ENCUENTROS is an integral “whole” made up of many experiences    
It is a hot cup of coffee and a good laugh to start the day. It is fun classes with enthusiastic and patient teachers. It is your caring Mexican family which has become your second home. It is field trips to the bakery, the botanical garden, an artist’s studio, or the local market. It is cooking classes with Marusa, salsa dancing on the terrace, excursions, and spontaneous get-togethers in the “Zócalo”. It is Naomi’s smile. It is birthday cakes and that long Mexican birthday song “Las Mañanitas”. It is a breathtaking view of the “barranca”. 

Outstanding faculty   
The creative, lively instructors who make up the ENCUENTROS team are individually accredited by the Secretaría de Educación del Estado de Morelos (State Education Board). They are top notch instructors who make learning fun. They have from 5 to 20 years teaching Spanish to foreigners, and come from diverse professional backgrounds. At ENCUENTROS we feel that education is a life-long event. Periodically we offer courses for our teachers and staff about new materials and approaches in the areas of language acquisition and pedagogy. Teachers continue to learn about how to make their classes even better.

Personalized programs    
 We will prepare your language course and homestay on an individual basis, asking questions before you arrive to create your program in advance. You will be evaluated weekly by the instructors. These on-going evaluations give us the information we need to re-group students when necessary, and modify the content of your classes to meet your particular needs.  We fit the program to the student rather than vice-versa.  This personalized attention seems to be the deciding factor that makes us “different” as it is the reason most students give when asked why they selected the ENCUENTROS program over others.

Carefully-selected “homestays”     
We recommend the Mexican homestay as it affords you the opportunity to practice the Spanish you have learned in class as well as gain valuable insights into Mexican lifestyles and culture. We have cultivated a close working relationship with our families because they form such an important part of the program. You take an active part in the family selection process rather than being assigned your accommodations at random. We will ask you about your preferences and, based on your answers to our questions, will send three family descriptions for you to choose from.  We will email you the name, phone and address of your choice.

Diverse, independent-thinking students    ENCUENTROS hosts students from all over the world. Our student body is an eclectic mix of ages, nationalities, and occupations:  university students, teachers, health professionals, priests, lawyers, business people, travelers, or people in between jobs, hoping to make a career change!  There is no “typical” student since our participants range from youngsters who are excited about their first trip abroad to eminent academicians, successful business people, and well-known politicians.  You will be surrounded by interesting people who are interested in learning Spanish and finding out about Mexico.

Location
ENCUENTROS is situated in a spacious residence with a spectacular view of La Barranca Amanalco, one of Cuernavaca’s wooded ravines that traverse the city.  Colonia Acapantzingo, our quiet residential neighborhood, is a only a ten minute walk or five minute bus ride from the center of town.

Beautiful classrooms and grounds
• A  well-stocked lending library for students
• An impressive collection of Mexican folk-art adorns each uniquely-designed classroom.
• A carefully-tended garden overlooking the ravine exhibits a prize collection of exotic plants, flowers, fruit trees, and rare cacti.
• A special “perk”:  free coffee and tea all morning long in the “palapa”, a meeting place for students during breaks.

Discover ENCUENTROS.  It is the sum of many parts.