Spanish Immersion

Other Courses: Baja | Denali | Lake Clark

•	Course Overview
•	About Chacala
•	Course Description
•	Course Schedule
•	General Info
•	Photo Gallery
•	Tuition

Course Dates
February 2nd - 18th, 2009

Students enroll in the spring, and they receive and begin their independent study coursework at the start of the fall semester. After studying the provided material at home for a semester, the group will go to Chacala, Mexico for sixteen days. There we apply the Spanish learned at home.

The field course starts in Anchorage, where the group meets. There students go through a course orientation. During this time, students and instructors discuss safety, first aid procedures, preventing common health problems such as dehydration, colds, sleep depravation and sun exposure. This is also a great opportunity to spend time getting to know everyone in the group while having fun together through teambuilding and other activities.

That night the group flies to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico together. After landing in Mexico, chartered vans take us 2 hours north to the small village of Chacala on the Pacific Coast.

Days in Chacala are focused on using Spanish by immersing ourselves in the tight-knit community. We plan many activities: Spanish lessons with a local teacher, volleyball games with locals, volunteering at the afterschool program, buying groceries at the store, shopping at markets, visiting and having conversation with locals, eating out, lots of activities with the local teens and much more. And of course there will be some time for relaxing and playing in the ocean along the beautiful crescent beach.

We have a schedule of lessons and activities. (Refer to course description page to see more details on the lessons and activities.) However, there are also many activities we add to our schedule once we arrive in Chacala. Because we know so many people in town and spend so much time with the teens, there are many unplanned activities we'll be invited to. For example, we may find ourselves attending a traditional 'quinciñera,' the 15 year old birthday party which is very special in Mexico. We may co-plan a field course with the local students. Or we may find ourselves invited to visit families' homes for an evening. For these reasons, we remain flexible with our schedule.

After sixteen days, the group flies to Anchorage, where the course ends.

“On a big note, I think I will always remember how fun this trip was and that Spanish is a practical way of making new friends, not just accomplishing a language requirement.”
- Student, Spanish Immersion '05

See what others have to say about CWAV