Extra-curricular activities 2nd-6th April

Monday 2nd: 21.00: Prosession. We will go to see the beginning of the prosession that starts at la Iglesia de la Vera Cruz – name of prosession: Ilustre Cofradía de la Santa Cruz del Redentor y de la Purísima Concepción su Madre (Vera Cruz). Meeting place: Tía Tula  - Approximate duration: 1h

Tuesday 3rd, 21.00: Prosession. We will go to see the beginning of the prosession that starts at la Iglesia del Espíritu Santo (Clerecía)- name of prosession: Hermandad Universitaria del Santísimo Cristo de la Luz (Esteban de Ruedas. S XVII)  y Nuestra Señora Madre de la Sabiduría (Anónimo). Meeting place: Tía Tula - Approximate duration: 1h

Wednesday 4th, 18.00: Film. A brilliant opportunity to immerse yourself in Spanish cinema. Meeting place: Tía Tula.

Thursday 5th: Public holiday

Friday 6th: Public holiday

Remember to sign up for the activity at reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend our students to participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

Tía Tula´s Spanish teaching courses

One of the popular courses with Tía Tula, when referring to short specialised courses, is the Spanish teacher course. It is a course thought out for all, natives and non-natives, who want to dedicate themselves to teaching Spanish in a foreign country (or within Spain for foreigners). It´s also for people who are already teachers and wish to expand their training with a short course in a school with high quality Spanish in Salamanca, with the objective of finding new approaches to the techniques of teaching. 

The course is available in to ways:  in the school or through distance learning. In school students obviously take the course in Tia Tula, Salamanca and have fixed dates. In this time they also get to observe real classes and can even give a class themselves. The distance learning option is possible by the means of Skype. Students have tutorials with Tía Tula´s teachers, making them individual classes; this means there is more flexibility with the timetable and content which in turn helps people with no previous training as much as it can help more experimental people in search of new resources.   

For more information on the Spanish teacher training courses, please follow the link: www.spanishteachertraining.com

If you or anybody else is interested in the course, don´t hesitate to sign up, it´s a great course!

Extra-curricular activities 26th-30th March

Monday 26^th: 18.00: Afternoon snack. Cakes, sweets, milkshakes, teas…the variety that El Mandala offers us. Price: Your consumption. Meeting place: Tia Tula. Approximate duration: 1h

Tuesday 27^th, 19.15: Cinema.  “EL HOMBRE QUE MATÓ A LIBERTY

VALANCE”. John Ford (1962). Judicial cinema. In the theatre of Plaza de Santa Teresa. Price: 1€ Meeting point: Tía Tula – Approximate duration: 119 min

Wednesday 28^th, 19.00: Exhibition. “COLAPSO. UN ENSAYO SOBRE EL FRACASO

Y LA RUPTURA” “… el sueño era una caída, la vigilia, un encogimiento.” Albert Camus, La caída. Sala de exposiciones Hospedería de Fonseca Meeting point: Tía Tula Approximate duration: 1h

Thursday 29^th, 19.00: Foosball. We’re going to play foosball, let’s see who wins! Price: Your consumption + participation in each game (between 1-2 euros) Meeting point: Tía Tula - Approximate duration: 1h

Friday 30^th, 17.00: Film. A brilliant opportunity to immerse yourself in Spanish cinema. Meeting place: Tía Tula.

Remember to sign up for the activity at reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend our students to participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

Don´t forget to change your clocks this weekend!

This weekend, on Saturday night, we will change our clocks to adapt to the summer time. At 2 o´clock on Sunday morning, 25/03/2012, we will have to put our clocks forward by one hour so that it´s 3 o´clock. It´s one hour´s less sleep but it´s a well known reason that it´s a price we have to pay to better align our work schedules and sunlight and to save energy.

In this way the light will favor the spring solstice: the days will get longer (like they have been doing already but now it will appear more abrupt with the extra hour), it will go dark quite late and the nights will become shorter. We already know that with more light, people cheer up and are happier, right? This is what biochemistry says and it can be seen on the faces of people in the street and by their choice of clothes...

Don´t forget to change your clock because if you do, you´ll arrive late to class!

Extra-curricular activities 19th - 23rd March.

Monday 19^th:  Public holiday: Father’s day

Tuesday 20^th, 19.45: Cinema. EL CORONEL NO TIENE QUIEN LE ESCRIBA by Arturo Ripstein (1999) about the novel of Gabriel García Márquez “Literature and Spanish cinema: one language, two languages” - In the teatro Liceo. Price: 1,20 € Meeting point: Tía Tula – Approximate duration: 1h30

Wednesday 21^st, 16.00: Horse trekking. The trek will take place in an equestrian centre situated in the Charro countryside. Price: 25 euros (includes horse trek for 2 hours + transport there and back) Minimum number of students: 4 Meeting place: Tía Tula – duration 3 hours

Thursday 22^nd, 19.00: Exhibition. KATI HORNA (1912-2012) Photographs of the Spanish civil war (1937-1938). Meeting point: Tía Tula - Approximate duration: 1h in the Sala de exposiciones Patio de Escuelas

Friday 23^rd, 20.45: Titzina Teatre – Exitus (in the theatre Juan del Enzina) Multiple personajes and scenes that happen in a dynamic, poetic way in the style of a tragic comedy by Diego Lorca y Pako Merino. Price: 10 euros. Meeting place: Tia Tula Approximate duration: 1h30

You must sign up before Wednesday at 14.00 if you’re interested in the activity.

