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 Vallarta Living | October 2006 
The Spanish School Vallarta
 Sue Fornoff - PVNN
| | Melchor Cortés Cortés, proprietor and teacher, has been teaching in the classroom and privately to locals and visitors for almost 20 years. | 
| | For more information, visit SpanishSchoolVallarta.com or call Melchor Cortés at 322-224-8917. |
After living in Mexico almost a year, I was starting to get comfortable speaking Spanish in many situations. But there were still plenty of times I just couldn't think of how to say what I wanted or I had difficulty understanding what people were saying.
Many people say they "just pick it up," but that was happening too slowly to suit me. I wanted to be able to converse with my neighbors, shopkeepers and even be able to deal with the bureaucracy.
We have plenty of books to help us learn - Spanish for Dummies, Spanish the Easy Way, a few grammar books and some tapes. They are fine for refresher, but I felt like going to a class was what I needed.
There are many choices for Spanish classes in Puerto Vallarta. There are low cost classes available through the International Friendship Club and the Los Mangos library. The University of Guadalajara has a program right in the center of town, which is very popular with expats in the area.
Numerous private schools offer a variety of classes. They run the gamut from casual conversational groups up through classes for credit.
One course I came upon in my search is called Melchor's Spanish Language School, also called the Spanish School Vallarta. Looking at the website I saw that the school uses a curriculum called the Warren Hardy method.
I had heard many good things about the Warren Hardy classes in San Miguel de Allende, so I thought I'd give it a closer look. Warren Hardy has been teaching for over 30 years and has had a Spanish language school in San Miguel since 1990.
He has taught an estimated 20,000 adult learners. The classes are very structured, consisting of four-levels of intensive instruction. Each course, taught three hours per day, three days a week for three weeks, includes instruction, practice in a game playing atmosphere and repetition.
Following the success Warren Hardy has had with his Spanish program in San Miguel de Allende, he plans on training 20 more teachers in the next year. In addition, he is very involved with online instruction, including downloadable products. He has finished converting his system into English and will begin offering those classes in the near future.
The class and the format sounded perfect to me. I wasn't looking for a long term commitment, but more of a boost to my level of Spanish fluency. I wondered whether the first level class would be too much of a review as I felt I was not at the beginning level. After some thought, I decided to enroll for Level One to get a good start in the program.
Once I arrived in class, it seems that many of the other students had the same concern. As it turned out, we were all glad to have started in Level One. While there was some review, we were continuously learning new things.
The students in the class ranged from a high school student in town visiting a relative to local business owners to retirees to vacationers. Most had a little background in Spanish, but at least one student admitted knowing no Spanish at all when the class began.
Melchor Cortés Cortés, proprietor and teacher, has been teaching in the classroom and privately to locals and visitors for almost 20 years. He is one of 30 teachers trained by Warren Hardy and authorized to teach using this method and materials.In the Level One class, he was assisted by his wife, Martha Flores Salcedo de Cortés and their daughter Yesenia.
The class gets right to business the first hour and the intensity continues the whole three weeks. Besides the classroom time, there is a substantial amount of homework to reinforce the lessons.
Working with a partner, students learn through written, spoken and listening exercises. The class is very hands-on and keeps up a quick pace. Repetition of concepts alternates with presentation of new ones.
There are some things about the class that really impressed me. While many people advocate teaching only in the target language, the Warren Hardy classes are specifically designed for native English speakers.
Explanations and instructions are given in English in the Level One class. This helps keep the focus on the concepts being learned, even if the students' vocabulary is not large enough to comprehend the instructions in Spanish.
In higher level classes, instruction is done more and more in Spanish, with English explanations being the exception rather than the rule.
Melchor, a native of Mexico, has an exceptional understanding of English grammar. Several students commented that they thought Melchor knows English grammar better than most native English speakers.
He is able to easily explain the concepts in English and convey to students how the same ideas are expressed in Spanish. An added benefit of the explanations is a better understanding of why native Spanish-speaking people who are learning English say things the way they do.
As our class drew to an end, the consensus of the group was that we all learned a lot of Spanish and gained much confidence in our ability to speak, read and write.
After taking the Level One class, I have been speaking Spanish more confidently and making more of an effort to use it every day. After a few months to let Level One sink in, I began taking the Level Two class. It is every bit as intense, and I'm sure will be every bit as useful.
Based on my personal experience and talking to other students, Melchor's classes are both enjoyable and worthwhile! For more information, visit SpanishSchoolVallarta.com or call Melchor Cortés at 322-224-8917. |
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