Spanish Immersion School, Costa Rica
May 23rd, 2005, 11:43 AM
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Spanish Immersion School, Costa Rica
Dear Reader,
The purpose of this letter is to provide a detailed account of my three-week experience at a Spanish language immersion school, Forester Instituto Internacional, (www.fores.com) in San Jose, Costa Rica. I am motivated to write this letter for two reasons: the first is that I had a great deal of difficulty finding detailed, objective information about language schools during my search process and was determined to add something to the meager selection online; the second is that the school we finally chose so exceeded our hopes and expectations that I feel an obligation of gratitude to share the story with others.
Before I begin, let me describe a little bit about my family, our needs, and our selection process. Although I am by training an M.S.W. (social worker) I have been working for a number of years as an elementary and middle school teacher. My husband is a professor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Four years ago I began teaching my two daughters and myself Spanish, using videos, books, and music. To improve our spanish we took a 10-week visit to Mexico at that time. Although we did not attend a school we learned a lot; however, we found the hygiene issues to be rather wearing. Even after weeks of reminding my children not to brush with tap water and to remove the lettuce from their foods, my youngest contracted a pretty serious parasite and that frightened me. While I love Mexico, I decided that this time we'd choose a Spanish-speaking country with hygiene technology and practices similar to our own (in other words you can drink the water and eat the food). Our immediate thought: Costa Rica.
My husband would not be able to leave his teaching, and my high school daughter didn't feel comfortable leaving her studies (or her friends!) for three weeks during the school year, so my 7 year old and I decided to go together. Our first task was to research Costa Rica and its immersion schools online. Finding information about the country in general was easy: articles and letters about the beauty of Manuel Antonio, Arenal and Monteverde abound. Finding information about language schools was a greater problem. There are more than 60 Spanish immersion schools in Costa Rica, and it goes without saying that each of their websites declares itself to be the finest available. Beyond that, little is available by way of "disinterested" (which is to say, more objective) information, and after dozens of hours online I came to believe that detailed reports were not to be found.
To narrow our research, we tried to figure out which part of the country would best suit our needs. We chose San Jose easily, and for many reasons. First of all, there is an enormous variation in climate among the parts of Costa Rica. San Jose has what they call "eternal springtime" meaning that the weather is around 70-75 degrees year round. Every day the warmth of the sun and fresh breeze made walking in shirtsleeves a pleasure, yet we never needed sunscreen. By contrast, many of beautiful parts of the country are exceedingly hot (over 90 degrees) and humid year round. We decided to reserve those areas for special weekend trips that would concentrate on the beach, volcano, etc. I did not want to spend three weeks slathering my child twice daily with #45 sunscreen and Deet before she could walk out the door. And we didn't want to study in excessive heat.
A second factor in choosing San Jose was that it is the central hub of transportation for all of Costa Rica. I learned that it would serve as the easiest take-off destination for weekend jaunts to Manuel Antonio, Arenal and other areas of interest. Dragging a 7-year old on a long ride first to San Jose, and then to connecting points elsewhere held very little appeal for me. We did in fact have marvelous weekends away at those destinations, which were reached easily and cheaply from San Jose. While leaving details about destinations in Costa Rica to the many accounts already online, I will mention one critical matter: outside of the general San Jose area, the importance of repeated applications of sunscreen cannot be overemphasized. We met a number of people with severe burns from merely browsing at the market without protection from the scorching sun.
The last reason we chose San Jose was that we believed that the concentration of interesting cultural and education opportunities would be greater and there would be more fun things for a kid to do. I am skipping ahead in the story, but in fact Emma did have many excursions with her teacher to great zoos, farms, museums and kid places in San Jose, and we enjoyed shopping there and watching children's movies in Spanish at the local theatres.
After deciding upon San Jose, the number of schools was narrowed down. I inspected the websites for intelligent English, evidence of training, experience and education of the teachers, a level of seriousness about the task at hand, attractive classrooms in safe neighborhoods, indication that colleges in the U.S. had chosen them for study-abroad programs, and last but not least, clear written indication that they had specific programs for children. (all of them will make provisions of some kind, but I wanted a higher level of planning than that). After that research and a couple of recommendations online for Forester, I had narrowed my search to two schools and began my phone calls and letters.
