| Spanish Classes at
La Paz
Thank you for your interest in Escuela de Espaņol La Paz!
This brief
list is aimed at answering some of the basic questions you
may have. Please don't worry if we do not answer all your
questions; we will have a thorough orientation before your
first day in class. Feel free to contact us at xela.escuelalapaz@gmail.com with
any questions.
SPANISH INSTRUCTION:
 Really your teacher is not "teaching" you as much as he or
she is helping you teach yourself. Rather than a passive one-way
flow of information, your teacher will be more of a guide
to assist you, correct you, and facilitate the learning process.
It is almost fair to say that the student will get only as
much out of the experience as he or she is willing to put
into it (although we do our part by maintaining a staff of
conscientious, well-trained teachers). Some students choose
to limit themselves to the 5 hours of personal instruction
each day (Monday-Friday), spending most of their free time
speaking their native language with other foreigners. Others
immerse themselves completely, spending extra time studying,
working as a volunteer, or conversing with their family, other
Guatemalans, or other dedicated students.
 As for actual study time with your teacher, you are free to
tell him or her exactly what you would like to work on, or
let your instructor be the guide. Your teacher will try to
keep it as interesting and painless as possible by mixing
in grammar exercises with conversation, reading, and other
methods which may include a relaxing walk in the streets or
park. All teachers at La Paz are Guatemalans. The length of
study time is also up to you; some students immerse themselves
for months, while others study one or two weeks to enhance
their travel experience. Study time is generally 5 hours a
day, either in our morning session from 8am to 1pm, or in
our afternoon session from 2pm to 7pm.
We have a break between 10:30am and 11:00am. Where
the school provides snacks, fresh fruit, herbal/normal tea
or coffee and purified water all at no extra cost. This
break is a perfect social time where the teachers and students
get to talk and learn about each other in a nice relaxed atmosphere.
And it is a great opportunity to play a little ping pong
with your teacher.
Bringing school supplies is optional, but a Spanish dictionary
and notebook are, of course, recommended. You are welcome
to bring any of your favorite grammar books, but we do have
some here in our school library. The local stores sell dictionaries
and very inexpensive notebooks.
 EVALUATIONS
Each Friday you will be asked to evaluate your weeks' experience.
Please give an honest opinion about your teacher, your family,
the scheduled activities, the administration, and the school
in general.
It is no problem if you would like to change teachers every
week (as a matter of fact, we recommend it!), and if there
is some other teacher with whom you would like to study with,
please feel free to request it. We will do our best to satisfy
our students. We recommend to you change teachers every two
weeks, as this facilitates your learning of the Spanish language.
LIBRARY
We have an extensive, multilingual library including works
of literature, non-fiction, autobiographies, video documentaries
and more. You are welcome to view any videos during after
school hours or borrow any books
in the school library. Please be very careful with them -
books in Guatemala are very expensive (for us) and many
of our books are hard to replace. Grammer books can be checked
out for one night at a time, and need to be at the school
during the day as our teaching staff use the library during
class time. Lastly, please do not leave books with your host
family when you stop studying at La Paz, please return them
directly to the school. We welcome any and all donations to
our school library.
 GRADUATION
Every student will receive a diploma and graduation ceremony
at the end of their stay at La Paz. This usually takes place
on Friday evenings and includes a dinner at the school, in
a restaurant or at the home of one of our host families. We
ask that each student who is graduating do a little something
(in Spanish of course!) to 'earn' his/her diploma. Your teacher
can help you prepare whatever you like - a speech, poem...
a song perhaps?
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