ABOUT AVENTURAS
LANGUAGES
Educational Travel Adventures
In 1981, in between years of graduate study for our
MSW in social work at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington
in Seattle, we traveled to Mexico to study and learn Spanish in an intensive
Spanish language immersion school. We knew then that acquisition of the Spanish
language and knowledge of Mexican and Latin culture would be important to
us in building cultural and language competency in our profession working
as clinical social workers with mental health clients in California. We knew
that with most of our clientele speaking Mexican Spanish that learning Spanish
in Mexico was important. We traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, in the state
of Morelos. We learned that this was one of the two world centers for
the study of the Spanish language. Upon arrival in Cuernavaca, we began our
research of the many schools there. After visiting many Cuernavaca Spanish
immersion schools and meeting their staff, we decided upon the program at
EXPERIENCIA, Centro de Intercambio Bilingüe y Cultural. It had many
things that we were looking for and more.
We decided upon a six week course of studies with
very little background in Spanish. During our stay, we fell in love with
the people and the culture of Mexico. Our experience at EXPERIENCIA was one
that left a lasting impression. In the spirit of our graduate studies professor
at the University of Washington School of Social Work, our experience was
one of "fun and learning, too!" We made life-long friends from Mexico and
Europe. We traveled for two weeks in Mexico after our studies before returning
home. Since that time, we have returned to Mexico for a dozen additional
"aventuras" there, totaling about a year of time spent in various parts of
the country (Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Chiapas, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara,
Puerto Vallarta, Baja California, Mazatlan, Merida, Yucatan, Acapulco,
Zihuatenejo, San Cristobal, Palenque, Bonampak, Yachilán
in Chiapas). In 1999, we returned to Experiencia with our children (now
18 and 15) for a "tune-up". Since that time, our children have taken
15 weeks of immersion classes themselves in classes designed for children.
Our daughter was able to begin Spanish classes in high school at
year three. Also, our own level of fluency has continued to build. We
also work with the Experiencia Tepozltan Spanish school in the nearby indigenous
village of Tepoztlan, near the birthplace of Emiliano Zapata and the Quetzacoatl,
plumed serpent of Azteca times.
Each time we have returned we have taken additional
students with us. We started AVENTURAS: Educational Travel Adventures out
of our love for México, her people and a desire to help bring increased
Spanish language skills and cultural competency to the services that many
people need in their employment setting today. The students that we send
down and take down in group trips with us come from many different backgrounds.
Some are Social Workers, Mental Health Therapists, Teachers, Doctors, Nurses,
Embassy Diplomates, Government Employees, Education Professionals, Priests
and other Clergy, Nuns, Ministers, Business Executives and
Professionals, Medical Students, Law Students, Social Work Students
and other College Students, Retirees, and other Mexico-lovers that just want
to be able to speak better when they travel. Many of our students are Latinos
who either want to learn the language for themselves, fine-tune some aspect
of grammar, or expose their children to the culture and the language in a
more intense way. Many students have traveled with their families who
study with them. Some students feel more comfortable traveling in a group
so we have enjoyed setting up these experiences as well. We look forward
to many more "AVENTURAS" ourselves.
We want to share our experience with you in providing you with
individualized help in planning your next adventure
in learning!
In 2000 we found a common interest with Professor
Paulino Vesasco, an instructor at the Experiencia Spanish language school
in Cuernvaca with more than 29 years of language immersion instruction
experience. We thought that useful inexpensive live online classes could
be developed via the internet using instant messaging formats. In the fall
of 2000, we pioneered the first live online Spanish classes via internet.
In recent years we have expanded this to include voice technology and now
offer live voice and text based Spanish immersion style classes via internet.
We continue our own live online classes with Paulino each Sunday morning
at 10AM. This has allowed us to continue to grow in our Spanish skills after
returning from our annual in-country tune up each summer. We have also been
surprised at the improvement in our ability to read and write Spanish.
