The “Escuela Oficial de Idiomas” (EOI) in Arrecife is the Official Language School that was established in 1994 and being an official centre means that it’s under the direction of the Education Department of the Canarian Goverment.
The EOI is located in Calle El Antonio, number 1 in Arrecife, behind the Escuela de Arte Pancho Lasso on Rambla Medular.
The telephone number is +34 928 805 806 and the attention hours are from Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm.
Since it started it’s grown from strength to strength, initially just having a few hundred students up to currently teaching about 2,000. The range of languages and levels have increased too:
– German: A2.1, A2.2, B1.1, B1.2 , B2.1 and B2.2
– Arabic: A1, A2.1, A2.2 and B1.0
– French: A2.1, A2.2, B1.1, B1.2 and B2.1
– English: A2.1, A2.2, B1.1, B1.2, B2.1, B2.2, C1.1 and C1.2
– And, probably most importantly for our readers, they also teach Spanish: A2.1, A2.2 and B1.1. These courses are called “Español para extranjeros” or Spanish for foreigners.
Regular courses are taught twice a week on non-consecutive days, approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes per class from mid September to the end of May the following year, approximately 140h hours of class per course.
Also, they teach courses specialised in Customer Service for German, French and English ( levels A2.1 and A2/ B1.1 ), Initiation to German (level A1 ) and an English Communication Competency for teachers (level B2).
These courses are delivered in two modules of 35 hours each, the 1st from September to the end of January and the 2nd from the end of January to the end of May. The modules are independent and the student can decide whether to register for the second module or not.
The second module can also be accessed directly but a test (prueba de clasificación) must be past to establish that the student can skip the first module.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO ATTEND THE COURSES?
The steps to register at the EOI are the same than in any public centre:
1) Pre-registration periods are established by the Education Department. It normally happens in April but there was another one in May/June and there is currently a 3rd one not in June/July.
2) Anyone citizen with DNI or NIE can pre-register.
3) You can access the most basic level ( A2.1 ).
4) If you consider that you have a higher level but do not have any certification to prove it, you can ask to do a level test (prueba de clasificación). You have to pay the relevant fee (€17.89) and pass a written and oral test.
5) You can also access higher courses if you have certificates to prove it. Please contact the EOI to see what levels your certificates entitles you to jump to.
HOW MUCH DO THE COURSES COST?
The registration fees are listed on the webpage of the EOI Arrecife.
Generally the registration fees are €72.48 per year for the regular courses and €36.95 per module for the specialised courses. There are also discounts for the unemployed, large families, etc.
WHEN TO REGISTER?
The current pre-registration period closes at 11h on the 9th of July. Registration periods tend to be short and announced late, so if you are interested now or in future, we advise you to keep an eye on the EOI’s website and social media pages not to miss out on it.
HOW DO I PRE-REGISTER?
1) Go to the EOI’s webpage: eoiarrecife.com
2) Check the tab “Comunicados”
3) Choose the form of the language or course you want to study and fill it.
4) The list of admitted and the waiting list will be published on the 11th of July, 2019. The list is available physically in the Hall of the Center and online on the school’s website. Registration is possible from that day onwards.
