Do you speak
Spanish?

Did you know Spanish is spoken by 400 million people in the world and that it is the 3rd most spoken language after Chinese and English? If you have realized Spanish is vital for your future success, you are in the correct website!

With considerable experience in this field, AV Tuition provides you Spanish training. You can design the course that suites you best – anything from 3 hours per week to an intensive daily course.

Our School

Our school is located in one of Buenos Aires premiere neighborhoods, Las Cañitas providing an ideal setting:
• Quiet tree-lined neighborhood close to many restaurants, bars, and cafes.
• Far enough from down town to have limited noise and pollution.
• Very upper-middle class neighborhood safe at all hours.
• One block away from main bus lines and very near the subway and train station.
• Students living down town have an easy 15-20 minute subway ride against rush hour traffic.

Material Used

We use the most updated material (course books, videos, CD ROMs, flashcards, and more), not only from the River Plate area, but also from Spain, stressing reading and listening comprehension, writing and speaking, and our culture.

Our Courses

Our courses are tailor-made, considering the specific needs of our students as regards timing, specific purposes, skills to be developed, etc. Group classes (max 5) and one-to-one instruction are available year-round.
Student may have lessons on Saturday and Sunday if requested. Extra private classes can be accommodated on demand covering whatever area the student needs.
All coffee breaks are included.

Our Teachers

All teachers are university-educated and specially trained in Spanish as a Foreign Language with a large experience in this field.

Accommodation

Accommodation can be made available to students who require it, either at apartments, hostels very near our school and in the in fashion neighborhood of Palermo Hollywood and hotels.

I look forward to your visit!
Sincerely,

Ana M. Vellegal
Headmistress
Master in Spanish as a Foreign Language
Universidad Antonio de Nebrija - Madrid.

Spanish as a Foreign Language

With considerable experience in this field, provides teaching lessons at your office, home or at or at our training suites. You can design the course that suits you best – anything from 3 hours per week to an intensive course of daily lessons.

We use the most updated material (course books, videos, CD ROMs, flashcards, to mention but a few), not only from the River Plate area but also from Spain, taking into consideration not only the language in its formal aspects (reading and listening comprehension, writing and speaking) but also the culture .

Our courses are tailor-made, considering the specific needs of our students as regards timing, specific purposes, skills to be developed, etc. Our teachers are highly experienced and specially trained in Spanish as a Foreign Language.

Below is a sample of what organizes for a 2 week course when you are a foreign student visiting Buenos Aires and can include weekend visits to other places in Argentina, in the event you would like to receive an intensive course.

The ALTE Framework

In developing a framework of levels for the comparison of language tests, ALTE members have drawn heavily on the work of the Council of Europe and, in recent years, ALTE as an association has been able to make its own contributions to a number of Council of Europe projects including the development of Vantage Level and work on the Common European Framework of Reference for Language Learning and Teaching.

Specifications of Objectives: Waystage and Threshold

The ALTE Framework comprises six main levels. A2 and B1have been defined respectively as Waystage User and Threshold User, terms taken from the work of the Council of Europe. In 1971 the Council recognised the importance of dividing the task of learning a language into smaller units, each of which could be credited separately, and also the necessity of basing curricula on learners needs rather than on language structures, as had previously been common practice. One of the major outcomes of this work is the Threshold level specification (van Ek, 1975) which proposed a model for the description of language ability based on the principle that language teaching should provide learners with the means of meeting their personal communicative needs. A lower level specification was also produced, under the name Waystage level.
The ALTE Framework of Language Examinations is shown in table form below. All six ALTE levels are characterised in the summaries following the table and for Levels A2 and B1 reference is made to Waystage and Threshold. In general, the brief descriptions are divided into what the candidates can do receptively and what they can do in terms of production and interaction.

The Can-do statements

There are placed 6 levels (Breakthrough, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). The levels are described by a series of Can-do statements, which:
• define levels of ability in terms of what language users can typically do at each level of the ALTE Framework
• make it easier for users to understand what each level means in relation to what language users actually do.
The Can-do system comprises approximately 400 statements, sub-divided into 40 categories, which describe what typical language users can do:
• in a particular language
• at a particular level
• in one of the skill areas (Listening/Speaking, Writing, Reading).

The Can-do statements exist in 13 languages:

The statements were developed through a rigorous process involving leading experts on language assessment and applied linguistics.
Data was collected from 10,000 language learners throughout Europe.
Research has taken place showing the relationship of the ALTE levels to the Common European Framework.

The four Can-do statement tables in this section illustrate:

1. Typical general ability at each level and in the skill areas (Overall general ability)
2. Typical ability in the Social & Tourist context at each level and in the skill areas (ALTE Social & Tourist typical abilities)
3. Typical ability in the Work context at each level and in the skill areas (ALTE Work typical abilities)
4. Typical ability in the Study context at each level and in the skill areas (ALTE Study typical abilities).

Overall general ability:

The table below illustrates typical general ability at each level and in the skill areas.

ALTE Work typical abilities

The table below illustrates typical ability in the work context at each level and in the skill areas.
Click on the other ability statements to the left to view other tables.

ALTE Study typical abilities

The table below illustrates typical ability in the study context and at each level and in the skill areas.
Click on the other ability statements to the left to view other tables.

ALTE Social and Tourist typical abilities

http://www.alte.org/

Greetings, questions and personal data, origin. Nationalities. Vocabulary about professions. Food and beverage vocabulary. Ordering a meal. Numbers: cardinals and ordinals. Present Indicative Tense. Three paradigms: -ar, -er, -ir. All persons. Basic vocabulary about the family.

Basic vocabulary to ask information in the street. Directions. Thanking. Requests formal and informal. Difference between, Hay, Está y Están. Definite and indefinite articles. Vocabulary about the life in the city and the country. Comparisons. MEJOR and PEOR. Present Indicative of verb IR and SEGUIR. Prepositions with verbs of movement. Prepositions A and EN with means of transport.

Basic vocabulary about fruits and vegetables. Ask for prices and pay. Characteristics of the products. Deictic adjectives and pronouns. Talk about quantities, weighs and measures. Verb GUSTAR. Direct objects. Intensifiers. Express likes and dislikes, express opinions , paradigm of verb PREFERIR. Agreement between noun and adjectives. Direct object pronoun.

Speak about habitual actions. The time. Identify parts of the day and its activities. Frequency . The days of the week and months of the year. Reflexive verbs. ESTAR + gerund. IR A + infinitive with future value. QUERER + infinitive. Temporal markers like DENTRO DE.

Express agreement and disagreement. Justify and give an opinion. Show surprise, happiness and sadness. Paradigm of the Past Perfect with temporal markers . YA / TODAVIA NO. Reflexives with the Past Perfect. Past Perfect of verbs IR, TENER, HACER. Difference between Past Perfect and Past Indefinite with temporal markers. HACE.

NOTE: This is a brief outline of the syllabus that is completed with exercises, audio cassettes, and cultural facts.

Learn about Argentina:

www.sectur.gov.ar