Chartered Institute
of Linguists

Spanish Society

Forthcoming events are currently being planned and will be publicised here soon.

The Spanish Society runs a variety of professional development events, benefitting CIOL members and non-members alike. Click an event to see its original listing and, if applicable, event reports and downloadable materials:


The Spanish society is a new venture. We aim to be a society for everyone who speaks, works with, studies or simply loves the Spanish language in all its forms and would like to network and exchange knowledge with other likeminded people.

Our mission is to provide new and interesting projects which everybody can be involved in.

Our events will take place in both Spanish and English however you don’t need to be able to speak Spanish to join in.

Role Bio
Mrs Suzanne Skirrow



BA(Hons)

Committee member

Since I was young I have always made an effort to learn the words of basic manners (please, thank you, hello, goodbye etc) of the country I was visiting but my true passion for languages started after I had my daughter and I was at home doing some decorating because I used to listen to French, Spanish and Italian podcasts whilst doing it. This fuelled a love for languages so when my daughter started school I enrolled on a BA Honours Language Studies – French and Spanish degree with the Open University. I have been working as a volunteer translator since 2015, a TEFL teacher since 2018 and I also do freelance work transcribing Spanish and French recordings. In my TEFL work, I teach English across Skype to Spanish natives who are based all over Spain. Due to the variety of areas in Spain where my students live, I have been exposed to many different types of Spanish accents because often when the students have a low level of English the classes are conducted in Spanish until the student is comfortable with doing the whole class in English. In a quest to keep my classes entertaining and interesting I find myself delving into all kinds of random topics which extends not only my knowledge but also my Spanish vocabulary.
suzanneskirrow@yahoo.co.uk

Elena Alvarez



Committee member

Elena is a qualified English to Spanish Translator and Voiceover Artist from Mexico. She is also a certified Yoga Teacher and Breath Coach with more than 16 years of experience and practice. She is highly specialised in the fields of yoga, mindfulness, and wellness. Communicator by nature and minimalist at heart, Elena enjoys sharing work-life balance tips and giving talks where she invites people to ‘re-think’ the way we do things, the way we work, and the way we look at our health, always putting our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing at the centre of the equation to improve the quality of our life and the level of our business.
mexicanspanishtranslator@outlook.com

If you are interested in supporting the Spanish Society and in helping to plan events, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Simply fill in the CIOL Online Eligibility Check and a member of the committee will contact you to discuss further.

You can also find us on Facebook.