Professional associations and useful websites

Professional Teachers’ Associations of Spanish exist in three States – Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

The Association for Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA) was established in 1993 with several aims, including:

to promote research into and the teaching of Iberian and Latin American Studies in Australasia
to promote the professional development of its members
to promote public awareness of and interest in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America
to stimulate and encourage interchange between Australasia and the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America; and
to coordinate and rationalise available resources among member institutions through the interchange of students, teachers and resources

AILASA holds an international conference every second year and publishes the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies (JILAS), an international research journal.

Useful websites

Royal Spanish Academy
Instituto Cervantes
The Cervantes Institute is a public institution created by Spain in 1991 for the promotion and teaching of Spanish language and the official languagesand the dissemination of Spanish and Latin American culture. It is present in 90 cities in43 countries on five continents.
Centro Virtual Cervantes (CVC)
The Cervantes Virtual Center (CVC) is a website created and maintained by the Instituto Cervantes of Spain in 1997 to help spread the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures. The Cervantes Virtual Center provides materials and services for Spanish teachers, students, translators, journalists and other professionals working with the language, as well as Hispanists worldwide, and for anyone interested in the Spanish language , culture and situation of Spanish on the Web.
Spanish Education Office in Australia and New Zealand
The Spanish Education Office in Australia and New Zealand is the department of the Spanish Embassies in Canberra and Wellington representing the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Its main functions are the promotion, management and coordination of education programmes in order to enhance cooperative agreements on Spanish languages and cultures in Australia and New Zealand. Our aim is to provide support and professional advice to the official educational systems by means of human, technical, curricula and didactic resources, in collaboration with Australia and New Zealand’s educational and cultural administrations, institutions and agencies.
Journal RedELE
The portal Redele (electronic network of teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language) is a public service of the Ministry of Education of Spain for professionals in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language worldwide. It aims to provide specific information on the teaching of this discipline and contribute to the training of teachers.
Spanish Cultural and Resource Centre “Alejandro Malaspina”
Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA)
Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies (JILAS)