How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Elisabeth: Well, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Before starting with Agualivar, I worked in other training companies. And I have had amazing experiences with students and co-workers. However, nothing compares to Agualivar. This school is our project. My co-workers and I have the opportunity to make a difference, as we have always dreamed, and it's incredible!
Agualivar has given me the chance to work in something I really love, and what is more important, the way I want. With small groups of students, in a family atmosphere, with lessons out the classroom, with creativity… without frontiers! Agualivar is not only my company, it's also my home.
It’s the place where students become friends. And the place where both teachers and students stop to learn. It is easy to realize when people are completely happy in their lives and that is just what Agualivar has brought to me.
What unique qualities does your company possess?
Elisabeth: Agualivar is not a traditional academy or school. It is a real house with a family and teachers who host the students. The learning process is very intensive because not only are students attending lessons in the morning or afternoon, but also sharing lunch and dinner together and enjoying all the activities of the day.
All we expect from the students is their involvement in our daily life and the promise to speak only Spanish. In exchange, we offer a unique experience in Spanish Immersion, where students will speak only in Spanish all the time, improving quickly and gaining confidence.
That is not simple or easy. However, we can do so by hosting only groups of four. In fact, most of our courses are individuals. So I would say what makes Agualivar unique is our home and having students feel like they are at home too.
What was your favorite traveling experience?
Elisabeth: It was an inter-rail though Europe. It was my first experience traveling abroad on my own so it was exciting! Meeting people in each city, running from one place to another, catching trains, sleeping in hostels or on the trains themselves…looking for something cheap to eat! It was an amazing experience that I always remember happily.
I try not to forget that experience because it reminds me best travels are those that are not planned. I experienced a lot of different funny moments in that travel and others less funny… But what I remember quite well is that I noticed how important languages skills were. At that moment, I didn’t know too much English and it was frustrating because I couldn't speak naturally with other backpackers.
Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of the Agualivar Spanish School team.
Elisabeth: It is always the same time: when students say goodbye and tell me how amazing their stay with us was. It is really quite comforting when people tell you that you’re doing a good job. But there was one student who made a difference and left a mark on me. She was a student from Luxembourg and stayed only one week in our school.
However, time in Agualivar is very relative… One week may seem like a month sometimes! That it is what happen when the immersion is so intensive! She decided to have one week in our school and other week in other one. First week was with us and the thing is that student and our family understood each other very well. The day of her departure, without going into many details, was very emotional.
Just hours after, I received a message from her to tell us that she already missed us and our house. We met again before she came back to Luxembourg. I noticed that I have achieved what I have dreamed! We are a team that works for something more than just a Spanish School.
