“I think he knows more than he lets on,” Reyes said.

Spring training seems the best time to help him along. Even though the Mets recently teamed with the University of Central Florida to revamp their English program at the academy, Montero was not there last fall. And during the season, the classes are more scattered. They are held only when the teams are at home.

Here, Montero takes classes three or four nights a week, with about 10 others in a converted hotel suite that has computers, swivel chairs and a dry-erase board.

Reyes wants to schedule more one-on-one sessions for Montero.

In the clubhouse, Montero hangs around Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Bartolo Colon, Jose Valverde and Gonzalez Germen, whose lockers are in the same corner. They speak mostly Spanish, and Montero generally does not say much.

Mejia graduated from the program in only three years. He had tested his English on his teammates and coaches, and now he is a chatterbox. It was as if he could not wait to express himself.

Flores graduated in four years. He liked that the classes taught simple tasks such as ordering at a restaurant or going to the bank. But he said he learned more from his teammates, by asking, “What do you call this?”

“Guys are afraid to ask questions,” Flores said. “You can’t be ashamed. You just have to talk.”

His English still is not perfect. As he said: “I still have to think before I say something. Like, I’ll say it in Spanish in my mind and then say it in English. But I get better.”

Flores once had the same teachers Montero does now: Jose and Adriana Rincon, who are married. Jose Rincon teaches the advanced classes here, and Adriana Rincon handles the beginners. After three years, Montero is still considered a beginner.