I learned of ASLI Spanish Institute when I was a doctoral student at the University of California,…read moreLos Angeles. At the time, I was seeking lessons in Nahuatl as well as Spanish instruction in preparation for fieldwork in Morelos. Paco and Maru arranged for private tutoring in Náhuatl and as well as advanced instruction in Spanish. While I have a unique case, in that I have been engaged in fieldwork while taking classes, I have been deeply impressed by the care that the institute takes to ensure that all visiting students have a cultural immersion in Mexico and in the local history of Morelos, the historic epicenter of the Mexican Revolution. In addition to instruction, students are taken to cultural and historic sites throughout Morelos and Mexico City: teachers have the option to visit local schools in Morelos to learn of the conditions of public and private education in Mexico. The institute boasts a range of high quality teachers with the ability to teach across ages and levels-- instruction that far exceeded my experience of language education in primary school in the U.S. Students are offered the option to stay among local families. From my experience, the majority of students leave with a heightened knowledge of the socio-cultural history in Mexico as well as a working knowledge of Spanish in conversation. This level of care, as well as the cultural experiences that Maru and Paco work to provide, is truly exceptional. I highly recommend the institute for all looking to learn or improve their Spanish, and especially for teachers in the U.S seeking Spanish instruction and intercultural exchange.

Studying Spanish at ASLI has been a wonderful experience. The classes are fun, interesting and…read moreengaging. My communication skills improved from day 1 because the school provided many opportunities during the day for me to use my Spanish. I absolutely loved the campus. The classes were small and personalized to my needs, the grounds are green with colorful flowers and the people were great. The teachers were fun and enthusiastic while the administration was always happy to help and make me feel at home. Great homestay experience. Cuernavaca is a safe and beautiful place to learn the language and experience the culture. All in all just wonderful.

From the owner: Universidad Internacional UNINTER fundada en 1980 en la ciudad de Cuernavaca, Morelos…read more - Posgrados con 7 Especialidades, 13 Maestrías y 1 Doctorado - Universidad con 25 Licenciaturas y 8 ingenierías - Bachillerato Multicultural y Bachillerato Bilingüe - Secundaria Multicultural y Secundaria Bilingüe - Escuela de Español para extranjeros Intercambios Internacionales en más de 30 países, en mas de 100 universidades. Prácticas profesionales en México y en otros países.

I'm in my early 50's a considered the "sandwich generation". Have ailing parents that sometimes…read moreneed assistance as well as children in their early 20's, in college & home, that are learning how to spread their wings. Our daughter graduated from high school in 2022 and we were thrilled when she was accepted at Baylor for Nursing. Unfortunately, Baylor was over crowded for the upcoming fall so they offered all incoming students a free semester of housing and classes if they could postpone enrollment until the Spring semester. Only catch was the students could not attend another college while they were waiting. Of course we wanted to take that deal! But I wasn't about to have our daughter stay home & sleep in right before she went to college. ANYWAY! She decided she wanted to take a gap year & travel. Yeah, when pigs fly! So I told her about Cemanahuac. I went to Cemanahuac myself the Summer before starting college a LONG time ago. I had accepted a job working for the airlines and wanted to improve my Spanish enough to pass the international speaker test so I could fly to Central & South America. I stayed in Cuernavaca for two months, Cemanahuac placed me with a wonderful family, and my Spanish was fluent when I returned. My Husband was very leery about my daughter going to live in Mexico "alone" and in all honesty he was one of the biggest hurdles to getting everything set up. I called & emailed Cemanahuac for information on enrolling our daughter. I was very impressed by the response time, friendliness, & my daughter & I bonded over the excitement of setting up her trip! This all happened around Covid & I was surprised at how much further along with vaccinations the U.S. was as opposed to Mexico. My husband & I rented an airbnb close to the school but enrolled our daughter in the live with a family option. We figured that way we would be close by if she needed anything but she could still feel independent. We arrived Friday afternoon the week before her classes were scheduled to begin. I did not confirm with the school that we would be arriving that early. Once in our Airbnb I emailed the school to let them know we were in town. Within hours we received a call from Charlie welcoming us to Cuernavaca & made a plan to meet up the following day for a tour of the school & to meet the family our daughter would be staying with. Remember that my husband was not a fan of this trip & Charlie's perfect English & professionalism scored a lot of points in helping with the transition. Our daughter is diabetic and my biggest fear was managing her sugars & diet in another country. Charlie is somewhat of an expert on diabeties. He worked with the host family to ensure our daughter's meals were what she needed, he checked her blood sugar throughout the day, and when she had an allergic reaction to the cat at the host family's home Charlie contacted us immediately so we could confer with her Doctor. Her dietitian suggested she wear the diabetes freedom device on her arm and link it with her smart phone. The device alerts when sugars are too high, too low, and saves the data so her dietician could access the information remotely. Something else to consider: Mexico does not have epi pens readily available. In fact, my daughter had an allergic reaction to the cat that belonged to the host family. My husband read all about it & many people in México die from anaphylactic shock because epi pens are mostly available only in ambulances, emergency rooms or other urgent care facilities. Please do not forget to pack epi pens if there's a possibility you or your loved ones will need one while away from home. We tried to overnight a pen but FedEx refused the shipment because it was considered medical prescriptions & special documentation & licensing is required to ship internationally. My husband ended up flying to México to bring our daughter an epi pen. Back to the school! Our host family was the most amazing family! They had a daughter my daughter's age, lived in a gated community, & cooked some of the best food I have ever tasted! 5 star experience all the way! And it was nostalgic for me to return to the school I went to so long ago. I used to lay out by the pool & study between classes. Mexico still has the 4 hour siesta in the middle of the day so you can take a break or nap, eat, etc. it's lovely. Everything was wonderful and our daughter begged to extend her stay TWICE! Our entire family highly recommends Cemanahuac & if you can stay with Clara & her family you will not be disappointed!! My husband & I are hoping to retire in a few years and Cemanahuac is first on our list so that my husband can learn Spanish before we start globetrotting through Central & South America! Thank you Charlie for all of the extra time you spent with our daughter Amanda & for reassuring us that Cemanahuac was the best fit for our family! We look forward to seeing you again! Hopefully in a few years!

