OLSA International is the top-rated Spanish academy in Medellin, Colombia according to Google Reviews.  Our focus as and academy is to provide more than just Spanish / English grammar (theory).  At OLSA, in addition to language theory, we actually put language into practice.  Our students learn to actually speak Spanish / English, instead of just knowing the grammar rules.  This is very important as the majority of people don’t learn a language just to be able to read it, or type it out on a screen.  Most people want to actually speak the language with natives and people from other countries.  It’s about connecting with people through language.  

OLSA International provides several ways to for people to learn to speak language.

1.  OLSA’s conversation classes focus on actually speaking Spanish / English.  We accomplish this by hiring native speakers and providing language modeling and correction through a variety of activities including prepared conversations, impromptu conversations, games, activities, songs and anything else we can think of to create student interaction in oral conversation.  This is called, Active Learning, and is the best form of learning language for improving language fluency.  (Filling out worksheets is considered Passive Learning and is good for acquiring knowledge).

2.  OLSA hosts a nightly language exchange (weekdays) starting at 6pm and extending to approximately 8:30pm, or 9:00pm – Fridays until 11:00pm.  These language exchanges are different every night and are different from other school and restaurant language exchanges.  Other schools and restaurants provide a space for people to come in and meet each other, but provide no method for actually getting past “tourist introduction conversation”.  At OLSA events, everything revolves around conversation.  We want our students interacting.  

For this reason, on Mondays, we host Board Game Night.  On Tuesdays we host Speed Chatting – a game we invented!  On Wednesdays our English teachers present Activity Night.  On Thursdays we host a Craft Night.  And, on Fridays, we host the Pre-Party event which helps locals and foreigners come together in conversation, games and activities as they become friends.  At 11pm, the group goes as a whole to the “Party Streets (the 70, or the 10).  This provides protection for our foreign participants and additional English practice for our local participants.  It’s a great time and the participants learn language without even studying! 

At OLSA International, it’s not just a Spanish academy, it’s a Colombian experience.