Spaans met Iván

Algemene informatie

My name is Ivan, I was born in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The land of the Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and the well known painter Fernando Botero.

From an early age I was exposed to foreign languages. In high school English and French were my favourite subjects. I also attended The Centro Colombo Americano in Cartagena, where i got a diploma in the English language.

On every vacation during my university studies I attended different language courses; Italian, French and even German. I have to say that learning languages has always been a constant in my life.

In 1994 I obtained a diploma in architectural studies from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Cartagena, Colombia. After my graduation I moved to Medellín, my favorite city in Colombia, where I worked for a short time in local interior design projects and attended French lessons at the Alliance Français. After a while, I felt I needed to travel and explore the world. My best friends at the time were planing to move to Israel, so I travelled with them to Tel-Aviv. There I worked at an international restaurant, where I learned a lot about international cuisine and Jewish culture. Also attended Ulpan Gordon in Tel-Aviv to learn the Hebrew language.

In 1999 arrived in The Netherlands and enrolled immediately in a Dutch language course at UVA. I took some other courses after that, and in 2012 I got my NT2 II diploma from Top Taal, College for exams, in Amsterdam.

It’s been 15 years since I arrived in Amsterdam, there have been ups and down, even a global crisis hitting many businesses. Some of us have had to change their path, use their passion and reinvent themselves. In 2011 I decided to follow an education in Spanish teaching at International House and IL3- Universidad de Barcelona. I find languages and culture fascinating, I’m also a native Spanish speaker and love teaching.

As part of my education I worked at International House Valencia in a summer course where I gave lessons to students from different levels, nationalities and ages. In Amsterdam I have been giving private and group lessons to adult professionals.

For my teaching I use the communicative approach which emphasises interaction as both the means and ultimate goal of the study. Besides the four main language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) The accent is also put on gaining knowledge of the Spanish and Latin American culture.

To make my lessons a bit more fun and interesting and motivate my students, I use a wide variety of activities including, Films, videos, games, podcasts and all kind of tools from the internet.

As a guide and reference for the lessons I use the book Aula Internacional new edition from the Spanish editorial Difusion. The book has beautiful graphics and also brings to the class the most advanced communication approaches.

Please feel free to contact me regarding price, schedule or location. Make an appointment and give it a try. The first lesson is for free!