october-2009

040
ON THE TOWN: CANCUN
Word Play
SPANISH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
IN THE RIVIERA MAYA MIX
A LOT OF LEARNING
WITH EVEN MORE FUN.
BY JACQUELINE DETWILER
WE’RE SEATED IN AN OPENair
tiki hut at Solexico Playa
del Carmen (www.solexico.
com/playadelcarmen), an idyllic
language center located in a
breezy garden just blocks from the beach. It’s not the
most scholastic of locations, but I know I won’t get
distracted—Israel is my private tutor, and he seems to
know what he’s doing. For the next hour, while most of
the other students are away touring the local ruins, he
has the unenviable task of teaching me Spanish.
Learning Spanish has long been a goal of mine (one
I apparently share with much of the English-speaking
world—it’s the top educational goal on 43things.com,
a lifetime to-do list website). But with little time for
classes back home, it seemed unattainable—that is,
until I discovered schools in Riviera Maya that had the
genius idea of combining language learning with something
everybody can find time for: a vacation.
A few days before I met Israel, I started my educa-
GO MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2009
“We’re going to start with a
verbal exam,” my instructor,
Israel, says in Spanish. His
mouth is moving, but the
only thing I truly understand
is this: It’s about to get ugly.
tional adventure at International House Riviera Maya (www.ihrivieramaya.
com), a combination school, hotel and community center two blocks from
Playa del Carmen’s café-studded Avenida Cinco. When I arrived, polyglots from
Italy, the US, Mexico and Spain were milling around in the courtyard, drinking
coffee and conversing in Spanish (too bad I couldn’t understand a word—yet).
Before long, I was sitting in an introductory language class with three Italians
learning the answer to ¿Como te llamas? (answer: Me llamo Jacqui) and writing
down every Spanish word I’d ever heard. I had so much fun getting to know
the students in the class that I couldn’t wait to meet more people—and practice
what I’d learned—at one of the afternoon activities, which ranged from cooking
and Latin dance classes to scuba diving instruction.
While I felt pretty comfortable in my beginner class at the International
House, I was out of my league at El Bosque del Caribe (www.cancun-language.
com.mx), a language school in a repurposed Cancun hacienda that offers a
combination package with intermediate or advanced Spanish lessons and scuba
diving certification. My class consisted of using a book of handouts (instead of
“See spot run,” it was “Learn what Carlos does at el universidad”) and cracking