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This week, Harriet Guerrero, President of AIPEC in Mexico talks about the association’s role, marketing trends and the effect of good media coverage. |
“The Association of Spanish Language Institutes in Cuernavaca (AIPEC) was established in 1995 as a legal non-profit organisation. We are independently owned Spanish language institutes that are registered with the Morelos State Department of Education. We are open all year round and we are ready to welcome students of all ages and professions. We guarantee high standards, quality and professionalism, which has gained worldwide recognition of Cuernavaca as a destination for learning Spanish.
We all follow the ‘Cuernavaca Model’ in our classes. This means there are no more than five students per teacher and language classes meet for at least 20 hours per week. The host family stay offers the added opportunity to practise your communicative skills on a daily basis and includes great meals that are prepared fresh every day for students. Studying Spanish in Cuernavaca is not just about the language, but about the culture and history of Mexico. You name it, there is something for everyone: archaeological sites, markets, music festivals, beaches, colonial Mexican architecture, etc. Cuernavaca is in a strategic central location that makes it easy to visit Mexico City, Taxco, Puebla, Tlaxcala and even Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende, Oaxaca and the pacific coast by car and our programmes include guided field trips to many of these places. Our state and federal tourism offices help us with promotional campaigns by funding adverts in travel magazines, as well as our attendance at international language fairs. For example, on a yearly basis the Morelos State Tourism Board partially funds our promotional activities at the ACTFL Convention (an expo and workshop event for US-based language teachers), and promotional ads for this event. International media coverage of Mexico has been a real challenge for AIPEC, as it does not portray the reality of life in Cuernavaca. For instance, a college professor from the USA who is here now commented, “Cuernavaca has a small town feel to it and every single day that I have been here I go out walking. I walk to the city centre. I sit at a restaurant and have a beer watching the people. I go shopping in the markets and I have never ever felt unsafe nor have any other students who are here.” The director of a school in Los Angeles, California said, “Trust me, I feel far safer on the streets here in Cuernavaca than I do in Los Angeles.” Some interesting market trends have been the variety of nationalities that have visited us this last year, including, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Israel, France, India and Japan.” |
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