The Academia de Idiomas de Norte (AIN), founded by a Swiss language enthusiast in 1980, has developed a strong reputation for offering professional language courses in a relaxed atmosphere. Located in Iquique, a desert town on the Chilean coast, the school is housed in a traditional building in a calm residential area just five minutes away from the beach. 

Lessons at AIN focus on verbal communication and teaching methods draw on a variety of approaches to help you to get the most out of your classes. To keep your day varied and interesting, your classes will be split between two different teachers: the first specializing in grammar and the second in practicing your Spanish through conversation and exercises. Being a small school, most students are taught in private lessons but group courses are also available if at least three students are interested. These are taught to a small number of students (maximum six) so that everyone has ample opportunity to actively participate. All teachers are native Spanish speakers with a University degree, have at least seven years of teaching experience and are well-travelled, many having worked and lived in other countries.

Spanish is not the only language taught at this school, AIN also has Chilean students taking courses in English, German, French, Mandarin, etc. This guarantees that you will have the opportunity to meet local people and to practice your Spanish with them, in exchange for helping them with their English.

Each week, AIN organizes museum trips, meals out, beach activities and water sports. There is an amazing selection of outdoor activities to enjoy in Iquique and the surrounding area including paragliding, surfing, scuba diving, windsurfing, body boarding, fishing, mountain biking and quad biking in the sand dunes. The school can help you to arrange these activities and to plan your travels in northern Chile (such as to visit the desert town of San Pedro d’Atacama or Lauca National Park), or further afield in Peru, Bolivia or Patagonia.