KayLista Spanish Studio

KayLista Spanish Studio Spanish classes for English speakers living in Mexico. Structured. Practical. Pronunciation-focused.

"Kayla recently learned Spanish herself, so she gets the struggle and explains things in a way that actually makes sense...
26/08/2026

"Kayla recently learned Spanish herself, so she gets the struggle and explains things in a way that actually makes sense."

That's TW, and it's the one thing about my classes I couldn't teach somebody else to do.

I learned Spanish as an adult, here, not that long ago. I remember which bits were confusing, because I was the one confused by them. So when a student gets stuck, I usually know the exact spot, because I got stuck there too.

I'm not teaching you a language I've always had. I'm teaching you one I had to go out and get, the same way you're about to.

📝 Placement test is at kaylista.com, and your first class is free 🦋

Eight bits of Mexican slang, painted on a surfboard.This was hanging on the wall at the place we stayed up in Sayulita, ...
24/08/2026

Eight bits of Mexican slang, painted on a surfboard.

This was hanging on the wall at the place we stayed up in Sayulita, and I stood in front of it way too long.

Here's what nobody warns you about when you learn Spanish as an adult. Vocabulary is the easy part. It's this stuff that gets you, because almost none of it translates literally. No manches is "no way, you're kidding," but word for word it's "don't stain." A huevo is "hell yes," literally "to egg." Qué onda is "what's up," literally "what wave," which is very Sayulita of it.

La neta is "honestly, for real." It comes from neto, like net, as in what's left once you strip everything else away. The truth is what's left. I think about that one more than I should.

Then there's órale, which broke my brain. It means yes. It also means wow. And hurry up, and go ahead, and I don't believe you. Same word every time, and the whole meaning lives in how you say it. I still get it wrong.

And pi**he wey, which I'm not translating on my own business page. Ask a Mexican friend and watch them decide whether they're going to tell you.

This is why I teach the way I do. You can memorize a vocabulary list and still have no idea what somebody just said to you.

📍 The board is at Casa Makawe in Sayulita, and I'd recommend the place
💻 Adult group classes in Puerto Vallarta and online, the first one's free

Which ones have you heard? And which one am I missing? 🦋

www.kaylista.com

You don't have to start over.This is the thing I hear most from people who've been here a while. They've picked up some ...
21/08/2026

You don't have to start over.

This is the thing I hear most from people who've been here a while. They've picked up some Spanish, enough to order food and be polite with the neighbours, and they figure joining a class means going back to hola, me llamo, and weeks of stuff they already know.

You don't. The placement test on my site doesn't just hand you a vague "beginner" or "intermediate". It puts you at the exact lesson you should start on. The more Spanish you already have, the further in you land.

That matters in both directions. Nobody wants to be bored, but drowning is worse, and I think it's the real reason a lot of adults quit. If you're in the wrong room you spend every class two steps behind and eventually decide you're bad at languages. You're not. You were in the wrong room.

So take the test, then come trial a class for free. Partly so you can see whether you like how I teach, mostly so I can be sure I've put you where you belong.

Groups are capped at 10 so everybody gets to speak, materials are included, and we record every class.

📝 Placement test at www.kaylista.com
📍 In person in Colonia Cinco de Diciembre
💻 Live online from anywhere

🦋

You can't fall behind.That's the part I was most stubborn about when I built this.Life happens. You get sick, you fly ho...
19/08/2026

You can't fall behind.

That's the part I was most stubborn about when I built this.

Life happens. You get sick, you fly home for a couple of weeks, your internet dies ten minutes before class. In a lot of classes that means you've just missed it, and you come back to a room that carried on without you.

Not here. Every class is recorded and it goes into your student portal, so you can watch the one you missed, or rewatch the one where I explained something three times and it still didn't click.

And it isn't only the recordings.

✔ Every class, recorded
✔ Your lesson PDFs
✔ Your homework
✔ Flash cards and cheat sheets you can print
✔ A progress bar so you can see how far your class has come

None of that is an add-on. It comes with the class.

Your first class is free, and there's a quick placement test on my site so you start at the right lesson instead of a random one.

www.kaylista.com 🦋

Here's a one word swap that makes a bigger difference than you'd think.Estadounidense - American, from the USAmericano m...
17/08/2026

Here's a one word swap that makes a bigger difference than you'd think.

Estadounidense - American, from the US

Americano means American in the big sense, as in from the Americas. Mexico is in the Americas. So is Canada, so is Argentina. If you mean somebody from the US specifically, the word is estadounidense.

Most likely nobody's going to correct you if you say soy americano, and plenty of people say it. But estadounidense is the one that's actually right, and people notice when you use it, because you're kind of saying hey, you're American too.

I learned Spanish as an adult myself, so I had this one wrong for a long time before anybody told me. Now I teach it early, and you get to skip that part.

