Let's Go2Mexico - Articles

Language Immersion Schools in Mexico
Location, Location, Location
By Linda and Eric Langner - The Language Immersion School, Veracruz - October 2007
Photos by Jesus de Avila

In past months we've taken a broad look at language immersion school, a close look at a number of instructional considerations, and looked at gaining knowledge about Spanish versus learning to use Spanish. This month our focus is not on the school itself but on the school's surroundings.

Learning to speak Spanish, if this is your goal, requires that you pick a school that teaches the using of Spanish. You'll need a school that focuses on getting you talking. And when you're looking for one, location is a huge consideration.

Some students, we have to remember, only wish to gain knowledge about Spanish, to learn grammar, structure, and vocabulary, but don't care to learn to speak, and for them location doesn't matter.

Most students want to use Spanish, and learning to use Spanish happens best when you study Spanish in context. Spanish in context is when the school has you're surrounded by Spanish and you're participating; it's when you're shopping in Spanish and partying in Spanish, and visiting museums in Spanish, and whitewater rafting or walking ancient ruins, or at the beach, or birding or anything in Spanish.

You'll learn to speak more, faster, and with greater confidence if your school has you constantly doing new and interesting things-doing new and interesting things so compelling that you've just got to talk.

And that's how we end up at location, location, location. It's easy to overestimate a location. There are many okay locations. There are some good locations. And just like with all real estate, there are very few absolutely great locations.

One of the most peaceful of schools in Mexico is located twenty minutes out of town on a beautiful hillside. It's a great facility. It's nicely appointed, has a pleasant pool. You awaken to fresh country air and the songs of birds.

You can hike the woods and look out over the valley. It's restful and rejuvenating. The tranquil isolation of the setting offers the serenity many look for in a vacation.

For vacation it's great, but after you swim, after you walk the woods, after you sit on the veranda and study, then what do you do? What all is there that's super easily accessible, and exciting, and inviting, and stimulating, and going to cause you to want to join in and talk and talk.

A setting as peaceful and beautiful as one could ever hope, a perfect setting for a vacation home, isn't surrounded with high participation, high activity, totally compelling places, people, and events. For Spanish in context, for learning to use Spanish, you need an endless set of fun and fascinating things to do.

Here's a setting at the other end of the spectrum. He's location, location, location.

A language school is located half a block from the ocean. The beach is two blocks away. Between the language school and the beach is a major aquarium. In the building housing the aquarium are things for kids to do, a wax museum, a kid's land, and within 200 feet you can hop into a boat and take an ocean ride. there are restaurants and ice cream shops and tourist shops and banks. You can fish from the dock.

Going on for many blocks there are shops and palapas (thatched roof restaurants). There are street vendors and double-decker buses. You can buy books, but who has time to read them.  There’s live music at night, and there are people everywhere. It’s all safe.  And this is just within several block of the school on one road in one direction.

You can walk the malecon (it’s at the corner only half a block from the school) and wonder past the merchant marine academy, the commercial fishermen (and go deep sea fishing if you want), and walk out the seawall to where the cargo ships enter the port.  You’re close enough to throw a stone and hit one (but don’t). And if you keep walking another 10 minutes you pass the yacht club, lots more restaurants and little grocery stores.  Suddenly you’re inside the inner harbor wall (you can walk it too).

Continuing along the malecon inside the harbor you’re inside the port seeing ships load and unload.  You can take the harbor tour.  Another five minutes you’re at the zocalo.  On one side of the open area housing the bandstand is the cathedral, on another the municipal palace, and on yet another restaurants with marimbas, norteño bands, salsa bands, and mariachi groups.

You didn’t have to walk there. The bus on the corner goes there, and it goes through the heart of El Centro (the city center, the main downtown), passes within a block or two of seven museums and crafts centers, schools, the big city park, and even an old fort that protected the city from pirates.

Hop back on the bus, and it takes you back to school. 

Busing the other way you pass along the beaches, more museums, restaurants with live music and dancing, and banks and shops and even the city’s big, modern shopping mall, and movies, and continues on with spectacular views to the river to the south (twenty minutes total ride from the school) and the little town on the river. 

On the river you can take a boat ride up (the vegetation is lush and dense), buy a snack in a tiny grocery store, see folk ballet dancers. 

And then you can ride the city bus right back to the school’s corner.

You can take a taxi to the zoo, the botanical gardens, the kid’s amusement parks (low tech), the pro soccer game or the pro baseball game. 

You can walk to the corner on the other end of the school’s block and visit the local grocery.  The store can crowd in 15 people and crowded on her shelves are more than 3000 different items.  Another block inland is the home of the 6 foot long alligator.  A restaurant owns it, and they love foreigners to come look at it and touch it.

Some of the taco carts are safe.  Most of the coconut carts (wheelbarrows) are okay, the mango carts are safe.  There’s ice cream and fresh fruit and icees.

None of it takes any pre-planning.  The school is right in the middle of all kinds of things, and all are so easy to get to.  You just get up and go—walk to many, go to the corner and hope a bus to get to lots and lots, and walk out the front door and hail a taxi to get anywhere.

Most of what there is to do in town is free or very inexpensive.

And then there are fieldtrips and weekend trips—snorkel and scuba, sand-boarding, nature trails along the ocean and along rivers running up the close-by mountain side.  There’s rafting and kayaking.  It just doesn’t stop.  And there are archaeology ruins and even the landing site of the conquistadores. 

Why is it important that all of this is there? 

It’s important because there are people in everyone of these places.  And these people want to talk to you. They’re doing things, and you can participate. It’s old, traditional Mexico, and it’s inviting you to join in.  When you join in you’ll have lots to say. They speak Spanish!  And, so will you. You’ll speak lots of Spanish and speak it constantly.

Find a good school and you’ll start talking. Find a good school in an absolutely terrific location, and you’ll be talking much, much more.

Here’s are some good search words ― SPANISH IMMERSION STUDY MEXICO and IMMERSION SCHOOL MEXICO.  Schools with good locations let you know it on their websites.  Schools with absolutely terrific locations tell you lots more.

© Linda and Eric Langner, 2007

• Linda and Eric Langner own and operate The Language Immersion School, Veracruz, Mexico.  They’re always happy to answer questions.  You can email them at info@veracruzspanish.com and visit them at www.veracruzspanish.com.

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