Welcome to Gaia! ::

in mexico you have to know alot of rules to make the spanish work right and that is really the battle there in mexico. once you learn what i call the stupid rules for our language then your good to go. those include masculine vs feminine, general vs family / homies, and you got to watch out for those words or letters that have multiple meanings and yet are spelled the same way. you also need to know that the spanish in mexico doesn't always work in other spanish speaking countries. many have referred to it as slang spanish. and it might surprise you to know that in some parts of mexico there is english speakers especially in the northern part of it not really in the central or southern parts of it though
with that said let me know when you get some practice in first like let me know in january of next year and ill tell you how your doing and by the way your going to love it in mexico. the warmth, palm trees, and the brown sexy men that all women cant keep there hands off of well its going to be heaven for you lol biggrin

and if you hear anyone say qvo or q-vo just let it go, its a really good term. but unless your older and born in mexico dont respond and by the way its an old mexican term still used by some older mexican americans which means whats up but its not really meant for anyone from a white country or a white to say or respond too
and remember when you pick up the phone to say BUENO before you say anything else, this is only used in mexico and no other spanish speaking country does it.
there just two things that may not be covered in your spanish class

have fun learning spanish!

You should first start with the basics. Like Carlos said, Spanish has different slang words depending on where you come from. One word can mean two different things depending on the country.

I think you are off to a good start learning from duolingo. You should also try reading Spanish books or watching TV in Spanish. Use a Spanish/English dictionary to help with reading. If you have Netflix, you can change the audio settings.

As for finding someone, check out the International Forum on Gaia. I am sure other sites, like reddit, will have a more success rate with finding someone.

I know a bit of Spanish but I am Puerto Rican. Many of the words I know would probably be different in Mexico.

posting up periodic basic quizzes to see if you know certain things so look for them ok