LynnieD

I am checking out language schools for a 1 month stay in Costa Rica for March 2011. I have never been to Costa Rica but have traveled in Mexico and Panama.

Realizing that everyone has different likes/dislikes, what town/city would you choose for a 1 month stay and why? I am also planning to surf, so that is a consideration. I am easily able to withstand basic accomodation's and am very thrifty. Cost of the school is not a huge consideration, I just wouldn't necessarily stay in a more expensive place to get plusher surroundings, unless it was a huge difference for nominal price increase. An area with accomodations, food, etc. in the middle of the road pricewise would be good.

Thanks,

Lynnie

hopefulist

My Spanish immersion trips have mostly been in Honduras and Guatemala where 1-on-1 instruction is the norm and the cost is significantly less - lots of wonderful schools (plus the culture interests me more). I had a great time studying in Chiapas, Mexico, last summer.

If you're dead set on Costa Rica you can search for schools on the www.123teachme.com site. With a month to spend you could visit more than 1 area and, in any event, I wouldn't commit to multiple weeks until you've been there and are sure the school and the area are a good fit. In general, beachy places make poor immersion environments since English is so widely spoken. There are several schools in the Orosi Valley (Turrialba) and people I know who have studied in that area have found it to be a good immersion environment. No surfing, though!

I hope you have a great experience and then tell us all about it!

LynnieD

Well, not 100% on costa rica, I just thought it sounded safe and inexpensive. I'm totally open. What do you think would be your number one choice, all things considered, price, location, total experience, quality of program?

cgenster

LynnieD I have studied in Costa Rica with CPI. If cost isn't a big concern of yours and surfing is a big plus I would recommend the CPI campus in Flamingo Beach. You can request one on one lessons and get quality instruction and be close to surfing lessons, but the price would be higher than other options. I did enjoy my time there and the school was good.

With that said, I had a much better experience as far as Spanish immersion in Guatemala. There wasn't anywhere to surf, but the schools I attended there tailored the instruction to my level took into consideration why I wanted to learn Spanish and adjusted their teaching to what I wanted/needed to learn.

It really does depend on what you want out of your experience. I had a great experience at CPI in Costa Rica, but had a completely different more rustic and authentic experience in Guatemala.

There is a lot of help and knowledge on this board, just let us know which way you are leaning and someone will be able to share their experiences.

shillmac

I am a big fan of CPI, having studied at San Joaquin de Flores and Playa Flamingo. No experience anywhere else. Yes, you will speak less Spanish in a beach setting, but that doesn't mean you can't speak it as much as you'd like. You just won't be forced to! I would suggest 2 weeks of each.

hopefulist

Here's my 2 cents' worth (or 2 quetzales or 2 lempiras)...

If I stay in a friendly area where little English is spoken I'd say my Spanish progresses twice as much; there's just no way to throw yourself into Spanish as thoroughly if the English speaking tourists outnumber locals and the town infrastructure is built around that. I am a pretty driven student and have been pleased with all my weeks of study - 12 weeks in the last 6 years - even though some have been more productive than others. It's largely your choice just how much you want to immerse yourself and how far you can go.

Absolute 1st choice for me would be the Cooperativa School in San Pedro La Laguna on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala - I just love that place. The school setting is amazing - a gorgeous garden overlooking the lake - and the staff is committed and talented. As a coop the teachers and host families are better paid than other area schools and there is a huge commitment to community service and culturally significant activities. You'd pay $150/week there for 1-on-1 instruction 4 hours/day, activities, and homestay with 3 meals/day every day but Sunday. (For comparison, the CPI site gives a rate of $400/week for group classes and homestays with 2 meals/day. www.cooperativeschoolsanpedro.com

Another favorite school of mine is the Ixbalanque School in Copán Ruinas, Honduras. It's a cute, nice town with lots to do in the surrounding area including the beautiful Maya ruins, museums, a butterfly place, an exotic bird park, lots of interesting villages and great hiking. The school has a nice new facility and the staff is excellent. I believe the cost there is still $210/week for 1-on-1 instruction, activities, and homestay with 3 meals/day. www.ixbalanque.com

Another good option is the Academia Antigüeña in Antigua, Guatemala. I don't find Antigua to be as good of an immersion environment but it's a really beautiful place with lots to do in the area including volcano hikes, church ruins, neighboring villages, coffee and macadamia nut farms, and some beautiful museums. The activities were interesting and I loved my homestay and teacher. The cost there is $180/week for 1-on-1 instruction, activities, and homestay with 3 meals/day exept Sunday. http://www.spanishacademyantiguena.com/

cgenster and I (hi, Carla!) studied together in Guatemala in 2009 and the blog of our trip can be found at www.liveandlearninguatemala.blogspot.com This is a travel study website but you can find a list of the blog posts from our 2009 trip by scrolling down on the right and clicking on the triangle by "July", 1st posts at the bottom.

You can do the same for the blog from my 2008 Honduras trip: http://liveandlearninca.blogspot.com/

Additional photos and detailed travelogues are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Happy trails!

qwovadis

www.tamarindospanishschool.org

probably best in CR area for what you want to do...

good place been in business a long time

Witches Rock Surf Camp for your surfing...

Happy Hunting,

RedStater

Consider San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. There are a couple of language schools there and I understand that the surfing is excellent. I have no experience of the place, but it was recommended by others with whom I spoke in Granada.

shillmac

San Pedro La Laguna sounds fabulous, hopefulist--must go there sometime!

I was just thinking of the surfing angle. Costa Rica is a world destination surf spot, so it seemed that might be appealing.

In Costa Rica, here is a school in Turrialba (where we are building) that used to have a sister school at Dominical which is prime surfing destination. Other surfing locations for Spanish schools in Costa Rica can be found here:

http://www.isls.com/costarica/schools/heredia.cfm

This is a website I used years ago when I was getting started with studying Spanish. Of course, I knew for sure I wanted to be in Costa Rica because we had already established some roots there and were in the process of exploring the country.

shillmac

Also, with a month's time you could certainly explore 2 different school, 2 different areas.

LynnieD

What a great amount if information. I change my mind with every post. At this moment I am leaning heavily towards cooperative school in Guatemala. I am more interested in advancing my
Spanish Than surfing at this point so
I want to maximize the immersion experience.
My first big question is, how does one get to San Pedro de Laguna?

LynnieD

Never mind, I just found the thread on this issue.

hopefulist

Let me know if I can answer questions - I consider San Pedro La Laguna to be my home away from home. Be sure to check out my blogs!

hopefulist

And if you contact the school, be sure to tell them Stacey says hi and misses them!

LynnieD

Thanks Stacey, I will do that. I have read alot of your blogs and am getting very useful info.

What do you think about spending 2 weeks at each spot, Academia Antigüeña and Cooperativa School? Just for a little variety. Since I am doing this for the goal of improving my spanish should I just stick with Cooperativa? Decisions....

hopefulist

Both schools are excellent - different settings and activities. There are lots of things to do around Antigua but, as I said, it isn't a great immersion environment. The homestays tend to offer more in terms of amenities while the San Pedro homestays are great but a bit more humble, in general. Most of the folks in my group in 2009 were 1st time visitors to CA and, while happy they'd started in Antigua (less culture shock) and pleased with their experiences there, universally liked the San Pedro experience better.

2 weeks would be a long time for me in Antigua. You might want to consider starting with just a week there and then staying or moving on depending on your feeling at the time.

And if you contact Academia Antigüeña, too, be sure to tell them Stacey says hi and misses them!! Keep me posted!