Back to Mexico Articles

Mary Carter from Tucson, Arizona, writes that she would like some tips on choosing a Spanish Language School in Mexico. Here, Mary, is what I can tell you about this.

In the pre-INTERNET days, prospective students piled into their cars and headed for south-of-border studies having little more than the name of the city where the school was located. Now that the information age is upon us, scooping out language schools at a distance can be a matter of a few mouse clicks. Today, you can easily fill your computer until it is virtually groaning with information on just about any narrow, off-beat subject in just a few minutes. Knowing exactly what information to ask for has become critical.

You can use the INTERNET to gather the information you need to choose a school whether you are presently in the same city as the school or far away. An inventory of your personal needs and aspirations should be your starting point. Make a list of what is most important to you and prioritize it. Try to be very clear about details such as whether location is more important to you than the teaching method. Think about whether socializing with other English-speaking students is a key factor and exactly what you would like to do in your spare time. For instance, if you know you'd like to combine some visits to archaeological areas with you studies, head for Oaxaca or Merida. If time at the beach is important to you, start checking out schools in the coastal areas.

If you happen to already be in the same city as the schools that you will choose from, you can still use the INTERNET to your advantage, but you can simplify things by doing a little leg-work first. Go to the schools you're interested in and pick up the information they make available. Look this over while you are still there and decide if there is any reason why - according to the list you made - you would not want to study there. A school might have top-quality language teaching, but still not be the right place for you. This often happens when the location or schedules are not convenient. It also happens when the teacher-student ratio is too large (or too small) for your needs. The cost and amount of personal attention you receive (and therefore the speed with which you advance) generally depend on this ratio.

Some people prefer a low-cost program with a large group and only a few hours of class per week (such as are found in universities which offer Spanish for foreigners). One drawback with this type of course is that there is little opportunity to practice speaking Spanish with the teacher monitoring and correcting you. Only people who have quite a bit of contact with the spoken language in their daily lives find this large-group scenario to be advantageous. They get all the real-life practice they need outside the classroom and count on the class for a clearer understanding of grammar. This is also best for people on a very restricted budget.

Aside from the size of the class, you must also decide if you want to study in courses where the primary focus is on academic Spanish (reading and writing) or if you prefer a program that specializes in conversational Spanish (speaking and listening comprehension skills). You can usually find this out by looking at the published description of the program. If you cannot find a written description, it's very important that you ask. There's no point in wasting your time and money on one type of studies when you want or need the other.

Another thing you should check on is the availability of group classes. Schools which offer only private or individual classes at low prices (or that insist on your taking private classes for some reason or another) generally do not have well-trained teachers nor a well-organized program. Schools advertising "small group" classes without mentioning the maximum number of students per group, should also be avoided.

If starting dates for different levels are not in the materials you receive, ask about this. If the school does not have a fairly clear idea of specific starting dates for you, there is a chance you will spend a lot of time wait-listed and never get to study or even end up in a group that isn't really at your level. While you are at the school, you should make time to take a good look at the school's facilities. A clean, cheerful place can, indeed, indicate a well-organized and well-administrated language program. On the other hand, a little "too plush" can sometimes indicate that appearances are more important than the good functioning of the language program.

If the information you receive indicates this school is a possibility for you, ask to sit-in on a class in session. Be sure to say that you don't necessarily need to observe a class that is exactly at your level, that a class at any level will be alright with you. The idea here is that you see first-hand how the classes are conducted and confirm that you will be comfortable participating in the type of class the school offers. There isn't any reason at all for you to be refused a visit during published school hours. If you are at the school site and cannot observe a class the same day or the next day, something is fishy.

Observing a class for a short time can answer the questions you have about teaching methods much better than a question and answer session with a school administrator. You will see the style of teaching, what kind of interaction takes place between the teacher and the students, how heavily the teacher depends on the text book, how much of the class time is devoted to different learning activities, and much more.

