From November 3 to 9, a group of students of the Master's Degree in teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (MELE) language accompanied by Eduardo Negueruela, director of high school of language and Spanish Culture (ILCE) of the University of Navarra, made an international stay of training in the United States.

During one week, they visited prestigious universities such as Columbia, Princeton, Georgetown and Maryland, with the goal to obtain an in-depth vision of the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language language in the United States, one of the countries with the highest demand for teachers of our language.

In their first workshop, our students attended a session at Columbia University entitled "Opportunities centered on student body for the development of other languages: curricular and didactic considerations", given by Professor Lee B. Abraham, co-director of the Spanish program at Columbia University. Abraham, co-director of the language Spanish program at the academic center. They also had the opportunity to visit the Casa Hispánica, where playwright Federico García Lorca wrote his famous play "Poet in New York" between 1929 and 1930. The day ended with a tour of New York's Hispanic neighborhood, guided by Professor Juan Pablo Jimenez, to soak up its urban art, cultural and linguistic landscape.

The second day took place at Princeton University. The workshop began with the observation of an intermediate level Spanish class , given by Professor Anais Holgado, who spoke to her students about Cuban-American citizens in Miami.

Afterwards, our students held a meeting with Professor Holgado; with the associate directors of the Princeton Spanish Program, Catalina Méndez and Mariana Bono; and with Alberto Bruzos, director of this Program, who last January gave a session at the University of Navarra.

On the fourth day, already in Washington, they attended several sessions of training at Georgetown University. Under the degree scroll "Training TBLT techers: lessons learned in an EFL context", Lara Bryfonski, assistant professor at Georgetown, presented the conclusions of a work she conducted in Honduras, from a task-based approach , to train teachers. Professor Lourdes Ortega then gave a session on "Task-based learning: a critical overview". Also, PhD student Abel Cruz Flores gave a talk on his research in the field of language teaching . These workshops were an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and expand their network contacts. 

Our students also had the opportunity to take a tour of campus. language In addition, they met Sofía Sánchez, a former student of Master's Degree in teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (MELE), who is currently at Albright College (Pennsylvania) as a Spanish teacher, thanks to a Fulbright grant scholarship .

The international stay ended at the University of Maryland. The workshop was dedicated to classroom observation, in order to get a closer look at the teaching system of our language in the country. Christopher Lewis, PhD student and professor of the subject "Span 303-Approaches to cultural materials in the Hispanic World", dedicated his class to analyze the themes of the film "The Secret in Their Eyes", winner of an Oscar for best international film. For her part, Professor Mariluz Bort, in her subject "Span 301-Advanced Grammar and Composition", analyzed an excerpt from the book "La civilización del espectáculo", by Nobel Prize winner and award Cervantes Mario Vargas Llosa. 

Manel Lacorte, professor of Applied Linguistics and director of the Spanish program at Maryland University, and Elisa Gironzetti, assistant professor of Applied Linguistics, guided them on a tour of campus where, among other places, they visited the building dedicated to the Spanish poet and Nobel Prize winner Juan Ramón Jiménez. The day ended with a writing workshop for graduate students, given by Juan Uriagereka, professor of linguistics at the University of Maryland.

When they take stock, our students say that the experience has been very positive, as it has allowed them to learn first-hand about the American system educational , get a deep insight into the teaching of ELE in the United States and acquire advanced knowledge about the functioning of the Departments of Spanish in American universities.