Use your statutory educational leave to learn Spanish and get involved in social projects at the same time. With us, both go hand in hand.
The core offer is your Spanish course as educational leave (Bildungsurlaub), recognised as professional development in Hamburg (§15 BiUrlG HA), North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin. What matters is your place of work, not your residence: if you work in one of these three states, you can use the course as educational leave no matter where you live. If you work in another state, please ask us in advance. In addition, you can get involved in social projects, for example at schools or in children’s homes.
As a German employee you are entitled to ten days of educational leave within two years for recognised further training. Your employer releases you and continues to pay your salary; you cover the course fees yourself.
We issue the registration confirmation and the certificate of participation (official Hamburg template for your employer) with a reference number.
You'll find the course fees clearly on the Prices page. Application: submit it to your employer in good time, usually a few weeks before the start (exact deadline depends on the relevant state law).
Learn a language and help at the same time: this combination turns your educational leave into an experience that goes far beyond the classroom.
Educational leave is your statutory right. Ten days over two years, with your salary paid, doing something for yourself. Why let it lapse? Instead of a standard seminar in a back office, you learn Spanish in Quito, high up in the Andes. It moves you forward professionally and personally, and stays with you as an experience.
More than 500 million people speak Spanish. At work, when travelling, in everyday life it is worth its weight in gold. In care, medicine or with patients and colleagues, Spanish makes the difference. In one-to-one lessons you get surprisingly far in two weeks, because it is all about you.
All placements are free of charge. A compulsory two-week Spanish course (40 hours) is required, beforehand or in parallel.
Care for children, play, help with meals and lessons. Board and lodging at the home.
Support care facilities with school lessons and give children new perspectives.
Help teachers at primary and secondary schools in and around Quito.
Accompany pre-school children. Minimum stay from two weeks.
Open a project you're interested in. All placements are free of charge; a two-week Spanish course (40 hours) is required.
You help out at the Aliñambi children's home in the community of Conocoto, around 35 km from Quito. You spend time with the children, play with them and help with care and lessons.
The home is a donation-funded foundation, approved by Ecuador's Ministry of Social Affairs. Staff are often stretched, so there is rarely time for a long induction. Initiative and organisational skills are key here, all-rounders are in the right place.
In Quito several organisations help street children, prevent child labour and give the children a chance. They care for children whose parents cannot look after them, often families of low-income workers who move from the countryside to the city and whose children have to help earn a living instead of going to school.
The facilities are spread across districts of Quito and its surroundings and offer accommodation and care. Often a school, sometimes with vocational training, is attached. Children and parents are supported together so the children can attend regularly.
You help out at public kindergartens, nurseries or pre-schools in the Quito area, some care for children from infancy. You spend time with the children, play, help with care and support their early learning.
This support is highly valued and urgently needed. The work calls for initiative and organisational skills.
You support a state primary school (Escuela Pública) or a secondary school with a vocational qualification (Colegio). You help the teachers across the board, take on parts of the lessons and teach a few hours of English a week, for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Most students from lower-income families attend state schools. These are often poorly equipped and the classes are overcrowded. Second-hand school supplies are very welcome, for example pens, exercise books, English books, clothes or shoes.
Send us a non-binding message and we'll get back to you with a suitable suggestion.