We now have a Spanish language teacher offering Spanish lessons and language exchange for visitors and volunteers who want to improve their language skills while staying here in the forest.
Raúl is originally from Mexico City, and will be living at the Bosque until at least August. He has been teaching for years, and has been offering lessons to many of his friends and acquaintances who want to become better at Spanish speaking, comprehension, and writing. He has a legal background and can teach legal Spanish as well. Raúl is multi talented – he also holds discussions on permaculture, vegetarianism, and leads workshops on natural building.
One of his students, Alexandra from the US, writes:
I came to the Bosque with many years of experience studying Spanish grammar but without the ability to hold a steady, fluid conversation. After a two week stay with language lessons from Raul, I left the Bosque and continued my travels in Mexico, confidently conversing in Spanish. This is the best I have ever felt about my language skills, and my lessons with Raul took me to a whole new ability and confidence level. The lessons were fun, effective, and there couldn’t be a more beautiful setting for them. I seriously recommend the Bosque and Raul to anyone for Spanish studies, regardless of skill level, and I met several other guests during my stay who feel the same.
Other resources we have available include:
- friends in nearby villages who offer language exchange.
- movies to watch in Spanish with Spanish subtitles
- books in Spanish for the beginner to advanced student
- Bosque dictionary including tools, food items, and forest words
- Bosque slang dictionary including popular Mexican slang
Visitors to the Bosque speak a number of different languages. Generally we have a wide variety of Spanish skill level here; beginner, intermediate, advanced and native speakers. For both Spanish and English students who want to practice, we encourage speaking in your second language when possible. If the person you are speaking to looks back at you with confusion, switch languages! For people who would enjoy a rural setting, this could be the best place to study Spanish in Mexico.
Another Spanish teacher will be joining us in late July. We are recruiting TEFL certified English teachers to offer their classes here as well. With a mix of English and Spanish students here, language exchange will happen naturally and visitors here will have a very language enriched experience. Perhaps in the future we will also be able to offer classes in basic Purépecha, the language of the indigenous group in this area.
For more information about Raúl’s Spanish classes, click here.
For more information about Bosque language resources, click here.
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