Learn to speak Spanish like a native ..........!!

Type of Programme
One-to-one, personalised Spanish language tuition living full-board with the tutor's own family and in the tutor's own home, including local visits and excursions, meeting friends, neighbours and professional colleagues etc.

Type of House: Large Town House

Teaching Qualifications and Experience
Bachelor of Arts with honours in Spanish and Linguistics. Southampton University, July1992. City & Guilds Further and Adult Education Teaching Certificate. Technical College, Southampton, March 1995. Experienced Spanish teacher who has worked in England, Japan, and Latin America.

Hobbies and Interests
Hiking and cycling around our gorgeous countryside and in the unique natural park of Bardenas Reales. Other activities include sightseeing in the historical towns of Olite, Pamplona, Tudela, Tarazona. Also, visits to traditional town markets, wine bodegas, and, in the summer especially, joining the patron saint festivals of the neighbouring towns.

Excursions and Local Attractions
Hiking and cycling around our gorgeous countryside and in the unique natural park of Bardenas Reales. Other activities include sightseeing in the historical towns of Olite, Pamplona, Tudela, Tarazona. Also, visits to traditional town markets, wine bodegas, and, in the summer especially, joining the patron saint festivals of the neighbouring towns.

Accommodation, Facilities and Local Area
The house is located in the small town of Cintruenigo, in Southern Navarra in the area where Castillian Spanish was born 500 years ago, a place where Latin, Basque, Arabic, Hebrew, Navarrese, Aragonese and other not-very-well-documented languages were commonly spoken and eventually blended to form Castillian as we now know it. Our town is equipped with a sports centre, an indoor swimming pool, two outdoor swimming pools, a small library, a good health centre, travel agents and other services, has two hotels and many restaurants, bars and clubs.

The food in this is delicious and, in the summer, most of the vegetables are fresh from the local market gardens. The local wine is excellent and sold all over the world by the celebrated Chivite wine company.
Leisure activities include cycling around gorgeous vineyards, hiking in the nearby hills and mountains, enjoying the Fitero hot spa, visiting wine bodegas, sightseeing in neighbouring towns, practising sports including Basque pelota.

Local events: the local patron saint fiestas are the main event of the year, they start on September 3rd and last for 7 days. The San Juan fiestas on the 24th of July are also a big event as is the carnival in February.
The nearest big town where you'll be able to find more shops, trains, long distance buses, services and fun is Tudela, a 10 minute car ride away. You can also go there by bus.

The house itself is in a quiet area not far from the town centre. It is quite spacious, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We have a nice garden and a large patio with a big fireplace where we enjoy summer barbecues. (There is another fireplace in the living room which is nice in the winter.) In the garden we grow cherries, peaches, plums, figs, apples, grapes, loquats, almonds herbs and even olives that we prepare for eating in the winter.

My mother is a great chef and she can prepare a huge range of Spanish, French and English dishes. She can show the students how to cook Spanish dishes as well as giving them lots of information on local ingredients.

Our cetrally-heated guest room, with private bathroom and shower, is in an extension of the house on a terrace overlooking the patio and garden, so it is very quiet and private with access to the house across the open terrace. On the ground floor is the kitchen, garage and living room. Downstairs in the basement is our classroom. Upstairs we have four bedrooms, one of them could be used by a student guest.

We have two mountain bicycles that we can lend to our guests, also a good electronic piano and a collection of Latin American instruments including bongos and quenas. Of course, some maps and tourist information leaflets and books are also available.