Spanish school in Central America?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone taken an intensive Spanish course (2 to 4 weeks) in Central America? There are any number of schools in Costa Rica or Guatemala. Am looking for recommendations. thanks

[Anonymous]

I haven't done it yet but I have a friend who attended La Escuela Horizonte in Esteli, Nicaragua and really liked it.

[Anonymous]

I've done languange schools in Guatemala and in Honduras and spent a month working/volunteering in Costa Rica. All three countries have great programs and some have more perks than others. Do you want to live with a family? Do you want to travel on the weekends? or before/after the program?

I did my first program in Antigua Guatemala-gorgeous colonial town with lots of schools but also lots of students/tourists. I found that I used way too much english in my free time.

In HOnduras I was isolated in a small school in a little town so I had to use my Spanish 24/7.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Would like to find a school that has a good age distribution for students, i.e., not just undergrad and post-grads, and also offers some tailoring of classes based upon your interests and professional needs. (e.g., some schools offer medical/health care professional spanish---I don't need that, but some legal/business emphasis would be good). I probably would not have a lot of time for travel---the couple of weeks of classes would take my vacation time---so would like to be in a pleasant location for classes.

[Anonymous]

Really, it's a very personal thing to pick a spanish school.

I spent last summer in Central America, in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica. I only went to Spanish school in Guatemala.

I chose Tecun Uman:

http://www.tecunuman.centramerica.com/main.htm

I researched ahead of time but ended up flying from Costa Rica to Guatemala and then just hoofing it around town checking out the schools I was interested in and interviewing them before choosing Tecun Uman.

I stayed for a month and lived with a host family. I LOVED my teacher and can recommend her personally if you so desire. The teachers were great and very good at personalizing the lessons.

It was a hundred bucks a week for daily classes of like 3 hours one-on-one and also for the homestay which was lovely and all meals.

I loved it and highly recommend it...

[Anonymous]

I had been recommended a school in Quetzaltenango, Guatamala. I didn't make it, but another friend of mine went and enjoyed her stay.

http://www.casaxelaju.com/

It's a bit isolated so you won't have as many opportunities to use your English. The offer classes for children, families, health care workers, teachers, etc. so I'm sure they could customize a program to your liking. Tuition was under $200/week and included classes, homestay with most meals and activities. It sounded very reasonable to me and I think I'll go when my children are a little bit older and we can sign up for the family package.