Foundations · Beginner Spanish · Condesa / Roma, Mexico City
You speak Spanish from session one.
Foundations is for adults starting from zero — or starting again with Spanish that never became usable. Each block brings earlier material back, adds new language in a clear order, and gives you enough guided speaking to use it. At the standard Resident pace, the first major target is an everyday conversational range around month four.
Why Foundations
Build your beginner Spanish in the right order.
The first months should not be a pile of disconnected phrases. Foundations builds sound, sentence structure, high-frequency vocabulary, and speaking practice in an order where each step supports the next.
What “conversational” means here.
Conversational means entering, sustaining, and repairing an everyday exchange without relying on a memorised script or automatically switching to English. You will still make mistakes. The difference is that the conversation can continue through them.
Each step builds on the last.
Earlier material comes back before new language is added. You learn it clearly, practise it with support, use it with what came before, and repair it when it breaks. The amount of speaking grows as your active range grows.
Progress over time
From zero, what changes and when.
Learners entering with fragments of earlier Spanish may begin at a different point after placement. The timeline below shows the standard path from zero.
Start an everyday exchange, answer the follow-up question, and repair when you miss part of the reply.
The moment you noticeThe reply comes back faster than you expected — and you keep going instead of switching to English.
Conversational within an everyday range: hold a conversation, make plans, tell a simple story, and stay in Spanish through ordinary mistakes.
The moment you noticeFriends visit. You run the table and keep the evening moving.
Handle a wider range of daily admin and social conversation, and recover with less visible effort.
The moment you noticeA whole dinner passes without anyone simplifying the story for you.
These are program targets at the standard Resident pace of 7.5 guided hours a week: six class hours plus one included La Mesa session. They are not individual guarantees; starting point, attendance, assigned work, and the Spanish used between sessions affect the result. More well-targeted guided contact can accelerate progress. The exact gain still depends on the learner's starting point, attendance, practice outside class, and ability to sustain the additional load.
The first block
Your first eight weeks.
This is the first Foundations block inside the Resident Program: six class hours each week, plus one included La Mesa session. These are not just topics on a syllabus. They are the capabilities the block is designed to build.
Session one — say something real
Introduce yourself, ask a simple question, and respond to the answer. The target is not a large vocabulary on day one. It is producing the first exchange rather than waiting until you feel ready.
Weeks 1–2 — start and finish a simple exchange
Build the questions, answers, numbers, and repair phrases needed to begin an exchange and stay through the predictable reply. When you miss something, ask for the part you need instead of abandoning the conversation.
Weeks 3–5 — talk about everyday life
Use core verbs and sentence patterns for routines, preferences, plans, and simple questions. Short exchanges begin to connect: introduce yourself, ask a follow-up, explain what you do, and keep basic small talk moving beyond the first answer.
Weeks 6–8 — connect ideas and talk about what happened
Link sentences about plans, preferences, invitations, and simple past events. Earlier language keeps returning, and the patterns that cause trouble receive another attempt instead of disappearing with the lesson.
Week eight — see what changed
Review what you can now do, where speech still slows down, and what the next block should build. The program continues from that stronger starting point toward the everyday conversational range around month four.
Want 20 hours a week from the beginning?
Beginners can study 20 hours a week. Those hours should build usable Spanish—not just cover more content.
A beginner with a deadline can study 3–4 guided hours a day.
But simply adding more grammar, vocabulary, and exercises can create the feeling of speed without giving the learner more Spanish they can retrieve and use.
Foundations keeps the sequence intact
Additional hours can be used for:
- retrieving earlier language
- controlled practice
- pronunciation
- supported speaking
- targeted private correction
- guided use of what has already entered the program
If your deadline justifies a 20-hour week, VERBO can build one without breaking the Foundations sequence.
How Foundations works
More support first. More speaking as you grow.
At the beginning
Build the basics in the right order
Clear explanation, controlled examples, and short production give you enough structure to form the first sentences accurately.
As the range grows
Use old and new together
New language joins earlier material. Tasks require you to retrieve what came before rather than practise only the newest lesson.
Later in Foundations
Carry more of the conversation
Teacher support reduces while speaking becomes longer and less predictable. Correction focuses on the patterns that still break under pressure.
Beginner placement
Starting from zero — or starting over.
Some learners arrive with no Spanish. Others know app vocabulary, old classroom grammar, or fragments they cannot yet use in conversation. Both belong in Foundations. Placement determines where the sequence should begin; you will not be placed beside someone who is already conversational while you are still building the first working range.
Beginners are not all the same beginner. The group should still begin close enough together to move together.
The Resident membership
Morning or evening. Month to month.
Foundations runs inside the Resident Program at 8,500 MXN per month. Choose the current morning or evening schedule that fits your week. Membership includes six class hours and one level-matched La Mesa seat each week, with a review every eight weeks.
Evenings + Saturday
Mon / Wed 19:00–21:00 + Sat 10:00–12:00
Next start: 3 AugustWeekday mornings
Tue / Thu / Fri 09:30–11:30
Next start: 3 AugustThe trial is a real class and the 350 MXN is credited if you join. After joining Foundations, attend the first three classes. If the level, teacher, or format is wrong, tell us by Sunday and the month is refunded in full.
Tuition is billed monthly. The curriculum is organised in eight-week blocks. Full details on the Resident Program page.
Beginner questions
Do I need to know any Spanish before I start?
No. Foundations can begin from zero. It also works for adults who know words, app fragments, or old classroom grammar but never built a usable base. The 350 MXN trial helps determine where inside the beginner sequence you should start.
Am I too old to start Spanish?
No. Adults can make substantial progress with clear instruction, deliberate practice, and consistent use. The factors that matter most here are attendance, practice, and willingness to speak — not whether you started at twenty.
How much English is used at the beginning?
Enough to keep instructions and explanations clear. As your usable Spanish grows, English recedes and more of the class happens in Spanish. The goal is not to ban English theatrically; it is to make every minute serve your progress.
Can I move faster than the standard pace?
Yes. More well-targeted guided hours can accelerate progress. Private tutoring can focus on specific gaps, and a second La Mesa session adds another live speaking and retrieval point. How much faster still depends on your starting point, attendance, practice outside class, and whether you can sustain the additional load. The Two-Week Intensive is a different short-stay product with a different method and outcome; it is not the faster version of Foundations.
How is Foundations different from the Two-Week Intensive?
Foundations builds a beginner system over time through explicit instruction, cumulative practice, and material that returns across later sessions. The Intensive builds a short-stay working range through a concentrated two-week method. It is not a compressed Foundations curriculum. If you want to move through Foundations faster, add guided contact within Foundations rather than switching to a different product.
What if I already know some beginner Spanish?
You do not need to pretend you are starting from nothing. Placement looks at what you can actually understand and produce, then identifies the right point inside Foundations — or another route if your Spanish is already beyond the beginner system.
Can beginners study 20 hours a week?
Yes. A beginner can study 3–4 guided hours a day. Foundations keeps the sequence intact and uses additional time for retrieval, controlled practice, pronunciation, supported speaking, targeted correction, and guided use—not only more new content.
VERBO uses CEFR descriptors underneath placement and progress review so comparisons remain consistent, but public milestones describe what the learner can actually do.
Your first month is already planned
Start with one class and a clear next step.
The 350 MXN trial puts you in a real class at your level. You leave knowing whether Foundations is the right route, where inside the beginner sequence you should start, what the first block builds, and whether the room feels right before committing to the monthly program.