After you visit a class, you have one more chance of gleaning information about the school: questioning the participants themselves. It's not out-of-line to hang around just before or just after class sessions and ask people who are studying how they are doing. Most of these people are more than happy to share their experiences, so you might as well take advantage of it. Another possibility is to ask the school for phone numbers and e-mail addresses of former participants that wouldn't mind your asking them a few questions. Try to get information on at least five former participants. You can use the INTERNET to contact these people as well as to compare the cost per hour with other schools in Mexico.

If you are going to travel to a school, you will need to enroll in advance in order to get the study dates you need. Consider what you want at the location of the school: are you willing to make a trade-off and live with the problems of a big city in order to be near libraries, theaters, etc.? Would you prefer the safety and congeniality of a smaller place? Do you prefer to spend time with other students and travelers from English-speaking countries? Would you be better off having only a little contact with outsiders and a chance to really immerse yourself into the language and culture? What do you want to do in your spare time: go to the beach? visit archaeological sites? practice a certain sport? Other factors that could matter to you are the instructional approach, costs, daily schedules and whether you need to study for credit.

Most schools provide pretty much what you see in their program description. Problems arise when people who are signing up from afar misunderstand what kind of program they are enrolling in. This won't happen to you if you use the INTERNET to get more details. It is much easier nowadays to receive additional information directly from a school than in the past. Besides this, you can and should use e-mail as a tool in order to get valuable inside information from other participants.

If you are choosing a school in another city or country, one of the first things you can check on is how long the school has been in business. The longer, the better. Another good indicator that things will go well is a registration with the Federal Education Secretariat (Secretaría de Educación). This is difficult to get. It insures that the program is well-organized and the teachers are qualified. Most language schools have a registration with the state education department and this is a lot easier to obtain. The requirements vary from state to state and some states have very minimal standards.

One of the things that can easily go wrong with off-site enrollment is that people who expect to participate a lot in class may find themselves in a classroom where the teacher lectures most of the time and they don't get to practice speaking Spanish very much. Sometimes the opposite occurs and the participants have to try to speak using forms they are not yet very familiar with more than they care to. Methods in some schools involve mostly the repetition of sentences using the target structure and don't allow for explanations of the grammar. This can be disconcerting to participants who were not expecting it.

Most complaints have to do with placement and the pace of the class work. Be sure that placement is done correctly - even if you are a beginner. In small group classes for instance, people with backgrounds in French or Italian can move ahead more quickly than other participants. Notice if the school asks for information on other languages you have studied. If they don't, they won't be taking this into consideration and they definitely should. Ask for details on the placement process from the school and from former participants as well. It's also a good thing to know what the procedure is if a student feels his placement is incorrect. Some schools do a good job on placement when they have the information they need, but don't take the trouble to obtain enough information to make an accurate placement. Placement is critical, so be sure to give the school detailed information on your language background whenever they request it.

As to the pace, if the school re-evaluates the students' levels periodically, there is not too much of a problem. Otherwise, too fast a pace can cause you or someone else in your class to fall far enough behind to hold up the entire group. Each school is convinced the pace it has is appropriate, but it just might not be what you want.

Another problem with people enrolling from a distance is that when they sign up, they feel like they want a full schedule of classes and activities, but later find that their daily schedule doesn't leave them enough free time for other things they want to do. You should consider this carefully. In order to take full advantage of the next day's class, a student should usually study for a period of time that is equal to the daily class time. Courses that offer six and eight hours of classes a day are popular, but it often happens that the student is either paying the school to do quite a bit in class that he could do on his own or he ends up in a real bind - staying up late at night to prepare for the following day's class. In this situation, you can occasionally get by with a minimum amount of study between classes and still be able to keep up with the group, but you won't be taking full advantage of your class time unless you study for the recommended amount of time.