🦋 Adult group classes in Puerto Vallarta and online. The first one's free.

www.kaylista.com

"I finally feel like I'm building a solid foundation instead of just memorizing words."Jill wrote that a couple of weeks...
15/08/2026

"I finally feel like I'm building a solid foundation instead of just memorizing words."

Jill wrote that a couple of weeks ago, and it's the difference I care most about.

Most people arrive with more Spanish than they think. Words, piles of them, from apps and classes and years of hearing it around them. What they don't have is a way to put those words into a sentence nobody taught them. So they freeze, and decide they're bad at this.

They're not. Nobody ever showed them how the thing is built. Once you understand why a sentence works the way it does, you stop reaching for a phrase you memorized and start making your own.

That's the whole method, and it's why we go nice and slow.

📝 Placement test is at kaylista.com, and your first class is free 🦋

I learned Spanish as an adult, the same way you're about to.If you've already got some Spanish and it falls apart the se...
12/08/2026

I learned Spanish as an adult, the same way you're about to.

If you've already got some Spanish and it falls apart the second you actually have to use it, this is the class for that. It's a group that's already going, and there's room in it.

Here's exactly where we're at. We're moving into querer, necesitar and hay, so ordering food, making requests, and saying what you want. After that, regular AR verbs and talking about your daily routine and your work. Then ER and IR verbs, food, and home life.

One honest note about level. This group's a few lessons in, so a true beginner would be starting behind. That's what the placement test is for, and it takes a couple of minutes.

🗓 Mondays and Thursdays
⏰ 2:30-4:00 pm (Puerto Vallarta time)
📍 In person in Colonia Cinco de Diciembre, or live online from anywhere

✔ Everything explained in a way that makes sense for English speakers
✔ Gentle corrections, so you're not scared to open your mouth
✔ Your own student portal: every class recorded, your lesson PDFs, flashcards you can print, and your homework
✔ Small group, so you get close to private lesson attention at group price

And none of it is an add-on. The workbook, the printouts, the flashcards, the recordings, they come with the class. That was one of the first things I decided when I set this up.

You're welcome to try a class free before you decide. Take the quick placement test or send me a message at www.kaylista.com

"Kayla makes the classes relaxed and takes away any nervous thoughts about making a mistake."Jonathan wrote that, and it...
09/08/2026

"Kayla makes the classes relaxed and takes away any nervous thoughts about making a mistake."

Jonathan wrote that, and it's the thing I most want people to know before they walk in.

Almost everybody starts nervous. I did. The classes that didn't work for me as a student were the ones where I was too scared to open my mouth, so I built mine to be the opposite. Everyone in the room is nervous, everyone gets something wrong out loud, and once that's happened in the first ten minutes people relax and start actually learning.

That's also why the groups stop at ten. You can't do this in a room of twenty.

If nerves are why you haven't started, that's the most normal reason there is. Come trial a class for free and see how it feels.

📝 Placement test is at kaylista.com 🦋

This one's everywhere here, and nobody warns you about it.¿Mande? - Pardon? What was that?In Mexico, saying ¿qué? to an ...
07/08/2026

This one's everywhere here, and nobody warns you about it.

¿Mande? - Pardon? What was that?

In Mexico, saying ¿qué? to an elder or somebody senior can come off rude. ¿Mande? is the polite way to say it, and it's what people actually use.

It comes from mandar, which means to send or to order, so you're basically saying at your service instead of what. Once you notice it you'll hear it everywhere. On the phone, across a store, hollered back from the kitchen.

Nobody teaches you this one. You learn it by getting corrected, usually by somebody's abuela. We do the polite stuff first in my classes, because that's what you need your first week here, not in chapter twelve.

🦋 Adult group classes in Puerto Vallarta and online. The first one's free.

www.kaylista.com

Same class, three different ways in.Some of them drove over and sat at the table. Some logged in from home. And two coul...
05/08/2026

Same class, three different ways in.

Some of them drove over and sat at the table. Some logged in from home. And two couldn't make it at all, so they'll watch the recording this week and walk into the next one at the same place as everybody else.

That second photo is the part I'd point at. There's a camera on me and the board, and another one pointed at the whole room, so nobody online is watching a lecture from the outside. They can see who's talking, and everyone at the table can see them.

Full group, first lesson, and nobody had to choose between showing up and keeping up.

🦋 kaylista.com

Dirección

Cinco De Diciembre
Puerto Vallarta
48350

Página web

,

Notificaciones

Sé el primero en enterarse y déjanos enviarle un correo electrónico cuando KayLista Spanish Studio publique noticias y promociones. Su dirección de correo electrónico no se utilizará para ningún otro fin, y puede darse de baja en cualquier momento.

Atajos

Compartir

Categoría