Learn Spanish Travel Spanish Blog

 

AHA has a different approach. They’ve been around a lot time (since 1959) but they’ve kept up with the science of teaching language, and have their own unique style. And it works.

 

 

Orientation explained a lot of it. By the way, after the lazy approach that Academia Falcon in Guanajuato had to orientation, this orientation was a breath of fresh air. Thorough, information, funny. Just really well done. Anyway…. the director spoke of how each language is it’s own, self-contained system, and that it doesn’t have much relationship with other languages, because it has it own rules and uses. (You can read their philosophy on their website (http://www.ahaspeakspanish.com/) or in their brochure. I think this is generally accepted in language circles. So the school wants you to learn as you did as a child, by immersion, repetition and association. I don’t know how difficult that would be for an absolute beginner (hey, I’m level II now), but if my class is any indication, it works fine. I feel that I’ve learned things this week and, because of the holiday, it was a short week. I’ve just really enjoyed the class.

This is my third immersion class — 3 weeks in Buenos Aires Argentina at COINED (where I learned a lot), 1 week in Guanajuato Mexico at Academia Falcon (where I didn’t learn anything I wouldn’t have learned in 4 hours a day on my own), and here. I like this school the best of the three. It just feels more natural. I’m getting practice at all four elements - reading, writing, speaking and listening, with the emphasis on speaking and listening, which is what I want. Reading and writing are important, but I’m going to be primarily listening and speaking. I need Spanish to get around in the Spanish speaking world, not to get published.

It’s just a few blocks from the Jardin, so it’s close to everything. The teachers are enthusiastic and nice. The place is attractive (though the classrooms are cold - bring a sweater). All in all, a good experience.

They have all levels, and they’re flexible. We were signed up for four hours, but as we arrived decided that, since this is my first time in Mexico, that we would take 3 hours a day instead. No problem. Whatever we wanted. Nice.

The first three hours are Intensive Spanish. The next hour is either Basic Communication or a Communication Workshop. The following hour is either Grammatical Problems or Pronunciation and Diction (you don’t see that at most schools). After lunch, there are courses on the Mexican Mind, Folklore, History, Literature and more. Of course, some classes would depend on your level. Mexican Literature of the 20th century might be a little tough for a Level I student, but you get the idea. And this is not a huge school. It’s not tiny, but it’s very personal.

And if you want to go straight from zero to fluency, they offer a diploma program that prepares the student to (and I quote) “live comfortably and function efficiently among native Spanish speakers…. will have practically no linguistic difficulties when presenting an entrance examination to study at a Latin American university, … and will be able to work in their field among Spanish speakers anywhere in the world.” The program is 6 four week sessions, and don’t have to be taken consecutively. Wow. Professionally fluent in 24 weeks. How many college courses would it take to become fluent? How many?

Bottom line: I really like this school. If I were going to be here longer than my one week, I’d give up my great apartment and live closer to the Jardin. The only catch is that you would have to work very hard at not speaking English. The place is crawling with Americans.

Tags:   Academia Hispano Americana · COINED · immersion · Immersion school · Immersion Schools · Learn Spanish · Learning Spanish · Mexico · San Miguel de Allende · Travel SpanishNo Comments