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[travel_177]

Hi all, I want to post some information here about Spanish courses offered through the national university�s Centro de Ense�anza Para Extranjeros (cepe). I got a lot of useful information from posts on here before coming to Mexico, and I think this may even be where I initially heard of the courses at unam. So, for any newbies looking to learn or improve their Spanish while in Mexico, this is definitely worth looking into.

I took courses in Mexico City, but UNAM�s other campuses, such as Taxco and Guadalajara, also offer them. Classes last for six weeks with Spanish classes Monday-Friday from 9-12 in the morning. There are eight levels, and they give you a test before registration to determine which level you should start in. I think they keep class sizes at 15 or fewer students with the higher levels tending to have the smallest classes. Classes were also offered in the evenings, at least for some levels. There�s a half hour break each day that normally ended up being 40 mins (moreso the fault of the students than the teacher), plus class (at least the one I was in) started 15 minutes late almost everyday - hey, it�s Mexico! With that, the class ends up being closer to 2 hours than 3. At the end of the 6-week course, you must pass the exam to proceed to the next level.

The cost this past fall was 435 USD. This included the book. Also, you�re free to take 1 or 2 �cultural�courses such as history, literature, dance, anthropology. These courses are generally two days each week for a couple of hours. They also periodically host other events. IMO these extras made the program great- if you can�t take advantage of the extra activities and courses, there are probably cheaper programs elsewhere that teach �just Spanish�.

Also, know that you can change your schedule the first week. So if you want to switch to a different teacher or want to add-drop extra courses, you are free to do so, and they seem to be very accommodating. I would also suggest that you set up intercambios to actually use and practice Spanish with native speakers- universities are full of students who want to practice English.

Good luck everyone!

[Guy Courchesne]

I see the cost has gone up since I last checked. I know about a dozen people who have taken the CEPE Spanish courses and all had positive things to say.

[amaranto]

That sounds great, especially with the extra courses offered.

[Prof.Gringo]

I did a semester of Spanish at UNAM. $500 peso discount if you have a coveted FM-3/2. No books where I was, just photocopies.

NONE of the Mexican teachers could speak English. Not really a big deal at higher levels, but the absolute newbies had a rough time of it.

If the school closes (there were some mass protests when I was there) you don't get the hours made up, you just lose them. Same if a teacher misses a day, there's nobody to cover the class and you just miss the hours.

Not terrible, not great. Decent Spanish classes if you can make the time to take them.