Spanish Classes

About Spanish at CHICLE

Charla | Medical Spanish | Teachers' Spanish

If you are planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, check out our travel and culture course.

We offer a wide variety of Spanish classes: Levels 1 through 6 and Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Conversation form our standard curriculum.

For more information about our curriculum, click here.

Group classes meet for two hours twice a week, usually either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays.

• Our 16-hour Spanish classes, with materials included, are $320.
• Our 12-hour Spanish classes, with materials included, are $240
• Morning classes are from 9 - 11 and evening classes from 6:30 - 8:30.  (we are flexible, however, and if students want a different time, we try to accomodate)
• Conversation, writing, and other advanced courses meet one time each week.
• These additional courses are usually either monthly or six-week sessions.·
• Courses are $20 an hour and the more informal conversation classes (Charlas) are $18 an hour
• We require a minimum of three students to offer a class.

Beginning in February, 2011, we began to also offer our standard curriculum in a different format. Courses will meet once· a week for two hours for six weeks. We will begin with our Level 1 and phase in the other levels gradually. The cost for this version is $240. The curriculum has been modified for the reduced sessions.

Please call us at (919) 933-0398 or e-mail us if you want more information or wish to pre-register for a class.

Special Courses - Descriptions

Charla

This is a structured but informal conversation class that meets for one hour weekly.

Students do some talking about themselves and read articles in Spanish that are used to stimulate conversation in class.

The hour flies by, according to our students, so it doesn't take much to keep them going. The teacher takes opportunities to correct what students write in emails and say in the class conversations. The Charla costs $18 an hour, but we ask students to let us know at the beginning of each month which classes they will be able to attend and to pay for those classes at the first class of the month. We need to have three students each week to hold that week's class.

Medical Spanish

The general purpose of the course is to improve students’ ability to communicate in clinical situations with patients whose native language is Spanish.

The focus of the instruction is on strengthening conversational skills in order to improve students’ ability to take clinical histories, conduct physical examinations and to give instructions to their Spanish speaking patients.

All students are challenged to work on their communication skills according to their level. Students also work with a series of listening comprehension exercises. The cost is $270 for 15 hours plus the cost of materials

Beginners course (For students with very little or no previous Spanish language), In this course, students:

• Practice Spanish pronunciation skills.
• Practice “survival Spanish” vocabulary, including numbers, time and date, family members, basic health questions and anatomical words.
• Learn basic grammar, vocabulary and phrases useful in greeting, gathering basic medical information from a patient, and informing them about their medical conditions.
• Practice giving patients instructions in Spanish.
• Participants work with the book  “¿Qué le duele? Beginning Spanish for Healthcare Professionals” by María Fraser-Molina  ISBN: 0-89089-395-0

Intermediate course (For those with previous, but not extensive, Spanish language), In this course, students:

• Review “survival Spanish” vocabulary, including numbers, time and date, family members, anatomical words.
• Learn grammar, vocabulary and phrases useful in greeting the patient, talking about medication administration, diet and nutrition, history of the present illness, physical examination, medical history, mental health and STDs.
• Participants work with the book  “An Introduction to Spanish for Health Care Workers” by Roberto O. Chase Second Edition ISBN: 0-300-09715-8

Advanced course (For those with extensive previous experience speaking Spanish). In this course, students:

• Review “survival Spanish” vocabulary, including numbers, time and date, family members, anatomical words.
• Work with a series of exercises to be conducted in conversational Spanish that focus on the various types of examinations that they might have to conduct.
• Learn grammar, vocabulary and phrases useful in greeting the patient, talking about history of the present illness, past medical history and review of systems, medications and drug effects, family history, social and sexual history, mental health, nutrition, and physical examination.
• Participants work with the book  “Spanish and the Medical Interview” by Pilar Ortega, MD ISBN: 1-4160-3649-0
• Participants are expected to take a language placement examination and an oral assesment follow-up phone call (933-0398) through CHICLE prior to the start of instruction. This must be done with enough lead time to allow the instructors to plan instruction to address the level of the learners who will constitute the classes.

Intensive Spanish for Spanish Teachers Summer Courses

CHICLE offers 1-week 30-hour intensive courses for Spanish teachers during the summer.

2012 will be the seventh summer of this very popular and interactive course that attracts students from around the state.

The course is geared to intermediate and advanced students and will meet 1 week in June, 18-22, 1 week in July, 16-20 and 1 week in August, 6-10.  If these dates don't work for you, just contact us and we can see about other possibilities.

Class meets from 9:00-4:00 with a one hour lunch break and is limited to ten students. The cost is $500 and CEU credits are available. If you or your school would like more information about it, please contact us. Click here to fill out and submit a registration form.

CHICLE is located in Carrboro, adjacent to Chapel Hill. We are surrounded by excellent restaurants, lots of outdoor and indoor summer activities, and all the the amenities that North Carolina's flagship university offers. Hotels and motels are available in the area.

We require a minimum of five students and a maximum of ten for this course.

"My colleague and I had a wonderful time at CHICLE last summer during our week-long Spanish immersion class for Spanish teachers! The instructors made us feel very comfortable and classes were lively and fun! It was great to see how much our Spanish improved after just a week of intensive practice. We plan to participate again next summer!"