4 Fun Ways to Learn Mexican Spanish: My Experience with UNAM, Pimsleur, Lingopie & FluentU

Learning Mexican Spanish is a good idea when you’re going to Mexico and you don’t want to rely on your English language skills only. I’ve already covered the most basic phrases in my Basic Mexican Spanish Language Guide, which should help you get along when you’re on vacation. But what if you want to take a step further and have real conversations with locals? Or maybe you’re even considering moving to Mexico? Then, grinding through vocabulary lists alone won’t get you there. Let me give you some tips on how best to go about learning Mexican Spanish with the programs I used myself.

Programs to Learn Mexican Spanish

There are many language apps out there, some for free, some for money. But you can know all the vocabulary in the world and still not be able to speak coherently. Becoming fluent in a language doesn’t necessarily require knowing lots of vocabulary but rather takes some other skillset. You need to understand how sentences are structured, and you best do this by listening and speaking, and focusing on conversations instead of single words or phrases.

That’s why I chose the following programs and didn’t include those that — in my opinion — are more for learning vocabulary and phrases. Also, the programs below help you to get the required language skills in a short time, and becoming conversational in Spanish.

Comparison of the Learning Programs

Here’s a quick overview summarizing the key features of each Spanish learning program:

Feature	UNAM	Pimsleur	Lingopie	FluentU
Learning Method	Structured classes with textbooks	Audio-based lessons	Watching TV shows and movies with interactive subtitles	Short authentic videos with interactive subtitles
Focus Areas	Reading, writing, listening, speaking	Listening, speaking	Listening, vocabulary building, pronunciation	Listening, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation
Format	In-person (Mexico City) or online via Zoom	Audio courses (mobile/web)	Streaming platform with subtitles & quizzes	Streaming platform with subtitles & quizzes
Best For	Structured learning with a teacher	Learning through repetition and conversation practice	Learning through entertainment	Learning with real-world content and vocabulary practice
Spanish Variety	Mexican Spanish	Generic Latin-American Spanish	Various Spanish Varieties	Various Spanish Varieties
Course Levels	8 levels (Beginner to Advanced)	5 courses (Beginner to Advanced)	All levels (filter content by proficiency)	All levels (filter content by proficiency)
Duration	75-hour courses (6-16 weeks)	30-minute lessons per unit (30 units per course)	Self-paced	Self-paced
Cultural Focus	Strong focus on Mexican Spanish & culture	Latin American Spanish	Can filter for Mexican Spanish	Mostly Latin American Spanish
Extra Features	Additional culture courses can be booked (art, politics, literature)	Voice recognition, flashcards	Netflix integration, speaking practice	Grammar videos, quizzes, real-life example sentences
Price	~500 USD per course (76 hours)	150 USD per course or 575 USD for full package	12 USD/month (quarterly) or 199 USD lifetime	29.99 USD/month or 11.99 USD/month (yearly)
Free Trial?	No	No	7-day free trial	14-day free trial

For more details to each program, keep on reading.

The 4 Programs in Detail

Find out what is special to each program, and how you can sign up for it.

1. UNAM: Take Classes In Person or Online

If you want to practice the complete skillset of learning a new language – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – then the UNAM Spanish courses for foreigners are a perfect pick. UNAM stands for Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico), and it’s the oldest university of the American continent, dating back to 1553. It offers courses for all levels that you can attend in person in Mexico City or online via a Zoom call.

The classes follow the structure of UNAM’s textbooks called Dicho y Hecho (Said and Done). They are really good, as they focus on Mexican Spanish and culture. You don’t just learn grammar and vocabulary, but you also train your listening, speaking, and writing skills. In each lesson of the book, you learn about a part of Mexican culture, history, food, or geography.

I really enjoyed this course, and I learned so much! It helped me understand Mexican Spanish and culture much better and gain more confidence in grammar and pronunciation aspects. The teachers have lots of experience and can handle the dynamics of a group. And I think the textbooks are among the best I’ve ever had when learning a language!

Highlights

In-person learning in small groups; teachers are trained Spanish teachers; great learning material; trains all aspects of learning a language (reading, speaking, listening, writing); choose more or less classes per week; learn about Mexican language, culture, geography, and more.

Once you understand Spanish well, you can take one of their courses about Mexican culture (art, politics, literature).

Course Details

You have to do a placement test so that they can select the right course for you. There are 8 levels, from beginner to advanced, and each level comprises 75 hours. The hours are split up over 6, 8, 11, or 16 weeks, depending on how often during the week you want to have a class.

A course of 76 hours costs about 500 USD.

2. Pimsleur Audio Course: Learn through Listening and Speaking

Pimsleur offers audio-based courses that focus on listening and speaking. Vocabulary is repeated in certain intervals that are proven to help memorize it better. So, if you hate writing down lists of vocabulary and learning them, try the Pimsleur method.

There are 5 courses for Latin-American Spanish. Each course has about 30 units that last about 30 minutes each. In each unit, you listen to real-life conversations with breaks in between for you to repeat or reply to a question. This way, you don’t memorize single words but start to think in Spanish and speak complete sentences.