Remember to sign up for the activity at reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend our students to participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

Tía Tula, accredited school by the Instituto Cervantes

It´s been great news for Tía Tula this year, the fact that it has been accredited by theInstituto Cervantes, one of the highest acknowledgements of quality Spanish teaching a school can have. It´s not that Tía Tula has converted into a better school with this accreditation but after an exhaustive process of evaluation from the Instituto Cervantes, it has recognised and guaranteed that the teaching of Spanish for foreigners and the related services carried out by Tía Tula are of the highest quality and therefore have integrated it into it´s network of associated centres.

What exactly does it mean to be an associated centre of the Instituto Cervantes and to be in it´s associated network of centres? It means that the Instituto Cervantesguarantees that the centre meets the quality requirements of Spanish teaching, in other words: legal requirements to carry out Spanish teaching, a team of qualified teachers with adequate training, a teaching plan that guarantees adequate progression, a maximum number of students per class and last but not least, truthful advertising when it comes to offers. The Instituto Cervantes defines the parameters that define the accomplishment of these conditions and undergoes, with the rest of the integrated network of centres, periodical revisions to check and validate these parameters. The final result is that the accredited centres have a supervised program of continual improvement which in turn means the continual improvement of it´s courses and it´s teaching.   

On the certificates that it issues to its students at the end of the course, Tía Tula includes the fact that it is part of the network of associated centres of the Instituto Cervantes. This gives added value to the certificates, given that the stamp of quality from the Instituto Cervantes is recognised world wide. 

We would like to congratulate everybody in Tía Tula, the staff, teachers and students as well. It´s a good time to congratulate everyone in the school for their day to day contribution to the school. It has been endearing and enriching experience for all... Thank you!    

Extracurricular activities 12th March– 16th March.

Monday 12th, 18.00: : Film. The cave of Salamanca. We will go to the old cave of Salamanca where you will discover the legend of the cave. Meeting place: Tía Tula. Approximate duration: 1 hour.

Tuesday 13th, 19.45: Cinema. EL PERRO DEL HORTELANO de Pilar Miró (1995) about the work of Félix Lope de Vega “Literature and Spanish cinema: one language, two languages” - In the teatro Liceo. Price: 1,20 € Meeting point: Tía Tula – Approximate duration: 1h47

Wednesday 14th, 18.00: Film. A brilliant opportunity to immerse yourself in Spanish cinema. Meeting place: Tía Tula.

Thursday 15th, 19.00: Pool/snooker. We will go to a cafe where we can play pool/snooker and compete to see who the best is.  Meeting point: Tía Tula - Approximate duration: 1h30 Price: your consumption + participation of the games (+ - 1€)

Friday16th, 20.00: City centre tapas tour. Accompanied by someone from the school, we will try different tapas in some bars in the centre. Meeting place: Tía Tula. Approximate duration: 1h30. Price: +- 6€.

Remember to sign up for the activity at reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend our students to participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

DELE exams 2012

Next month, as usual around these dates, the DELE preparation courses start in Tía Tula. For those who don´t know it, these are the exams that the Instituto Cervantes, the most recognised and prestigious international institute in the world in terms of the teaching and diffusion of Spanish provides as necessary evidence to grant certificates in Spanish (which are also well known and prestigious). Here in this blog we give you some information from past articles on the topic:

- DELE exam - Presentation and description (by level) of the exam.

- Mock DELEexams – A list of past DELE exams: one for each level, you can download them one by one. There tests were obtained from the Instituto Cervantes (DELE section) but have been refined in presentation for ease of use.

The exam calendar that the instituto Cervantes has published for this year is as follows:

- May 2012: Exam levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. Exam days: 25^th and 26^th May. Deadline for registration: various, depending on each country (for more information see the Instituto cervantes website).  

- August 2012: Exam levels B1, B2 and C1. Exam day: 24^th August. Deadline for registration: from the 2^nd - 27^th July inclusive.

- November 2012: Exam levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. Exam days: 9^th and 10^th November. Deadline for registration: 3^rd- 5^th October inclusive. 

All additional information can be found on the Instituto Cervantes website which is dedicated to DELE exams and certificates (that has been recently improved).

Tía Tula, from the very start, offers preparation courses for these exams. They are specific courses that improve the idiomatic skills of the student when faced with passing these exams, which in turn increases considerably the students’ probability of passing. If you´re interested in the DELE exam preparationcourses, you can find out more (about content, dates, etc.) from Tía Tula´s own website.

