Hello everyone! In this article we are going to talk about Hispania, escuela de español´s involvement in the Chinese Tourism Guide.

This article will be divided into the following sections:

• What is Hispania, escuela de español?
• What is the Chinese Tourism Guide?
• Why is Hispania, escuela de español in this guide?
• Our knowledge about the Chinese students.
• 3 pieces of advice to maintain good relations between the school and the Chinese students.

It sounds interesting, right? Let´s start!

What is Hispania, escuela de español?

Hispania, escuela de español is an educational institute offering various courses in Spanish language (ELE) and culture, alongside other subjects available to international students.

Our school opened its doors in 2002 and since then, more than 40,000 students have learnt Spanish with us.

Hispania, escuela de español is officially recognized by the Cervantes Institute and by EAQUALS, Excellence in Language Education.

Additionally, in recent years, it has earned dozens of accreditations for its great work and has obtained numerous awards, making it one of the global reference points within the “Study Abroad” sector for learning Spanish.

Did you know that our school has its own teaching method?

The Hispania Method lets students learn Spanish in an enjoyable way, with teachers specialising in the teaching of Spanish to foreigners. 

Grammar and vocabulary is worked on in all classes, keeping in mind the four communicational skills: oral expression, listening comprehension, reading comprehension and writing expression.

However, without a doubt, conversation is what we work on most in our classes. There are no boring classes where the teacher is the only one speaking! In Hispania, escuela de español, our students actively participate from when the class starts until the moment it ends.

The quality of the classes is the greatest strength of the school. This means that every year, Hispania, escuela de español is able to welcome thousands of students who look forward to learning Spanish.

What is the Chinese Tourism Guide?

The Chinese Tourism Guide has been created by the Spanish Tourism Institute with the intention of preparing the tourism sector in Spain and providing it with tools for the Chinese market.

What forms of social media are the most suitable to draw the attention of the Chinese people?

What habits do these tourists have?

These questions, among others, are answered in the Chinese Tourism Guide, with the goal of helping the Spanish tourism sector maintain successful contact with the Chinese tourists and so that both sides are able to benefit.

In this guide, we can find information about the Chinese outbound market and Chinese tourism to Spain. There is also a chapter on the Chinese digital ecosystem that aims to shed light on what strategies to follow in order to enter this market.

This is followed by an extensive chapter on tourism experiences, which covers best practices and expert knowledge on the main types of Chinese tourism to Spain: Urban and cultural tourism, shopping tourism, gastronomic tourism and wine tourism, language tourism, among others.

The Chinese Tourism Guide aims to help all sectors within the tourism industry that have contact with Chinese clients: housing, trade, cultural centres, Spanish schools, etc.

In order to create this guide, it has been important for many institutions and businesses to contribute their ideas and share their experiences with Chinese tourists.

Hispania, escuela de español is one of the businesses that has been involved in the Chinese Tourism Guide, sharing their experience of teaching Spanish to the Chinese students at the school.

We are very grateful for this! Thanks to FEDELE and the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism for having chosen us, confiding in us and giving us the opportunity to represent the schools teaching Spanish to foreigners in this guide.

We are very proud to have been able to leave our mark on this guide, and on a sector that we are so passionate about, educational tourism.

Why is Hispania, escuela de español in this guide?

In Hispania, escuela de español we have seen the need to create a department dedicated exclusively to China, after 15 years of experience working with China.

After all these years, we can say with certainty that we know what the needs of the Chinese students are.

We are very aware that, for these students, oral and written expression requires a lot of practice.

We have seen that there are students who prefer to be in intercultural classes from the beginning, and students who prefer groups of Chinese students at A1 and A2 levels and then move on to B1 level in intercultural classes.

We have very good relations with Chinese agencies and the Chinese students make up an important part of our school.

We pay attention to the needs of each student. We help them in every way possible and try to make sure their stay in Hispania is fulfilling and comfortable.

For these reasons, we are listed in the Language Tourism Section of the Chinese Tourism Guide.

Our knowledge of the Chinese students

Regarding the Chinese students behaviour, we know that they are very respectful, very responsible and very hard-working.

Their aim is to return to China with a qualification: the DELE Diploma and an official qualification, generally a Master's Degree, but they are aware that they need personalized support to achieve this.

That is why our Chinese-speaking department has three people from China. We think that it is key to have people of Chinese nationality in our team. In this way, our relations with the Chinese agencies run much more smoothly and our students feel much calmer after seeing that there are people from their own country who are able to help them with any situation that may arise.

3 pieces of advice to maintain good relations between the school and the Chinese students.

What is there to do to attract the attention of the Chinese students?

Hispania, escuela de español, provides these 3 pieces of advice in order to successfully achieve this:

Learn about their culture

The Chinese and Spanish culture are different in many aspects. For this reason, it´s key to understand their culture and customs to be able to communicate properly and avoid misunderstandings.

How is this understanding of the Chinese culture achieved? With a lot of experience, empathy and understanding.

Being very professional and honest with everything

Professionalism and honestly is essential. The Chinese students value their time and money greatly. If they feel that their classes are not at the level they expected or that they aren’t learning a sufficient amount, they can feel frustrated and disappointed.

The best way to deal with this is offer high quality classes and add something new to each lesson so that the students never feel that they are repeating the same things.

Of course, it´s fundamental to count on a team of well-equipped teachers who have a passion for teaching Spanish. In Hispania, escuela de español, we have a rigorous teacher selection process and we continuously provide training on Spanish teaching and the Hispania Method.

Before any problem can arise, we always speak with the students in private and listen carefully to their requests. If we can help them, we will always do so with integrity and honesty.

In this way, it is very important to be meticulous in always complying with the current regulations.

The creation of a Chinese-speaking department

As we have previously mentioned, having people on the team from the same nationality will be very useful to establish a good relationship between the students and the school.

It assures the students to know that they can rely on these people if they have adaption needs, doubts or any other problems. When abroad, having people close of the same nationality, always provides a sense of calmness.

If you have a Spanish school and want your students to feel comfortable and happy, try to follow these three points and you will definitely see good results.

That is everything - we hope that this article has been useful in order to know a little more about the characteristics of the Chinese students and what needs to be done so that these students feel at ease at Spanish schools in Spain.

This article also serves for you to be able to learn a bit more about our school, Hispania, escuela de español and about the Chinese Tourism Guide.

Finally, we want to once again thank FEDELE and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, for their belief in us and want to show our honour in being able to collaborate in such a project.

We will see you in the next article,

See you soon!