A woman named Stephanie at Forester returned every letter I wrote within 24 hours, or Monday morning if I wrote on weekends. Her English was perfect and her answers specific: Yes, I could get a homestay with a girl of Emma's approximate age. A family with only one child, a nine-year old girl, in a comfortable house near the busline, would be glad to welcome us. Yes, Emma could have private lessons with an experienced female instructor at her current level of Spanish. (I didn't want her to be in a beginning class, since she had background in Spanish). Yes, the prices were precisely as listed online, no extras, etc.
At the other school, the answers arrived days after the questions, and were too vague for my taste. They had lots of families, they would find us a good situation. (How was I to know whether their idea of good matched mine? How could I hold them to a promise that was not specific?). Regarding the instructor, the woman could not say whether it would be a man or a woman, but she reassured me that in Costa Rican culture men were as nurturing as women, so it didn't make a difference. Although I did find the men in Costa Rica to be very loving towards children, this answer did not suit my taste as my daughter is more comfortable with a woman teacher. For those reasons, that school earned a place as second choice. We proceeded with Forester's.
We arrived in San Jose on Sunday, April 3, and took a cab directly to our host family's house. They received us warmly with smiles, and an eagerness to show us around and introduce us to their friendly housekeeper and their two clean puffy white poodles. We had our own room in their large comfortable house decorated with Spanish tile and pottery, a walled-in back yard with cozy patio and comfortable furniture. The most important part, however, was that our family seemed genuinely happy to have us there, and, while never intrusive, were always happy to see us. They had been taught to use the minimum of English with us, though they spoke it well, because we were to have maximum opportunity to practice our Spanish. Had we spoken less Spanish they would surely have used a little more English.
The next morning we arrived at the school. The building delighted us immediately: a large, airy building with tile floors and huge windows, full of sunlight and a cool breeze flowing in from the open patio and rear gardens. The classrooms are comfortable and bright, and a full-time cleaning woman keeps the building and bathrooms spotless.
Tatiana, a vivacious, motherly woman greeted us and brought us into a windowy room for a brief discussion of our spanish abilities and goals in order to place us in classes. Emma felt shy and decided not to talk at all! That didn't faze Tatiana, who continued to smile and talk and make jokes until finally Emma couldn't resist a giggle. After a few days Emma was speaking Spanish with everyone.
Ileana, a fit woman in her thirties, with children of her own and ten years experience at Forester's teaching children, came to show Emma to their own special classroom. On their first day they colored Spanish worksheets, played Go Fish with fruits and vegetables, played computer games in Spanish, read stories, ate snacks and did craft projects. Emma loved it. While Ileana would naturally have geared her instruction to the level of the student, with Emma she was able to communicate exclusively in Spanish. Emma's ability and willingness to use Spanish improved exponentially in only three weeks there.
After the first week we created a special excursion program for Ileana and Emma. While normally the classes are conducted in the classrooms and gardens of the Institute, I came to trust Ileana so completely that I wanted her to take Emma to some special places in San Jose. (My friends would assure you that I am the ultimate overprotective mother, so that for me to allow my daughter to go on excursions of this sort in a foreign country is quite a mark of my confidence in her teacher). Together they went to see the animation Robots in Spanish at the local cinema, just a 4-block walk from the school. They went to two different zoos, where Emma saw lions and monkeys and myriads of other animals. They went to a large and sophisticated children's museum one day. They intended to go to the amusement park, too, but the schedule didn't coincide with ours. The most wonderful place they went was a BioPark, where there was a farm and a woods, and many animals. Emma fed the goats, collected herbs for making dyes, and exclaimed over the snakes and tarantulas behind glass. Iguanas ran free along the paths, and there were so many types of flowers and birds Emma couldn't list them all for me. These many short excursions, taken in taxi rides of only two to four dollars each, confirmed for us that San Jose was a good locale for us.
Meanwhile, in my class, I was taken entirely by surprise with how much I learned every day. Gustavo, a Costa Rican man with college degrees in language and ten years' experience teaching Spanish as a foreign language, led the advanced class in which I was placed. Taught entirely in Spanish, it consisted of extensive conversation, grammar lessons, readings and periodic funny games like Go Fish and guessing games. Gus is a warm-hearted, non-judgmental, easy-going guy with a great fluidity in teaching style and we all liked him a great deal. Although my Spanish has always been grammatically flawed, and had become very rusty over the years, I found myself thinking and dreaming in Spanish by the end of the third week. I was amazed by how much Emma and I learned.
