Students from 23 countries in the 97th edition of the Summer Courses of Spanish as a Foreign Language

Once again, the Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) courses, which are offered throughout the year at their headquarters in Zaragoza, are moving their classrooms to Jaca during the month of August. From last Monday until August 29, the capital of Jacetania will bring together students of more than 20 nationalities, who will come to learn the Spanish language and culture. And a hallmark of these courses, as their director, Vicente Lagüéns, says, is that “quite a few students repeat, and that says a lot about how they are valued, because a good part of the students at the higher levels have already been in Jaca at least once.”

The majority nationality is Chinese , but students also come from the United States and many European countries, such as Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom or Ukraine, among others; in addition, students from Burma, India, Japan, Jordan or Nepal have come to learn Spanish in Jaca.

In their summer edition, although there are people of all ages, these Courses attract mainly young people between 20 and 30 years old . They choose Jaca for its history, for its location in the Pyrenees and “because it is a reference in the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language”, as Lagüéns points out. And this will be the 97th edition, since Domingo Miral promoted this summer campus in 1927, being the pioneering summer courses in Spain.

In parallel to the Spanish language and culture courses for foreigners, the University of Zaragoza is also offering this month in Jaca the ELE Teacher Training Courses (Initial and Special) aimed at students of philology and other areas, mainly humanistic, who want to orient their profession towards teaching the Spanish language.

THIS WEDNESDAY, DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Tomorrow, Wednesday, one of the most traditional and meaningful events will take place: the “Day of Remembrance”, which this year will be in memory of the teachers José Manuel Blecua Teijeiro and Félix Monge Casao , through the respective interventions of José Manuel Blecua Perdices (RAE) and María Antonia Martín Zorraquino (University of Zaragoza). The event will be attended by the mayor of Jaca, Carlos Serrano, together with the director of the ELE courses, Vicente Lagüéns. The event, with free admission until full capacity, will take place tomorrow afternoon, at 8:00 p.m. at the Jaca University Residence, and will be accompanied by the musical accompaniment of the Jaca singer Alicia Canguero Izaguirre.

CULTURAL EVENTS PROGRAM

With an average of 4 to 6 hours of classes per day , these courses also offer various complementary activities, such as poetry recitals, visits to the monuments of Jaca and its surroundings or excursions through the Pyrenees.

In addition, there is a programme of talks and presentations open to the general public . On 5 August, the writer Ignacio Martínez de Pisón will talk on “a Monday of books” with José Luis Melero. On 14 August, there will be a lecture by the linguist M.ª Antonia Martín Zorraquino, professor of Spanish Language at the University of Zaragoza and corresponding member of the RAE. And on 21 August, the closing lecture will be given by the philologist Pedro Álvarez de Miranda, full member of the Royal Spanish Academy.

AND IN AUTUMN, NEW EDITION OF EXTRAORDINARY COURSES

The Summer Courses in Spanish as a Foreign Language have been preceded by the Extraordinary Courses, directed by Carmen Marta-Lazo, which have had more than a thousand students enrolled and which will resume their activity in October in their autumn edition, once again with a varied thematic proposal. Registration is now open on the website cursosextraordinarios.unizar.es/cursos-otono and will offer proposals in science and engineering, as well as in pedagogy and teaching, protocol or media.