The Instituto Cervantes is an institution founded by Spain in 1991 to teach and promote the language and culture of Spain as well as the coofficial languages of Spain and the Hispanic-speaking countries. The Instituto Cervantes is present in almost over 70 cities from 40 countries spread out in the five continents. King Juan Carlos is the president of honour of the Institution that manages the Instituto Cervantes. The Spanish Governmemnt is the executive president of the Institution, that in addition is integrated by distinguished representatives of the Spanish literature and culture, as well as the writers awarded with the Premio de Literatura Miguel de Cervantes (Miguel de Cervantes Literature Award). The Instituto is the organization of reference around the world for the teaching training of Spanish as a second language, with more than 11,000 enrollments a year. In almost 10,000 Spanish Courses and seminars, that are held in Spain and in the countries where there are Cervantes centres, the teachers update their linguistic knowledge and teaching techniques. Furthermore, the Institute counts with the Centro de Formación de Profesores en Alcalá de Henares (Training Centre for Teachers) in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), birth city of Miguel de Cervantes. Instituto Cervantes organizes the exams for the Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE), an official certificate recognized internationally that certifies the knowledge of Spanish of non Hispanic speakers. El Spanish Virtual Classroom (AVE) offers a complete programme of Spanish in the Internet created by the Instituto Cervantes. It is a new open teaching system, accessible, fast and cheap, that allows the student to choose the most appropriate moment, the pace and the place of study. The course contains many interactive teaching materials, as well as personal tutors who assists the student and monitors his/her progress. is the Spanish Course that allows to learn the language making the most of the new digital technology. It is available in different formats: Internet, television, books… It offers TV programmes, an extensive audio archive, a range around ten thousand interactive activities and a Student Guide. The Network of Associated Centers integrates institutions dedicated to the teaching of Spanish –public and private- that have the accreditation from the Instituto Cervantes. This guarantees the quality and efficiency of the teaching work of such Centres. The Oficina del Español en la Sociedad de la Información (OESI) works for the spreading of the the language in Internet. To achieve this aim promotes the development of the information technologies and communications, and supports research in the fields more closely related to the so called Information Society. The Cervantes publishes manuals and guides about the teaching of Spanish, yearbooks about the situation of the language in the world, catalogues of the exhibitions that organizes and other publications in collaboration with other institutions.