Pimsleur is one of my favourite learning programs; I already had a basis of Spanish from 20 years ago, which had gotten very rusty (I had forgotten so much!), and this program helped me with my pronunciation, speaking, and understanding skills. Love it! It starts from zero, so no worries if you’re completely new to learning Spanish.

Highlights

Mobile or web-based app, voice recognition for pronunciation feedback, flashcards, and games.

Course Details

Courses start at 150 USD, but if you really want to go deep in, you can get the Pimsleur Premium (Spanish 1-5) for 575 USD, which contains all 5 courses. If you plan to live in Mexico, I’d definitely recommend getting the Premium package. They also provide special offers on their website.

Make sure to choose the Latin American Spanish version (the Castilian Spanish version is more suitable when you want to visit Spain).

3.Lingopie: Learn Spanish through TV Shows and Movies

If dull exercises and vocabulary lists bore you, then try a different approach to learning Spanish: Lingopie is an online learning platform where you learn Spanish by watching real foreign Netflix and TV shows.
You won’t notice you’re learning while watching the videos. If you don’t understand a word, just hover over the subtitles, and you get a pop-up with the translation. One of my favorite features is the double subtitles, which means in the language you want to learn and in the interface language (English, German, Portuguese, Italian, French, or Spanish). This helps you to improve your listening and translation skills at the same time. Click on a word to add it to your vocabulary list.

The videos are usually short, but Lingopie’s Netflix extension provides the same features for selected Netflix shows. Which shows you’re offered depends on the display language you’ve selected (so if you speak more than one language well enough, you can try changing the display language to get different proposals). However, that only works if you have a Netflix account.

Another great feature I really liked is that you can record yourself speaking out loud a specific sentence from a video/audio, and then listen to your own recording. I think this can be very helpful in trying to emulate a native speaker and improve your pronunciation greatly.

Highlights

TV catalog, music playlist (check out the playlist for Spanish classics), Kids shows, and a Netflix integration. Filter for specific accents (like Mexican), adapted to your level. Flashcards and quizzes from the vocabulary you learned. The speed of the videos can be adjusted.

Course Details

You get a 7-day free trial. The quarterly membership is 12 USD/month (includes only 1 language), the yearly plan is 5.99 USD/month (includes all languages), and 199 USD for a lifetime subscription.

Group or private lessons come at an additional cost of 80 USD/month for 4 classes of 45 minutes each.

Currently, the following languages are being offered: Spanish (where you can select Mexican Spanish in the app when searching for videos or audios), German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.

4. FluentU: Learn through Authentic Videos

Another great online learning program that lets you learn through watching videos is FluentU. As with Lingopie, you see the translation by hovering over the word in the subtitles. FluentU is working on providing a Netflix integration as well (currently in Beta).

The videos are usually 1-5 minutes long and stem from real interviews, movies, or series like the Big Bang Theory or Game of Thrones. When you hover over a word you don’t know, the video stops, and you get a pop-up with a translation and explanation of the word. You can easily add it to your vocabulary list. There are also audios on grammar lessons and which phrases to use to talk about the weather or about what time it is. They also offer quizzes and a mobile app.

What I like most about FluentU is that when you check a word, you don’t only get the translation but also 2-3 examples of how that word is used in the context of a complete sentence. I personally think this is very important for learning a language, because learning only single words doesn’t help you speak. I wish Lingopie would also offer this feature.

While the videos and audios aren’t specifically Mexican, most of them use a Latin-American accent.

Highlights

Videos explaining grammar in a real-life situation; free YouTube videos; video dictionary, real-life example sentences for how a word is used by native speakers.

Course Details

Costs: 29.99 USD/month, or 11.99 USD/month in a yearly plan (14-day free trial period). The languages provided are Chinese, Spanish, French, English, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

Conclusion

Now it’s up to you to decide which type of learning suits you best. Do you prefer the classroom-like setup that the UNAM offers, where you have to show up at a specific time (in person or online)? Or do you prefer to study at your own pace with Pimsleur or the video learning platforms Lingopie and FluentU? It depends on how you can best schedule your learning into your everyday life. Because after all, the programs are only helpful if you use them.

I hope you enjoy your language-learning journey. And don’t forget to put into practice what you’re learning when in Mexico — everyday encounters are the best study lab! Use the phrases you’ve learned and don’t be shy — Mexicans tend to be supportive when someone makes the effort to communicate with them in their mother tongue. ¡Suerte!

Read Next:

• Basic Spanish Language Guide for Your Next Vacation in Mexico – 70+ Useful Phrases
• How to Confidently Order Food in a Mexican Restaurant (Cheat Sheet with 60+ Phrases)
• 25 Colloquial Mexican Spanish Phrases That Make Speaking to Locals More Fun!
• 11 Useful Apps for Traveling to Mexico
• Driving in Mexico: How to Prepare and Stay Safe
• 18 Best Things to Do in Mexico City – And How to Plan Your Stay