About The New York Spanish Language Meetup

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Learn SPANISH!:

CLICK HERE and learn about SPANISH CLASSES

OR VISIT:

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Welcome to our FAQ!

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW AND WERE AFRAID TO ASK!
TODO LO QUE NECESITAS SABER Y TENIAS MIEDO DE PREGUNTAR!

WHAT WE ARE AND HOW DOES IT WORK:

- We are a community of people who love the Spanish Language and culture

- Our goal is to help those who are learning Spanish improve their conversational skills, enrich their cultural backgroud while having fun and making new friends.

- Native speakers are most welcome! We will help you make friends and feel more integrated to the community, while learning more about your culture.

- We run 5-7 face-to-face events per months with a wide variety of content. Founded in 2002, most attendees to events are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, some two thirds of attendees speak Spanish as a second language, with the rest being native speakers.

TIME OUT NEW YORK (June 18th, 2009 issue) featured us as the first option for those who want to learn Spanish on a budget!

See the article here:
http://newyork.timeou...

COST

Joining and remaining as a member is entirely free, but most of our events aren´t. However, they offer a FABULOUS deal for your dollar, the reason why they are very popular and our group is by far the largest Spanish Language community. Most of our events cost from $2 to $20, some are free.

We run well-planned and organized events that include quality content. We support many museums and cultural institutions in New York as well as poor children in Latin America.

Ours are high quality events for members with higher standards, covering many cultural and educational subjects, always related to the hispanic culture. We care about members and respond all emails and inquiries.

We have fun, we laugh AND we organize events well, with good quality content related to hispanic culture. This group does not focus on free stuff being offered anywhere in town that should be free, nor focuses on bar scene events.

Meetup.com is a for profit business that monthly charges each and every organizer for using its website (rates start at 144 usd per year). By attending any paid events you are supporting us and meetup.com and you will be rewarding our hard work, allowing us to create new and exciting events for you.

We deeply appreciate your cooperation and we very much welcome those who understand that strong communities are built with members who understand there is giving and receiving. Neither should be ever missing.

YOU CAN NOT ATTEND MORE THAN 5 FREE EVENTS IN A ROW - Please kindly understand that breaking this rule is ground for removal. If you plan to only attend free events, this isn´t the group for you.

It is strongly recommended that you get a PayPal.com account (they are free). Please keep in mind that most events close advance payments around 24 hrs before event start time or when they get sold out. There are easy ways to pay online without a PayPal account and even without a credit card! - See them HERE

WHAT EVENTS ARE RIGHT FOR ME?

Noche de Película Monthly movie events, good for ALL levels, movies are in Spanish with good English subtitles.

Informal Conversation events: in large groups, no facilitator or teacher, no structure, in a bar or restaurant in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens – You need to be at least at a conversational level for these events.

Conversation WORKSHOPS: once per month, in groups of up to 12 members with a facilitator, for ALL levels!. We currently have 5 separate workshops, one for each level: TOTAL beginners, Upper Beginners, Lower and Upper Intermediates, and Advanced level.

Museum Visits - Walking Tours: please be at least mid-intermediate, with a good understanding of spoken Spanish (listening).

Please take a minute to read each event description before you RSVP (get listed as YES) and please check event page before attending an event for any last minute changes or updates posted there. IF YOU DON´T bother to RSVP, you will not receive any email updates on any changes the event might have.

RSVPs as YES do not reserve spots, only advance payment does.

CAN I ARRIVE LATE?:
For Informal Conversation Events, YES. Those usually last 2-2.5 hours, you can come in and leave anytime you want. For all other events, no. Please be on time.

I AM A BEGINNER, CAN I ATTEND?:
Yes, you can attend ANY event you want, although if you are not at a conversational level yet, I suggest you don't attend any conversation events.
ALL OUR EVENTS STATE WHAT LEVEL IS NEEDED IN EVENT DESCRIPTION – Please simply read them

FIND SOME GUIDANCE ABOUT WHAT YOUR LEVEL OF SPANISH IS HERE:
http://www.coe.int/T/...

We are offering COURSES in partnership with Easyespanol.org. Please click HERE to learn more about Spanish courses.
Our events are definitely not a replacement for your Spanish classes, they can help you with them or help you to refresh what you already knew and forgot. Please do not email us asking if you can attend, this info is specified in event description and we can not evaluate via email better than you if you are ready or not.

IMPORTANT NOTES
- Conversation events are entirely in Spanish - NO ENGLISH please. If you are unable to carry on or understand a conversation in Spanish, we recommend you take our classes before attending. As people attend conversation events to practice Spanish, we ask you to please kindly respect this.
- Each person attend events at his or her own risk. We are not responsible for any losses of property, any injuries or any form of damage that would affect you or your property during an event. Attending an event means you clearly understand you can not make organizer/s or the group liable for anything.
Minimum age to have a meetup.com account is 18 years old. Hence, you can not be a member of any meetup group if you are under 18.

WHEN AND WHERE:
Expect 5 to 7 events every month in a wide variety of times and days. List of regular events is on our homepage. WE REGULARLY HAVE EVENTS ONLY FOR BEGINNERS! Stay tuned.
We alternate venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

WHAT IF AN EVENT I´D LIKE TO ATTEND GETS FULL AND I CAN´T RSVP?
Usually, there is an automatic waiting list available when this happens. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THE ORGANIZER/S BECAUSE THE EVENT YOU WANT TO ATTEND IS FULL AND YOU WANT US TO SEE IF THERE IS A CHANCE TO FIT YOU IN.
If there is any important change in any event, we always send a mass email to tell everyone about it. We always update the event´s webpage with any change/s, so please check there the day of the event.
Please kindly note that Organizer and Assistant Organizers have priority in the waiting list for events that are full.

WHAT ARE CULTURAL EVENTS?:
Learning a new language is not just learning new grammar and vocabulary, it´s an entire new cultural experience. We provide you with get in touch with the culture from Spain and Latin America.
Past cultural events were: Museum visits guided in Spanish by an art expert, (Metropolitan Museum, The Hispanic Society of America, Guggenheim Museum, etc), salsa, tango and flamenco classes, going to the theater to see a play in Spanish, etc.

CANCELLATION and EVENT CHANGES POLICY:
Please read it ---> HERE

HOW CAN I HELP THIS GROUP, WITHOUT DEDICATING TOO MUCH OF MY TIME?
You can help a lot by doing very little:

1) SUPPORT US! Attend sometimes events that are not free or donate a buck or two when asked. Meetup communities work much better when they are supported by members who chip in with a little. They always get a lot in return.
2) PLEASE BE AS NICE AS YOU CAN and open/welcoming to other members (and to the host/organizer! ) during our gatherings, especially when it is somebody that is showing up for the first time,
3) place an RSVP as "Yes" to every event you plan to attend,
4) do NOT attend events that are full unless you are listed as "Yes" in event page
5) suggest ideas for events that you find interesting and provide constructive criticism to improve our group,
6) rate events after you attend them, being fair and constructive by remarking both what was positive and what you would improve. And last, but not least, please help us keep a friendly atmosphere. Above all, this is a large but wonderful group of friends!.

ABOUT OUR MESSAGE BOARD: Please do not post messages unrelated to the group, the group´s topic or the spanish language or latin american/hispanic culture.

QUESTIONS?: For any problems or questions regarding the use of this website or the group´s webpage, please kindly ask Meetup´s support/help desk (and not the group´s organizers). I will be glad to read your comments and suggestions.

Néstor
Group Organizer (SEE MY OTHER MEETUP GROUPS!)