Latest news at El Patio
- Estudiantes ilustres - read about some of our illustrious students ..
- Exclusive to El Patio! Resources specific to your course ..
- Get a handle on your level - online level test available now ..
- It's easy to enrol online ..
- Log in to miPatio ..
- About our new website ..
- Magazine article on Ana Ruiz ..
Estudiantes ilustres - read about some of our illustrious students!
We're very proud to present some of El Patio's students who are highly regarded - writers, intellectuals, artists, musicians, film directors... Read about what they do and why they're studying Spanish. We thank them for appearing here and hope that you find inspiration in some of their stories. Estudiantes ilustres ..
Exclusive to El Patio! Resources specific to your course.
El Patio has created what we think gives great value to your enrolment in one of our Spanish courses. We have enhanced the study resources on this website, by offering a special facility targeted at the topics that are covered in specific courses. It is a bit more exclusive, useful and very easy to use.
When you enrol, then log in to miPatio (top right), you will have automatic access to a page which contains internet resources that are specific to the course you are enrolled in. It is available to those in courses from Elementary 1 through to Upper Elementary 3. Those for the higher levels will appear soon.
In the Study Resources you will find:
- printable Wordlists for each week of your course (to help you
navigate the textbook) - Select, focussed Weblinks to pages of other sites for practice with topics you are currently studying, so no more getting lost whilst searching for exercises
- a Classroom language glossary
- a Grammatical language glossary
- other printable documents eg: Spanish keyboard layouts
This facility is exclusively for currently enrolled students. Here's how it works: you have access to these pages during the Term that you are enrolled, and then for one further Term, or until you enrol in the next course. The information for the new course will then be accessible.
Enhance your studies with this new collection of resources! Log in and see for yourself.
Read a bit more about logging in to miPatio.
Get a handle on your level - online level test available now!
Co-ordinator of studies Ana Ruiz is had developed an online level test, and it's ready for you to use now.
We're sure it will be a useful guideline for those who are interested in enrolling in a course, but are not sure of their level. Not only that, it is a great tool for anyone studying Spanish who wants so check up on how they're going.
The test format is multiple choice and self-checking, so you can take it as many times as you wish. It is be divided into the same levels as El Patio courses, catering for beginners right through to Upper Intermediate, though it will soon extend through to Superior.
Test your level now.
It's easy to enrol online..
Enrol securely online with a credit card in a few easy steps. Our smart, new system guides you through, provides full details of all courses, lets you know if the class is full or not, calculates early-enroller discounts and places you in the class in a matter of minutes. As soon as your credit card payment is approved, your place is secured. And no need to fill out enrolment forms!
Not only that, for a limited time you receive a further $5 discount on course fees if you enrol online!
Enrol online with secure online credit card payment using 128 Bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Technology.
Log in to miPatio - your own student zone
El Patio has an online "home" for students, with the aim of enhancing your study experience. Welcome to miPatio!
miPatio is a secure part of our site (a little padlock will appear in one of the corners of your browser) where you'll be able to log in and view details of your current course, Term dates, public holidays and events. You may also update your contact details, view your study history and have at your fingertips handy information such as public transport timetables.
Exclusively to currently-enrolled students is the access to Wordlists and Weblinks that specifically address topics in your course. This facility is described above: Resources specific to your course.
From here you'll be able to re-enrol securely online with your credit card.
Here's a preview of what a miPatio welcome page looks like. To go there, you need to create a login at top right.
About our new website...
It was time for a new look! Our team of designers and programmers have been integrating our new logo, not to mention the student login and online enrolment facilities.
We found talent to do this amongst people around us. Webmistress Toni Edwards got together with Simon Young and Steve Rochford to put together the website, combining the new logo created by Robert Wise, along with the behind-the-scenes stuff that allows students to log in and re-enrol.
Simon Young was one of our teachers at El Patio before leaving us to go and live, study and work in Spain. Luckily before he left we discovered his affection for database programming!
Steve Rochford is a current Lower Intermediate 5 student, and his graphic and website design business, Helmut Design, caught our eye when we were looking for someone to fill this role.
Robert Wise, a student of Ana's, thought he could come up with something fun and professional, which contained the ambience of a patio. And we think he did!
Luckily in Spanish classes the question is asked - ¿Qué haces?, or ¿A qué te dedicas?, and sometimes the answer leads us to new collaborations!
Check out this article on Ana Ruiz
It appeared in Mujer Hoy, Spain, on June 27, a magazine supplement which comes with newspapers all over Spain, not unlike The Age's Sunday Magazine. The page article is shown below, or you can see it at the Mujer Hoy website (which is a bit slow to load).
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