In times of financial uncertainty a small city in central Spain has taken a proactive approach to inject life into its local economy. Through complete language immersion with locals, Spanish classes at the country’s largest university and cultural excursions, Cuenca is saying not only is it open for business but it is also open to international education.
Backed by private funding, the True Spanish Experience (TSE) project has brought together the municipal government and the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) to promote the whole city as a destination for foreign students who want to improve their Spanish while living among some 60,000 inhabitants.
“We are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we are small enough to have real immersion for international students, and the locals are keen to interact with them, these are things we realised we have over destinations like Madrid, Barcelona or Salamanca,” academic director Fátima González told The PIE News.
“A lot of people can’t afford to go abroad so we hope that the international experience can come to them”
TSE offers programmes for juniors, families, university students and professionals. The first thing all encounter when they arrive is “Tu Amigo en Cuenca”, a volunteer who will show them around the city and introduce them to other locals.
In addition to Spanish language courses, workshops are held in the evenings where students can practise music or pottery alongside local students who are given scholarships by TSE.
Total immersion is key to the project, but also beneficial for Cuenca’s citizens. “Our project is a social project more than anything,” said managing director Juan Domingo. “We’ve got the international students who come to study in mind but we’re also thinking about the city of Cuenca. We’re in difficult times right now and a lot of people can’t afford to go abroad so we hope that the international experience can come to them.”
Local business is set to benefit as well, from local artists giving classes, to museums offering special programmes and discounts for international students.
All Spanish courses are administered through UNED, the largest university in Spain and the second largest in Europe after the UK’s Open University. Some courses can even lead to credits in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
Prices range from €345 for a one-week junior intensive programme to €5,919 for a nine month university course.
A promotional website for the venture launched this month; González expects the junior and specialised courses to be the most popular but is waiting to see how the industry responds. “This is a long-term project. We don’t expect the first year to be full. Things will come little by little,” she said.
