Learn Spanish in Mexico -Spanish Courses in Oaxaca, Mexico

Course Prices Accommodation Prices School Facilities Course Details Accommodation Details

Learn Spanish in Oaxaca, Mexico

Both locals and foreigners speak in reverent tones about Oaxaca (pronounced wah- hah -kah), and this city and state certainly deserves its hype. Oaxaca seems to have it all: a pretty colonial city, ruins, crafts villages, forest-covered mountains, and silvery beaches. Oaxaca is a great place to learn Spanish in Mexico.

Oaxaca City is a charming place to spend time, with plenty to see and virtually guaranteed non-stop eating (not enough can be said about its restaurants). Oaxaca's coastline is one of the country's last Pacific frontiers: in many areas hot water and air-conditioning are luxuries. Some resorts are popping up, but most of the beaches are decidedly low-key, an antidote to Cancún or Puerto Vallarta.

What you see today when you walk through the historic district of Oaxaca is largely the product of 3 centuries of colonial society. The city is famous for its green building stone and for its own particular style of colonial architecture -- an adaptation to the frequent earthquakes that plagued the city in colonial times and still occasionally shake things up. Building walls and facades are thick and broad with heavy buttressing, colonnades are low and spaced closely, and bell towers are squat with relatively wide bases. The cumulative impression of this architectural style is one of mass and substantiality.

Before the arrival of the Spanish, the central valley of Oaxaca was an important and populous region. Olmec influence reached the area around 1200 B.C.; by 800 B.C. the Zapotec (the original builders of Monte Albán) occupied the valley. Their civilization flourished about the same time as Teotihuacán in central Mexico. Trade between the two areas intensified and remained important until the Conquest. There was also trade with the Maya to the east. In early post-Classic times, the Mixtec first appeared in the region and slowly, through war and conquest, gained ascendancy over much of the Zapotec homeland before both peoples were humbled by the Aztec and later the Spaniards. To this day, the two principal ethnic groups in Oaxaca remain the Zapotec and Mixtec, whose tonal languages are closely related to each other but far different from the Aztec language Náhuatl.

The city of Oaxaca, originally called Antequera, was founded just a few years after the Spanish vanquished the Aztec. Most of Oaxaca's central valley was granted to Hernán Cortez for his services to the crown. Three centuries of colonial rule followed, during which the region remained calm.

In the years following independence, there was more or less continuous upheaval. From the 1830s to the 1860s, the Liberals and Conservatives fought for control of Mexico's destiny, with the French eventually intervening on the side of the Conservatives. One man, a Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca, led the resistance against the French and played the key role in shaping Mexico's future. He was Benito Juárez, and his handiwork is known to history as La Reforma.

Born in the village of Guelatao, north of Oaxaca City, Juárez was adopted by a wealthy Oaxacan family who clothed and educated him in return for his services as a houseboy. He fell in love with the daughter of his benefactor and promised he would become rich and famous and return to marry her. He did all three and became president of the republic in 1861. Juárez is revered throughout Mexico.

Spanish Courses in Oaxaca, Mexico - Fees

Accommodation Fees

Our Spanish School in Oaxaca, Mexico

Our Spanish School in Oaxaca, Mexico specializes in the teaching of Spanish as a second language. The Spanish school offers intensive Spanish language programs to students from all over the world in the lively, cultural setting of Mexico. The institute is located in a welcoming 19th century building surrounded by gardens, in the colonial city of Oaxaca.

Classes are conducted completely in Spanish, with native teachers who motivate the students to develop their Spanish language abilities and make them competent in communication through the adequate use of these abilities.

In addition to Spanish language courses, students have the opportunity to participate in workshops and cultural activities in the intercambio program with members of the community, and they also participate in excursions to archaeological zones, artisan villages, other natural beauties that surround the city. Students can enjoy their stay in the home of an Oaxacan family, in a room in a posada, or in a comfortable apartment, among other benefits.

Additionally, we offer a couple of special sessions during the year at our Spanish school in Oaxaca, Mexico. We have the special Día de los Muertos session, from October 22nd to November 1st. During this session, we offer special workshops such as mask making, as well as host a Day of the Dead party at the Institute, where we have a traditional altar. Students also have the opportunity to take part in a Comparsa, a traditional Day of the Dead procession and to join tours to different cemeteries and celebration.

We also offer a special Christmas session, from December 3rd to December 28th. During the Christmas season in Oaxaca, students have the opportunity to join in traditional Christmas posadas, see La Noche de los Rábanos, in which artisans carvers create magical figures out of radishes, and see a Christmas parade in which all of the churches in Oaxaca process throughout the city.

Excursions

In order to maximize the student's cultural immersion, we offer a variety of optional tours to outlying villages and archaeological sites on weekends. Oaxaca counts with some of the most diverse artisan goods and one of the richest histories in all of Mexico. With their focus on the continuity of Oaxacan culture, tours are an excellent way to become acquainted with the Central Valleys of Oaxaca.

Tours, which include transportation to the sites as well as the services of a bilingual guide, leave from the front gate of the Institute and last between four to five hours. Students should bring their own refreshments and snacks, as there is no lunch break. Comfortable walking shoes and sun block are highly recommended. Tours leave the Institute Cultural Oaxaca at 9am and typically return around 1:30pm. The general cost runs from US$16.00-20.00 per person per tour.

