Eurolingua Spanish Homestay - Oviedo, Asturias

  Spain

• All Other Areas: 
Gijon,  Oviedo

Dates: Year round

Description: One-to-One Homestay, living in the tutor's home, including private room, individual and customised tuition, full-board (all meals), participation in family life and activities, cultural visits and excursions. Pick-up/drop-off at the nearest airport/railway station. A fantastic linguistic and cultural experience!!

Eurolingua One-to-One Homestay Programmes are available all year and are suitable for students of any age (16 - 75 years) and language level (beginner to advanced). Ideal for personal interest, business, travel or examination revision purposes. All Eurolingua tutors are fully-qualified teachers and native speakers, experienced in teaching their mother tongue as a foreign language.

The unique Eurolingua One-to-One Homestay Programme will ensure that you make maximum progress in the shortest possible time, whatever your starting level, beginner to advanced. You live full-board in the home of your fully-qualified foreign language tutor, receiving 4 hours per day (20 hours per week) of individual language tuition, specifically adapted to your own level, learning pace and interests, whether for business or pleasure!! The rest of the time you benefit from lots of conversational practice by participating in the usual everyday family activities of your personal tutor and family and by meeting people in the local community. You may, of course, have as much independent time as you wish. You acquire an authentic accent, total confidence and real fluency in the language.

Make spectacular progress in the shortest possible time. Individual tuition adapted to your own requirements, full-board accommodation (private room, all meals), local excursions and lots of fun!

Highlights: Type of House: Apartment

Teaching Qualifications and Experience

Bachelor of Arts: Middle/Secondary Education-Spanish (as a Foreign Language) and History graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, USA December 2003. EBC International TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate Course, Madrid - summer 2003.

Hobbies and Interests

Traveling, horseback-riding, skiing, jogging, reading, writing, singing, acting, working with kids, going to the cinema and theater, going to concerts, spending time with family and friends and meeting new people.

Excursions and Local Attractions

Oviedo (7 minutes by train or car)- sightseeing, shopping, etc.
The beach, ocean (20 minutes by car)- swimming, fishing, water skiing, surfing, camping
The mountains (30 minutes by car)- hiking, picnicking, camping, skiing in winter (45 minutes by car to San Isidro or Pajares)

The best preserved pre-Romanic architecture in the world!!!! Examples Santa María del Naranco, San Miguel de Lillo, (Oviedo and all over Asturias)
The Cathedral (Oviedo)
Museo de Bellas Artes, Teatro Campoamor, Auditorio Principe Felipe (Oviedo)
Casco Antiguo (Oviedo)
El Camino de Santiago (passes through Oviedo and Asturias)
Tene-a tiny town in the mountains for a little authentic Asturianu (regional language of Asturias), authentic cultural exposure, and sidra!
Horse-back riding
Covadonga's Basilica and Cave Chapel (where the Spanish Reconquest started)
Los Picos de Europa National Park-beautiful views and hiking
Cudillero (picturesque costal fishing town)
Tapia de Casariego (local tourist beach and surf town)
Possible weekend trips to Santander, Leon, Valladolid, Bilbao, Madrid, etc. (Students would pay their own way).

Accommodation, Facilities and Local Area

I am a very open, out-going, animated person. I am a hard-worker and a self-starter. Originally from the States, I have taught Spanish as well as English as a Foreign Language to Americans, Spaniards, and a few other nationalities as well. I am currently working part-time as a English teacher at an Academia in Oviedo and I would like to organize more study/travel abroad experiences both incoming and outgoing from Asturias.

The richness of Madrid, Barcelona, and Andalucía is something almost all Spanish enthusiasts have come to know and love; yet it seems surprisingly few have ever experienced the beauty of the region nicknamed Spain's Natural Paradise. Northern Spain is ideal for it's well-pronounced Castillian Spanish, easy for foreign students to interact with and comprehend. Regional dialects and vocabulary spice it up a bit at times but do not distract from learning and practicing Spanish. Unlike many of the other urban centers and traditionally tourist regions, Asturian people and culture are very authentic. You will not run into foreigners every other day, nor will you be inundated with Spain's most well-known and stereotypically exported symbols: bull fighting and flamenco, although they do have a historical presence here as well.

Asturias's claim to fame lies in its historical roots. In Covadonga, a little villiage in the mountains, King Pelayo won the first battle of the Reconquista in 722 A.D. Seven hundred years later Spaniards finally reclaimed the peninsula and ever since then and even today Prince Felipe and Princess Leticia are called 'Los Principes de Asturias' in tribute. Around the same time period of King Pelayo, the most well-preserved Pre-Romanesque architecture boasting several churches and a palace reside in and around Oviedo, the capital. For nature lovers, Los Picos de Europa, the largest National park in continental Europe, is only 60 minutes by car and indeed a natural paradise to be experienced.

Oviedo, voted Europe's cleanest city several years in a row, is a small, sophisticated city. Population approximately 200,000 and situated in a valley, it's compactness means easy access to just about everything. It's within 30 minutes or less of the ocean and various mountain ranges. The climate is moderate, neither getting very hot nor very cold at any given time of year with winter being more of a wet season. Our 'greeness' is often compared with Ireland and Scotland.

Our apartment is in Lugones, located just outside of Oviedo. Population approximately 10,000 and growing fast, it is exactly 7 minutes by train into the city. (The station is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.) Our building has 7 floors and is less than a year old; we live on the top floor. Students have their own room with two twin beds, a large external window, closet space as well as a full private bathroom with shower/bathtub. One of our bedrooms was converted into an office and has a computer with high-speed cable internet access including a webcam and microphone to communicate with friends and family back home (We'll teach you how to use it!) We also have cable television as well as International zoned video and DVD players. There is ample storage space in the apartment as well as the storage unit in the parking garage where we keep our 'furgoneta' or mini-van. We are within 5 minutes or less of several supermarkets, cafés, and bars and about 25 minutes walking distance of the Parque Principado mall for which there is also free bus transportation.

My husband, Diego, and I would love to have you come and stay with us. We enjoy getting to know new people and we promise that your study abroad experience will be a genuine language and cultural adventure.

Minimum Education: High School

Cost in US$: 1600

Credit Available: yes

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Spain Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Job and Internship Network

Eurolingua Institute's Mission Statement: The Eurolingua Institute provides group and individual customized tuition in modern languages, paid work experience programmes, internships, and unique immersion programmes living in the teacher's own home. The Eurolingua Institute currently teaches 11 languages at over 70 schools in 40 countries and at over 150 homestay locations worldwide.

Year Founded: 1993