A couple of years ago, an American lady came to Guanajuato to learn Spanish. She enrolled in one of the most expensive schools in town. This school is good, by the way, and I always recommend it to people who want to come study Spanish in Guanajuato. This poor woman was a rank beginner. When she arrived, she was put in a class commensurate with her level; only the class was in the middle of the beginning class cycle.
In other words, when you enroll in a local, private Spanish school, you may not be put into a class that is exactly at the level at which you tested. If you are a rank beginner and need to be taught how to pronounce the Spanish alphabet and learn the phonetics, you will not necessarily land in a class with students at the same point as you. You will be put in a beginner's class but at what point in the class cycle is in will depend on when you show up. It isn't like beginning a language course at a university where day one, everyone begins at the same point and is studying the same material as the class proceeds.
This poor dear was totally lost. All the input she received in this beginning class was absolutely above and beyond her. There was no "comprehensible input" for her, although she was in a beginning class.
This is a total waste of your time and money. Wouldn't you want to know that before you end up flushing your money down a Guanajuato Spanish School toilet?
The school she attended is not cheap. It is good and you pay for good.
What to Do
Come to Guanajuato expecting to become fluent at these Spanish schools and you will leave sorely disappointed. Before you spend a small fortune coming here expecting to become fluent, try to develop as much spoken fluency in Spanish as you can. You will get a better return on your money in a Guanajuato Spanish school if you do. And, don't enroll in a classroom situation in the States. Do a home study course in the privacy of your home.
Commercially Available Products
Pimsleur Spanish
Rocket Spanish
Learning Spanish Like Crazy
Financing Your Spanish Adventure
If you check Ebay.com, you can often pick up all three levels of the Pimsleur Spanish course at a great discount. Then, you can turn around and sell them through Ebay.com to come up with the funds for Rocket Spanish and Learning Spanish Like Crazy.
I bought level one of Pimsleur Spanish, went through it, and then sold it so I could buy level two. I repeated the process until I got through level three of the Pimsleur course.
You can download both Rocket Spanish and Learning Spanish Like Crazy for about $97.00, burn it on your own CD's, and you will have saved a considerable amount rather than buying them wholesale. These companies actually encourage you to do this.
You will end up with a tremendous amount of Spanish by going through these courses first. Then, you will be prepared for a stint in Guanajuato studying or just hanging out. You will do well with your Spanish.
Look, visiting central Mexico is not a breeze. It is not designed for Gringo comfort, as are Puerto Vallarta and other resorts. You are not going to find a covey of resort staff hovering over you to make you have a good time.
Central Mexico is real Mexico and you will see and hear things that might shake you to your soul if you are not prepared.
So, tell me, what's better…to hear the truth or come here and find out you may have flushed a lot of money down the toilet. You can't count the cost and be willing to pay the price if you don't know what that cost is.
Those who count the cost and are willing to pay the price will not be those who go back home after vacationing in Mexico and mean-mouth the city they visited. After all, they knew what to expect BEFORE coming.
And, that's why I write what I do.