One of the features I truly loved was the diversity among the students. Although I did not get to know all of them, there was a warm bond almost immediately among the students there, and a friendly interest in mutual help. We hung out between classes on the back patio and in the internet room (where there were always machines available for writing home, or, in Emma's case, for playing computer games as often as I would let her!). A bottomless pot of Costa Rican coffee sat in the lobby. I became fast friends with a young Japanese college student named Ako, who is improving her Spanish for a career in teaching Japanese and Spanish as second languages. A second college student in my class, Tim, was a surfboarder and biology major with a rapid-fire Spanish and a quick smile. Ken, a retired British man, kept us laughing all the time with his dry, quiet sense of humor and charming manner.
Another class group, (known affectionately to our group as the Muchachas) seemed to bond around their youth and femaleness. Their teacher was a hip young woman and that group always had something to laugh about. I had a guess there was a fair bit of girl-talk going on there in Spanish. One of them, Jeana, works in California as a sound tech in the film industry. Another, Johanna, is German and works as an au pair with a Tico family while attending school there. A young African-American woman named Ty joined the Muchachas a day or two before I left. It was her second time to come to study at Foresters. Another African-American student was leaving just a couple days after I got there. In other words, there was a great diversity in the ages, races, countries of origin and goals of the students there, but a great bond between us in the similarity of our situation. Many lived with host families and all liked their Tica Moms and families.
The staff at Forester's was fantastic and the students loved them. One thing I particularly appreciated was their presence in the lobby at their desks all day long. You never had to look for anyone for help or advice: they were always right there. No doors to close. They answered questions, made phone calls for us, helped with internet questions, helped making reservations and receiving faxes and making photocopies, recommended destinations and modes of transportation, gave directions, and managed at the same time to speak the absolute minimum of English necessary to get the job done. The bookkeeper was at her desk at all times and was always careful and slow in explaining accounts, translating dollars and colones, counting change. Always friendly and willing to go over things, she never surprised me with an unanticipated charge.
On two occasions during the 3 weeks I spend at Foresters, Tatiana presented special classes on local foods. On each occasion, all the school's students got together and made lunch out of the presentation. The first class covered tropical fruits. In addition to mango, papaya, mandarins, starfruit, and various familiar melons, there were over a dozen fruits I had never heard of or tasted. The long tables were covered with huge platters of fresh cut fruit of all sizes and shapes, and the room smelled sweet and juicy. We all ate till we couldn't fit any more in. On the second occasion, special Tico dishes were served, such as sweet corn cakes, fried yucca turnovers, papaya and sausage pecadillo, homemade tortillas, and a number of other dishes and drinks.
The school's location right on the bus line in a nice neighborhood called San Pedro, adjacent to the business part of San Jose, offers many benefits. Across the street, a travel agency. Up a block, a grocery store with a wonderful bakery and 10" sandwiches of crusty French bread, ham and cheese for about 1.75. Four blocks down, a large mall with all sorts of shops and several theatres with movies in both English and Spanish. Two blocks up the street a cultural center with a wonderful cafeteria where you can buy a huge and delicious hot lunch for 2.50 including the drink. When we chose not to take the bus, the taxi ride to our family's house was around 3.00.
We got close to our Tico family and hope to stay with them again the next time we visit Forester's. The mother, the housekeeper and I spent lots of time chatting in Spanish, and they were always willing to go slow for me. The food was delicious and ranged from beef with the traditional rice and beans and tortillas to homemade pizza. Fresh fruit plates and crisp salads accompanied everything. The father, an independent businessman in the travel industry, liked teaching us new words and drove us to our bus stop every morning after dropping his daughter off at school. Emma cried the night before we left, she was so attached to the girl of the family.
Have I left out any details? Surely I have, and I'll remember later people and things that should have been mentioned. Do I recommend the school? Obviously I couldn't recommend it more highly. We will return as soon as we possibly can.
There is one more thought I must add. If I were reading this letter, I would be asking myself, cautious consumer that I am, Is this woman the the cousin of the director? Or, perhaps, Is she getting a kickback or a discount? All I can do is to reassure you otherwise. Prior to our visit, I knew no one from Costa Rica. I have not been offered, nor received, any kind of benefit beyond the education and the friendships I made there in three short weeks. It was a wonderful and nourishing world apart, and it will go down in my memory as one of the true gems life has offered me. For that I owed a letter, for those who gave of themselves and for those who might get to participate in the future.
