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1. INSTITUTO CERVANTES
What is it?
The Instituto Cervantes is a public institution founded by the Spanish Govermnent in 1991 to promote Spanish language teaching and knowledge of the cultures of Spanish speaking countries throughout the world. It is now the largest worldwide Spanish teaching organisation.
The Instituto Cervantes is a non profit-making organisation.
Where is it?The central headquarters are in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.
There are now branches of the Instituto Cervantes in four continents.
What does it do?
It teaches Spanish at all levels by providing general and specialised courses.
It arranges examinations for the Official Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (D.E.L.E.).
- It updates the methods of teaching and teacher training and encourages work by researchers and hispanists in general.
It organises cultural activities in collaboration with other Spanish organisations, as well as with institutions and bodies in the host countries: conferences, musical events, exhibitions, cinema, theatre and other activities.
It has modern libraries equipped with state-of-the-art technology which provide access to all sorts of information concerning Spanish and Latin American cultures.
How does it work?The work of the Instituto Cervantes is overseen by a Board of Trustees whose Honorary President is H.M. the King of Spain. The Spanish Prime Minister is the Executive Chairman.
The Board of Trustees also includes eminent representatives of Spanish and Latin-American literature and culture, such as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Camilo José Cela, the Cervantes Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, the Spanish actor Fernando Fernán-Gómez and in addition, representatives of Universities, Royal Academies and other social and cultural institutions.
More than 400 people work for the Instituto Cervantes, 60% of whom are teachers.
2. SPANISH COURSESThe language taught
Spanish is taught at the Instituto Cervantes with due respect for the educated varieties of the language throughout the Spanish speaking world. The Instituto Cervantes teaches a universal Spanish which enables the student to communicate at all levels and in different situations.
General coursesThe programme at the Instituto Cervantes offers a wide variety of courses. The average length is sixty hours, organised in three, four, six or twelve-month periods, or in intensive courses.
The content, methodology and assessment methods are informed by the latest research on modern language teaching. Recommendations by competent internacional agencies are also taken into account.
The centres of the Instituto Cervantes use the most advanced audiovisual and computer resources to support their teaching activities.
The teaching programme is structured in four levels of increasing difficulty. At the end of each level a certificate of adequacy is obtained by those students who have passed the appropriate tests.
Beginners' level
Students learn to express opinions, physical sensations, feelings and needs in a simple way, and to read brief letters and texts related to daily life.Intermediate level
Students reach conversational skills on familiar matters, at a normal rate, and will be able to read general and simple literary texts.- Advanced level
Students learn to provide detailed information on general matters, to express themselves fluently, to write long texts, and to appreciate humour, irony and wit in written texts.
- Higher level
Students will be able to debate points of view, provide arguments and learn to write using idioms, expressions and other stylistic resources which allow a creative use of the language. They will find no difficulty in reading literature by contemporary Spanish and Latin American authors.
Special coursesThe Instituto Cervantes also provides studies which complement the general language courses
Courses to improve writing, reading, comprehension, etc.
Specific purpose courses: Spanish for business, scientific Spanish and preparation for the official Spanish Diplomas.
Courses in culture and civilisation: literature, art, music, cinema, etc.
The Instituto Cervantes also organises courses designed specifically for companies and institutions.
Teaching staffAll the teachers at the Instituto Cervantes are specialists in teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and have been trained in the most up-to-date teaching methods.
4. CERTIFICATES AND DIPLOMASIn addition to the four Level Certificates, the Instituto Cervantes organises the examinations set up by the University of Salamanca for Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (D.E.L.E.). These are the official qualifications of the Spanish
Ministry of Education and Science. There are three types of D.E.L.E.:
First Certificate in Spanish: certifies linguistic competence to deal with situations at an elementary level of communication
Basic Spanish Diploma: certifies linguistic competence to deal with current situations in daily life.
Advanced Spanish Diploma: certifies linguistic competence to deal with situations requiring advanced use of the Spanish language and knowledge of Spanish culture.
The examinations are held twice a year, in May and November.
5. CULTURAL ACTIVITIESThe Instituto Cervantes promotes knowledge of the fine arts, music, thought, literature, cinema and the performing arts of all Spanish speaking countries. Its centres are also open to the cultural activities of the host countries.
The Instituto Cervantes organises some 2,000 cultural activities during the academic year:
- Exffibitions.
- Literary debates and book presentations, attended by well known authors.
- Film and video viewing.
- Concerts.
- Plays.
- Seminars and conferences on contemporary topics.
6. LIBRARIESThe Instituto Cervantes libraries offer specialised information and documentation on the Spanish and Latin American language and culture. They also house teaching resource centres to support Spanish language teaching activities.
Plublications are provided in all kinds of systems and media: books, magazines, videos, audio tapes, compact disks, optic disks, magnetic disks and microforms.
The collection, of more than 500,000 volumes, is organised in the following sections:
- Spanish and Latin American classical literature.
- Works on history, art, economics, contemporary polities and social affairs.
- Encyclopedias, dictionaries, guide books, bibliographies and general reference works.
- Methods, manuals and teaching resources for Spanish.
- Works in Catalan, Galician and Basque.
- Translations from Spanish authors and works on Spanish speaking communities, published in the language of the host country.
- Newspapers, weekly bulletins and specialised magazines.
- Films, video and music.
The libraries are open to the public and deal with queries on Spain and Latin America, whether received directly, or by mail, telephone or fax.
The internacional lending library service provides originals and reproductions not easily available in other places and gives access as well to the holdings of the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
7. RESEARCH PROMOTIONThe Instituto Cervantes organises National and International Congresses on the Spanish Language, attended by the most prestigious linguists and hispanists worldwide.
It collaborates in research on new materials and teaching methods related to the Spanish Language: interactive video-disk "La lengua española", radio programmes, self-study materials and teacher support.
It paticipates in European teaching programmes, teacher training and linguistic engineering, namely Socrates-Lingua, EAGLES.
It coordinates research and other projects in the field of Spanish teaching for specific purposes, such a Spanish for business or Spanish for children.