About Us: our Spanish Immersion Expeditions

Who we are

You may be wondering about our Spanish Immersion Expeditions. Why expeditions?. Mainly due to our land: Asturias. Asturias is a unique place. That´s why we want to share with you this land. We are, Ignacio and María – two professionals from different backgrounds but with common interests. We both are interested in the humanities: history, geography, education and modern languages, to name a few. I, Ignacio, am also interested in economics and business, which is where I have spent most of my career.

We both have always felt a vocational call to teaching. From the start, Maria has pursued this field. I started out in the business world but have always had the desire to teach.

Myself, Ignacio, I am a person of Generation X who, for personal reasons and family reconciliation, left the business world a few years ago. I returned to my hometown after more than 20 years in multinational companies in Madrid, Lisbon and Barcelona, and I am currently a high school teacher.

Maria, who is a millennial, has taught Literature in Madrid and Spanish in Florida (USA) and is now back home in Asturias to have a family and combine her love of teaching and her love of Spanish with her family life.

We are also joined by university graduates who are thrilled to teach you Spanish so that you can really learn it! All instructors have a university education, whether a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. They are eager to take you sightseeing while you learn Spanish, all while you stay in university residences or with families offering the famous Asturian hospitality, renowned throughout Spain. 

The Project

This project is born out of our common love for our homeland, Asturias, our Latin-Celtic culture, our great interest in education, our passion for modern languages, particularly Spanish, and our determination to make learning another language something that gives immediate results. 

Our program offers a way to connect with other people, explore a new country, and get to know another culture, while at the same time developing an important skill for the workplace The Value of Spanish in the Workplace | Monster.com, Why International Students are choosing to study in Spain | Top Universities. In short, we aim to offer a linguistic and cultural Spanish immersion experience that gives measurable results, from beginner to advanced levels, including specialised courses in Spanish for the workplace (mainly for business Spanish and Spanish for health professions), while also providing real-world work experience. If you are looking for Spanish for the Professions this is your place!!

Our love for Asturias: a unique place, our love for Spanish, our Latin-Celtic culture, and teaching, along with the possibilities offered by the digital world, are the reasons we have created this program. A program which starts with Spanish immersion courses during the summer months, with the option to extend the program to a whole year if you like what we have to offer.

This project is for those with curious minds, eager to have new experiences and learn, and for adventurous travellers, who want to get off the beaten track and get to know a country’s hidden gems. It’s for those people who want to learn a language and at the same time go sightseeing. Or people who want to go sightseeing and at the same time learn a language. In short, a Spanish Immersion

Where we are

And you will do all this in Asturias, popularly known as the cradle of Spain. Asturias is a UNIQUE place.

Unique because you can travel through all periods of history in one month and within just a few kilometres. You can travel from Palaeolithic times, visiting pre-historic caves while practising your listening skills, to visiting dinosaur footprints, Celtic walls and Roman walls and baths, to Romanesque and Gothic churches, to seeing buildings of modern architecture. 

And UNIQUE because in Asturias, the mountains are very close to the sea. The “Spanish Matterhorn”, the Naranjo de Bulnes (2519 metres, 8264 feet), is less than 50 kilometres from the sea (25 km as the crow flies) by way of an intricate road and a funicular railway. It’s an accessible mountain and one of the few places in the world where you can go climbing in the morning and be on the beach for lunch. 

And a UNIQUE place because it is distinguished by its high quality of life, as you can see through the Numbeo rankings (check Oviedo and Gijón), and also by its very high safety ratings. In the end, when you are learning a language and being a tourist, you want to be focused on what really matters: learning and enjoying. An environment with security, certainty and tranquillity is important for learning a language. 

And a UNIQUE place because you can enjoy the perfect blend of Celtic traditions (such as bagpipes, dances, symbols, names, food) – many of them closely linked to traditions from Brittany, Scotland or Ireland- with Latin traditions, and the Spanish way of life. Galicia and Asturias are considered the Celtic nations of Spain, although the Celtic language did not survive. 

And a UNIQUE place for its gastronomy. Asturias is the largest cheese producing region in Europe in terms of inhabitants per square kilometers, and is one of the regions in the world with the highest ratio of Michelin-starred restaurants per number of inhabitants. But, of course, you have affordable budget restaurants as well, with delicious food both from the sea and the land. And why not savour gastronomic Celtic traditions, for example, frixuelos (Spanish crêpes), which is traditional Celtic food, very similar to Irish pancakes, or French crêpes, which are very well-known as French food but actually originated in the Celtic French Brittany.

And a UNIQUE place because it has been distinguished by Spaniards as the favorite region of Spain mainly because of its people hospitality and friendliness. As you see a place where you can make new friends and practice Spanish very easily.

We want to contribute to change the world. Do you?

Why speaking more than one language can boost economic growth | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

Finally, this project is also born out of our desire to embrace diversity. We welcome all regardless of origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. We believe that diversity is not only good for society but is as much an accelerator of creativity and innovation as is language.  We know that language is not only a great bridge between diverse populations but also a tool to bring cultures together. Not to menction that a common language is a multiplier of commercial exchanges. 

Last but not least, we cannot forget how much we care about the planet. We must all contribute to its well-being. The cities we will take you through are compact. You will do a lot of walking and cycling. Our sightseeing activities are designed to use cars as little as possible (in small groups we will use electric cars). And we ask that you always be respectful of the nature we show you. It’s for good reason that Asturias Natural Paradise is a slogan! That´s also why Asturias is a unique place. 

Does it sound appealing to you? Do you want to join us in this expedition?. If so, please keep exploring our pages. We are now in base camp.