Hi--

I really want to work on my Spanish. I can carry on a very, very basic conversation, but that's it. I know exactly what I am looking for in a school, but I need a few pointers on narrowing down the zillions of options out there. I am not interested in a big, modern city like Panama City. I'm looking at schools in Mexico or Central America, not South America.

1. The only time I can do this is mid March, and I can only make a short trip, so I can only attend one week of classes. Where can I go where I will not absolutely die of the heat in mid-March? I know that is the hottest time of the year in parts of Central America. I would like to do a homestay and know A/C won't be a possibility.

2. Because of my time constraints, I want a place that is relatively hassle-free to get to. In other words, a place where I can hire a service to pick me up and drive me from the airport or just take one connection on an easy-to-connect with nice bus? Since I am a middle-age female who would be traveling alone, safety is also an issue.

3. I know a lot about learning theory, and I know exactly what I am looking for as far as methodology. I want to focus on oral communication--grammar exercises can come later. A place that is creative and uses visits around town, for example, as a teaching tool for conversation is exactly what I am looking for.

Does anyone have any pointers? I've looked at the 123 whatever it is website already. I'm looking for some first-hand advice. While I do not want to throw money away, cost is not my first concern. (But, I will be eliminating certain places if the airfares there are much higher than other similar places for the timeframe I need to go in.) I understand that most schools in Mexico offer group classes, and I think I could probably get a lot more out of one-on-one. What have your experience been? Thanks for the thoughts.

I'm no expert on Spanish schools but Puerto Vallarta has some and is a nice destination in March. It is not the hottest time of the year there (summer months are). It's a very comfortable city for a female solo (i've done it many times). There's a post on this topic over on the PV forum at Trip Advisor recently.

Cozumel is both easy to get to and wonderfully safe. Would not be too hot in March. Lots of quaint places to stay and great food.

Spanish classes.
http://www.cozumelinsider.com/SPANISHCLASSES

Excellent small hotel near town.
http://www.haciendasanmiguel.com/

I think I'd go for someplace like Guatemala. We really liked Antigua, and it probably wouldn't be overly hot since it's fairly high altitude. When we were there in late 2007, my husband actually said he would consider coming back to take lessons sometime.

I have strong opinions about this - I posted a response to your Thorntree post. Happy trails!

Hi, julies -

Are there any courses that suit your needs in San Cristobal de las Casas? It sounds like it might suit your needs.

I decided to repost my TT response here in case others are interested:

2 places I've loved spring to mind:

1) The Cooperativa school in San Pedro La Laguna, Atitlan, Guatemala - beautiful garden setting viewing the lake, great teachers, accommodating homestays, safe, quiet community, $150+/- for a week including activities and homestay/meals (no meals on Sundays). The school could arrange a shuttle to pick you up at the airport and it's a gorgeous 2-3 hour drive to the lake. The highland climate is spring-like year round, cool evenings and mornings, sunny nice days but not too hot. www.cooperativeschoolsanpedro.com

2) The Ixbalanque school in Copan Ruinas, Honduras - nice new school building, good people, lovely town with the beautiful Copan ruins and lots of hiking and interesting day trips close. Cost is $210+/- for a week including at least one excursion and homestay/meals. If your flight arrives at SAP (San Pedro Sula) mid day (common) you can catch a 1st class Hedman Alas bus shuttle from the airport, transfer to a Hedman bus heading to Copan, and the school folks will meet you at the station. Copan would be warmer than highland Guatemala but I haven't suffered there, even studying in the summer months.
www.ixbalanque.com

I count the directors of these schools as special friends so please tell them "hi" from Stacey if you contact them.

Antigua has many excellent schools, a great climate, and is easy to get to from the airport. My son studied at the Academia Antiguena and was extremely pleased; I'm heading there this summer for a week (followed by a week at the Cooperativa school) with a group in tow. Cost is +/-$200 depending on hours and homestay options and the school provides airport pick-up for $35.

PS I agree totally about 1-on-1 instruction. You can check out www.guatemala365.com for more reviews, though it's not a complete list of Guatemala schools.

Lots of photos and travelogues and blogs linked below. Let me know if there's more I can do to help. Please keep us posted!

http://flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Highly recommend http://www.baden-powell.com/index.php
In Morelia one of Mexico's cleanest attractive cities.

Thanks so much to all of you. We recently returned from a nearly two week trip to Nicaragua (I hope to put a trip report together in the next week or so), and this really prompted me to want to increase my language skills.

I am busy checking out all of your suggestions. It is complicated to figure out because I am am thinking about climate, am much older than the typical young person many of these schools seem to attract, and because I am looking for a specific type of learning environment. Then, to top it all off, I have to factor in which places have reasonable airfares for my dates. Thanks again.

