Spanish Language Schools
LANGUAGE SHOOL RECOMMENDATIONS These by Saratica on 8/15/08:
We loved our school in Barva, Heredia, La Amistad Institute
(http://www.amistadinstitute.net/)
- everyone is so lovely, we had a great time, learned so much and the location
is gorgeous. They've been doing this a long time and were just wonderful.
There is also Voz que Clama in Tuis (www.vqcmission.com)
which is a Christian based learning center. They do incredible work with the
indigenous... even if you don't use their school, their story is fascinating.
I've been there, seen it in action. Amazing.
There is also a company called Tropical Adventures (http://www.tropicaladventures.com/).
Also volunteer-based, homestays, run by generous and lovely people. Scott also
has a blog:
http://www.crazyjungle.com/
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Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican Spanish
ISBN 1-881233-88-X
www.Amazon.com
When Christopher. Howard moved to Costa Rica in the early 1980s he quickly
realized that he would have to learn Costa Rican-style Spanish. His new
guidebook is the result of almost 25 years of research in the field of Spanish
as a second language. By no means is it a complete course in the Spanish
language, but does provide neophytes with the basics to survive here. Travelers,
students, full and part-time residents as well as serious language students will
all benefit from the information in this handy book. Howard has taken some of
the material from his weekly newspaper columns “Learning the language” and
“Short Cuts for Learning Spanish.”
The book is divided into different sections. The first part deals with
pronunciation and has some handy drills to help students sound more like native
speakers. The next section contains essential Spanish survival phrases you will
need for most daily situations you will encounter in Costa Rica. There is
another chapter which shows how Costa Ricans use the vos form of verbs instead
of the tú form to address friends. Then there are two chapters dedicated to
Costa Rican street slang and useful idioms. You won’t be able to find most of
this material in a standard Spanish dictionary or any other source in English.
The next chapter contains a section on piropos or phrases used for flirting. Two
great sections follow where Chris gives his secrets for learning the language.
At the end of the guide is a list of good books and other sources for learning
the language. Finally, the is a short English- Spanish, Spanish-English
dictionary.
This guide is pocket-size so you can take it with you wherever you go.
It is available in Costa Rica through 7th Street Books and Librería Universal.
On line it can be obtained through
www.Amazon.COM. It can also be purchased in U.S.
and Canadian bookstores. The E-book version can be purchased through
www.escapeartist.com.
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My wife and I bought the Rosetta Stone software, including all 3
levels of Latin American Spanish. I have now been through all 3 levels,
and here are my thoughts.
There were no written materials in the package, and I have no reason to believe that was accidental. Moreover, the instruction makes no use of the student's first language so the absence of written materials was probably intentional. There is an Application CD and we bought 3 Language CD's (we had Latin American Spanish, Levels 1, 2, and 3, and the software calls that 3 languages). One must load the Application CD first, and is then asked for language CD's. No instructions told us that, we had to figure that out for ourselves.
One software-related aspect was irritating. About 3 weeks after we loaded it and started using it, one day we opened it and were asked "Do you want to check for updates". I checked "Yes", and that started a procedure which took about 4 hours at 128 Kbps (ICE's RDSI service). After that I decided that Spanish has not changed so much since these CD's were burned in 2007 that I need the updates. If we end up speaking 2007 Spanish, it will just have to do.
The actual instruction is completely based on the association between pictures and words. You are asked for a "screen language", but that is only for such housekeeping matters as "You are now in Level 2, Unit 3, Lesson 1". Each Level has 4 Units, and each Unit has 4 Lessons.
My basic reaction is/was that the program is terrific, as good as is possible without written materials. When you see "Él corre" under a picture of a guy running and "Ellos corren" under a picture of two guys running, you get it. I should say that I already knew most of the points they were teaching, so I am guessing when I say one gets it from Rosetta. What Charlotte, who did not previously know that stuff, tells me is that she got it at the time, but so many concepts are coming so fast that it is difficult to remember all of them. In my opinion, this is where a good book would be helpful.
There were some usages which were different from what one commonly hears in Costa Rica (e.g., paraguas vs sombrilla), but I am sure that if you spoke perfect Rosetta Spanish, you would get along fine. I did find myself trying to figure out exactly where Rosetta's Latin American Spanish is in use. As near as I can tell, they are giving you the language of Colombia. But there is a lot of "De nada" and little "Con mucho gusto", and I think of "De nada" as a Mexican expression. I have heard Mexicans say "pregunta" as if it were spelled "prejunta", and I usually hear Costa Ricans put a hard "g" in that word. Rosetta is between these, with just a whisper of a "g".