What a great place to improve my Spanish, meet really nice people, and get oriented in Mexico City…read moreduring my recent short solo trip! The school was kind enough to place me in a well-suited, existing group class for my 4 days in town, with an excellent, encouraging and fun teacher. I also took some private lessons one-on-one, which speeded up my learning process. I am so glad I stopped off here on my way to South America, and will go back again next time I visit Mexico City!

From the owner: Spanish courses for foreigners in Mexico City. Our Spanish school offers different levels, from…read morebeginners to intermediate and advanced.

3 of us (mature women) just returned from 2 weeks in Mexico City taking classes @ Lengua y Cultura…read more We have taken courses for some years & have gone to language school in another town in Mexico so knew what we wanted. We interviewed 2 other schools before this one and were on the verge of scrapping the trip when we found L&C. They have a placement test beforehand so you know where you fit. They have an actual building and a staff that has a curriculum. The director answered all of our questions in a timely manner. The other students had more experience talking but we 3 knew the grammar. They did field trips on Fridays (part of the "Cultura") and they had (casual) conversations on Thursday nights (in addition to other activities throughout the week). I would highly recommend this school and give a shout out to instructors Diego & Eric as well as Adrian (registrar).

I'm halfway through a 4 week intensive (3 hours a day) beginners course with Carlos (Charlie) as my…read moreinstructor. I am very satisfied with the school in all aspects; location in Condesa, Vanessa who signed me up, Charlie, and my fellow students. I floundered for about a week and a half but then things started to click. I highly recommend after class using Babbel or Duolingo for an hour or two this was the catalyst for me.

I spent a couple of weeks studying at Livit in March. The instruction was excellent (thanks, Maru)…read moreand targeted perfectly for our level of language proficiency. Class size was small - 3 students, fairly well-matched. Class ran from 9 to 1 every day, with lunch afterwards. After lunch we were matched with local guides who took us around to various places in Puebla to help us reinforce our Spanish around town. Once a week, there was a school outing to a nearby town to see a little more of the area. Homework was assigned most days, and sometimes it was pretty tough! It was a great learning experience. I know that my spoken Spanish improved as a result of the two week course, and my confidence in speaking improved as well. When I came home, I was able to pass a placement exam for a university course that I'm taking now, and I'm pretty sure that without the experience at Livit, I would not have placed as high as I did. The lunches provided were excellent, and it was fun to mix with other students at different levels of language proficiency. I really enjoyed getting to know Puebla and the area around it. It's a wonderful part of Mexico and not overrun with tourists. One advantage of attending an immersion in Puebla is that you will hear relatively little English and run into very few Americans. In two weeks in Puebla, I spoke very little English. Scott (the co-owner) does a great job setting expectations for incoming students, and is a warm and welcoming person who helps make everything run smoothly. The school is located close enough to Puebla old town that you can walk from the Zocalo to school in 10 or 15 minutes. There are many nice and reasonably-priced hotels and guest houses in the center.

Livit is dedicated and very professional about an immersive Spanish experience. Prior to booking,…read morethey give you useful information, no "pie-in-the-sky" hot air. After you book, and before you get there, they follow through with helpful tips for getting around Puebla, including things to do. They also give you a written and oral pre-arrival Spanish assessment, which turned out to be pretty spot-on for me (and, from what I saw, for the vast majority of students). From day one, you notice their professionalism in business administration and customer service. They set you up with small-group classes (mornings, 5x/week) and with one-on-one city guides (afternoons, 3x/week); they serve you lunch (usually outside, in their delightful garden) with attention to your dietary needs (5x/week, with 3x/week being home-cooked); and they have excursions to intriguing places lined up every Thursday afternoon. The teachers are qualified and personable, the topics covered in class are interesting and engaging overall, and the instruction is solid. In combination with the one-on-one guidance in the afternoons and the weekly excursions with guided tours in easy-enough Spanish, not to mention a ton of things to do, see, and explore in Puebla, you do get a rich and varied immersion. Two thirds of my small-group experience were bogged down by that one student who would often monopolize the conversation and keep going down some rabbit hole, taking away from everyone else's speaking time. That could have used some classroom management from the teacher. Also, there were a couple of occasions when the teacher spent a lot of time writing up charts on the board that could have been handouts. That halted the conversation, and made it feel a little like just the kind of "school" that Livit says it avoids. That experience almost cost Livit one star in this review, but the last third saved it (if barely). Maru was a great teacher; she was animated and engaging, kept the class moving along, and did a good job keeping "that" student in check. Therefore, I'll say four stars for the small-group instruction, and still five stars total, because everything else went as well as it could possibly have! Livit really knows business management and customer service. They choose good "adjunct" people to be one-on-one afternoon guides. You get a different guide every week. Mine were all very friendly, and willing to engage with whatever tourist attraction or activity I felt like. And the Puebla area has so much of that to offer! I was able to make the most of my time, thanks in no small part to the effective afternoon guides Livit works with. I had turned to Livit for the kind of guided immersive experience that would work for me as a Spanish learner who had never been to Mexico before. And in the end, it came out a success!