For what it's worth, I'm in my 50's and have traveled to both of the schools I name with groups in tow - lots of middle aged educators in the mix. If you decide on Guatemala or Honduras, let me know as I can help with transportation logistics.

Sorry - I don't have updated recommendations for schools (would have in my previous life), but I second Antigua as a terrific location. Morelia is delightful as well.

For less expensive, easier travel also check out the colonial cities in Mexico (Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Puebla). Oaxaca is harder to get to, but would be a wonderful compromise between Mexico and Guatemala. The weather in all those places will be fine in March.

For a week's experience, rather than one-on-one, you will probably learn more and have more fun in a group class of 4 people or less, assuming the other students are on your level and share your motivation. These classes are less exhausting and afternoon activities usually involve "living language lab" situations - trips to markets, etc.

The right homestay will greatly enhance your progress, especially if you are in a "gringoized" place like San Miguel and force yourself to not speak English all week.

I learned Spanish in Cuernavaca years ago when it was the language learning capital of Mexico. There are still many great schools there, but Cuernavaca is now a huge city (but with a GREAT climate).

Several years ago I spent a week at a Spanish language school in Cuernavca. I, too, traveled in March. During the week I was there the weather in Cuernavaca was quite warm, though not quite hot. I couldn't imagine being there in the summer months.

I highly recommend having a one-on-one class. I spent far too much practicing material that was way under or over my head. Trust me on this... Pay the extra money for the private class.

One of the true delights of 1-on-1 instruction in my opinion is that you can make it as hard core or as light and entertaining as you want. You don't have to rely on other class members having similar vocabulary, intelligence, and learning styles, and you can ask for breaks or physical activities as you need them. I lead groups of educators to language school experiences and would love to visit Mexico but have yet to find a budget-friendly place with 1-on-1 instruction in the busy summer months. Happy trails!

A little follow-up.

Extremely high airfare price to Tuztla eliminates San Cristobel de las Casas.

Morelia is out for the same reason.

Cozumel doesn't seem to be quite what I am looking for.

Now I need to investigate schools and the difficulty of getting to one of the colonial cities in Mexico.

I'm also going to check out the TA thread on Puerto Vallerta, but here I am a bit concerned that this might be a super gringoized place. On the other hand, I might be able to find a cheap charter flight there because there are lots of them out of the frozen tundra (Minneapolis) where I live.

Airfares, interestingly enough, to Guatemala are much, much more reasonable than the Mexican ones I mentioned.

Even though I wonder about Antigua being too touristy, the right airfarre might make this an attractive place.

Stacey (AKA hopefulist) the place in San Pedro looks super interesting, with affordable airfare and prices. My only concern is that the school's own website says March and April are considered the summer months there, and the temperatures are quite high. Just how high this is I'll have to do a little more investigating.

Once again, thanks to all.

They must say "hot" because they think that's what people want to hear. Average highs are in the 70's year round on Atitlán; for March the charts say average high is 77 and average low is 58. Here's a link for the weather averages in Panajachel, just across the lake:
http://www.panajachel.com/links.htm

julies,

I would go to Antigua in a heartbeat over any of the Mexican cities I suggested, especially since you can get a good deal on the airfare. Haven't been there in a while, but I can't imagine that it is too touristy (or any more touristy than the Mexican colonial cities.) It is arguably the most charming city in Central America.

And hopefulist is correct about the climate - delightful in March.

hopefulist,

I think julies was referring to the climate in Honduras, not Guatemala.

I spent a month in Oaxaca at the Instituto Cultural de Oaxaca. Great! I'm not a city person, but I loved this place. Excellent teachers. The one I had, has taught there over 10 years. Sounds like many have teachers that come and go.

Crosscheck - Julies named San Pedro so I assumed she meant the Cooperativa school in San Pedro La Laguna that I mentioned in my post, above; I checked their website and found the climate reference. The Honduras school I recommended to her is the Ixbalanque school in Copán Ruinas (but you fly into San Pedro Sula).

If I were going to Morelia, I'd fly to Mexico City and take the bus (4 hours). Airfares to Mexico City are often very cheap. So I wouldn't exclude Morelia.

I have very positive feelings about Zacatecas, and I know it's possible to study Spanish there, but don't know which schools. If going to Zacatecas again, I'd fly to either Mexico City or Leon and take the bus.

I studied at Montana Linda, in Orosi, Costa Rica twice and really like it. It's a small town which is a good place to just hang out and talk to the locals. The school arranges homestays and we really enjoyed the family we were placed with.