You can contact Paulino at
![[AVENIDAS: Online live Spanish tutoring from Cuernavaca, Mexico]](pict143.jpg) , a website
(www.SpanishTutorOnline.com)
to provide Online Spanish Tutoring using email and live instant chat to
facilitate learning. He also arranges translations, studies in Latin literature,
art, politics, culture competency consultation and in-country instruction
in Cuernavaca and Oaxaca, Mexico. Currently, this program is offered
in an immersion-style format with the learning occuring completely in Spanish.
This is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. For
some students it will help them brush-up on their Spanish and be at a higher
level of fluency when they arrive in México for intensive study. For
others, it will help to maintain and build their fluency when they have returned
home. Other Spanish language learning programs are also possible. AVENTURAS
offers two free class hours with Professor Velasco when signing up for one
of our language study programs.
Since 2004, we have expanded the schools and programs
that we work with to include other high quality Spanish immersion language
schools in other Latin America and in Spain. We contract with the University
of California at Santa Cruz, in their English Language International program
and Educational Consortium Institute in the Monterey Bay area near Santa
Cruz, California bringing foreign students to the United States to study
English and American English and American culture. We are now also working
with Accord Languages in Paris, France, including their summer program in
French language immersion in a secure residential setting outside of Paris.
We will soon offer options to study, learn and travel to schools and institutes
teaching German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin and Catonese dialects),
Russian, and Greek immersion school with concurrent cultural immersion.
These programs include schools in other parts of
Mexico (Solexico Spanish Schools: Playa del Carmen, Oaxaca and Puerto Vallarta);
Escuela Mexicana in Guanajuato, Guanajuato; Academia Hispania Spanish School
in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato; and other programs in La Paz, Baja
California, Guadalajara, Acapulco and Zihuatenejo. Our other Latin American
partners are in Costa Rica (Costa Rica Spanish Institute: COSI
About Laura Manning, MSW, LCSW: Laura is a licensed clinical social worker
on staff at the Santa Clara County Mental Health Department where she works
with multi-cultural clients providing psychotherapy, consultation and case
management services to children, adolescents and families on an outpatient
basis. She also supervises and teaches graduate students in social work,
marriage and family therapy trainees and clinical psychology interns. She
is adjunct faculty at San José State University in the School of Social
Work where she in currently a Faculty Field Liaison for student interns in
mental health, social service, school social work, medical social work and
social work specialties.
About Charley Hodson, MSW, LCSW: Charley is a licensed clinical social worker
on staff of the Santa Clara County Mental Health Department where coordinates
the student intern training program and supervises interns in their clinical
practice and works with multi-cultural clients providing psychotherapy,
consultation and case management services to children, adolescents and families
on an outpatient basis. He is also supervises and teaches graduate and
undergraduate students in social work, marriage and family therapy trainees
and clinical psychology interns. He is also adjunct faculty at San José
State University in the School of Social Work in their Transcultural Program
where he has taught Health and Mental Health in Social Work Practice and
Advanced Generalist Practice: Family Systems Focus. He is currently the
coordinator of their Mental Health Initiative Program.
AVENTURAS also contracts with Educational Consortium
Institute (www.ECI-CA.org) in the Santa
Cruz, California area where we are the coordinators of their J1 Visa Program
Public High School placing and monitoring international high school students
for one and two semester placement. We also arrange placements for high school
students in their Intensive Summer Teen English Immersion Program
(www.AventurasED.com/exchange.html).
Over the past 12 years, we have been a homestay family for ECI to over 25
teenagers from Japan and China.
As social workers, we base our business practices on social work values and
ethics. We are looking to move our business into the non-profit sector as
we gain more revenues so that we can begin to support organizations and causes
supporting social justice issues, world health, international issues related
to families and children, ecology and sustainable living communities. If
you are aware of worthy causes and organizations that you think may be of
interest to us, please contact us!
A sus ordenes,
Charley and Laura
![[Aventuras: Educational Travel Adventures Image]](pict71.jpg) ®
Educational Travel
Adventures |