My one big irritation is that they devote way too much time to "tú vs usted" and all the associated verb form minutiae. I believe that beginners can get by just fine without tú and all of its associated verb details, and there are many more important points that should be learned. Your book (the one you buy on your own to use as a backup source of information) should tell you about tu and vosotros because you will encounter them if you read anything written by, or translated into Spanish by, a Spaniard. But I believe you can get by just fine in Costa Rica not using tú. To make the distinction, Rosetta uses tú in conversations between children and adults, and usually uses usted for conversations between adults. But their usage is not quite consistent, and sometimes they will have tú forms under one picture and usted forms under another, and it is not always clear how the distinction was made. In one sequence, a man is showing a woman some photographs, and she asks about the first photograph "Dónde sacó esta foto?" He answers, and then she asks about the second picture "Dónde sacaste esta foto?" I figure that whatever this guy did between pictures one and two is working.
All in all, I recommend Rosetta
Stone, particularly if you live here and can go out and practice what you are
learning. I believe that if you do a lesson, read the grammar points of that
lesson explained by a good book, and then do that lesson again, and do a lesson
this way at least every 2 days, you will be surprised how much you are learning.
Cheers, David 10/14/08
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I spent five delightful days at the Orosi Valley Spanish School
improving my Spanish while living with a wonderful family. Flor Granados is the
owner and head teacher. She has four guest rooms, each with a private bathroom.
The first day I had a class with Flor, who evaluated my level. The next four
days I had classes with her son Jose. They teach all levels – beginner,
intermediate and advanced. Because all I wanted was Spanish conversation (as
opposed to book learning), Jose and I took our classes on the road. We drove
around the lovely Orosi Valley, went hiking in the Tapanti National Park and
visited Volcan Irazu, which was clear as a bell. Breakfast and dinner with the
family, which treated me like one of their own, was included. I have gone back
two more times and can’t get enough of their language helpfulness and wonderful
hospitality.
Flor Granados Calderón, Owner Orosi Valley Spanish School (506)
2533-2480 Email:
florgra30@gmail.com Web Site:
www.orosivalleyschool.net
Margie, May 2008
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Ciudad Colon
This is the language school here in Ciudad Colon, run by Iris Amerling. There is
also an Escazu location. . I'm hearing only good things from the students and
have spoken with Iris about the goals, methods, and organisation of the school.
She can be contacted at Amerling Language Institute, . Tel: 2249-3767 Recommended
by Warren and Christian Sonberg among many others updated 5/17/2006
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Costa Rican Language Academy I had a great time studying at the Costa Rican
Language Academy as well. Their teachers were awesome! John updated 10/8/2006
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CostaRica Language Academy I have attended Costa Rica Language Academy
in San Jose and found it an excellent school. I know they respond promptly to
e-mail. Their web page is at:
http://www.learn-spanish.com/. --Bob updated 9/8/2003
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CPI I attended (well, I tried...) CPI in Santa Elena, Monteverde, some six years
ago. (The ¨tried¨ was me and not them...I just didn't have the time to commit
right then). I found their programs highly personalized with good written
reinforcement, good tutors where necessary and good homestays. They have three
locations, and will do families and children. Janet updated 12/19/2006
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Montana Linda is a great place to stay with an excellent language school. It is
also by far the most reasonable in cost. The accommodations are very basic with
meals included. I have studied there twice. Great area, some say the most
beautiful valley in Costa Rica. I recommend Forester Institute
http://www.fores.com updated 9/8/2003
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Ilisa I attended Ilisa in San Pedro for almost two months in
2001-2002. After visiting several of the other schools, I liked it the best.
Facilities were excellent, instructors were very good. If you want a school in
or close to the city, I would recommend them highly. Feel free to contact me off
list if you want any details Bob updated 9/8/2003
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Instituto Guanacasteco de Idiomas I attended 2 weeks of immersion Spanish at the Instituto Guanacasteco de Idomas in Nicoya in Guanacaste - there is a link
below. I was totally impressed. The method was effective and the staff and owner
of the school are terrific people. The school has the option of attending class
at Playa Samara as well as in Nicoya.
My best experience was living with my host family. I am attending again this
Fall and even though I will have a different host family (part of the philosophy
of the school - to expose students to a variety of people and speech patterns
and accents) I will visit with my first host family.
The two weeks forced me get over my hesitation to actually speak Spanish. I do
not speak it well - the verbs still give me troubles - but I gained the
confidence to use Spanish on the phone on my job.
Nicoya is an interesting old town. I was reminded of West Texas. I was there in
the dry season and it was HOT ! There is an internet cafe available in Nicoya.
Surprisingly there is a good variety of sodas and restaurants including a number
of Chinese restaraunts. Everything is in walking distance or taxicabs are very
inexpensive. A rented car is unneccessary. There are buses to Playa Samara and
Playa Carillo.
