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Spanish Experience in Puerto Vallarta
By Todd Melcher • Photos by Jesús de Avila

4:00 P.M. the Friday before Halloween. I’m sitting in the middle of a beautiful three story hacienda. The sound of a cantera fountain in the courtyard next to me mixes with the sounds of conversations coming out of the kitchen and from the patio above. The kitchen smells like an abuela’s kitchen, the smells of Mexican cooking still lingering in the air are being pulled past me to the atrium by the breeze. There’s a man and woman having a conversation in Spanish while they surf the internet next to each other in an open living room off the courtyard while two beautiful labs seem to study them.

This gorgeous building houses The Spanish Experience Center, a Spanish language school and much more a few blocks away from the North end of the Malecon. There are students here from around the world and students from around the corner. Students range in age from 9 to 90+ and their skill levels run the gamut from beginner to advanced. The program is a Spanish immersion format which allows the students to learn Spanish through a combination of classroom study, Spanish conversational opportunities, interaction with other students and cultural events in Puerto Vallarta. 

While I was in the school I met a student named Pamela Radcliffe from Mt. Vernon Washington who has been to Spanish Schools in Michoacan, San Miguel De Allende and in the US. “I’ve been to many Spanish schools with varying teaching methods and this one is by far the best.”  When asked why she explained, “It’s the individual attention the teachers can offer through this format” she said. The teacher’s ability to combine the Spanish I know with what I want to learn was incredibly helpful, and my maestra Sarai is a fantastic teacher!”

Patty Marchak, one of the owners of The Spanish Experience Center got so much out of her experience studying Spanish in Cuernavaca that she and four Mexican teachers bought and converted the hacienda into a school two years ago. Ms. Marchak works with Televisa in professional futbol (or soccer to some) organizing Club America’s friendly games in the US.  To her and to many Americans living in Puerto Vallarta, mastering the language is vital to their success in business. 

Each of the 7 teachers at the school are certified to teach Spanish as a second language, most of them come from schools in Cuernavaca where the idea for the Spanish Experience Center was born. “A focus of our program is to teach more than just grammar” said Adriana Bedolla one of the teachers and owners. “We focus on common Spanish phrases so that our students understand what they hear in the community and can make themselves understood. We also select vocabulary based on the individual interests of the student such as doctors and nurses.”  The school offers a variety of specialty programs matching the curriculum to a student’s specific needs and added a children’s program this past summer. “We teach in small groups (no more than 5 students in a class) allowing us to focus on each student and provide the most effective learning environment possible.” 

Although students travel from all over the world to study at the school, many of the students I spoke with during my visits to the school are English speakers who live and work in Mexico.  There are many Spanish students living in Puerto Vallarta who attend the school and tell me that their business, quality of life and connection to the community have all been improved due not just to the education in Spanish, but also to the exposure to the culture and people of Puerto Vallarta. 

“I’ve managed to get by with my limited Spanish over the years, but I’ve had to depend heavily on help from others to finalize deals, review contracts etc.” says Todd Melcher, a Research and Acquisitions professional who’s lived in Vallarta for a little more than a year. “In order to move up to the next level in both business and my relationship to the Latin American community it’s time to take responsibility for my own success in the Spanish speaking community I’ve chosen to live in.” Todd has just signed up for classes at the school starting next Monday.

If you’d like to learn more about the Spanish Experience Center I would suggest that you drop by the school and sign up for a Friday cooking class. Every Friday at 2 PM Esperanza Caballero can be found in the kitchen cooking up authentic Mexican dishes and teaching the students both the Spanish of the kitchen & an appreciation for the flavors of Mexico. The cooking portion of the class is great, but the dining portion that follows is my favorite.

The school is named appropriately enough The Spanish Experience Center and that is exactly what they deliver. From the Palabras to the Pozole this experience is well worth having. Email to a friend

Todd Melcher
E-mail: toddinpv@yahoo.com

• To learn about the Retiring in Mexico please click here.

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