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Nancy Boyd

Oct 24, 2007, 8:43 PM

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Cities for immersion programs

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My husband and I want to escape the heat and dust in May in Ajijic. We'd like to study with a Spanish immersion program in Mexico. We don't want to go to a city where we may fine similar conditions. Morelia, Zacatecas and Patzquaro have been suggested to us as possibilities.

Do any of you have suggestions for other cities and/or schools in those cities or schools the cities mentioned above?

We don't want to go outside of Mexico as we've been told by our Spanish teacher the Spanish may be too different.

Many thanks,

Nancy

Rolly

Oct 25, 2007, 6:34 AM

Post #2 of 15 (10672 views)

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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Take a look at this city-by-city list: http://rollybrook.com/spanish_schools.htm

Rolly Pirate

beatricemor

Oct 25, 2007, 9:54 AM

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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I recommend beautiful San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas at 7,000 feet which has very good weather in April and May and several Spanish language schools as well as private tutors. That time of year is not their high season so you should be able to just go there and shop around for a school or tutor you like. I took two weeks of Spanish for three hours a day for $1,000 Pesos a week during the low season in April. My experience at Español Interactivo Language School was excellent. Nice people and a good teaching technique.

April and May in San Cristobal are typically cool and pleasant with splendid crystal clear mornings in the 70s Fahrenheit and, often, heavy rains of short duration in the late afternoon. Español Interactivo has facilities very near the historic center of this wonderful colonial city. No car needed or even desired in the town made for walkers with cheap taxis, collectivos and buses to take you anywhere you wish in Southern Mexico. You can find nice hotels for as little as $300 Pesos a day or, if you are going to be there a month or more, you can rent a fully fuirnished apartment for around $3,000 Pesos a month. You can also stay with a Mexican family in connection with your schooling but I do not rcommend that.

ALMA Airlines now has two non-stop flights from Guadalajara to nearby Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital. The flights take less than two hours and the fares run $2,500 Pesos RT plus taxes.

I would also recommend Antigua, Guatemala which is also at a high elevation and is famous for its Spanish language schools. Antigua is also a beautiful city and I do not think it is true that the Spanish spoken there is very different from that you will hear at Lakeside.

In addition to good language schools, San Cristobal sits in the high Jovel Valley surrounded by wonderful indigenous villages and beautiful pine forests. There is a large variety of restaurants, both commercial movie theatres and art houses, an ongoing cultural calendar with many free events. If you are lucky, you may spot Comandante Marcos and his Zapatista entourage leaving a local restaurant surrounded by adoring fans. Most of the foreigners you will see in the city at that time of year will be Europeans or young backpackers. The French and Italians love San Cristobal for some reason but American residents and vacationers are few and far between.

If you do go to San Cristobal, I think you can now fly non-stop from Tuxtla to Oaxaca City in about an hour - a not to be missed city if you have the opportunity. That city would be a great destination for a weekend if there is a non-stop flight.

(This post was edited by beatricemor on Oct 25, 2007, 10:00 AM)

cristalhombre

Oct 25, 2007, 11:14 AM

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Re: [beatricemor] Cities for immersion programs

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I am headed to Antigua tomorrow for a 3 week language program. I will report back to you. But I already know it will be excellent! Travel is a state of mind for me. I roll with the ups and downs very easily.

What I can tell you is that I will have a an "exclusive" teacher for 5 hours each day for about $110usd for the week. Hotels (moderate level) are about $35 a day + food is notable in Antigua according to the Lonely Planet.

Five years ago we attended an immersion program in Oaxaca for a month. Terrific program. Not sure about the weather in either place, in late Spring.

"NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST...."

Nancy Boyd

Oct 25, 2007, 11:34 AM

Post #5 of 15 (10636 views)

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Re: [cristalhombre] Cities for immersion programs

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Thank you all for your replies.

We almost always travel by Lonely Planet. This past year we went to Antigua in May to study Spanish for six weeks. We lasted two. Our first big disappointment with Lonely Planet. They and other travel books write there is no bad time to visit Guatemala. They are wrong. May is the burning season. When we got there all the locals told us it is the worst month to visit. We couldn't see three blocks in Antigua for all the smoke (sugar cane fields). We flew to Tikal and got up at 4:00 a.m. for the sunrise in the ruins. There was no sunrise. Just more very dark smoky sky.

San Cristobal - that is a real possibility.

beatricemor

Oct 25, 2007, 1:53 PM

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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Well, as you might guess, May is the burning season in Chiapas as well. In fact, I think May is the burning season all over Mexico and Central America. Perhaps you should study Spanish in Madrid or Baltimore. During the burning season in Jalisco around Guadalajara I have been so negatively impacted by the air pollution that I could not comfortably drive between Jocotepec and Guadalajara. Even paradise isn´t always perfect.

Don Moore

Oct 25, 2007, 2:22 PM

Post #7 of 15 (10623 views)

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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We don't want to go outside of Mexico as we've been told by our Spanish teacher the Spanish may be too different.

I speak pretty good Spanish, not fluent, but I can tell and understand jokes and can talk about abstractions.I have spoken Spanish with speakers from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Chile, .... (you get the idea). For the most part, you have to get to a pretty high level of skill before there is any important difference.