I am going to post this letter on some of the travel message boards. I will also send it to Forester's director with permission to use as he pleases. It is therefore possible that some or all of it will appear on their website; however, that does not change what I said in the previous paragraph. This is in no way an advertisement. Please feel free to write me. I'm a real person, right here in Kentucky, at [email protected] . Be sure to use the word "Forester" in your subject heading so I don't toss you out with the junkmail.
Sincerely,
Lori Moore
The purpose of this letter is to provide a detailed account of my three-week experience at a Spanish language immersion school, Forester Instituto Internacional, (www.fores.com) in San Jose, Costa Rica. I am motivated to write this letter for two reasons: the first is that I had a great deal of difficulty finding detailed, objective information about language schools during my search process and was determined to add something to the meager selection online; the second is that the school we finally chose so exceeded our hopes and expectations that I feel an obligation of gratitude to share the story with others.
Before I begin, let me describe a little bit about my family, our needs, and our selection process. Although I am by training an M.S.W. (social worker) I have been working for a number of years as an elementary and middle school teacher. My husband is a professor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Four years ago I began teaching my two daughters and myself Spanish, using videos, books, and music. To improve our spanish we took a 10-week visit to Mexico at that time. Although we did not attend a school we learned a lot; however, we found the hygiene issues to be rather wearing. Even after weeks of reminding my children not to brush with tap water and to remove the lettuce from their foods, my youngest contracted a pretty serious parasite and that frightened me. While I love Mexico, I decided that this time we'd choose a Spanish-speaking country with hygiene technology and practices similar to our own (in other words you can drink the water and eat the food). Our immediate thought: Costa Rica.
My husband would not be able to leave his teaching, and my high school daughter didn't feel comfortable leaving her studies (or her friends!) for three weeks during the school year, so my 7 year old and I decided to go together. Our first task was to research Costa Rica and its immersion schools online. Finding information about the country in general was easy: articles and letters about the beauty of Manuel Antonio, Arenal and Monteverde abound. Finding information about language schools was a greater problem. There are more than 60 Spanish immersion schools in Costa Rica, and it goes without saying that each of their websites declares itself to be the finest available. Beyond that, little is available by way of "disinterested" (which is to say, more objective) information, and after dozens of hours online I came to believe that detailed reports were not to be found.
To narrow our research, we tried to figure out which part of the country would best suit our needs. We chose San Jose easily, and for many reasons. First of all, there is an enormous variation in climate among the parts of Costa Rica. San Jose has what they call "eternal springtime" meaning that the weather is around 70-75 degrees year round. Every day the warmth of the sun and fresh breeze made walking in shirtsleeves a pleasure, yet we never needed sunscreen. By contrast, many of beautiful parts of the country are exceedingly hot (over 90 degrees) and humid year round. We decided to reserve those areas for special weekend trips that would concentrate on the beach, volcano, etc. I did not want to spend three weeks slathering my child twice daily with #45 sunscreen and Deet before she could walk out the door. And we didn't want to study in excessive heat.
A second factor in choosing San Jose was that it is the central hub of transportation for all of Costa Rica. I learned that it would serve as the easiest take-off destination for weekend jaunts to Manuel Antonio, Arenal and other areas of interest. Dragging a 7-year old on a long ride first to San Jose, and then to connecting points elsewhere held very little appeal for me. We did in fact have marvelous weekends away at those destinations, which were reached easily and cheaply from San Jose. While leaving details about destinations in Costa Rica to the many accounts already online, I will mention one critical matter: outside of the general San Jose area, the importance of repeated applications of sunscreen cannot be overemphasized. We met a number of people with severe burns from merely browsing at the market without protection from the scorching sun.
The last reason we chose San Jose was that we believed that the concentration of interesting cultural and education opportunities would be greater and there would be more fun things for a kid to do. I am skipping ahead in the story, but in fact Emma did have many excursions with her teacher to great zoos, farms, museums and kid places in San Jose, and we enjoyed shopping there and watching children's movies in Spanish at the local theatres.
