These terms govern enrolment and participation in the language courses and add-on offers of the Atahualpa Language School.
These terms apply to all enrolments in Spanish courses at Escuela de Español Atahualpa (Quito, Ecuador), reachable via the website atahualpa.info, and to the bookable add-ons (clinical elective, internships and nursing placements, educational leave, social projects and the Travelling Classroom). Your contact in Germany is Isabel Adriana Grammel.
Enrolment via the online form or by email is initially non-binding. You then receive a non-binding booking confirmation from Ecuador. It remains non-binding as long as you have not sent us your flight details. Until then you can change or cancel the booking free of charge at any time. Only after we receive your arrival details do we register you bindingly for the course, the hospital or the project; the contract then becomes binding.
The core service is personal one-to-one Spanish tuition in Quito. Optionally combinable are a clinical elective or internships/nursing placements, educational leave, social projects and trips (Travelling Classroom). The exact scope is set out in your booking confirmation.
The Spanish course lasts a minimum of 2 weeks (40 lesson hours). A clinical elective or an internship/nursing placement lasts a minimum of 4 weeks and is always free of charge; the two-week Spanish course (40 hours) is compulsory alongside it.
All prices are in US dollars (USD), the official currency of Ecuador. Modular pricing applies: you only pay for what you book. Current individual prices are on the Prices page. Clinical elective and internships are free. Trip prices (Travelling Classroom) are starting-from prices; the exact quote follows after your non-binding enquiry. There are no registration or booking fees.
The booked period is paid in full before arrival. Payment is made by bank transfer to the school's Ecuadorian account in Quito (account holder Martha Oña / Centro Atahualpa, Banco del Pichincha) or by PayPal. You receive the exact payment details with your booking confirmation. For a transfer to Ecuador the bank charges a commission / transfer fee that is added on top of the price and is covered by you; please transfer the amount so that the full price reaches the school. All payments go directly to the language school's account in Quito (Ecuador). If you decide on-site to extend, you pay that directly in Quito (cash also possible).
Until your booking is fully confirmed and you have sent us your flight details, the booking is non-binding and can be cancelled or changed free of charge at any time. Once your booking is fully confirmed and you have sent us your flight, it becomes binding: for any later cancellation the school retains 10 % of the amount and refunds you the rest. The transfer / bank fees incurred on payment and refund are covered by you and are not refunded.
We strongly recommend travel cancellation and international health insurance.
On request we arrange a school apartment with breakfast or a single room with full board with a host family. Current prices are on the Prices page. Accommodation is booked together with the course.
The stay on a tourist status is limited to a maximum of 90 days (no visa, no employment contracts). An extension of a few weeks is possible on site. For longer stays, please contact the Embassy of Ecuador in Berlin in good time. Each participant is responsible for meeting the entry requirements.
International health and travel insurance is strongly recommended and is mandatory for participation in a clinical elective or internships. The school and the hospitals involved accept no liability for illness or accident costs. Each participant is responsible for adequate vaccination protection and travel-medicine advice.
The Spanish course is recognised as educational leave, including in Hamburg (§15 BiUrlG HA), North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin. On request we provide the proof of recognition (with reference number), the registration confirmation and the certificate of participation for your employer. Applying to the employer in good time is the participant's responsibility.
We are liable only for damages caused by intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty. For the arrangement of accommodation, trips and placements we accept no liability for circumstances beyond our control. Participation in activities, trips and placements is at your own responsibility.
We process your data solely to handle your enrolment and stay. For details see our Privacy Policy.
German law applies. Should any provision of these terms be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.
As of September 2026.