Spanish and Quechua language immersion and homestay in Cusco-Peru.
REFERENCES
Calle resbalosa
COMMUNICATION FACILITATION
I have served as a language intermediary in various situations where accurate conveyance of information is very important, such as medical emergencies and encounters with the police.
I have also helped pursue people’s specific interests from facilitating encounters with a shaman to researching native plant knowledge and nomenclature.
I am available for these types of services at my hourly rate.
I will never forget the Peruvian summer I spent with Luz and her family in Cusco. The language classes, home stay, and cultural experiences were so wonderfully woven together, creating the ideal learning-vacation experience.
Luz is an amazingly talented language teacher, making sure that each lesson is built on the last and kept the content engaging and challenging. When I arrived in Peru I spoke with a 100 word vocabulary and only able to speak in two word catch phrases in Spanish, and two and a half months later could speak and communicate with confidence and surprising ease.
Luz and her family welcomed me into their circle and made me feel completely at home. Her mother included me in her weekly trips to the local farmers market, and taught me many favorite recipes and how to shop for her favorite local ingredients. Luz, her father, and mother took me on several breathtakingly beautiful hikes in the surrounding country side. As well as introducing me to many local gems - restaurants, cafes, markets and historical sites - that few tourists would ever encounter in Cusco on their own.
The time I spent with Luz and her family is one of the richest experiences of my life. I am so thankful for all they taught and shared with me and hope to return some day in the future.
John Bridge
After my first visit to Cusco about two and a half years ago I decided to learn to speak Spanish. At the time I had a few words that I had learned from a friend and had taken part of an online course. After finding Luz Atapaucar on the internet I arranged lessons with her over Skype. These began the next week. The lessons have produced exceptional results particularly as Luz has the capacity to adapt the level of the conversation to that of her students.
In October of 2009 I did an immersion course with Luz in Cusco. I lodged at her house, stayed in a comfortable room, enjoyed her mother’s cooking and, most important, made an enormous leap of progress with my Spanish. This immersion course was outstanding. Classes in the morning, lunch, a siesta and then a visit to, for example, to a town in the Sacred Valley. Because Luz speaks Quechua (which she also teaches) “doors opened” in ways that they otherwise would not, even for Peruvian tourists. Suffice it to say the experience was remarkable at every level. The month was capped with a fabulous hike around Ausangate (the sacred mountain of the Incas). I repeated the immersion course in 2010 with further improvements in my Spanish.
After two and a half years I can hold conversations in Spanish and, for example, read Newspaper articles with very little need of a dictionary. I am beginning to read my second book and I read a Spanish language newspaper every day. The classes are extremely well organized and the grammar follows a logical progression. Everything is conducted in Spanish unless it’s absolutely necessary to use English.
I cannot recommend the immersion courses and Skype classes highly enough.
Caroline Sayre I enjoyed my Spanish classes with Luz for many reasons. She is very well grounded in Spanish grammar; and organized, structured and patient in her presentation of critical grammar points. She is also very flexible about class content. I wanted to learn how to express myself in every day types of situations, such as greetings, introductions, leaving messages on voice mail, and how to apologize given different situations. I wanted to be a nice person in Spanish, and she has helped me do that in a lasting way. J. She is very accommodating and able to find the right balance between grammar and conversation, depending on the needs of the student. She is also adept at assessing the skill level of her students and how to design a program that will help a student advance from any particular point.
Not only is she a great teacher, she also a great person. She brings enthusiasm, grace and commitment to her relationships with her students, which helps the learning process. She is committed to teaching and to sharing what she knows: about the Spanish Language, and her own country of Peru. She is also open to knowing about other people and their circumstances, which makes for a very valuable exchange and learning a new language all the more wonderful! I highly recommend Luz as a Spanish teacher and I look forward to arriving in Peru some day to take her classes again!
Tammy Leland
I have been studying Spanish for 15 years in high school, university, Ecuador and Peru and I can honestly say that the way Luz teaches the language has been the best I have experienced EVER. I learned more with her in two weeks than with any other Spanish professor. She is patient, persistent and has great techniques for teaching the language. Without her, I would not be able to speak Spanish as well as I do today.
In addition, the homestay is the best in Cusco. It is an authentic family experience with friends, music and great meals. Her mother and father are the sweetest people and we have remained friends forever. I return to Peru every year to work with Luz and visit the family.
