Mexico Language

Languages in Mexico

Spanish is the main language in Mexico. You can get by with English in most major cities or tourist destinations, but much of the country is monolingual.

Mexican Spanish is slightly different from both the Castilian Spanish spoken in most of Spain and the Spanish spoken in South American countries. All three are mutually intelligible -- it's about the same as the differences in English spoken in various countries -- but you can expect some funny looks if you speak only Castilian. (In particular, unlike Castilian, the z and the soft c should be pronounced like an s .) Mexican Spanish is the variant most often taught in the United States of America , so if you learned Spanish there, you should be OK.

In some regions, native languages such as Mayan or Nahuatl are still widely spoken.

There are Spanish languages schools throughout Mexico. The city with the most schools is Cuernavaca, with more than 50 schools. Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato also offer a number schools to choose from. Prices vary, however, most schools are very reasonably priced. Many schools can arrange homestays with local Mexican families.