-Boost your learning with inhome teaching. The world is your classroom!!!
-Experience the most complete immersion program in México.
-Get Spanish in any moment with coordinated instruction and home stay activities.
-Make the most of your time with personalized instruction and get the fastest results with constant contact in Spanish.
The Total Immersion Program (TIP) offers you one of the only total immersion experiences in Mexico. Unlike other programs, there is no “classroom” in the Total Immersion Program. Instead of a typical classroom you are immediately immersed in an environment where Spanish can be heard and used in a daily context. Your experience of living and interacting with a Mexican family is guided by intensive and focused language lessons by the program’s experienced teachers.
Each day, you will receive a minimum of five hours of intensive instruction:
This includes sessions in individual or small group settings; 3 hours of instruction in Spanish, a 1 hour workshop, and a 1 hour cultural exploration. The activities you will participate in, however, are not isolated from the real world. Each assignment is geared towards practical, daily use of the language. Your lessons are geared to help you take advantage of the opportunities given to you by living and being immersed in the language and the culture with your host family.
Your family plays a crucial role in the language immersion process.
At TIP, you do not study Spanish from a textbook, but from the daily interactions of life. As part of your stay with the host family, you will participate in their daily activities. This will give you an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in your lessons. You have the opportunity to acquire additional Spanish through observation and interaction with native speakers. Participation in family life is crucial to the success of the Total Immersion Program.
TIP provides all instruction on-site. Whether it be in the bank, market, restaurant, etc.; practice where you need it, when you need it. You won’t be able to wait to get out into the real world to practice your “classroom” Spanish. With TIP, the world is your classroom!
Experience where it counts
Over the past 40 years, the founders of the Total Immersion Program (TIP) have used their cumulative experience to train thousands of students and professionals interested in acquiring Spanish. The Total Immersion Program is unique in that it closely follows the most recent research in second language acquisition. Your TIP experiences are based on three simple, proven principles:
-Immersion in an environment in which you can understand the language by using the clues around you.
-Opportunity to communicate with native Spanish speakers in a low stress, low anxiety environment.
-Exposure to the deep connections between Spanish language and culture.
The Total Immersion Program immerses you according to these principles, resulting in rapid language acquisition and acceleration of current levels of proficiency. Getting it right from day 1. Any interested adult, from the very basic to the most advanced, is welcome at TIP.
Upon arriving at the Center, you will be evaluated with an oral interview and certain exercises that allow us to determine your precise level of language acquisition and the correct program placement for you. You are then placed with a host family and begin your lessons with our trained teachers. No more than two students are placed with the given family, allowing you the maximum exposure and benefit from your total immersion experience.
A program tailored to your needs
If you need a Spanish language course for your job or wish to have private instruction, we can create a special program tailored to your needs and career field. Flexibility and the needs of the students have priority in TIP, because our wish is that you leave with a successful learning experience. We offer specialized courses for:
-Nurses
-Pastors
-Doctors
-Teachers
-Business people
Our host families are critical elements in immersing you in Spanish language and the surrounding culture. Unlike most programs, the Total Immersion Program does not place you with families who will treat you as hotel guests. Rather, families take an active part in getting you involved in every aspect of daily life, therefore, allowing you the opportunity to accelerate your language acquisition during every waking hour of the day.
TIP chooses its families carefully, taking into consideration the accommodations they can provide, their education and occupation, their warmth and openness. Most TIP families have plenty experience with foreign visitors and can accommodate a wide range of needs, such as dietary restrictions, personalities, and levels of Spanish. They pledge to speak to you only in Spanish.
Your family will provide meals (Mexican food is delicious!!!), Spanish language practice, help with transportation, advice, and friendship. You will have a comfortable room with clean, modern bath facilities. Whether you come alone, with a group, or a friend we will place you with a Mexican family who is happy to accommodate you. As different as they are from one another, all of our host families have one thing in common: unsurpassed Mexican hospitality.
At Total Immersion Program, we believe students must be exposed not only to daily life in the family, but also to the cultural richness that surround our location in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Regular excursions are organized to local historic, artistic, and cultural sites that allow students to understand and appreciate the abundant culture of Mexico and Latin America.
Students also explore the sights and sounds of the “City of the Eternal Spring” with its numerous cafes, restaurants, and entertainment sites. Understand Culture in Context In order to make the experience more meaningful, Total Immersion Program offers a series of one-hour courses, Monday through Thursday. The courses are aimed at helping the student understand the roots of Latin American culture, while expanding their abilities in Spanish. Our main bulletin board lists the courses offered each week. Some examples include:
-Contemporary History of Mexico
-Pros and Cons of the Free Trade Treaty
-Literature, Art and Society in Mexico
-Mexican Murals
-Historical Survey of Women in Latin America
-Pre-Colombian Civilizations
-The Novel of the Mexican Revolution
-Dance, Music and Folk Culture
-Extra-curricular activities
At TIP, we don’t have you leave your Spanish at the classroom door. Every week, you’ll take part in activities designed to challenge and extend your Spanish, all while having fun in the beautiful sun of Cuernavaca. Converse in Spanish over a cup of espresso at an outdoor café, watch the latest movie from Mexico’s burgeoning cinema scene, or dance a little salsa to some tropical tunes. Learning Spanish is not just about studying – it’s about having fun!
The city of Cuernavaca offers easy access to a number of cultural and recreational sites. Students enrolled in our TIP Program have the opportunity to participate in excursions organized by the Institute. A TIP staff member serves as the guide in conducting discussions and answering questions during these trips. There are optional excursions within Cuernavaca, all of which are offered for a nominal fee.
Some examples include:
-Teopanzolco (Tlahuican pyramids)
-Botanical Garden (Jardín Borda, house of the Emperor Maximiliano)
-Ex-Hacienda of Hernán Cortés (now a luxury hotel)
-Palace of Hernán Cortés (Colonial fortess, now a regional museum)
-Cathedral
For excursions outside the city, the minimum number of students required depends on the particular site being visited. These optional trips are offered at an additional charge and depend on the destination.
They include:
-Mexico City
-Oaxaca
-Puebla
-Guanajuato
-Las Estacas (water and recreation park)
-Taxco
-Tepoztlán
-Xochicalco
-Malinalco
-Teotihuacan
-Acapulco