Class size is one of the most important considerations in choosing a language school. One common misconception is that people think one-on-one or individual instruction is better cost-wise than small group classes. Individual instruction is an obvious choice for people in certain situations, such as people who have had lots of listening and speaking practice, but little or no formal training in grammar. This type of class is also the best solution for people who need to study specific vocabulary.

By and large, small groups (six or less) are the best deal cost-wise. In small group classes a good part of the class work involves having the class repeat words or phrases in unison. This repetition is essential to building up conversational skills. You have the chance to make pronunciation errors during these exercises without bringing any attention to yourself. In a private class, the teacher is obligated to correct you every time you make a mistake. It can be demoralizing, so teachers often minimize this or skip it completely and then the student doesn't get enough of this essential practice.

In an individual class, either the teacher or the student is speaking at any given moment. It can be exhausting and very frustrating. Worst of all, it leaves the student no time to reflect on the new material he is presented with.

On the other hand, sometimes participants a small group feel frustrated in when the teacher calls on individual students and they cannot respond quickly. Often the people who complain about this have not taken into consideration that each person has some time to reflect on the correct responses privately at this moment. In fact, while one student is making an oral response, all the others have the opportunity to answer the question to themselves (without any risk of making an error out loud) and then compare their response to the answer that is acceptable to the teacher. This is a valuable part of the learning experience and avoids the frustration of having the teacher correct you every time you make an error.

In order to know what goes on in the classroom when you can't be there, ask the schools to provide you with around ten e-mail addresses which include some participants who are studying at the time of your request. People who regularly study at one school or another year after year are often surprised at a drop in the quality of the program. You can avoid this kind of unpleasant surprise by asking to communicate with someone who is still studying at the school. Most participants today have e-mail addresses which they use while they are traveling and these people can be a gold mine of information for you. Besides asking for at least ten recommendations, you may ask for people who are in your age group, who are studying for purposes similar to yours, or who have studied at the same time of year that you will be going.

This is the time to find out about the quality of the home stay families, too. Ask about the participant's family and if the other students were generally pleased with their families. If any family sounds particularly good to you, you can get the name and ask the school to place you with the same family or a similar one.

Ask these other participants specific questions about the size of the classes, the teachers and how the classroom time is used. You need to check with at least three different students. Asking open-ended questions such as "how do you feel about your progress?" can often get you more information than "yes-and-no" questions.

Of course, when you need to study for credit, you will be limited to the schools where that is a possibility. If you are presently enrolled in a university, a good place to begin your search for a school is at your home-school study abroad office. You can get information on your university's study abroad programs and a list of other recommended programs where you can study for credit. If your heart is set on studying at a school that is not accredited by your home school, you'll need to convince your academic advisor that your studies there are worthy of credit. The advisor will need to know whether or not the school has professional-level courses, registration with the Education Department, and a qualified staff (information that you need to get the school to supply). Most US universities are not too difficult about this if the student does at least a four-week study period and stays with a Mexican family.

Many Mexican schools are accredited by US institutions which act as intermediaries for transferring credits. Other US universities are then obligated to recognize the credits transferred to them through this intermediary school. This is possible as long as you pay the intermediary's tuition for the units and it is usually expensive. All the same, this transfer credit is extremely convenient for people who are not enrolled at any university but will need the credit in the future.

As to the costs, student Eric Tiettmeyer has the following to say about "Cash Concerns" in his article at www.studenttraveler.com/stepsabroad:

"So you think a language school is expensive? Consider this: the average student spends an average of two years studying another language in college. At the University of California for example, three consecutive classes are taken for two years to fulfill requirements. These classes are an hour a day, four days a week. Two years of this instruction will cost you 600 hours and over $3,000 in the public system, and often students (like myself) still feel unskilled in the language of study. Now consider the alternative. Students can study abroad in a language school with intensive instruction and often become proficient in the language. The average cost for two months of instruction, 120 hours of classroom instruction, room, board and travel excursion runs about $1,500. After a good language school, it's not unusual for students to test out of language requirements, with less time, less money, and more fun.