After deciding upon San Jose, the number of schools was narrowed down. I inspected the websites for intelligent English, evidence of training, experience and education of the teachers, a level of seriousness about the task at hand, attractive classrooms in safe neighborhoods, indication that colleges in the U.S. had chosen them for study-abroad programs, and last but not least, clear written indication that they had specific programs for children. (all of them will make provisions of some kind, but I wanted a higher level of planning than that). After that research and a couple of recommendations online for Forester, I had narrowed my search to two schools and began my phone calls and letters.
A woman named Stephanie at Forester returned every letter I wrote within 24 hours, or Monday morning if I wrote on weekends. Her English was perfect and her answers specific: Yes, I could get a homestay with a girl of Emma's approximate age. A family with only one child, a nine-year old girl, in a comfortable house near the busline, would be glad to welcome us. Yes, Emma could have private lessons with an experienced female instructor at her current level of Spanish. (I didn't want her to be in a beginning class, since she had background in Spanish). Yes, the prices were precisely as listed online, no extras, etc.
At the other school, the answers arrived days after the questions, and were too vague for my taste. They had lots of families, they would find us a good situation. (How was I to know whether their idea of good matched mine? How could I hold them to a promise that was not specific?). Regarding the instructor, the woman could not say whether it would be a man or a woman, but she reassured me that in Costa Rican culture men were as nurturing as women, so it didn't make a difference. Although I did find the men in Costa Rica to be very loving towards children, this answer did not suit my taste as my daughter is more comfortable with a woman teacher. For those reasons, that school earned a place as second choice. We proceeded with Forester's.
We arrived in San Jose on Sunday, April 3, and took a cab directly to our host family's house. They received us warmly with smiles, and an eagerness to show us around and introduce us to their friendly housekeeper and their two clean puffy white poodles. We had our own room in their large comfortable house decorated with Spanish tile and pottery, a walled-in back yard with cozy patio and comfortable furniture. The most important part, however, was that our family seemed genuinely happy to have us there, and, while never intrusive, were always happy to see us. They had been taught to use the minimum of English with us, though they spoke it well, because we were to have maximum opportunity to practice our Spanish. Had we spoken less Spanish they would surely have used a little more English.
The next morning we arrived at the school. The building delighted us immediately: a large, airy building with tile floors and huge windows, full of sunlight and a cool breeze flowing in from the open patio and rear gardens. The classrooms are comfortable and bright, and a full-time cleaning woman keeps the building and bathrooms spotless.
Tatiana, a vivacious, motherly woman greeted us and brought us into a windowy room for a brief discussion of our spanish abilities and goals in order to place us in classes. Emma felt shy and decided not to talk at all! That didn't faze Tatiana, who continued to smile and talk and make jokes until finally Emma couldn't resist a giggle. After a few days Emma was speaking Spanish with everyone.
Ileana, a fit woman in her thirties, with children of her own and ten years experience at Forester's teaching children, came to show Emma to their own special classroom. On their first day they colored Spanish worksheets, played Go Fish with fruits and vegetables, played computer games in Spanish, read stories, ate snacks and did craft projects. Emma loved it. While Ileana would naturally have geared her instruction to the level of the student, with Emma she was able to communicate exclusively in Spanish. Emma's ability and willingness to use Spanish improved exponentially in only three weeks there.
After the first week we created a special excursion program for Ileana and Emma. While normally the classes are conducted in the classrooms and gardens of the Institute, I came to trust Ileana so completely that I wanted her to take Emma to some special places in San Jose. (My friends would assure you that I am the ultimate overprotective mother, so that for me to allow my daughter to go on excursions of this sort in a foreign country is quite a mark of my confidence in her teacher). Together they went to see the animation Robots in Spanish at the local cinema, just a 4-block walk from the school. They went to two different zoos, where Emma saw lions and monkeys and myriads of other animals. They went to a large and sophisticated children's museum one day. They intended to go to the amusement park, too, but the schedule didn't coincide with ours. The most wonderful place they went was a BioPark, where there was a farm and a woods, and many animals. Emma fed the goats, collected herbs for making dyes, and exclaimed over the snakes and tarantulas behind glass. Iguanas ran free along the paths, and there were so many types of flowers and birds Emma couldn't list them all for me. These many short excursions, taken in taxi rides of only two to four dollars each, confirmed for us that San Jose was a good locale for us.
