I walked down a little dirt path that led to the famous surfing beach of Montanita, Ecuador and came to the wooden gate of a large, friendly wooden house with the tips of trees and green garden bushes poking up and out over the fence. Stepping up to the house I was greeted by a friendly black dog, Keil and cats, Luna and Sol. Inside Gabby was busy making preparations for the day and offered me a cup of rich Ecuadorian coffee from her dining room/ office. I couldn´t believe I was just a stones from Ecuador´s most famous surfing beach. And this is where I and many others have started their Spanish immersion course —just 100 steps from the beach, in the tranquil garden setting of Marazul Spanish school.
In today´s world of high rises, fast food chains and Megacorporate giants, the little guy sometimes gets left behind. Those who know the benefits of supporting the little guy rather than the corporate appreciate the personalized approach, the hands on approach. Which one would you prefer, Mcdonalds or the local burger joint? Well the same could be said of Spanish language schools—one could go to a large corporate style school that seems more profit driven than people driven. On the other hand popping up are start up schools whose aim is quite the opposite—trying to keep the classes small to benefit the student and not the profit margin. One thing that life has taught me is that we should always support the little man—or little woman as it is with Mar Azul Spanish School. The school offers a lot of chances to apply what you´ve learned through activities of interest.
The approach is largely coversational, basing itself on grammatical structures without heavily relying on a book-like structure to the class. Teachers will start with a grammatical concept like the use of ser v. estar. They will go on to define it and then trough a series of activities and games the rule is applied through conversation and combined with new vocabulary. And it is through these series of classroom activities that the seed is allowed to germinate in your head. But classes don´t end when the schoolbell rings. It is part of the methodology of this school to have classes extend outside the classroom. The school offers a lot of chances to apply what you´ve learned through pursuits of students activities of interest.
Classes are normally held in four hour blocks from either 8 to 12 in the afternoon or from 1 to 5 in the afternoon. But the school was very flexible with scheduling and I had 2 hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. This left me plenty of time to pursue adventure activities that are on offer here in Montanita. The surf in Montanita Ecuador is famous and so on offer are Surf and Spanish courses. I took a week long course and within the first day the local instructor had me standing. The Surf lesson was an excellent chance to apply the Spanish I had learned in class. Because the instructor primarily instructed in Spanish, I had to really listen to what he said and apply the Spanish that I already knew to understand what he said. Through the use of pantomiming actions combined with the Spanish vocabulary of the Surf class, I found that my Spanish was improving rapidly. The words took on more meaning as they were combined with an activity that I had real interest in. What was best was that I HAD FUN DOING IT! What better way to study than to do so on the beach with sun and surf and beautiful people lying around getting suntans!
But there is a whole lot more to studying Spanish Ecuador in Montanita than lying around on the beach in between classes. There is a lot of great ways to experience the culture and share the history of Ecuador and make a contribution to the community as well. Marazul Spanish school offers so many course: Spanish and Yoga with classes held in an open air studio with beach views. There are Spanish and Salsa classes, Spanish and diving, Medical Spanish and Spanish and Volunteering, Spanish and cooking classes, etc. All of these can enrich your experience here and offer different ways to explore Spanish in Ecuador. Also there is a travel Ecuador class where students can combine travel with studying Ecuador. Students spend a week in the top locations of Ecuador: Quito, Banos, Cuenca, and Montanita enjoying the highlights of each place in this four week program. Ecuador has so much to offer in diversity of culture and entertainment to excite and stimulate you. I´ll definitely be back!