Learn Maya, Summer Intensive Maya Language Program, Maya Language and Culture, Yucatan, Mexico, FLAS Maya, Maya dictionary, Summer Study Abroad, Maya cultural immersion, Summer Intensive Maya Immersion Language Program, Less Commonly Taught Languages, Latin American Area Studies, National Resource Centers, Yucatec Maya, Linguistic Immersion in Maya Language, FLAS Fellowships, Summer FLAS Fellowships, FLAS Awards, Foreign Language Area Studies Grants, FLAS Approved Summer Intensive Language Program, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico (original) (raw)

OSEA offers Two Distinct Maya Language Programs
Six Week Intensive Maya at Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced Levels is designed for FLAS Awardees
The Four Week Maya language & culture immersion program is ideal short course for undergrads or graduate students with restricted summer calendar. .

Six Week Course Contact Hours meet minimum requirement for FLAS Funding:

Level 1 Beginning Maya: 150 Contact Hours
Level 2 Intermediate Maya: 150 Contact Hours
Level 3 Advanced Maya: 150 Contact Hours

In case of global health mandates
OSEA Maya program is restructured as hybrid or fully remote, as well program dates can be adjusted to accommodate participant needs in contexts of emergent health situations or travel restrictionss. Please contact the Director at quetzil@osea-cite.org for details.

Summary of Program Details

Download Current Brochure Here. Click Here to Download Brochure

Summer: Six or Four Week Beginning Program, for Non-Students, Undergrads, & Grad students
Dates: OSEA 2025 Six Week and Four Week Programs
4 Week: June 8 to July 5
6 Week: June 8 to July 19

Credits: 8 credit hours, Beginning Level 1 (150 contact hours)
6 credit hours, Intermediate Level 2 & Advanced Level 3 (150 contact hours)
4 credit hours for Four Week Undergrad Course (100 contact hours)
See course descriptions here

Course Levels: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced courses

Program Cost: Total Program Cost (Tuition, Activities Fee, Homestay)
Six Week Maya: $7800
Four Week Maya: $5200

The US Dept. Education FLAS Grants provides full tuition payment and a stipend.
The Rey Mis / Mis-Ceme Families Scholarship provides tuition reductions ranging
from 1000upto1000 up to 1000upto2500 per award based on demonstration of financial need.

Program Fees, Lodging, and Meals:
Homestay with Maya speaking family, includes meals. Room & Board in Apartment Rental or Posada plus two meals with Maya speaking family may be available for grad students only; pricing varies and is determined in May of each year based on interest of eligible participants, current FXR, and local pricing.

Eligibility:
Program is open to: undergraduate majors and graduate students in any field of study.
Persons who are not students but who have completed a minimum level of BA are also eligible.

Requirements:
Undergraduate students need a GPA of 2.5 for coursework taken to date
Graduate students should demonstrate the need to know Maya for their research
Minimum 1 year of college level Spanish or demonstrated fluency is suggested but not mandatory
No prior coursework or knowledge in Maya language is necessary

Weekends: The weekends are open in general for participants to conduct research, local travel, or engage in independent learning activities. Travel during program dates should be restricted to the Yucatan Peninsula (within 2-3 bus hour each leg).

Program Activities:OSEA includes the opportunity for local travel as a group. The group trip to Chichen Itza is scheduled for the first Sunday. Maya class trips include visits to Valladolid, Yokdzonot Cenote. Past weekend trips include Tihosuco as well as Merida.

Out of Pocket: Personal items, consumables, incidentals, laundry, non-program travel including lodging and meals, airfare, transportation to and from airports, and ground travel to Pisté are all out of pocket expenses to be paid for directly by the participant.

Course Credit Hours
The OSEA Intensive Maya Language Immersion Program meets the pedagogical criteria and standards for teaching Less Commonly Taught Languages established by the US Department of Education for FLAS Awardees to be able to use their FLAS grants.

Beginning Level 1 is equivalent to one semester of study and provides 8 university course credits.
Intermediate Level 2 is equivalent to one semester of study and provides 6 university course credits.
Advanced Level 3 is equivalent to one semester of study and provides 6 university course credits.

Four Week Course is equivalent to one semester of Beginning Maya and provides 4 university course credits.

Course Accreditation
The Maya language courses for undergraduate participants include accredited course credits and transcript from the current OSEA Partner, UIMQRoo — Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo. Click here for UIMQRoo. Graduate students typically do not require accredited transcript credits in order to complete their foreign language degree requirements. If you are a graduate student requiring accredited transcript, please contact Dr. Quetzil Castañeda to discuss your situation.

Home-Stays
Home-stays with Maya families are carefully selected based on the Program Director’s 30 years of experience in the community of Pisté. OSEA has carefully developed a list of Maya families with home stays are possible. The overall size of the population of Pisté greatly restricts the number of families that can be potential host families. OSEA works with families whose household economy provides for a basic minimum of "creature-comfort" infrastructure -- which includes a variety of factors from bathrooms, electricity, space for study areas, and other criteria. OSEA also works with families of lower socioeconomic position who thereby lack many creature comforts to which US students are accustomed. Participants are required to purchase a hammock for sleeping in homestays; a special hammock shopping trip to a nearby town is organized during the first days of the program.

Lodging
Maya participants may need non-homestay family lodging and meals. OSEA can arrange for other options for eligible graduate students, professors, and non-students. OSEA partners with local family owned and operated posadas (aka pensiones) to provide one alternative. These include Posada de las Dos Lunas and the Posada Olalde (Locations and Directions). On occassion, it might be possible to find a room to rent for two months in Pisté. Meals are arranged with Maya speaking families

Enrollment
* Direct OSEA Enrollment allows students from any university with any residence status or nationality to enroll directly with OSEA. By arrangement with their institution's financial aid office, students can apply their award to the OSEA Program. All payments are made directly to OSEA by the student as per guidelines described in the application process and payment options.

Transcripts and Course Accreditation
Upon completion of the program the student receives an OSEA transcript and an accredited transcript from the Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo (UIMQRoo), OSEA's partner institution in México. The UIMQRoo is an institution on the list of accredited Mexican institutions accepted by US institutions. In order to facilate the transfer of credits, students receive two copies of each transcript in a sealed envelope. One of these envelopes is then hand-delivered by the student to the registrar of their university in order to comply with your registrar rules for acceptance of transfer credits. It is recommended that every participant discuss the credit transfer process with their departmental advisor to secure their knowledge and approval. Note that it is the university's registrar that makes final determination on the transferability of course credits. The second transcript should be archived for future use.

Latin American & Iberian Institute at University of New Mexico (LAIL–UNM)has partnered with OSEA to help provide summer FLAS funding for eligble learnings of Maya who seek to attend the OSEA Maya Immersion Program.
Visit for detailed information on application dates, award, and eligibility.

See OSEA Course Details and Resources for more information:

Universidad Intercultural Maya de Quintana Roo (UIMQRoo)

(UIMQRoo) (https://www.uimqroo.edu.mx/), located in José María Morelos, Quintana Roo (QRoo), is OSEA's parnter for intercultural exchange of students and faculty. OSEA course transcripting is authorized by UIMQRoo.