Spanish Classes: General Information
Spanish Classes + FREE tutoring
All enrolled students are entitlted to FREE tutoring in addition to paid classes. Contact us for details.
Additional important information below:
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Esperamos que muy bien.
Bienvenidos a nuestra escuela de español.
Hello! How are you? We hope that very well. Welcome to our Spanish school.
Below we have a summary of the main points covered in this page. We do not want to overwhelm you with information, so we have summarized the info. If you have any addtional questions or comments, please contact us directly at (773) 665-9887 or via email. Click on the title that you would like to read:
- What sets SpanishLC apart from other Spanish schools in the area?
-
FAQ (opens new page)
.
Our Pledge to You
We are all about helping our students attain, recover and/or improve their Spanish proficiency. In accordance with your level, we will offer you a class that effectively combines a successful methodology with a well prepared, knowledgeable and patient instructor or tutor - with the experience required by your level and needs. Our mission is to offer you a wonderful and enjoyable experience as you reach your goal of learning and constantly improving your Spanish.
Our Class Methodology and Material
We pride ourselves of offering a well thought and elaborated method and/or methodology for every level. Thanks to our experience of almost 10 years, we know what our students want an need within each different different level. We offer our own copywritten material for Intro 1 and 2, and then we work with Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses and Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions for all Beginner and Intermediate levels. We also complement Intermedaite, Advanced and Conversational classes with 501 Verb Tenses and The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice.
What is my Current Spanish Level?
The first step toward studying Spanish with us is determining your level. Unless you already know what your level is, you will need to determine it before registering for a group class. Are you an Intro level? Or maybe Beginner? How about Intermediate? or Advanced? Hmmm! If you are interested in private instruction (no level assessment is required because the class is one-on-one) you can move on to register by clicking here.
Am I an Intro Level Student?
You belong to this level if you know nothing, or if you do know something but can't really say much. If you know a few words here, and phrases there, but can't really structure anything. Then you belong here. Can you say any of the following in Spanish?
- What are you going to do on Friday?
- My parents want to visit this weekend.
- Maria's friend has to work tonight.
- I'm studying Spanish because I want to be able to speak with my friends.
If not, you probably do belong in the intro level. We will be happy to help you determine your level if you send us an email right now. We will do a quick and fun assessment over the phone at no charge for you of course. However, if you do know this is your level, you can move on to the next step right now and register for your Intro 1 level Spanish group class by clicking here.
Maybe I am a Beginner level
¡Claro que sí! (Of course)... provided that you understand the basic actions in Spanish which include "to like to do", "to have done" and "to be doing". You are also a beginner if you can say the following in Spanish:
- I am going to call you tomorrow.
- Maria hasn't called me today.
- My friends and I like to go out on the weekends.
- I am studying Spanish because I want to be able to speak to them.
In our beginner level we will go into details of present, past and future conjugations. All this as we get a taste of the subjunctive from time to time. Beginner level classes are divided into 4 sublevels (Beg 1, Beg 2, Beg 3 and Beg 4).
Please be aware that having Hispanic heritage, or having taken a Spanish class here or there, or having travelled to Spanish-speaking countries, but being able to say close-to-nada does not qualify you as a Beginner rather than Intro. We will be happy to assess your level. If this is you, please shoot us an email right now. Please click here and title your request "I need an assessment for Beg level" and include a brief description of your experience/background with español. You can also call us at (773) 665-9887.
I know I am an Intermediate Level
Well, if that is the case, your main struggle with the Spanish language is problably the subjunctive. Because that is what we cover in our intermediate level. Our intermediate level students have studied a lot of Spanish (in our school you would have gone through Intro 1, Intro 2, Beg 1, Beg2, Beg 3 and Beg 4; close to a year and a half of classes). We do cover other tenses as a review in this level, and do focus on conversation, but then again "all our roads will lead to the subjunctive". We also offer conversational intermediate level classes if you want a stronger weight on the conversation rather than the grammar.
If you are not sure if this is you, you may contact us and we will help you determine this. Please click here and title your request "I need an assessment for Intermediate level" and include a brief description of your experience/background with español. You can also call us at (773) 665-9887.
Mi nivel es avanzado
Si puedes entender esto y has estudiado español por muchos años, pues probablemente tu nivel sea avanzado. Para este nivel es importante poder hablar con cierta fluidez y tener conocimiento de todos los tiempos (presente, pasado, futuro, subjuntivo, etc). Para este nivel tenemos clases de conversación conducidas por instructores capacitados para ayudar con el vocabulario, los tiempos (tenses), estructuras correctas y especialmente para mantener la conversación fluida. Esta clase ayuda a obtener confianza, mejorar pronunciación y entendimiento, y sobretodo pasarla bien mientras aprendemos.
NOTE: If you couldn't understand the above paragraph... we are sorry to have to break the news... but you are not advanced. No worries, we still have a classs for you . Just contact us by clicking here.
Si no estás seguro/a si este es tu nivel, por favor contáctanos y nosotros te haremos una evaluación inmediatamente. Please click here and title your request "I need an assessment for Advanced level" and include a brief description of your experience/background with español. You can also call us at (773) 665-9887.
