PICY: Language School and Immersion Program - 97000 Mérida

My beginner classes with PICY gave me the confidence needed to continue learning Spanish. I took Spanish classes in high school but because they were taught with an emphasis on translation I graduated high school with little to no Spanish communication ability. The entire PICY team is amazing. Karla was my professor and is such an amazing teacher and truly knows how language can be taught successfully. The energy she brought to each class and the attention and care she gives to each student gave me a really strong foundation of Spanish to use and practice as I continue advancing with the language. The PICY team also took on the challenge of teaching a language over Zoom and succeeded against so many odds. It is the best online class I have ever taken. I am so impressed with the team's dedication and enthusiasm to the classes and their students. Karla was always available to answer any questions outside of class and welcomed questions and conversations with her to practice Spanish speaking. The assignments were all so helpful and enjoyable and really gave me the tools I need to have more confidence speaking in class.

It's hard to know where to begin reviewing the PICY experience. To this day, it's one of the most profound parts of my entire education. I did the program in the winter of 2015, beginning as an intermediate student of Spanish, while most of my peers in the program were beginners. Karla and the whole staff were incredibly helpful setting me up with classes that profoundly expanded my knowledge of Spanish, but also taught me a huge amount about Mexican history and politics in addition to the core curriculum about Mayan culture and the unique Yucatecan region. They set me up to learn the most I possibly could in the shortest period of time, and the learning was so personalized. I'd go back and do PICY again in a heartbeat. I am still in touch with my host family from Peto, who really feel like family to me. Thank you to Karla, Polly, Fatima, Fernando, and everybody at PICY. This program changed my life, I highly recommend it and wish everybody could share this experience.

If you are looking to learn Spanish in an authentic and genuine immersive environment this is the school for you! In just 3 months our Spanish level became incredible and now we are able to speak, communicate, read, think, sleep, and write in Spanish. Can't recommend PICY enough!

The PICY program was wonderful. It was hard and it was fun and I learned a lot. It was a great experience to really live into the culture, to become a member of the families I lived with, and to use my Spanish 24/7 for 3 months. It was an experience I would never get visiting as a tourist. Sleeping in hammocks, working in the milpa, fishing, cooking, hunting ducks, celebrating holidays, going to church, and playing volleyball, all with my families were all amazing. Classes were also lovely. In my Spanish class taught by Karla, I learned the grammar and conversation skills to allow me to now be comfortable having conversations in Spanish. The Mayans of Yesterday and Today, taught by Raul, was a very engaging history and anthropology class on all things Yucatan from tamales to the caste war, as well as the opportunity to write an ethnographic paper on any topic of my interest. My independent study gave me absolute freedom to solely explore whatever topic or project that I was interested in for a month. would recommend

this program was incredible, I spent years trying to learn Spanish in my high school and never had any real success, the three months I spent in this program improved my Spanish to the point where I'm nearly as comfortable speaking in Spanish as I am English, and gave me the skills I need to continue learning on my own. Not only did my Spanish improve beyond my imagination, I also learned so much about what it means to be in a truly immersive experience, where I am not just participating in another culture but really being a part of it, being a part of a new family. My time with PICY has changed my life for the better and I'm so so glad I got the chance to have this experience.

Una experiencia increíble! I took Spanish with Karla a year ago on Zoom and waited a year and three months to go to the Yucatan for the immersion program due to the pandemic. Now having completed the program, I can say without hesitation that you will be conversationally fluent and confident in your speaking skills even if your Spanish goes to rest for a while. Part of writing our ethnographies included interviewing local people and it was very evident how much my Spanish grew during that time including my confidence to make small talk and take on conversations on very specific topics. Not only did we take on interest-related academic pursuits, but the activities we did like dancing, visiting Mayan archaeological sites, and seeing crocodiles among mangroves created a truly unique experience. I also gained three new wonderful families who I keep in touch with and hope to visit again soon. The passion Karla and her team (Lucero, Raul, Mixbek, Don Fransisco, and many others) put into making the program run is on another level and I can't thank them enough for everything they did and continue to do!

I can not recommend PICY highly enough. Through the language and culture programs offered through this program, one is able to fully engage with the culture, history, language, and ecology of Yucatán. The linguistic and cultural immersion are the best possible way to learn a language. Through life in communities I was able to achieve personal goals of working with local research projects. The devotion, knowledge, and skill of team PICY will make sure that you have experiences that will change your outlook on most all aspects of your life. Thank you Karla, Raul, Lucero and Don Francisco!

I spent 3 months in the Yucatán Peninsula learning Spanish and living with two different host families. I had a truly life changing experience. Never have I seen more rapid and constant development in my language learning, and I made last connections with locals who I still talk to today. I was connected with PICY through my school, College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor Maine, and I did my last college credits in Mexico. The PICY team and the environment in which they are teaching create an experience that will inspire and change you if you are open to it. Guaranteed.