I have an album of photos of my first visit to Costa Rica including quite a few
of the school and a school field trip we made to a tiny, isolated community for
a town meeting. The photos are at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Costa_Rica_Pix/ There is a guest ID of
"guest4848" with the password of "guest1" if you should care to look at the
photos and captions. Alberto
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Intensa I was very pleased a few years ago with INTENSA, which is small and
personal and very convenient---just 2 blocks from main bus route to many
places---in San Pedro/Los Yoses area. Lots of cheap eats nearby, bank, mall,
disco, cinema--all walking distance. They have a homestay program. too. It is a
pure immersion program. All oral basically. Many of the instructors do know
English, but they won't use it in class. That is not how an immersion class
works. But it is effective and you soon learn why english is not necessary. i
was in a class of 3 with one Canadian, one German, and me. The Canadian was
French-speaking. Lots of fun and very worthwhile in my opinion. Website is at
www.intensa.com. Pat R. updated 9/8/2003
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Intercultura My choice is Intercultura Language School, in Heredia. It has small
town living, near capital, one week per month at a Samara beach campus, lots of
extras, like dance and cooking classes. The web site is at
www.spanish-intercultura.com I
expect to attend for another 4 week session in January.
The people I met there, most particularly my Tico Family, are what convinced me
that my next home will be not just in Costa Rica, but most likely in or near
Heredia. John French Future Tico :) updated 9/8/2003
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Intercultura I'm currently attending Intercultura in Heredia. I looked at lots
of schools, and for me the choice was based on: location, teaching method, cost,
and activities/excursions. Some schools just seemed really expensive, and I
wanted to go frugal. I didn't pick the cheapest school, but I avoided any that
were more than 20% above the cheapest. I had picked a school in San Pedro, but
then read on the internet that their teaching style was along the lines of what
you would get in a US community college. That's not what I wanted. I didn't
verify the report, but ended up not going with that school.
I wanted to experience the greater San Jose area, as a possible place that I
might move. (I need high speed internet). Otherwise, there was a remote rural
school that sounded fun and was really cheap (I forget the name).
Intercultura has a Heredia campus, and also offers classes at Samara beach. I
wanted a beach experience, so that was a big plus for me. I'm here in the city
for two weeks, and then will be at the beach for a week.
Intercultura offers free dance and cooking classes, and other activities. They
have a travel company at the school that offers several half-day midweek, and
full-weekend excursions for extra but very reasonable rates.
My class this week had four students, and a very good teacher. They have 12
levels, each one week long, using "textbooks" written by their staff. I'm at
level 5, learning past tense, imperative, and reflexive verbs. I'm quite happy
with it overall.
I really like my homestay family, and I highly recommend going with a homestay
to really experience the culture.
If you want to be in Heredia and Samara, I would recommend Intercultura. But if
I could do it again, I might look closer at schools in Escazu and San Pedro, as
those seem to be more upscale(and cooler) areas. I'm not sure. Kevin updated 9/8/2003
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Intercultura Yes! a resounding recommendation for Intercultura in Heredia. I've
met many people of all ages who have taken their courses and everyone has been
very enthusiastic and positive and full of praise. They offer a lovely location
in Heredia, one at the beach (Samara), free cultural activities (dancing,
cooking, excursions, volunteer opportunities) and much more. For contact: US
tel. 1-800-205 0642,
www.interculturacostarica.com Note, I am in no way connected to this
school...just passing on a recommendation... Elena updated 9/8/2003
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Educational Opportunities and Language schools
http://www.amerisol.com/costarica/education.html#language
ILISA, learn Spanish in Costa Rica -
http://www.ilisa.com/
Institute for Spanish Language Studies -
http://www.isls.com/countries/costarica/index.html
Instituto Guanacasteco de Idiomas -
http://www.spanishcostarica.com
IPEE Spanish Language School -
http://www.ipee.com/
La Escuela de Idiomas D'Amore -
http://www.escueladamore.com/
Lisa Tec Spanish School -
http://www.lisatec.net/
Montana Linda Youth Hostel and Spanish Language School
http://www.montanalinda.com/
CPI Language School - www.cpi-edu.com/
updated 12/19/2006
http://www.spanish-school-costarica.com/index.php
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Montana Linda check the HP of Montaña Linda in Orosi
http://www.montanalinda.com; they
offer Spanish classes at very good rates. For example : 5 days /three hours per
day will cost you $ 99.- That includes books and one on one tutors. They also
offer basic accommodations (dormitory stile). For something a little more
comfortable check out our place. updated 9/8/2003
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Montana Linda is a great place to stay with an excellent language school. It is
also by far the most reasonable in cost. The accommodations are very basic with
meals included. I have studied there twice. Great area, some say the most
beautiful valley in Costa Rica. Jim updated 9/8/2003
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Peru Language Center
http://www.perulanguage.com Learn Spanish with Peru Language Center, Our
Spanish language school offers courses like Spanish immersion, intensive
Spanish, business program, medical internship. updated 9/28/2007
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Worldwide Classroom; study destination, Costa Rica
http://www.worldwide.edu/ci/costa_rica/index.html updated 4/23/2003