Meanwhile, in my class, I was taken entirely by surprise with how much I learned every day. Gustavo, a Costa Rican man with college degrees in language and ten years' experience teaching Spanish as a foreign language, led the advanced class in which I was placed. Taught entirely in Spanish, it consisted of extensive conversation, grammar lessons, readings and periodic funny games like Go Fish and guessing games. Gus is a warm-hearted, non-judgmental, easy-going guy with a great fluidity in teaching style and we all liked him a great deal. Although my Spanish has always been grammatically flawed, and had become very rusty over the years, I found myself thinking and dreaming in Spanish by the end of the third week. I was amazed by how much Emma and I learned.
One of the features I truly loved was the diversity among the students. Although I did not get to know all of them, there was a warm bond almost immediately among the students there, and a friendly interest in mutual help. We hung out between classes on the back patio and in the internet room (where there were always machines available for writing home, or, in Emma's case, for playing computer games as often as I would let her!). A bottomless pot of Costa Rican coffee sat in the lobby. I became fast friends with a young Japanese college student named Ako, who is improving her Spanish for a career in teaching Japanese and Spanish as second languages. A second college student in my class, Tim, was a surfboarder and biology major with a rapid-fire Spanish and a quick smile. Ken, a retired British man, kept us laughing all the time with his dry, quiet sense of humor and charming manner.
Another class group, (known affectionately to our group as the Muchachas) seemed to bond around their youth and femaleness. Their teacher was a hip young woman and that group always had something to laugh about. I had a guess there was a fair bit of girl-talk going on there in Spanish. One of them, Jeana, works in California as a sound tech in the film industry. Another, Johanna, is German and works as an au pair with a Tico family while attending school there. A young African-American woman named Ty joined the Muchachas a day or two before I left. It was her second time to come to study at Foresters. Another African-American student was leaving just a couple days after I got there. In other words, there was a great diversity in the ages, races, countries of origin and goals of the students there, but a great bond between us in the similarity of our situation. Many lived with host families and all liked their Tica Moms and families.
The staff at Forester's was fantastic and the students loved them. One thing I particularly appreciated was their presence in the lobby at their desks all day long. You never had to look for anyone for help or advice: they were always right there. No doors to close. They answered questions, made phone calls for us, helped with internet questions, helped making reservations and receiving faxes and making photocopies, recommended destinations and modes of transportation, gave directions, and managed at the same time to speak the absolute minimum of English necessary to get the job done. The bookkeeper was at her desk at all times and was always careful and slow in explaining accounts, translating dollars and colones, counting change. Always friendly and willing to go over things, she never surprised me with an unanticipated charge.
On two occasions during the 3 weeks I spend at Foresters, Tatiana presented special classes on local foods. On each occasion, all the school's students got together and made lunch out of the presentation. The first class covered tropical fruits. In addition to mango, papaya, mandarins, starfruit, and various familiar melons, there were over a dozen fruits I had never heard of or tasted. The long tables were covered with huge platters of fresh cut fruit of all sizes and shapes, and the room smelled sweet and juicy. We all ate till we couldn't fit any more in. On the second occasion, special Tico dishes were served, such as sweet corn cakes, fried yucca turnovers, papaya and sausage pecadillo, homemade tortillas, and a number of other dishes and drinks.
The school's location right on the bus line in a nice neighborhood called San Pedro, adjacent to the business part of San Jose, offers many benefits. Across the street, a travel agency. Up a block, a grocery store with a wonderful bakery and 10" sandwiches of crusty French bread, ham and cheese for about 1.75. Four blocks down, a large mall with all sorts of shops and several theatres with movies in both English and Spanish. Two blocks up the street a cultural center with a wonderful cafeteria where you can buy a huge and delicious hot lunch for 2.50 including the drink. When we chose not to take the bus, the taxi ride to our family's house was around 3.00.
We got close to our Tico family and hope to stay with them again the next time we visit Forester's. The mother, the housekeeper and I spent lots of time chatting in Spanish, and they were always willing to go slow for me. The food was delicious and ranged from beef with the traditional rice and beans and tortillas to homemade pizza. Fresh fruit plates and crisp salads accompanied everything. The father, an independent businessman in the travel industry, liked teaching us new words and drove us to our bus stop every morning after dropping his daughter off at school. Emma cried the night before we left, she was so attached to the girl of the family.