Word meanings and pronunciation differ even within countries. It took me a while to understand New Yorkers and New Englanders when I left the South. And it takes them a while to catch on to Southernisms and our drawl. That is about the level of difference you would encounter, in my opinion.

Choose on the basis of quality of instruction if your priority is to learn Spanish, or choose based on location if your priority is sightseeing and just going somewhere new.
Don Moore

Roses5410

Oct 26, 2007, 12:57 PM

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Re: [Don Moore] Cities for immersion programs

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We returned from a bus tour to Guanajuato, which has a university, and several people were asking about an immersion program. Seems there is one there too at the university...don't know any details but it's possible to contact Charter Tours and ask them maybe - anyone know of another way to find that out? That was a very nice city to visit and would be wonderful to stay for an immersion experience!
-K-
I love taking pictures...check out my prints for sale @ http://Rosacalaca.dpcprints.com/

jennifer rose

Oct 27, 2007, 6:05 PM

Post #9 of 15 (10528 views)

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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While you may find Morelia to be just as hot as Ajijic during May, Baden-Powell always gets good marks as a language school. http://baden-powell.com/

Patzcuaro is cooler during May, and CELEP, http://www.celep.com.mx has its fans.

Bloviator

Nov 3, 2007, 3:26 PM

Post #10 of 15 (10470 views)

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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Thanks for the information. It pays for the annual renewal I made today. I was planning to go to Antigua in May for an intensive Spanish program. I wanted to get away from the May lakeside heat. Silly me.

Now I'll have to figure out another month. I had originally planned this month, which I suspect would be a very good month climate wise in Antigua, but was felled by illness that I'm just now about recovered from.

I've done a good deal of research and asked a lot of questions and Antigua seems like a good choice. However, I'm not sure if the goal of Mexico to avoid different language dialects is a bad thought. My daughter went to Chile, learned Spanish, went back to South Central LA as a bilingual teacher and found that she had some problems with the differences, but they were not insurmountable.

raferguson

Nov 3, 2007, 8:28 PM

Post #11 of 15 (10456 views)

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Re: [Bloviator] Cities for immersion programs

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I know that I speak Mexican Spanish, but I find that their Spanish is not that extreme, so it seems to work well most anywhere. No way would I want to learn Spanish in Puerto Rico or Cuba, or maybe even Argentina. Since I usually travel in Latin America, it is better for me to speak that version of Spanish as opposed to what they speak in Spain.

I have no opinion about Guatemalan Spanish.

The Mexicans make all the sounds, one reason their Spanish is not bad.

My experience says that the better your Spanish is, the less various dialects and accents throw you off. My Mexican friend says "If you speak Walter Cronkite Spanish, everyone will understand you." What he means is if you speak proper and correct Spanish, with a standard pronunciation, you will be understood the world over.

But of course some Mexicans speak a kind of strange slangy Spanish, and I have heard Puerto Ricans who speak Spanish that sounds good to me. In some respects it may depend on the teacher more than the country.

Sometimes I watch TV from Quebec. I speak some French, of the Parisian variety. I can understand the TV announcers, but I can rarely understand the people on the street that they interview. The TV announcers are speaking "Walter Cronkite French", while the folks on the street are speaking Quebecoise French, something else entirely.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

delmaracer

Nov 8, 2007, 11:23 AM

Post #12 of 15 (10396 views)

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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I have read about Instutito Alande, which has an immersion program. I think the weather would be OK there at your time of travel, and I have not heard of anything bad about the instituto. http://www.instituto-allende.edu.mx/indexeng.htm

Bob

BrianLewis

Dec 17, 2007, 7:55 PM

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Re: [delmaracr] Cities for immersion programs

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Hi Nancy:

Lois and I just spent a couple of weeks studying spanish in the Guatemalan city of Quetzaltenango(Xela). The school is called Pop Wuj. Check out its web site to see if it might be a fit for you. I assume that May in Xela will be burning time as well so you may want to pick another month. The city is at 7500 feet above sea level and was cool in the morning, pleasant during the day and quite cool again at night. We thought the school was excellent with high quality one on one teaching and ridiculously low prices. If you pick a homestay option you will be placed with a family close to the school and walking to school is a pleasant way to start the day.
We have spent quite a few short stays in Mexico (1 to 4 weeks) over the years and the Spanish spoken in Guatemala did not seem at all different to me. I would not worry at all about studying there.
One more thing; we spent a weekend at Lake Atitlan and another in Antigua. Loved the former but not the latter. Antigua is a beautiful restored colonial town and is full of fine restaurants and great places to shop. It is also overrun with foreigners and seems almost like a giant shopping mall. Xela on the other hand is a real, if a little gritty, city with friendly people great coffee shops, a couple of good restaurants right around the corner from the school and a sense that you are well away from a tourist destination.

Cheers

Brian and Lois Lewis

(This post was edited by BrianLewis on Dec 17, 2007, 8:02 PM)

sioux4noff

Dec 22, 2007, 3:36 PM

Post #14 of 15 (10097 views)

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Re: [BrianLewis] Cities for immersion programs

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I also studied in Xela. I really enjoyed the town.

vwbus1969

Dec 29, 2007, 5:55 PM

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Re: [Nancy Boyd] Cities for immersion programs

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The CEPES program at the University of Guadalajara has a good immersion program. Guadalajara is interesting...