Our Approach

The Academia Hispano Americana's methodology is communicative, intended for our students to ultimately speak, think and react in Spanish automatically, like a native speaker would.

Our 5-level textbook, "Vamos a hablar espaņol", was written by our faculty, and is designed for the student to develop the four basic language-learning skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Each lesson is intended to put these skills into practice from the very first day.

At AHA we strive to make learning Spanish a fun experience. In addition to 2 hours of daily structured lessons, students enjoy a regular conversation class in which they set up debates, engage in role-play and play different language-learning games according to their level of study. Since the conversation class instructors rotate daily as well, students are exposed to different styles of speech, intonation, and personalities.

A communicative method encourages students to practice language interactively in pairs and groups, where they will have an equal opportunity to ask, answer, initiate and respond. The teacher assumes a counseling role, initiating activities, listening, helping and advising. Students are encouraged to communicate effectively and in a natural manner rather than merely produce grammatically correct forms in Spanish. Our program integrates all the contextual factors that affect what we say and how we say it, as well as give students a solid grammatical basis on which to build language.

Providing an intensive Spanish language program requires full time effort from students (except for Friday afternoons where we offer an optional Mexican cooking class and, of course, weekends). Although those not seeking academic credit are free to take as many classes as they wish, everyone is required to attend the morning program - the backbone of our Intensive Spanish Program. Beyond some review, little outside homework is required. Additionally, living with a Mexican family in San Miguel affords many opportunities for extra-curricular practice.