Flashmob Salamanca: Erasmus students jumping around like frogs

No chance anyone could have missed the massive crowd in Salamanca, this weekend the city of Salamanca was absolutely packed with people and activities. At the left of Plaza Mayor young musicians were playing their violins. A bit further at the right, acrobats were juggling their diabolos sky-high – without any problem. And in the middle of Plaza Mayor: huge 'frogs' happily jumping around. Hundreds of students were dressed like frogs, some even with green painted faces and green fluffy costumes. Although Plaza Mayor and Salamanca are well known for crowded evenings and students, this weekend was not like any other.

Erasmusstudents from other Spanish cities during the flashmob at Plaza Mayor. Source: http://www.elnortedecastilla.es/multimedia/fotos/castilla-leon/94324-flashmob-erasmus-salamanca-6.html

For the first time, Salamanca was the proud host of the National Erasmus Student event. ESN is an international student organization that caters the well-known Erasmus exchange students in Spain. And after almost a year of preparation, Salamanca could show its beauty and grandeur to Erasmus students that are currently residing in other Spanish cities. More than 1200 students were attracted by this and could be seen at every corner of the city, participating in a range of games and activities. Obviously, the so-called ‘frog-act’ had everything to do with it as the famous frog is the symbol of Salamanca. The myth goes that only the ones who can find the tiny frog (hidden in the huge façade of Salamanca’s university building) will be blessed with a prosperous life and excellent study results. No wonder why people stare at the façade every day and why the frog is one of the best sold souvenirs of Salamanca. The frog jumping was a so-called flash mob. A flash mob, mostly organized through the means of social media, usually takes place in a big public place where a group of people come together and suddenly start dancing. After a couple of minutes, the group falls apart again and life goes on as nothing ever happened. Plaza Mayor turned out to be an excellent location for the frog jumping act of hundreds of students. Check out the small ESN video below to get an idea of the bustling life in Salamanca! So where are you waiting for? Come over!

Extracurricular activities 5 March – 9th March.

Monday 5^th March, 18.00: Chocolate with Churros. We’re going to try chocolate with churros in the café, El Valor. Meeting place: Tía Tula. Approximate duration: 1-hour   Price 4-5 euros.

Tuesday 6th, 19.45: Cinema. EL AIRE DE UN CRIMEN by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi. About the novel of Juan Benet (1988) “Literature and Spanish cinema: one language, two languages”-in the Liceo theatre.

Price: 1,20 € Meeting place: Tía Tula – Approximate duration: 1h45

Wednesday 7th, 19.00: Cooking class. You´re going to learn how to cook paella and then you can eat it. Price: 7 € Meeting point: Tía Tula - Approximate duration: 1h

Thursday 8th, 19.00: Exhibition.  “LA MEMORIA DEL TIEMPO. FOTOGRAFÍA Y SOCIEDAD EN CASTILLA Y LEÓN, 1839-193” Sala de exposiciones de la Plaza San Boal Meeting point: Tía Tula  - Approximate duration: 1h

Friday 9th, 16.30: Film. A brilliant opportunity to immerse yourself in Spanish cinema. Meeting place: Tía Tula.

Remember to sign up for the activity at reception beforehand (the minimum number of people needed for each activity is 3). If the cost is not stated then the activity is free. We recommend our students to participate in the activities so they can get to know other students in the school, so they can broaden their knowledge of Spanish culture and to practice and improve their Spanish in a fun way.

A trip to La Alberca, La Peña de Francia and the bull farm.

Last week Tía Tula visited the beautiful town of La Alberca and the bull farm and we were accompanied by the lovely group from Qatar. 

We were lucky as the sun was shining and it was really warm! This meant we could eat our lunch in the main square of La Alberca. 

After lunch we headed to La Peña de Francia where we saw the amazing views from El Paso de los Lobos. If you haven´t been, it’s definitely worth a visit!

Finally we went to the bull farm which was my personal favorite. The whole group was taken into the middle of a field of bulls on a trailer where Antonio, the owner, explained some very interesting things about the bulls. He explained that bulls have to be kept in a very large area so that they don´t turn on each other because when they are in enclosed spaces, this is when they attack. He also explained that it´s unlikely the bull will attack you when they are in the large area because they prefer to flee but there are two exceptions: when they are injured or with calves, in these cases they are likely to attack.

After the tour of the bulls, it was the groups turn to run away! Only those who were brave enough dared to enter the bull ring, where a calf chased them around. It sounds innocent but the calf ran fast and I’m sure it wouldn´t have tickled the students should it have caught up with them.

After a very exciting 20 minutes, Antonio let us ride his horse. I was very proud of the group because they all hopped on one by one without any fear and enjoyed the experience. 

It was an amazing day and a day I will never forget. I just wanted to say that I hope the group had a safe trip home. We all miss you at Tía Tula and we hope you can come back at some point in the future.