Have I left out any details? Surely I have, and I'll remember later people and things that should have been mentioned. Do I recommend the school? Obviously I couldn't recommend it more highly. We will return as soon as we possibly can.
There is one more thought I must add. If I were reading this letter, I would be asking myself, cautious consumer that I am, Is this woman the the cousin of the director? Or, perhaps, Is she getting a kickback or a discount? All I can do is to reassure you otherwise. Prior to our visit, I knew no one from Costa Rica. I have not been offered, nor received, any kind of benefit beyond the education and the friendships I made there in three short weeks. It was a wonderful and nourishing world apart, and it will go down in my memory as one of the true gems life has offered me. For that I owed a letter, for those who gave of themselves and for those who might get to participate in the future.
I am going to post this letter on some of the travel message boards. I will also send it to Forester's director with permission to use as he pleases. It is therefore possible that some or all of it will appear on their website; however, that does not change what I said in the previous paragraph. This is in no way an advertisement. Please feel free to write me. I'm a real person, right here in Kentucky, at [email protected] . Be sure to use the word "Forester" in your subject heading so I don't toss you out with the junkmail.
Sincerely,
Lori Moore
May 23rd, 2005, 12:48 PM
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Thanks for your detailed report, Lori. As someone who also did Spanish immersion and a home stay this year (in Oaxaca)I really enjoyed reading your report. I love CR too so plan to keep your recommendation in mind for future classes! What a wonderful gift to your daughter and to yourself!
May 23rd, 2005, 04:20 PM
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I, too, applaud you for the wonderful gift you are giving your children. What a fabulous experience for you and Emma to have together. What I would give to have had that opportunity with our children. They've gone on to learn and be interested in Spanish on their own, but that's not quite the same!
My younger daughter and I, separately, have both studied at CPI (Flamingo and Heredia) and found it every bit as rewarding as your description of Forester. I would agree, however, that Forester appears to have an excellent program for children. Those extra excursions with Ileana surely benefitted Emma a great deal.
Yes, there are many many schools in Costa Rica for Spanish study. I really do think that most of them are probably excellent, each in its own way. I base this opinion largely on the fact that the majority of the Ticos are so warm and friendly and helpful. I've traveled to few countries outside the U.S., but can't imagine a MORE gracious population. Congratulations on finding just the right place for the two of you!
My younger daughter and I, separately, have both studied at CPI (Flamingo and Heredia) and found it every bit as rewarding as your description of Forester. I would agree, however, that Forester appears to have an excellent program for children. Those extra excursions with Ileana surely benefitted Emma a great deal.
Yes, there are many many schools in Costa Rica for Spanish study. I really do think that most of them are probably excellent, each in its own way. I base this opinion largely on the fact that the majority of the Ticos are so warm and friendly and helpful. I've traveled to few countries outside the U.S., but can't imagine a MORE gracious population. Congratulations on finding just the right place for the two of you!
May 24th, 2005, 08:55 AM
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Thanks Lori for the great review. You are right, there is not that much unbiased info regarding language schools in CR. Most people go there as tourists only so there is plenty of info on hotels, etc. Even my trusty Lonely Planet guide had only minimal info regarding schools although they did mention FII, amoung a few others, including CPI. Thanks again Lori, for a most detailed posting - I hope you have helped encourage others to give language school a try.
Jun 14th, 2005, 05:45 AM
#6
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Hi! Thanks for your response. A number of people have emailed me for further information or to find out if I was "for real". I am real, and I hope readers continue to feel free to email me with questions. Pura Vida! Lori
Jun 14th, 2005, 07:11 AM
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Lori - I am from South Dakota and my husband and I took our 21 yr. old daughter(UNL Cornhusker!) and 18 yr. old son to Tamarindo in May. We flew in to San Jose but the reports were so against doing anything there that we didn't go in to town. Maybe the next time. My son came to the Carribean side of Costa Rica in 2004 with his Spanish class and loved it. We ALL loved Costa Rica. An immersion class would be ideal for our daughter who hopes to get in to dental school.(all doctors should speak atleast basic Spanish) I now would feel comfortable sending her to San Jose next yr. Thank you for this great post (I am a social worker at our local hospital - on the Hospice Team), you're writing skills are awesome. I have the phone number of a young San Jose man that we used his travel agency (he is #1 a good driver, #2 a college grad - (dad is in research at a university there), #3 so knowledable about Costa Rica, #4 FRIENDLY. I'll get it to you if you are interested. Tama B.
