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cummings93 · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:59 am Post subject: Language School in Oaxaca

Anyone have any recommendations? I have decided to spend my Semana Santa in an intensive program and would also like to check out Oaxaca at the same time. I did search on the interenet and over 20 schools popped up. I'll be traveling there by bus from San Miguel in mid March.
I also did search here on Dave's but the search function doesn't seem to be functioning.
Thanks all.

MELEE · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:07 pm Post subject:

I've never studied at any of the programs I'm about to mention. But over the years I've worked with a lot of people who have studied 1 or 2 week courses in Oaxaca.

Across the board, good reviews come from students who had little or no Spanish at the start of the course. Bad or mixed reviews have always come from students with intermediate or higher level Spanish at the start of the course. Oaxacan language schools seem to specialize in beginners. If you want to get from intermediate to advanced, I think the best place for that in a formal setting (like not with a conversation partner, or other partner) is at UNAM.

I've only ever heard good things about Becari.
Mostly good about Vinigulaza.
I've recieved very mixed reviews about Insituto Cultural de Oaxaca.
Mostly bad about Amigos del Sol.
Bad reviews of the program at the UABJO.

Again, it almost seems more like the review had to do with the level of the student. If you are intermediate or above, you I'd recommend you go with private 1 to 1 classes and tell the teacher exactly what you think you need to work on, and how you want to work on it.

NinaNina · Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 78 Location: Oaxaca

I'm surprised there has been negative reviews of Amigos del Sol. I've heard it's one of the best if you prefer an immersion experience that combines conversation and grammar. They also are very involved in the community (the owner is organizing free English lessons for people in outlying craft villages) and do many day trips and excursions of cultural relevance.

My husband has been studying Spanish there for a few months--one-on-one with the school's owner--and his progress has been incredible. For the first time, he's edging toward fluency.

--Serena
http://mexpop.blogspot.com/

MELEE · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:31 pm Post subject:

Again, the negative reviews have come from people who already had quiet a good level of Spanish before signing up. They felt like the teachers were unprepared. I suspect they have a great program for beginners.

They were also teaching English for a while and some of our students reported having studied their, but extra classed didn't really show in the ablity. They were at the same level as most of the students who only had "school" English.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I know of several people who studied with Amigos del Sol and had positive comments - but then again, they were all beginner level.

sarliz · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Jalisco

I worked at Amigos del Sol teaching English for 9 months, and had a great experience working there. That being said, I have no clue about their Spanish programs, but Rogelio (the director) is a great person.

I was studying with Yolanda Garcia, the director of ICC, who gave me one-on-one spanish lessons in exchange for writing for her newspaper. I came in at an intermediate level, and I felt that the classes helped me a lot. I should mention that I was in Oaxaca during "las problemas", and that the bartering worked in that context. Schools would probably like money now (pesky money).

cummings93 · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject:

excellent. most thanks.