Description of La Serena School

La Serena School is a language school which teaches the Spanish language and its culture to foreigners.

Our courses are designed by the school’s team of experienced teachers to suit the personal needs of each student. Our teachers are concerned about the learning process of each one of our students and take great trouble to ensure that it is as successful as possible.

Most students ask for one to one courses to ensure the best results in the shortest time. Couples, families and small groups (up to 5 students) are welcome too.

History of the School

In 1978 Mónica Figari founded the school in Caracas, Venezuela, under the name of Profesoras Asociadas. In 1995 she extended its activities to Chile where she currently heads a team of experienced native-speaker teachers.

Personalized Course Design

The design of the course takes into consideration a range of factors centered on the student’s needs and experience.

- previous knowledge of Spanish

- personal learning style

- specific needs for the language e.g. written Spanish for report writing, formal spoken Spanish for company presentations, informal, social Spanish, ..

We offer six different standard intensive and semi-intensive courses but also gradual courses for La Serena area residents.

Super-intensive (50 45-minute units a week, 10 units a day)

Intensive 8 (40 units a week, 8 units a day )

Intensive 6 (60 units in two weeks, 6 units a day)

Intensive 5 (50 units in two weeks, 5 units a day)

Semi-intensive 4 (80 units in four weeks, 4 units a day)

Semi-intensive 3 (60 units in four weeks, 3 units a day)

La Serena

Location

The historic city of La Serena is some 460km north of Santiago in Chile. La Serena School is located in the old city center, just one block away from the Plaza de Armas which forms the heart of the city.

The city was founded in the XVIth century by the Spanish conqueror, Francisco de Aguirre, and is now one of the most important cities in the north of Chile.

The IVth Region of Chile, of which La Serena is the capital, is famous for its exceptionally clear and pure blue skies considered among the best in the world for carrying out astronomical obsevation.

Due to the highly personalized nature of our courses, the duration, daily schedule and number of hours per day or week can be modified to suit the particular needs of each student. The students can take short courses especially designed to meet their requirements.

Our system covers seven levels from basic survival-level Spanish to near-native proficiency. Emphasis is given to the acquisition of all four language skills, that is: listening, speaking, reading and writing. These skills are built up over a solid grammatical and linguistic base where structures are constantly reinforced.

In 2003, La Serena School added a interactive laboratory where our students practice for short periods of 45 minutes with an exclusive software designed specifically for the school. As a result of this experience, our students of all levels assimilate faster the structures of the Spanish language.

Full Immersion Package

A perfect complement to the immersion course is to live with a Chilean family. The Full Immersion Package comprising tuition and accommodation in one of these homes provides the student with full exposure to the language and Chilean culture.