The word TANDEM refers to a duality: two languages, two people, two lives, two cultures, learning as two. The school that was born in 1982 in Madrid under the symbol of a bicycle has truly been a wonderful vehicle for the exchange, contact, dialogue, work, discussion, and fun between Spaniards and students from all over the world.
Thousands of people who have worked and studied with us continue to maintain contact through institutions or companies, and continue to spread the TANDEM spirit in teaching and work. That spirit is reflected also in our motto: TANDEM, the pleasure of learning.
Thirty-five years may sound like too many, but the truth is that time flies. In 1982, we founded TANDEM Escuela Internacional Madrid as a language teaching cooperative. This came after a fruitful experience with the Goethe Institut in Madrid, where we had the opportunity to introduce the TANDEM method together with Jürgen Wolff of the TANDEM Foundation.
As we stated on the page about our history, “Our beginnings were very humble: about 120 square meters in the neighborhood of Chueca, furniture made by ourselves and dedication by the 8 cooperatives to the most diverse tasks.”
In parallel, the TANDEM International network was growing with new independent schools in different countries, diverse in their characteristics and realities, but all united by the values that represent us.
As time passed, we gradually progressed to become a prestigious training center, offering courses in German, English, and Spanish for foreigners, as well as training for teachers and companies. Now we occupy a beautiful small palace in the center of Madrid, where we have constituted a family of almost 100 people, many of whom have been with us for many years. We have agreements with universities and several institutions that help us to offer even more memorable experiences to our students, and we are an international reference in language teaching.
We have gone through difficult times, like any family, but we have been able to overcome all the crises that were presented to us precisely because we remained loyal to our values. We will continue to progress in order to adapt to the times to come; times in which technology and machines will produce important changes in our lives, which will increasingly require an education focused on people and what makes us human.
On this very special occasion, we would like to remember the values and “TANDEM spirit” that allowed us to arrive where we are, and to thank all those who collaborated to make this possible. Our success is also the success of all of you.
Congratulations!
This article is also available in Spanish.
