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: Apartment

Teaching Qualifications and Experience
2007: Certificate in Further Education Teaching, Exeter College, Exeter, UK (to complete in July 2007) 2004: Teacher of Spanish as a Foreign Language - Lacunza - International House, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa 1997-2001: Publicity and Public Relations Degree - Universidad del País Vasco, Leioa, Vizcaya.

Hobbies and Interests
Walking, sports, watersports, beaches, music, cooking and eating, socialising.

Excursions and Local Attractions
ALICANTE: Alicante has an abundance of museums - CAPA Sculpture Collection, Asegurada Museum of Contemporary Art, Alicante Bullfighting Museum, MARQ archaeological museum, Gravina Fine Arts museum, Museo de Belenes (Nativity Scene museum),Pozos de Garrigós (Water Museum) and the permanent exhibitions at the Lonja de Pescado and at the Archivo Municipal. The commercial port and marina is well worth visiting, with its exclusive restaurants, pubs and cafés and shops. The enormous attractions of this area are further enhanced by the fantastic views that can be enjoyed there and the superb artistic and musical acts that are performed there during the summer months. The summer also brings with it theatrical and musical performances on San Juan Beach and open-air suppers accompanied by concerts in the barracks square of the Santa Barbara Castle. During the winter months, a superb programme of leisure and cultural events is hosted in the town theatre, with not only plays but also opera, zarzuela (Spanish light opera) classical and contemporary music concerts, recitals, ballet, etc. Alicante is also a great place to find Art Galleries, Exhibitions, Festivals, Cinema and Street markets with local products

MURCIA: Murcia is full of historic buildings, some dating back to the Romans and before. It also has many modern shops, street markets and leisure facilities. The Spanish culture of Cuisine, Fiestas and Siestas remains unspoilt, as the tourist trade in this area is largely made up of Spanish visitors. The regional capital - Murcia City, is known as the Baroque capitol of Spain for its wealth of fine buildings and is a fantastic place to explore. It is shopping heaven with many up market shops and department stores. You can wander through the pedestrianised areas to beautiful squares which are just waiting to be discovered. There is a magnificent cathedral, a beautiful monastery, gardens and parks, the list is almost endless, but includes - museums, monuments, exhibitions, restaurants, caves, beaches, markets, festivals, music, etc.

OTHER TOWNS OF INTEREST IN THE AREA INCLUDE: San Pedro del Pinatar (and its therapeutic natural mud baths) Torrevieja and its huge street market and beaches La Manga, Cartagena, Orihuela, Jijona, Elche, etc.

Accommodation, Facilities and Local Area
We live in a two bedroom apartment with a swimming pool in the centre of the city of Torrevieja in Alicante, southern Spain. It is situated near to a park, 15 mins walk from a choice of beaches and 10 mins walk to the new shopping centre, water-park, cinema and bowling.

Torrevieja is a coastal city in the south of Alicante province. It has a protected Natural Park with two salt lakes and 20 kms of coastline containing six large beaches - La Mata, Cabo Cervera, Los Locos, El Cura, Los Náufragos and Ferris. They have fine, white sand and between each beach there are a number of coves where you can enjoy bathing and diving in a more peaceful environment. The climate in Torrevieja is very stable, belonging to the temperate Continental type, with predominantly mild temperatures in winter as in summer. The coldest months are January and February, with temperatures ranging from 12 to 16 degrees and the hottest months are July and August with temperatures ranging from 28 to 35 degrees. Rainfall is scarce and intermittent.

Amongst Torrevieja's many attractions as a Mediterranean tourist centre, is its superb gastronomy, which nowadays combines traditional dishes with "new cuisine", and which can be found in most of the town's restaurants. Fish forms the basis of traditional Torrevieja cooking and the most outstanding typical dish of Torrevieja is the "Caldero" (fish stew). We both love cooking and consider ourselves good cooks able to prepare a variety of tasty Spanish, English, Oriental and Indian meals.

Torrevieja offers a wide range of shopping opportunities including a bustling city centre and newly opened “Habaneras” shopping mall. Street markets are an alternative to traditional commerce and in them you can obtain numerous objects for decoration, textiles, clothing, interior design, craft, animals, footwear and horticultural produce at very reasonable prices. They have a real arab-style market atmosphere and have achieved great popularity amongst the Spanish and the thousands of Europeans that visit Torrevieja. Some are held once a week and others are permanent.

We both like going out, playing sports, walking and enjoying the local area and its vibrant atmosphere. There is a wide range of leisure activities and night entertainment. If you wish to go out for a drink you can choose between a variety of premises with different musical atmospheres and styles. In the area of La Punta there are more than 70 disco-pubs with a youthful atmosphere. There are sporting facilities for practising almost all kinds of sports including a Sports Complex in the area called La Hoya comprising of a sports palace with three sports courts, Olympic swimming pool, gymnasium, physiotherapy clinic, library and sauna. There are also tennis courts, an open-air athletics circuit, football pitches with grass and hard surface, municipal "pelota" court, bowling and "petanca" surfaces.

Torrevieja still retains, in spite of its spectacular growth in population, many of its traditions, from the popular singing of Habaneras in family celebrations to the visiting of the La Mata pinewoods at Easter time. The name of Torrevieja is inextricably associated with its International Habaneras and Polyphonic Competition which takes place towards the end of July in the area of the Eras de la Sal, the cathedral of the Habaneras. A multitude of choirs from all five continents have passed through this unique historical venue, singing their homage in Spanish to the Habaneras song. The International Habaneras and Polyphonic Competition is the most important event in the calendar of Torrevieja.

We are both keen musicians and music is a real passion of ours. There is a wide range of music concert programmes in Torrevieja, along with theatre performances, exhibitions, conferences, choral recitals and competitions of international prestige.

Student's room and contents: single room with window to balcony in modern and very clean apartment.

Nearest International Airport: Alicante or Murcia