Choices include trips to

• Monte Alban,
• Mitla, Tlacolula and Tule
• Yagul, Teotitlan del Valle and Tlacochahuaya
• Cuilapan de Guerrero, Arrazola and Zaachila
• San Jose Magote, La Igliesia de Etla and La Iglesia de las Peñas
• San bartolo, San Martin and Santo Tomas Jalietza
• Hierve el Agua

Our Spanish Courses in Oaxaca, Mexico

From 21 years of experience in running professional Spanish courses in Mexico we have developed integral programs that maintain the goal of increasing the students' competence in communication to the highest level possible.

Spanish Program

In this program, students have the opportunity to take a formal Spanish language course appropriate to their level, apply what is learned in group conversations, further develop comprehension and expression abilities in Cultural Workshops, and synthesize the language and culture through experiences with an intercambio (language exchange) with members of the community. This program provides the student with 7 hours of daily contact with the Spanish language.

The program includes:

• 3 hours of Spanish Classes
• 1 hour of Conversation
• 2 hours of Cultural Workshops
• 1 hour of Intercambio

In addition, the students may participate in the news mural of the Institute or in other types of activities that expose them to Mexican culture, such as: conferences, cinema-debate, concerts, expositions, and reading circles.

The Institute Cultural Oaxaca also offers students the option of taking Private Classes in order to cover more specific needs in the process of language acquisition. Through a more individualized process, the teacher and student can design a study plan to efficiently cover the student's needs.

The schedule and duration of this program depends on the student's needs as well as the seasons in which these classes are offered by the Institute.

Cultural Workshops

As complementary activities, cultural workshops are offered for two hours per day, Monday through Thursday, and last for two weeks. These workshops reinforce the knowledge acquired in the classroom, and, above all, are hours of direct contact between the student and Oaxacan culture.

Our regular year-round workshops are:

• History of Mexico
• Mexican Music
• Ceramics
• Oaxacan Cooking
• Textile Weaving
• Salsa and Merengue Dancing
• Mexican Cinema
• Oaxacan Painters
• Making Kites
• Making Masks
• Making Piñatas

We also offer:

• Spanish for Medical Professionals
• Business Spanish
• Spanish for Spanish teachers

Please contact us for information regarding these courses.

Included in the fees are material that the students will use during a session that lasts four weeks. If the students require more than one book, the cost will be US$15.00 per book.

Learn Spanish in Mexico - Accommodation

We believes that your stay in this beautiful city should be pleasant and the standards high. For this reason, we offer the following housing possibilities with the hope of satisfying your expectations, and complete the immersion process.

Home Stay

Home stays allow students to partake in the rhythm of a family's daily life.  Students can opt for a private room, or if they are traveling with friends or family we offer the option of sharing a room.

Oaxacan families open the doors of their homes and offer comfortable and clean rooms, private or shared, to students of the Institute. In addition, living with a family grants students the opportunity to be in permanent contact with the Spanish language and culture and thus to further develop their comprehension and speech production abilities.

The cost per person is US $15.00 per night in a private room, including breakfast, and US $12.00 per night in a shared room, also including breakfast. Students may choose to take “comida”, the large mid-day meal, and/or “cena”, the light evening meal, with their families for US$5.00 and US$3.00 respectively. These prices are per person.

Apartment

The Institute also offers the option of renting apartments in different neighborhoods of the city, with a variety of capacities and services. This option allows the student to organize his/her life in Oaxaca more independently, with a partner, family or friends.

The price range is from US $350.00 to US $800.00 per month. Apartments may only be rented on a monthly basis. In order to reserve an apartment, students must send a US $100.00 deposit with as much time in advance as possible.

Posadas

Posadas (inns) offer students independent, welcoming rooms so that they feel at home and may enjoy an unforgettable experience in Oaxaca.

Posada de Los Ángeles

This posada offers a common living room and kitchen, with a microwave, stove and satellite television, where students may cook, eat, study, or socialize with other guests. The rooms consist of:

• Sink and refrigerator
• Safe for personal belongings
• Private bathroom
• Dresser and closet

The price in dollars per day in a single room is: US $27.00, double: US $38.00, triple: US $47.00, and quadruple: US $52.00. If renting for one week or more the price for a single room is: US $18.00, double: US $26.00, triple: US $31.00, and quadruple: US $34.00.

Posada del Fortín

This posada features a patio surrounded by corridors, where students may sit and study, read, or converse with other guests. There is also a communal kitchen with a refrigerator and stove. The rooms consist of:

Private bathroom

Dresser and closet

The price in dollars per day for a single room is: MX $115, double: MX $230.00, triple: MX $345.

Both posada's are located in the center of the city, very close to the school.

The school on Oaxaca also collaborates with other posada's, which offer a variety of services and whose prices range from US $15.00 to US $25.00. For more details, please contact us.

Hotels

The city of Oaxaca boasts a wide variety of one- to five-star hotels, the prices for which range from US $35.00 to US $250.00 per night. It is our pleasure to help our students in making contact and reservations, though it is usually necessary for the student to cover a deposit for the first night.

Please note: All prices are quoted in $US. For the equivalent in your currency, please visit www.xe.com/ucc.

2007 Dates:

• January 2nd to January 26th
• *January 29th to March 2nd
• March 5th to March 30th
• April 2nd to April 27th
• *April 30th to June 1st
• June 4th to June 29th
• July 2nd to July 27th
• July 30th to August 24th
• August 27th to September 21st
• September 24th to October 19th
• **October 22nd to November 1st
• November 5th to November 30th
• ***December 3rd to December 28th
• *Five-week Course
• **Day of the Dead Course
• ***Christmas Course