The "Natural Approach" uses efficient, demanding and personal techniques that accelerate the acquisition process of the communicative skills in the other language. Vocabulary is a priority, as well as fluency; however, we do not neglect grammar.

The "Natural Approach" is based on 5 hypotheses. The two basic ones are:

• a) The Input Hypothesis attempts to explain how language acquisition occurs. The evidence strongly supports a simple hypothesis: We acquire language in one way, when we understand messages or obtain input that is comprehensible.
  Comprehensible input can be aural or written. In fact, reading is a very good source of comprehensible input. According to the Input Hypothesis, production (talking and writing) is a result of language acquisition, not a cause.
• And,

b) the Affective Filter Hypothesis which claims that attitudes and feelings do not have a direct impact on language learning, but can hinder language acquisition. If a student is anxious or does not perceive the target culture in a positive way, she or he may understand the input, but the affective filter will prevent him or her from acquiring language from input.

When a foreign-language student positively identifies his/herself with the target culture, he or she will acquire even those aspects of language that are not crucial for communication, but that mark the student as a member of the group that speaks the language, aspects of language such as morphological endings, intonation, and the like. When the person feels like a member of the target culture, the affective filter goes down.

The affective filter appears to increase in strength at around puberty, which helps explain why young children typically do better in second-language acquisition in the long run.

Our Objectives:

Although the acquisition of a first language, for most people, lies in the ability of understanding and speaking one's native language, very few people are able to reach this level when they start studying a second language after the age of 16. However, what we can expect from our students is that they will be able to properly communicate their ideas and their needs to a native speaker, and that they will understand native speakers' speech without being and feeling stressed because of a lack of linguistic abilities that might show up in conversation. We want students' accents to be understood and without distortions so that native speakers (and others) will be able to understand them. We expect our students to acquire vocabulary in such a way that they can talk comfortably about any topic. It is true, that we cannot expect our students' grammar to be perfect, but our goal is for grammar to be as functional as possible so that it can solve students' communicative needs.