Orientation / Placement - Spanish Language School Enrollment - Spanish Langauge College

Orientation

Orientations are held every Sunday. The orientation is required for new students who begin on Monday. Class schedules are distributed and the program is reviewed in detail. The Spanish proficiency level and subsequent placement of each student is determined at the orientation. This is the best opportunity for students to become acclimated to their new environment, meet their new peers and receive answers to any last minute questions.

For students taking advantage of the homestay program, the orientation is also the time to meet their host families. Homestays begin on Sunday.

All tuition balances are paid at the orientation. Payments can be made by check, travelers check, money order or US currency. No credit cards are accepted.

Students enrolled in Weekend Programs who want to stay with a host family on Friday evening should plan to arrive on Friday prior to 5:00PM. If a Friday night homestay is not required, or if students have secured their own accommodations, they may arrive for class on Saturday at 8:30AM.

To arrive in Ensenada by 2:00 PM, students taking the bus should plan to leave the ABC terminal in Tijuana no later than 12:00 (noon). Students driving to Ensenada should be crossing the border at San Ysidro at 12:30PM.

Placement

Spanish proficiency levels of students enrolled in the Small Group Immersion Program must be evaluated to assure placement in the proper class. Placement is determined at the Sunday orientation.

The evaluation is conducted at two different levels.

The first level is with written exercises. Upon receipt of completed applications and deposits, students are sent a series of exercises as part of a confirmation packet. The exercises are to be worked on without the use of reference material and brought to the orientation in Ensenada. The results help to determine the student’s level of formal Spanish training and where development is needed.

The second level of evaluation is done through an informal interview with the college director. The interview identifies the student’s ability to comprehend spoken Spanish and to respond accurately.

More weight is given to the second level of evaluation.

Students are placed in small groups with others at the same proficiency level and who need development in the same areas.

Those enrolled in the Private Immersion Program and the Executive Immersion Program also are evaluated by the above mentioned methods. However because of the one-on-one nature of these programs, initial evaluations are not as critical.

TESTIMONIALS

“Part of the wonderful experience of coming to Baja Language College has been simply getting there. Every time I come to the school, crossing the border, taking the bus and being met in Ensenada by my “host family” gently reminds me that this is immersion of the best kind!

Baja Language College staff and fellow students become “family” from the first contact. There are so many options for classes, housing and transportation that I keep coming back for a new experience year after year.

When I return to my work and home I am so much more aware of my sensitivity to the Mexican experience. No matter where I travel or what I have learned, living and sharing another culture connects me by more than words.

I went to a beautiful, well-organized school in Costa Rica. I learned so much more at Baja Language College in Ensenada and felt even safer!

Thank you for the gift of my dear friend and Ensenada family!”

Leigh Paris School Counselor St. Helena California

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Baja California Spanish Language School - Offering Spanish Immersion Programs