I Want Private Instruction
No assessment is required for private instruction. Your instructor just needs a brief explanation of your Spanish language experience/background and a brief "why are you studying Spanish". This can be done on your first day of class, however we ill commonly get this information before in order to provide the material requirements. Actuallly, you can schedule and get started with your private classes right now if you click here. However, if you have any questions about it you may visit the other links in this website related or just send us an email by clicking here (please title it "I need info about private classes" and provide some info about where you would like these classes to take place and your preferred days, times, and a tentative starting date).
Our Tuition: Is it the Cheapest?
Luckily for you, we do not pride ourselves as the cheapest Spanish school. Having said this, we do have to clarify that our students consider our rates to be very reasonable.
When we say “luckily for you,” we mean it because our main interest is not to offer the cheapest rate, but to offer you the highest quality of education possible. We are about teaching Spanish and we strive very hard to offer the best instruction possible – always at a reasonable and affordable rate for you.
So, we are not the cheapest… but we are happy to say that we try to offer top customer service and most importantly, we truly strive to offer the best Spanish language instruction possible.
Our Teachers
"Our teachers are the best!" At least that is what most of our students say. Like mentioned somewhere above, our school “strives to offer the highest quality of Spanish instruction” and that is why our director (Juan G. Cortez) personally interviews and tests every propspect who wants to teach for our school. All new instructors have to undergo many hours of training before ever giving their first class – this in order to enrich their previous experiences. Once our teachers are working with us, our guidelines require that all current teachers attend training in order to make sure that the excellence of their instruction is always kept fresh and at its highest level possible.. The Spanish language and its grammar hold many intricacies that teachers need to be able to explain clearly in order to fully satisfy our students' need to know “¿Por qué?”
Our Administration: Always ready, willing and happy to help
Our office people are devoted to making your experience with us a great one from day one. We will help you register for a class, or schedule a private one, help you be assessed, reschedule (when an emergency arises), re-enroll to continue with your classes (we have lots of this), or just answer any question that you may have about our school and classes.
Online Web Page for EVERY class and student
Once a student is registered for class, we will set up a virtual page for his/her class. The student will be provided with a username and password and have access to a page where messages may be posted back and forth between the administration, the class instructor and the students. Any class materials that a class may require for extended practice can also be posted.
What Types of Classes are Available
We offer a wide range of different option of classes for our students. Classes can all either take place at our site or onsite.
- Group classes. You can join 2 or 3 other individuals at your same level (intro, beginner, intermediate, or advanced). You may register for this class by clicking here.
- Private classes. You can have a classs by yourself. This class will advance at your pace and scheduling is flexible to your preferred day and time. You may register for this class by clicking here.
- Semi-private classes. If you wan to have a Spanish class only with your friends and or relatives, you can set up a semi-private. The minimum number of students required for this class is 2, and there is no maximum. If you are ready to schedule a semi-private do so by clicking here.
- Intensive Weekend. Some students refer to these classes as immersion classes. We offer the opportunity of fully immersing our students in Spanish without having to leave the country. We meet on "sábado" and "domingo" on the weekend for a full experience of Spanish. If you feel you are ready for thise class, you may register for one by clicking here.
- Corporate Training. If you want to have a class at work for your staff or co-workers, we have a special program an rate for this type of class. Please contact us by clicking here, title your request as "I am interetested in corporate classes", tell us how many people would be in this class, where the classes would be held, give as a tentative day and time and starting date if available. We will then call you to confrm the class information and provide a quote.
- Spanish for Travelers. If you are planning a trip and would like to register alone or a group you my do so by clicking here.
What sets SpanishLC apart from the other Spanish schools in Chicago ?
Maybe this testimonial posted in www.citysearch.com recently by one of our students can help answer this question:
Spanish Language Center Uses a Technique That Works! 06/06/2008 Posted by mleemann in Citysearch.com"What can I say to convince everyone who is interested in taking Spanish lessons to go to the Spanish Language Center ? It's by far the best school I have gone to, and I've tried a number of different schools. The teachers are excellent and know how to teach Spanish where it makes sense. They even have instructors from different dialects that you can request such as teachers from Mexico , Spain , or Peru (or other). They use a logical sequence in their teaching style and put it all together for the student. The material they use goes in order like learning the basics and then covering each tense; in addition, they add in special explanations on what to watch out for when learning Spanish. I have so many light bulbs going off in my head after every class I take there. I have been studying with them for five months now, and I can actually speak in Spanish. They use a truly amazing technique that works! As an adult learner, you need to know how Spanish relates to English. You also need a teacher that is both a native speaker and who knows how to speak English. At one other school I tried, the Spanish instructor did not know one single word of English so if we had a question on how Spanish relates to English, the teacher couldn't tell us. The whole class was very disappointed in that school's teaching style. You won't find this at the Spanish Language Center . They go above and beyond to give you top-notch instruction in an orderly fashion. It's a great school and money well spent if you want to learn Spanish. I'm so happy I found them. You will not have to continue wasting money on programs that don't work like I have done. One last thing, at the Lakeview location, they have a parking lot that is only .25 every half hour...another plus."