Learning Spanish in Guadalajara, Part 2

There didn’t seem to be a lot of structure at Guadalajara Language Center, but somehow it worked.!

We weren’t given books, the instructors had some notes and only occasionally referred to a book they had. It seemed that there was some coordination between the morning and afternoon instructors, but only in an overlap of general concepts. It wasn’t a direct continuation of what had been previously taught. Each week we could be in class with different people, so some weeks we were ahead of the other people in the class and others we were slightly behind. You wouldn’t expect it, but for some reason this organization worked. After a while, since we were there so long, it seemed like we progressed and other students were shoehorned into our classes.

Excellent instructors

I thought the instructors were very good. Classes combined grammar with conversation, and content was flexible, sparked by what we did last night, our weekend plans, the weather, Mexican traditions. Sometimes there was a lesson on a specific subject, such as the simple past tense or personal pronouns. But other days, the class might consist almost entirely of free-form conversation, during which we learned a lot about the history and culture of Mexico.

For most of our time at Guadalajara Language Center, we had Monica for a teacher in the morning and Edith in the afternoon. Monica was a raucous, loud, animated woman and an outstanding teacher. She was the kind of woman you would want to hang out with at a party. Edith was tall and refined, more reserved, but eventually revealed a wicked sense of humor. 

 

Monica explaining pronouns

Edith watching a lively discussion

After four hours of Spanish every day, we were pretty tired. Many other people who came down for two or three weeks spent additional time studying, but we knew we had eight weeks of classes, so we didn’t feel like we had to jam everything in. Besides, we wanted to also experience GDL and TLQ. In fact, at the end of the first four weeks, we felt like we needed some time to review everything we had learned so we took a week off.  Lex, on the other hand, liked the school so much that she continued for the full eight weeks, and then did two hours a day for three more.

Lex in class

Lots of work left to do

Our official studies have ended. We’ve been exposed to the grammar basics and have certainly expanded our vocabulary. We can get by. We can understand the basics when speaking with Mexicans who speak clearly and not too fast. We can have conversations with Uber drivers and market people. But we know we have a lot more work to do. The Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute’s School of Language Studies says that to obtain a Professional Working Proficiency (Speaking-3/Reading-3 on a scale of 1 - 5) takes anywhere between 600-750 hours of classroom study. We have spent 160 hours in class so far. Granted, we did come in with some basics, but probably at best we’re 1/3 of the way to where we want to be. We know what areas we need to address, and we have found other resources to continue our study independently.

Our plan is to continue studying on our own and supplement that with several sessions of conversation each week with private Spanish tutors. As they say here in Mexico, “poco a poco” -- or little by little!

All in all, we enjoyed our time at the school and found it worthwhile. At some point in time, we will probably take some time to go back to school, perhaps doing the monthlong summer program at the University of Guanajuato, but not this year!

Learning Spanish in Guadalajara, Part 1

Our first priority in starting our life in Mexico was to learn the Spanish language. If we are going to spend the next few years living in countries where Spanish is the primary language spoken, we felt we needed to get a good grasp of the language early on.

And while we had lived in Puerto Rico for a time in the mid-90s and were not Spanish beginners, we knew that we had a long way to go before we would feel comfortable with the language. We want to obtain a level of proficiency so that we can develop friendships and truly feel part of Mexico (and other Spanish speaking countries we choose to live in or visit).  Knowing the language is also important logistically, to allow us to navigate daily tasks such as asking where a bathroom is and understand the answer, being able to order food at a street “puesto” or in a restaurant, asking for directions, buying groceries, paying for items at stores, going to the doctor’s office, and more.

Before we left the United States, we both studied Spanish independently, using books we still had around, a CD series and an app called Duolingo, and we decided to immerse ourselves in learning the language as soon as we arrived in Mexico. We chose to attend a language school in Guadalajara (GDL), Mexico’s second largest city, in the central region of Mexico. Like most Americans, we had never been to the region, spending our previous trips on Mexican coasts for beach vacations. This would give us an opportunity to begin our learning process while exploring a new area.

Guadalajara Language Center

We chose the Guadalajara Language Center (GLC), which is actually located in Tlaquepaque, a town at the southern edge of Guadalajara known for its pottery and ceramics. In fact, our apartment is less than quarter-mile from the city boundary and we routinely run in GDL. The school offered several language programs, including an advertised CLEP prep class, Lexie could take and get college credit for. We signed up for the immersion program, where we would take 4 hours a day of classes for 8 weeks, Monday through Friday. We took written placement exams and were a bit surprised that we all tested higher than expected.

Once we arrived in Tlaquepaque, Lisa and I were ready to go first thing Monday morning, while Lex decided to take a week off to recover from the long trip from the east coast of the United States before starting. The location of our apartment was perfect, just a seven-minute walk from the school. Daily classes ran from 9 -11 AM and then 11:30 AM-1:30 PM, after which we walked about 3 minutes to the Tlaquepaque main square to choose from the food trucks and local eateries.

The school, run by an easygoing Dutchman named Wouter Stout who is married to a Mexican woman, is located in an unassuming two-story blue building on a street corner just two blocks from the Centro Historico. It contains five small classrooms, a little kitchen for brewing coffee each day for grateful students, a large hallway with a couple of computers for students’ use, and a larger gathering room with a couple of couches and chairs, and Wouter’s desk in a corner.

Wouter and his dog, Estrella

Every week a new group of students arrives from all over the world, though they seem to be clustered on the California coastline and western Canada, probably because of easy flights to Guadalajara. Some stay for only a week or two, some for the winter, so new placements need to be made every week, and the first thing Wouter does on Mondays is assign students to classes based on their tests and hope for the best. If it’s not a fit, changes can be made after the first session on Monday. In the mornings we had one instructor and in the afternoon a different instructor. Wouter also provides resources for doing other activities to help discover the area, including organizing a weekly hike into the Barranca (canyon), and providing students with info about Lucha Libre, salsa and bachata dance lessons, a walking tour of Tlaquepaque, and more.

Lex with the GLC resident dog, Estrella (Star)

Ay, Caramba!

Our first day was rough. We were placed together, which was fortunate, but in too high a level for our comprehension skills, and Spanish words just flew over our heads. Fortunately, during the break adjustments were made, and we were placed in an appropriate level class and could get down to the business of learning.

Interesting Classmates

During our eight weeks taking classes, we usually had just one other person in our class, and at most a total of four. Since we often shared stories from our lives in Spanish conversations, we got to know some of those people fairly well. Everyone had an interesting story as to why they were there. Aaron, from Napa Valley, was our classmate for several weeks. He worked for a small vineyard and wanted to be able to communicate better with the Mexican workers when he traveled. He also had financial incentive from his company, so he immersed himself in and out of class, living in a homestay so he could speak with his hosts in Spanish and enjoy home-cooked Mexican meals. Shireen, from Boulder, CO, spent winters in an RV with her partner in a small beach community called Guayabita on the west coast of Mexico. Jack, a gay librarian from Vancouver, talked about the drag shows he attended at home and the Mexican friends he partied with in Tlaquepaque. Eva was a retired English teacher who spent several weeks in Mexico. David worked on a boat that took people on National Geographic eco-tours from Alaska to South America. Francine, originally from Iran, was a scientist-engineer studying Spanish between jobs. We met retirees and backpackers, and a young Catholic couple with seven kids who were starting life as missionaries in Ecuador.

Our buddy Eva

Find out more about our Spanish learning experience in Part 2!