Jun 14th, 2005, 03:10 PM
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Tama, I could not believe your post when I read it because we are also from SD. My husband is going to CR in August for two weeks of language school. I'm a former RN and now volunteer at a Cancer Center so I was very interested in your post. Please e-mail me as we need a driver. Sharon
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Jun 17th, 2005, 05:09 PM
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Hello again,
I am aware that some people recommend against San Jose, but we loved Foresters and our host families so much that we had loads of fun and enjoyed it there a lot. I would suggest leaving time for "vacationing" in other areas and getting some time at beach and rain forest, etc. You DO want to follow the rules for any big city you're spending time in-- don't wear gold or gold-looking or gemmy-looking jewelry, wear your money under your shirt in a money belt, don't be conspicuously touristy or wealthy. Listen to what people tell you about any areas you shouldn't walk alone. These are the rules I would and do follow in Houston, Miami, Chicago, even Cincinnati and certainly any large city in Europe. Have fun! Lori
I am aware that some people recommend against San Jose, but we loved Foresters and our host families so much that we had loads of fun and enjoyed it there a lot. I would suggest leaving time for "vacationing" in other areas and getting some time at beach and rain forest, etc. You DO want to follow the rules for any big city you're spending time in-- don't wear gold or gold-looking or gemmy-looking jewelry, wear your money under your shirt in a money belt, don't be conspicuously touristy or wealthy. Listen to what people tell you about any areas you shouldn't walk alone. These are the rules I would and do follow in Houston, Miami, Chicago, even Cincinnati and certainly any large city in Europe. Have fun! Lori
Jun 18th, 2005, 03:30 AM
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Hi TeacherLori!
I also studied at Forrester!! I thought it was fabulous, too. The teachers really did an accurate assessment of my Spanish, classes were small and activities were varied. I loved the layout of the school, with the big airy classrooms and pretty garden. My host family was wonderful- I have actually gone back to visit them, as we are now just friends!
I feel I should mention that Forrester isn't in downtown SJ- it is a bit away in the upscale Los Yoses. This is a good thing, as commuting is very safe and easy.
I am so glad to hear that you also had a great experience there! Costa Rica is an incredible place.
I also studied at Forrester!! I thought it was fabulous, too. The teachers really did an accurate assessment of my Spanish, classes were small and activities were varied. I loved the layout of the school, with the big airy classrooms and pretty garden. My host family was wonderful- I have actually gone back to visit them, as we are now just friends!
I feel I should mention that Forrester isn't in downtown SJ- it is a bit away in the upscale Los Yoses. This is a good thing, as commuting is very safe and easy.
I am so glad to hear that you also had a great experience there! Costa Rica is an incredible place.
Jun 24th, 2005, 11:08 AM
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Hi Katya! Always fun to hear from someone who has been at Forester's. Yes, your point is a good one that I should have made in my travel history: the school is located in a really nice suburb where you can walk and shop without any security concerns. I miss the place so much already! And, I, too made friends there that I've kept up with. One student, a young woman from Japan, is coming to stay with my family for a whole month in November! Can't wait to see her again. And we have had a lot of notes from my daughter Emma's teacher since we got home, just saying hello. Maybe I'll meet you back at Forester's some day! : ) lori
Sep 22nd, 2005, 12:24 PM
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Hi Costa Rica fans,
I have had about 10 personal emails from people planning an immersion trip, and it has been my pleasure to hear a little bit of all of their plans. I almost think there should be a club: students headed for Foresters! Thank you all for being in touch, and for those I haven't spoken to again, I hope all has gone wonderfully! For others who did also follow through: I have gotten a strong message of gratitude for the information, from those who are researching the country and schools, so I suspect that other Foresterians' remarks would be very welcome on this thread. Good luck to all! Pura Vida, Lori
I have had about 10 personal emails from people planning an immersion trip, and it has been my pleasure to hear a little bit of all of their plans. I almost think there should be a club: students headed for Foresters! Thank you all for being in touch, and for those I haven't spoken to again, I hope all has gone wonderfully! For others who did also follow through: I have gotten a strong message of gratitude for the information, from those who are researching the country and schools, so I suspect that other Foresterians' remarks would be very welcome on this thread. Good luck to all! Pura Vida, Lori
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