About Us
Habla is a Spanish Language school and cultural center in Merida, Mexico, committed to connecting people across languages and cultures. At the core of Habla is a group of dedicated educators eager to share their knowledge and passions with the ever-growing Habla community.
The Habla Difference
Habla co-founders and directors Kurt Wootton and Marimar Patron are widely recognized as leading educators in literacy, language, and arts integration education with decades of experience under their belts. The husband and wife duo left their careers at Brown University to open a Spanish language school and cultural center in Merida in 2009. They built a creative space where education, language, culture, and the arts come alive.
First and foremost, Habla is a lab school where students and educators from around the world come to study and share innovative practices to integrate literacy, language, and the arts in the classroom. Our annual Habla Teacher Institute hosts educators from around the world every summer. Kurt, Marimar, and several Habla teachers have traveled near and far to teach the Habla Method in school districts worldwide.
When you come to Habla to learn Spanish, you can feel confident that you will be studying in a safe, encouraging environment with a team of some of the most highly qualified, passionate teachers around. Want to know more? Read what our former students have to say about learning Spanish at Habla.
A message from the founders:
"We opened Habla to create a welcoming and inclusive place for people to build community across countries, cultures, and languages. We want Habla to be much more than a language school -- language is rooted in the need to communicate, to reach out to each other, to learn new things, to share our own interests and passions. Whether you are a student visiting us to learn a new language or a teacher joining us for new teaching ideas, we welcome you and hope you have an incredible experience."
Testimonials
Lillie Marshall recently wrote about her experience at Habla with her son:
"It is world-renowed for its expertise in teaching techniques — also known as “pedagogy” — so much so that every year they hold a Teacher Institute (in English) for educators of all subjects (not just Spanish) to impart their instructional wisdom… with delicious amounts of art, acting, and dance mixed in, not to mention good food." - Lillie Marshall.
"This is an absolutely wonderful learning experience. Caring, rigorous, fun. My husband and I studied there for a week as beginners in the Spanish language. In one week, we increased our comprehension and our ability to converse. We met really interesting people, both teachers and students. The learning was dynamic, engaging. Our teacher was excellent. Habla made our experience of Merida so much richer and deeper. We will be back. I can't imagine anything better, in terms of a language school."
– Kira O.
"The school provides all the necessary ingredients for success in Spanish. The resources, activities and approaches are all first class, as well as the instructors."
– Annabanana.
"One week down & one more to go! What an amazing experience it is to be a language learners at Habla. This staff pours their hearts & souls in creating fun, challenging & powerful lessons. They understand language acquisition & excel at planning & delivery powerful learning opportunities. I wish I could stay for months!"
– Lisa Metzger-Gott.
Our Partners
