Latest news at El Patio
- Achero Mañas .. ..
- ProyectoFoto - PhotoProject .. ..
- Keep informed with our newsletter .. ..
- Our own free podcast, Spanish in a Minute! ..
- Check out our new Frequent Course Card ..
- New students: bring a Friend for discounts ..
- El Patio opens new centre in the Melbourne CBD ..
- Estudiantes ilustres - read about some of our illustrious students ..
- Exclusive to El Patio! Resources specific to your course ..
- Get a handle on your level - online level test available now ..
- It's easy to enrol online ..
- Log in to miPatio ..
- Magazine article on Ana Ruiz ..
Achero Manñas at the Spanish Film Festival
Achero Mañas was a special guest of the Spanish Film Festival this May, where he presented a Q&A screening of his latest film Anything You Want. This is the third feature from this acclaimed director of Cazadores (1997, short film), which won a Goya award, Noviembre (2003), which won the FIPRESCI (Critics) prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, and El Bola (2000), his first feature which won 4 Spanish Goya awards, including Best Film.
View photos of Achero caught with some El Patio teachers and colleagues at the opening of the Spanish Film Festival!
l>r Isabel Arenales, Iria García, Marius Nygaard, Ana Ruiz, Olvido Martín, Achero Mañas, Iñigo Sánchez, Rocío Jiménez
l>r Marius Nygaard, Iria García, Ana Ruiz, Achero Mañas, Iñigo Sánchez
l>r Toni Edwards, Achero Mañas, Iñigo Sánchez, Rocío Jiménez
ProyectoFoto - PhotoProject
Participate in El Patio's initiative for 2011 and show off your favourite travel photo - from any Hispanic country of course. Each month we'll suggest a theme, and at month's end an expert panel will select an outstanding photo, which will be awarded a $50 voucher toward any course or textbook.
ProyectoFoto - PhotoProject - see what's turned up!
Keep informed with our newsletter
El Patio publishes a monthly newsletter with information about upcoming courses, events, plus any new and interesting study resources. If you don't already receive these, and would like to do so, click the link below to sign up, or just to have a look at past editions.
Newsletters - view past editions or sign up
Our own free podcast, Spanish in a Minute!
Subscribe to our weekly in-house audio podcasts - they're free! We're very proud to be listed on Apple's iTunes website, and many have already subscribed from all over the world. You don't need to have an iPod or mp3 player to listen - you can hear it play on your computer.
Episode 1 starts right from zero, so it's useful for beginners and travellers. Being a podcast, it will be updated automatically as soon as a new episode is available. Access Spanish in a Minute! by one of the following methods:
1) View the information at the iTunes.apple page
2) Click the link below, then click on Subscribe in iTunes on the right hand menu: feed://www.elpatiospanish.com/spanish_in_a_minute.xml
3) Launch iTunes and either:
- perform a search for Spanish in a Minute!, or
- in the Advanced menu, select Subscribe to Podcast, and enter the following: www.elpatiospanish.com/spanish_in_a_minute.xml
Check out our new Frequent Course Card ..
Unbelievable bargain! Study four courses and get the fifth one for half price! It's a bit like a coffee card with a lovely stamp. Request your Frequent Course Card when you enrol, and get it stamped and signed for the next few courses. When you get to the 5th course, you save $125!
Read more ...
New students - Bring a Friend for a discount!
A special offer for new students at Melbourne. Bring a friend, and pay 5% less, that's 5% off even the early-enroller discounts! You could end up enrolling in a course for only $218.50 for a Summer Intensive course if you get in before Friday December 3.
Read more ...
El Patio's new centre in the Melbourne CBD opened July 19
To provide a larger premises for growing student numbers and a more convenient location for some, El Patio now operates a second centre in a beautiful spacious premises with lots of natural light, located at 2/152 Lt Lonsdale St, near Russell St, right behind the State Library.
El Patio Melbourne follows the same teaching philosophy, specialising in Spanish with a fun and professional team.
El Patio Northcote will continue to operate as it has done for the last 9 years.
Follow El Patio Melbourne on Facebook here, where you'll see photos of how the facelift proceeded, as well as postings on upcoming courses and events. If you prefer short bursts from Twitter, have a look there instead!
El Patio's new centre at 2/152 Lt Lonsdale St. Melbourne
Estudiantes ilustres - read about some of our illustrious students!
We're very proud to present some of El Patio's students who are highly regarded - writers, intellectuals, artists, musicians, film directors... Read about what they do and why they're studying Spanish. We thank them for appearing here and hope that you find inspiration in some of their stories. Estudiantes ilustres ..
Exclusive to El Patio! Resources specific to your course.
El Patio has created what we think gives great value to your enrolment in one of our Spanish courses. We have enhanced the study resources on this website, by offering a special facility targeted at the topics that are covered in specific courses. It is a bit more exclusive, useful and very easy to use.
When you enrol, then log in to miPatio (top right), you will have automatic access to a page which contains internet resources that are specific to the course you are enrolled in. It is available to those in courses from Elementary 1 through to Upper Elementary 3. Those for the higher levels will appear soon.
In the Study Resources you will find:
- printable Wordlists for each week of your course (to help you
navigate the textbook) - Select, focussed Weblinks to pages of other sites for practice with topics you are currently studying, so no more getting lost whilst searching for exercises
- a Classroom language glossary
- a Grammatical language glossary
- other printable documents eg: Spanish keyboard layouts
This facility is exclusively for currently enrolled students. Here's how it works: you have access to these pages during the Term that you are enrolled, and then for one further Term, or until you enrol in the next course. The information for the new course will then be accessible.
Enhance your studies with this new collection of resources! Log in and see for yourself.
Read a bit more about logging in to miPatio.
Get a handle on your level - try the online level test
Co-ordinator of studies Ana Ruiz is had developed an online level test, and it's ready for you to use now.
We're sure it will be a useful guideline for those who are interested in enrolling in a course, but are not sure of their level. Not only that, it is a great tool for anyone studying Spanish who wants so check up on how they're going.
The test format is multiple choice and self-checking, so you can take it as many times as you wish. It is be divided into the same levels as El Patio courses, catering for beginners right through to Upper Intermediate, though it will soon extend through to Superior.
Test your level now.
It's easy to enrol online..
Enrol securely online with a credit card in a few easy steps. Our smart, new system guides you through, provides full details of all courses, lets you know if the class is full or not, calculates early-enroller discounts and places you in the class in a matter of minutes. As soon as your credit card payment is approved, your place is secured. And no need to fill out enrolment forms!
Not only that, for a limited time you receive a further $5 discount on course fees if you enrol online!
Enrol online with secure online credit card payment using 128 Bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Technology.
Log in to miPatio - your own student zone
El Patio has an online "home" for students, with the aim of enhancing your study experience. Welcome to miPatio!
miPatio is a secure part of our site (a little padlock will appear in one of the corners of your browser) where you'll be able to log in and view details of your current course, Term dates, public holidays and events. You may also update your contact details, view your study history and have at your fingertips handy information such as public transport timetables.
Exclusively to currently-enrolled students is the access to Wordlists and Weblinks that specifically address topics in your course. This facility is described above: Resources specific to your course.
From here you'll be able to re-enrol securely online with your credit card.
Here's a preview of what a miPatio welcome page looks like. To go there, you need to create a login at top right.
Check out this article on Ana Ruiz
It appeared in Mujer Hoy, Spain, on June 27, a magazine supplement which comes with newspapers all over Spain, not unlike The Age's Sunday Magazine. The page article is shown below, or you can see it at the Mujer Hoy website (which is a bit slow to load).
Quick finder: