Groups, of course, are small: eleven in children`s groups and up to eight for adults. We believe that larger numbers would be detrimental to the quality of the classes especially for adults since they have a greater interest in participating actively in conversations.

Our primary objective is to have the student speaking English from the first day. Initially we work “face-to-face” (without texts); the student learns by deduction and mimesis, he uses English because he is not offered an alternative. Younger students are frequently surprised to discover, after a year or two, that their teacher can, in fact, speak Spanish.

Initially, the student spends one year exploring the most basic structures; learning to ask for things or request permission, to describe experiences and to relate to his environment.

children love speaking and why not do it in English? This is the time when the student, without "studying grammar" as such, makes his first contact with all the most essential points of English grammar in preparation for that stage when he will study grammar formally in order to acquire a clear understanding of how the language is structured - an indispensable step for all non-native speakers of any language.

It is surprising how well the average student speaks at the age of 9 or 10 years; and with an impeccable pronunciation. At this point he moves on to work with books and his vocabulary which, until now has been necessarily limited begins to expand at the same time as he makes his second exploration of the elementary grammar. At this age, the student is reading and writing well and these capacities are exploited in the learning process which continues with the addition of advanced grammar, acquisition of vocabulary and constant re-cycling of previously studied material until the student reaches the level known as Intermediate. At this point we consider taking an examination. There are several available although by far the most accepted is the University of Cambridge`s FIRST CERTIFICATE.

The possession of this certificate (or any of its equivalents such as Trinity; London; Princeton...) bestows a number of advantages. It is gratifying, obviously, to have one`s level of proficiency recognised by an impartial and highly competent entity and, in a more practical vein, the certificate is accepted as evidence of ability by a huge number of commercial enterprises and English -speaking universities around the world. Furthermore, and most attractive to our adolescent students, the holder of a certificate is awarded points on entry to a Spanish university which will enable him to employ certain parts of his working week as he sees fit. There has to be a drawback, of course, and in this case it is called "Exam Technique."

In order to be successful in any of the better-known examinations, the studentwill need to acquire certain abilities which may concern letter-writing; discriminating betweendifferent styles (conversational Englishor a more disciplined, sophisticated style appropriate for formal letters); or performing well in an oral exam. To this end thecandidate will spend some time studying"TheExam And How To Pass It".

Having obtained his First Certificate, the typical studentconsiders - with some justification - that he is now "black belt" in English and canturn his attention to other things. There are, however, superior levels and as the number of first certificate holders grows, so too does interest in CAE and PROFICIENCY.

Literally anyone, at any age, can begin to learn a language. At Pym`s we have classes formature total beginners and at the opposite extreme, classes for non-native professional teachers of the languagewho wish to polish and refine their English.