Spanish language course at TANDEM Escuela Internacional Madrid in Madrid

It is very impressive how well they organize everything at Tandem. Matthew Jones, Manchester Grammar School, 29.04.2009

As part of a school trip I spent 20 hours being taught some spine-tingling subjunctive, other pieces of articulate grammar and some extremely useful oral ideas at ‘La Escuela Tandem.’ On our immediate arrival we received folders outlining our housing and family information and we were picked up within moments by our family. The atmosphere in the car ride up to the school had been very eerie, but this was quashed on arrival due to the friendly and warm atmosphere of the people in the school and the magnificent school building itself. The families were all so welcoming in their own different ways. I was lucky enough to stay in some fantastic accommodation, only 10 minutes away from the school which was ideal.

In the mornings from 9.30am through to 1pm we were taught Spanish by two phenomenal teachers, Juan and Belen. They were so energetic and eager to get us involved and this shone through in some exquisite Spanish phrases we came up with, all of which were extremely useful to us for our exams. Also it was ideal to practice our listening skills and to communicate with a proper Spanish local. We studied themes such as family and relationships, media and popular culture. I can speak on behalf of my friends when I say it was without doubt extremely useful and enjoyable.

We saw all of the El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Picasso, and Miró displays in both the Prado Museum and the Reina Sofia and they were captivating and I speak on behalf of the school group when I say it was much more enjoyable than expected. What’s more, our guide Sonia certainly enjoyed talking about each of the pieces and this shone through as she threw massive amounts of information at us in such a small frame of time, which made the trip even more worthwhile! It was Sonia again who was our guide when we visited Toledo, the old capital of Spain, by the AVE high speed train. Toledo was picture-perfect and its beauty shone down with the beaming sun. There were hundreds of picturesque buildings, which dare I say would rival the architectural genius of Gaudi in Barcelona? The organization was superb and we all had a fantastic time.

Back in Tandem we also took part in a clown class with a Basque actor called ‘Axon’.  It was a big hit with all of the boys and all our throats were sore after having to scream and growl like a samurai warrior!

On behalf of The Manchester Grammar School I would like to extend our gratitude to ‘La Escuela Tandem’ for all their hard work and effort in designing a perfect package for each individual. I would thoroughly recommend it!’

If you want to feel like home, live an unforgettable experience and learn a lot, then Tandem is the right place for you. Sara Barbon, estudiante de traducción de la Universidad Ca’ Forscari de Venezia, ha realizado un curso de español y practicas en Tandem Madrid desde Agosto hasta Septiembre 2009

Soy una estudiante italiana de la Universidad de Traducción e Interpretación de Venecia y antes de terminar mi carrera quería hacer unas prácticas en el extranjero. Conocer diferentes culturas y enfrentarme a realidades culturales que desafían mis creencias y sentido común, ha sido desde siempre un gran incentivo para mi. Nada de esto lo podría haber hecho si no hubiera tenido el español como segundo idioma, y si no hubiese entendido que diferentes culturas pueden tener diferentes puntos de vista dependiendo de sus propias tradiciones y formas de ver la vida. Esta es la base de TANDEM Madrid: el objetivo de la escuela es abrir una ventana al mundo desde donde los estudiantes puedan experimentar otras culturas y desarrollar nuevas oportunidades personales y profesionales.  ¡Una aventura que nunca termina!

Conocí a las directoras de TANDEM en una conferencia en mi Universidad y me sorprendió su amabilidad y disponibilidad, pero lo más sorprendente fue descubrir que todo el equipo de la escuela es lo más simpático y sociable del mundo. Estuve en TANDEM un mes y medio trabajando en el área de Marketing y Gestión de Datos.

Mi trabajo consistía en traducir documentos del español y del inglés al italiano para la nueva página web de la escuela y también ayudé a crear un perfil de TANDEM en facebook, para promover las actividades culturales. Además trabajé en un programa de gestión de datos, creado para la escuela.

Para compensarme, la Coordenadora me ofreció asistir a un curso de español intensivo, lo que me permitió mejorar mi español y conocer a muchos estudiantes de otros países. Incluso la escuela organiza muchísimas actividades culturales por la tarde o por la noche, que permiten a los estudiantes comunicarse entre ellos, entrar en contacto con diferentes culturas y descubrir la ciudad de Madrid, que es una de las capitales de Europa más encantadoras, gracias a riqueza cultural, artística e histórica.

En fin recomiendo ir a TANDEM a todas las personas que quieren vivir una experiencia apasionante, sentirse como en su casa, trabajar en un ambiente multicultural y dinámico y conocer a mucha gente de todo el mundo.