Learn Spanish (and How to Dance the Mambo…Harvest Tequila…Cook Tapas…)

International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Bring Spanish to life with activities as diverse as sangria tasting or salsa lessons at these inspiring education centers.

The Spanish spoken in Colombia's highlands is clear and precise, making this a great place to learn the language. If you'd like to teach English abroad in exchange for Spanish lessons, contact the Cambridge Language Center: cambridgecentro@hotmail.com and English Solutions for Colombia.

In Cuba, Spanish Study Holidays offers language programs in the affluent region of Miramar, Havana. As part of the package, you can stay in a four-star hotel, a guesthouse, or with Cuban host families. Study programs range from "semi-intensive" (10 lessons in one week) to "super-intensive" (30 lessons in a week). Optional excursions to a tobacco factory, mango farm, rum museum, beach trips, etc. are available, as well as salsa, mambo, and rumba dance lessons.

IMAC (Instituto Mexico-Americano de Cultura) is an excellent Spanish language school based in the historic town of Guadalajara. It offers home stays and cultural outings, including a day trip to the land of Tequila, where you'll taste and learn the history of Mexico's national drink: planting, harvest, distillation, and the aging process. You will visit La Roseta, the Jose Cuervo Hacienda, where you can observe cultivation of the plant used to make tequila, the blue agave. This day trip costs an additional $25.

Within IMAC's program you can learn Spanish at various levels, from general conversational to specific purposes (including Spanish for business and finance).

The Don Quijote School in Salamanca, Spain offers Spanish language classes in tandem with courses on Spanish cuisine. This two-week language course includes six hours of cooking classes. You will learn how to prepare tortillas, sangria, and tapas--and then sample your new recipes. The cooking course includes ingredients, tasting, and discussion.

Laura Sheridan
For International Living

P.S. You can read my full review of language learning centers in the May issue of International Living. If you've yet to try the print issue of IL on for size, now is the best time. Join today and you get a one-year subscription for only $49. You get instant online access to every article mentioned above…a glossy issue in the mail every month…and much, much more. For full details, click here.