How do you feel about your instructor’s…
1) Lesson plan? Do you understand him/her? Do you need more conversation, etc?
Yo entiendo la plana de mi maestra, y yo la entiendo. (Voy a cambiar a inglés!) The conversation part of the instruction was probably the most beneficial part of the experience, especially when confronting difficult concepts such as the subjunctive verb form. Leti is a natural teacher and it's helpful that she isn't fluent in English because therefore I couldn't rely on her as much as I otherwise would have. Letti had a positive, professional attitude.

2) Help on improving your Spanish?
I felt this week was extremely helpful in improving my Spanish. At the end of the week, I was often "thinking" in Spanish as opposed to English. It was necessary to incorporate the "field trips" because it allowed us to build our rapport with our teachers as well as our Spanish vocabulary.

3) Amount of class work and homework for you?
Both were balanced, given the time allowed.

4) Ability to explain / teach with clarity and patience?
Leti is a natural teacher, as I said. She is extremely intelligent and politically / socially informed which is imperative. She is a person of high integrity and strong values pertaining to family life, the plight of females and personal choices.

How do you feel about your host family’s…
1) Living environment for you?
The sisters (Nidia and Julia) provided an exceptional living environment. Their home was impeccably cared for and they went out of their way to provide us with what we needed.

2) Amount and quality of interaction with you?
The amount of interaction was perfect. They were extremely sensitive to our needs for privacy and space, but they were present any time we approached them.

3) Foods for you?
EXCELLENT! Nidia and Julia are phenomenal cooks. They tailored their cooking to match the needs of my daughter, who has a yeast allergy and is vegetarian. They used only fresh produce of great variety and intentionally included native fruits and vegetables.

Would you like to stay in a different host family? YES / NO If YES, please let us know what the host family can do to improve. Although I am not staying for an additional week, I can say with certainty that I would never want a different host family.

Jennifer N. USA

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