Spanish immersion classes offered for professionals

Face it. That CD designed to teach commuters Spanish while they are bottlenecked on a Valley highway works as well as quickly selecting your favorite song off of a cassette tape.

And people who wear headphones overnight to learn the language through osmosis wake up more often than not thinking their television has been left on.

Central Arizona College has a better solution: Spanish immersion in Cuernavaca.

Designed to vastly improve the Spanish comprehension and speech of the participants, a pair of three-credit, 14-day classes will depart from Phoenix to Cuernavaca, Mexico, in June. Students will be housed with a Mexican family so they may improve their language skills through interaction in the home.

Each two-week adventure worth three credit hours. The first trip runs June 1-14, while the second trip will take place June 15-28.

“This program is ideal for teachers, school administrators, medical professionals – anyone who works with the high Spanish-speaking populations in Arizona and the neighboring border states,” John Prevost, the Central Arizona College professor who runs the trip, explained. “It is a terrific opportunity for people to improve their education, increase their marketability, and earn continuing education credits required. There is definitely a need for this type of program in our communities, especially among professionals and students learning the Spanish language.”

And learning the language is just part of the program.

“The excellent cultural and sightseeing trips are designed to immerse participants in the Latin American culture so their knowledge and understanding of the language grows,” Prevost added.

At no additional cost, the program offers exotic trips to Mexico City, Taxco, Tepotzlan, archeological ruins and many other fascinating places.

Recruiters who need to communicate with Hispanic athletes could see a huge benefit in the Central Arizona College immersion program, especially when searching for and recruiting talent throughout the Spanish-speaking regions of Central and South America. Recruiters are now tapping heavily into the baseball and basketball markets of the region.

Businesses could also send employees to Cuernavaca to enhance their language skills and create global opportunities for improved commerce. Law enforcement officials, government workers, military personnel and medical professionals all interact with large Hispanic populations in Arizona and would be ideal candidates for the program.

Known for its temperate climate, impressive archaeological ruins and spectacular mountain scenery, Cuernavaca is only 90 minutes from Mexico City. At 5,000 feet above sea level, it boasts a pleasant year-round temperature in the mid-70s and provides a summer respite from the triple-digit heat in Arizona.

Students will receive five hours of intense daily instruction by highly qualified native-language instructors. These instructors utilize a cultural backdrop in an immersion format to teach Spanish – proven to be the best way to learn a foreign language.

The registration deadline is Wednesday. There is limited space available in the program.

For more information on registration or to receive a detailed brochure about the program, contact John Prevost by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (520)-494-5386 or (800) 237-9814, ext. 5386.

File image