We use Skype video chat for the online courses, so you and your teacher can see each other. Skype is very easy to use. If you don’t have it on your computer already, you can download it for free from the Skype website.
Ixchel’s teachers are all native Spanish speakers and have received extensive training. Most of the teachers have more than five years of experience teaching Spanish as a second language to foreign students, some have been with Ixchel since the school was founded in 1999.
Note that you do not need to buy a Skype subscription. Subscriptions are only necessary if you want to use Skype to make calls to a regular phone. Connections from computer to computer, which is what we use, are free.
speakers or headset (a lesson lasts 50 minutes, so you’ll want to choose a model you are comfortable using for an extended period of time)
Microphone
Web browser to access the class materials on our website (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer will all work, and if you use another browser, chances are it will be fine too)
That’s all! No special software is required and Skype works well on older computers too. We’ve tested it here with a 5 year old laptop computer and it worked fine.
