in their recruitment processes. As we all know, it is now more important than ever to include an official title that shows your level of languages on your CV.
By completing an exam preparation course, you can officially certify your language level. Some examples of official certifications are: Cambridge, Trinity, TOEFL, IELTS, in the case of English. If you wish to become certified in German, you can take the DAF Test, and in the case of French DELF, TEFAQ, etc.
BUSINESS LANGUAGE COURSES
The business language courses are focused on those who wish to improve their language level in business or business administration. The courses offer written and oral communication so that you become fluent enough to carry out your professional duties within a company and in the business world. This type of course will allow you to develop presentations, negotiations, emails, reports, letter writing and generate your network in another language.
ONE-TO-ONE CLASSES
One-to-one classes serve the needs of language learners in a much more personalized way. This type of course is usually more intensive. Individual lessons can also focus on concrete or specific areas depending on your needs. Do you want to improve your professional level in a foreign language? Do you want to improve your vocabulary, your spoken language level or your written language level? This type of individual classes will allow you to focus your learning on the areas you need most. They are obviously more expensive than group classes, but progress is much faster and more personalized.
SMALL GROUPS
Small groups are courses that have classes with fewer students. In the majority of cases, the maximum number of students per class is 6. These types of courses tend to be more intensive and allow the teacher to identify the needs of each student to significantly improve their level of spoken and written languages. The classes are also more participatory since the creativity of the teachers and the small number of students allows the classes to be more fluid with greater participation by all of the students. These types of courses also offer specializations such as small groups for executives. In fact, high-level executive language courses are usually carried out in small groups and sometimes combine small group classes with individual classes.
FAMILY PROGRAMS
Family programs are perfect for families with children who wish to travel and improve their language level at the same time. Parents can attend language classes with adults, whilst their children go to class for minors which usually include additional practical classes, and attractive activity programs.
TEACHER TRAINING COURSES
Teacher training courses fall into various categories: Courses aimed at preparing people with university training to teach their native language to students for whom that language is not their native language. The aim of these courses is to obtain one of the globally accepted certifications as valid for this purpose, such as CELTA or TEFL.” Second language teaching methodology courses that are aimed at language teachers who want to update their knowledge of methodology in an international environment by sharing classes and experiences with teachers from other countries. CLIL methodology courses (Content and language integrated learning) are aimed at teachers who teach bilingual education in their educational center. This type of course provides teachers with methodological tools to teach a subject in a language that is not the student’s native language so that they can acquire the knowledge of the subject and at the same time improve their overall level of the language.
LANGUAGE COURSES FOR ADULTS (+30, +40,+50)
The language courses for adults (+30/+40/+50) are focused on adults over 30, adults over 40 and adults over 50. These three blocks are the minimum age bands into which the programs for seniors are divided. Here you can find varied programs for the different age groups that include general languages, business language, intensive, non-intensive, and also cultural activities with a language. If you are an adult in one of these age groups and you want to guarantee that your classmates will be of a similar age, this is the type of course that would suit you. In group language courses in which a certain age range is not specified, you will coincide with students who will be mostly between 18 and twenty-something years old, since this age range is the one that travels the most to another countries to learn a second language.
LONG-TERM COURSES
Long-term courses generally last 12 weeks,and can be as long as 52 weeks (a full academic year). These courses are perfect for those students who decide to take advantage of a year or several months to learn a second language; or for those students who have finished high school and are not clear on what university studies to do and decide to dedicate a year of their life to learning a second languagewhile, whilst clarifying their ideas about their future. They are also for those who are clear that they are going to study in a foreign university and want to prepare as well as possible in advance, to make sure that their language level is not detrimental to their academic results.
WORK AND STUDY PROGRAMS
Work and study programs provide you with an opportunity to develop your curriculum and your working life, whilst studying a second language abroad.
There are 4 categories for this type of program:
Paid. These are generally unskilled jobs in sectors such as hospitality or retail, so it is best not to have high expectations about the type of work and salary, but it is an alternative option to paying, in whole or partly, for your stay abroad. There are two ways to do paid work: either you combine 20 hours a week of paid work organized by the school itself with the study of the language; or for a certain number of weeks you take a language course while the school helps you find a job after your course. The first case is suitable for those countries that require a visa that allows studying and working up to a maximum of half a day at the same time and the second is only suitable for those countries in which people can move and settle freely, such as the case for any EU citizen within the EU.
Professional practices. If you want to improve your CV whilst learning the language in the native country, this is your best option. There are two categories: either you combine 20 hours a week of professional practices related to your studies and future profession organized by the school itself with the study of the language; or for a certain number of weeks you take a language course while the school helps you find an internship after your course. The first case is suitable for those countries that require a visa that allows studying and working up to a maximum of half a day at the same time and the second is only suitable for those countries in which people can move and settle freely, such as the case of any EU citizen within the EU. The internships may be paid or not. The school must inform you prior to making the reservation about what type of internship it can provide you with (paid or not) and in which sectors.
Volunteering. This concept is similar to an internship but you would do social volunteering instead.
Au-pair. Traditionally, this was originally thought of for girls, but every day there are more and more boys who also sign up to be an au-pair. You will live with a family that will offer you accommodation and support in exchange for a certain number of hours per week of dedication to the children of the house. The family should treat you like another member, give you enough free time so that you can attend language classes and they should also give you a small remuneration so that you have weekly pocket money to go to the movies or go out for drinks with friends for example. You must make the effort to integrate into the family as another member and collaborate with them in household chores, but you are not a household employee at the service of the family. This program runs the risk of a family not understanding the idea correctly. If this situation occurs, you must go to the school to mediate between you and the family to clarify the rights and obligations of each party.
SPECIALIZED LANGUAGE COURSES
In specialized language courses, you will learn the language in a more technical way so that you can grow better in your profession. You can learn a new language focused on various fields for example: medicine, engineering, legal, aviation, etc. This will help you learn the vocabulary and technical expressions that you will need to be able to be a professional outside of your own country. The objective of these courses is to help you improve a specific aspect of the language, such as public speaking, grammar, reading and comprehension, etc., which also fall into this category.