Make Spanish Work for You
Estribo offers private, group, and corporate Spanish lessons tailored for students, professionals, and growing teams, as well as expert editing services.
At Estribo, we specialize in helping individuals and organizations connect more effectively through the Spanish language.
With over 20 years of experience, we offer private and corporate Spanish lessons that are practical, engaging, and tailored to real-world needs—whether for the workplace, travel, or personal growth.
In addition, we provide professional editing services for documents and manuscripts written in Spanish, ensuring your writing is polished, accurate, and stylistically refined.
With a passion for language and a commitment to quality, we’re here to support your goals—whether you’re learning to speak Spanish or perfecting your message in it.
Our Services
We assess each student’s level to determine the right learning path. Students choose their lesson frequency, or we can recommend a schedule based on their needs.
Corporate Training
Corporate Training: Enhance your understanding of the Spanish language in business with our comprehensive training services. Our expert-led sessions offer personalized support for professionals and executives.
Group Lessons
We offer group lessons for those who prefer a collaborative learning environment. Group sessions can be a fun and effective way to learn Spanish with others.
Private Lessons
Personalized lessons that meet you where you are and take you further. We’ll build from your current level to help you speak fluently, write accurately, and understand native Spanish speakers with confidence and ease.
Conversation
Keep your Spanish sharp and evolving. Our primary conversation lessons are designed to maintain your current level and help you grow more fluent and confident with every session. We tailor each discussion to your interests and goals, so learning stays relevant, engaging, and effective.
Remedial Tutoring
Are you having difficulty with Spanish? These remedial lessons aim to identify and correct recurring mistakes, helping you rebuild confidence, strengthen your foundation, and improve fluency in speaking and writing.
Editing Services
Whether a document or a manuscript, we’ll refine your text to help you achieve your communication goals. Our editing focuses on every key aspect—style, clarity, consistency, grammar, punctuation, and typos—delivering a final polish that ensures perfect readability.
Individualized for You
How We Teach
We offer online lessons worldwide and on-site lessons in Lisbon, Portugal.
We use various teaching strategies (communicative approach, TBLT task-based language teaching), PPP (present-practise-produce) lessons, TTT (test-teach-test) lessons, receptive skills (reading/listening) lessons, among others.
At the start of each sub-level, we provide a clear overview of what they’ll learn and a lesson-by-lesson course outline. Our courses follow a structured plan, but we keep things flexible so we can adapt to each student’s interests and needs.
Our classes are based on the recommendations of the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), a reference tool developed by the Council of Europe, used to assess a learner’s language skills and to define concrete learning objectives.
Our business-oriented textbooks have also been designed based on these European guidelines (CEFR).
We work with other textbooks for non-business-oriented lessons that follow this framework (CEFR) and the Curricular Plan of the Cervantes Institute.
To facilitate both teaching and learning, the CEFR specifies what learners can do in reading, listening, speaking, and writing at six specific levels:
A1 & A2- Basic User
B1 & B2 – independent User
C1 & C2 – Proficient User
Each level is divided into a number of sub levels with the duration of 30-hours each
About Soledad Zabalza, Founder of Estribo
Hello! I’m Soledad Zabalza—an Argentinian-Canadian educator, Hispanic language specialist, and proud founder of Estribo. My passion for teaching Spanish began over two decades ago in São Paulo, Brazil, and it has shaped every chapter of my personal and professional life since. I started in local language institutes and later worked with Patagonia Language, a company offering private and corporate lessons, much like Estribo does today.
After relocating to Canada, I pursued formal academic training and earned:
- A Bachelor’s in Spanish from Wilfrid Laurier University
- A Master’s in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of Guelph
- A PhD in Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures from the University of Toronto
During my doctorate, I taught all levels of Spanish at UofT, learning firsthand how every student brings a unique set of goals, motivations, and learning styles.
Teaching Experience That Spans Continents
Over the years, I’ve taught in:
- High schools and language institutes in Brazil
- Private schools in Toronto
- Corporate settings, including training professionals and executives at Scotiabank
- Private sessions with learners of all ages and backgrounds
Each experience has deepened my belief that language learning is personal. Success depends on meaningful, adaptive teaching—that’s what Estribo is about.
Estribo: More Than a Language Service
Estribo offers Spanish lessons that are:
- Structured yet flexible
- Tailored to your goals and interests
- Rooted in real-world use and cultural context
Whether you’re starting from scratch, preparing for an exam, traveling, doing business, or aiming for fluency, I’m here to support, inspire, and empower you.
Professional Spanish Editing Services
In addition to teaching, I provide professional editing services in Spanish. I’m certified by Cálamo & Cran and have extensive experience editing:
- Academic dissertations and peer-reviewed articles
- Business and institutional documents
- Strategic reports and formal communications
My editing approach ensures clarity, precision, and cultural accuracy, making your message shine for any Spanish-speaking audience.
Whether you’re an individual or a company, I help your content communicate confidently and professionally.
Contact
Whether you’re learning Spanish or refining your Spanish-language content, I would be honored to support your journey.
Let’s Connect
Take a Look at Our Testimonials Below…
Feedback from Students
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Exceptional teacher”
I had the pleasure of taking Introductory Spanish with Soledad while she was teaching at Scotiabank, and I can confidently say she is an exceptional teacher. Her passion for the Spanish language and Latin culture shines through in every class. Soledad creates a warm, engaging, and supportive learning environment that makes even the most hesitant beginners feel comfortable and motivated. She’s patient, clear in her explanations, and always brings creative ways to make the lessons fun and practical.
Whether you’re learning Spanish for travel, work, or personal growth, Soledad’s teaching style will help you build a strong foundation with confidence. Her dedication and positivity are truly inspiring.
Estudiar con Soledad es como un viaje a España sin salir del aula… ¡y sin sufrir jet lag!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Emir Halilovic
“Highly recommend“
I am delighted to recommend Soledad as Spanish teacher. As a student of hers, I have experienced firsthand her exceptional patience and adaptability in the learning process.
Soledad understands that every student learns at their own pace, and she tailors her teaching approach to suit individual needs, thus ensuring that language learning is both accessible and enjoyable. Her flexibility makes learning feel natural, creating an environment where students feel confident to progress without pressure.
If you’re looking for a language learning experience that is engaging, supportive and expertly guided, I wholeheartedly recommend Soledad and Estribo.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Roger Hagemann
“Brilhante e Divertida”
Soledad é das poucas pessoas que consegue fazer seu conhecimento profundo ficar leve e acessível, por isso a indico a qualquer um que precise de serviços de espanhol, Mora em Lisboa, e também atende on-line. Recomendo a olharem a sessão About Soledad porque explica a potência acadêmica e além disso, é das pessoas mais engraçadas que já conheci.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Juliana Martins