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[Incrediblelife]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of places to do spanish classes in Guatemala, possibly with a home stay? We're in Mexico at the moment, but will be heading down to Guatemala soon. Thanks!

[marc-patty]

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions of places to do spanish classes in Guatemala, possibly with a home stay? We're in Mexico at the moment, but will be heading down to Guatemala soon. Thanks!

The two main cities to study Spanish in Guatemala are Xela or Antigua. I chose Antigua as it has more restaurants and bars and it also has a warmer climate than Xela. Although Xela is less touristy and you would probably get to practise more Spanish there.

I visted 5 schools in Antigua and they were all very similar, offering one to one tuition with average or poorly trained teachers and a basic activity program. I started at Ixchel school and changed after a week because I didn't like the way I was being taught. I'm advanced level and didn't think the teacher could explain advanced grammar properly. I then tried a small group (4 people) class in Amerispan and the teachers were much better and trained by the Instituto de Cervantes in Madrid. They also do individual classes, but are about 40 dollars per week more expensive than other schools. Money well spent in my opinion. They also had a really good activity and social program.

Here's their web, but it's cheaper to book directly at the school after you have arrived in Antigua.

www.amerispan.com

Hope this helps,

Marc

[Caro!]

Jenn, I have friends from Guatemala and perhaps they may be able to help you with your spanish. Let me know for how long you would be there and were in Guatemala?

Caro!

[Incrediblelife]

Hey Caro! How ya doing???

We aren't sure when exactly we will get to Guatemala... John is doing his PADI diving certification right now in Cozumel and the weather is crap so he can't actually doing the diving portion just yet. So, we wait for the weather to improve. Then we will head to Belize for maybe a week, 2 weeks max. So.. I guess probably about beginning to mid Dec we should be in Guatemala? I am hearing good things about both Xela and Antigua for Spanish schools... I am almost leaning more towards Antigua since it is warmer. I have had enough of cold nights and would like to have a nice atmosphere to be in since we would be there for at least a few weeks doing classes. Definitely let me know what your friends say, or hook me up with them! Are they living in Guatemala right now?

Thanks a bunch for all the replies!

Jenn

[Caro!]

Jenn,

Sorry to hear the weather is crap!! Once you get to SA should be Beautifull since is summer don there. My friend's family lives in Guatemala city, so I don't know how useful this may be for you.
Anyways, I'd be able to help you once you get to Colombia, just let me know.

Caro!

[Jessica_CDN]

Jenn,

Definitely go to Antigua if you want a warmer climate. When I was in Xela a month or so ago it was really quite cold. Antigua is a beautiful city too so I´m sure you´ll love it...lots to do as well!

Oh....be careful when you want to go to Guatemala...a lot of language schools are closing for the holidays. The one I´m at right now in Venezuela is closed from mid'December until January!!

the best schools all have websites, so I¨m sure you can find one or two online to email and ask them about their hours - days.

[SlipperyCoconut]

I *** HIGHLY*** recommend the Coopertiva Spanish School in San Pedro, Lake Atilan. Why?

- The weather is amazing. In Jan-Feb it was like sunny California with no humidity. Warmer than Xela or Antigua.

- The people. The local people are all of Mayan descent, so if you make an effort to get to know them, you can learn a lot about the culture

- The price. San Pedro is THE CHEAPEST place in all of Guatemala. School is only $50-$60 US per week. Homestay is about $50 US per week. Hotels are 20-30 Quetzales per night (nice hotels, too). Food and drinks are dirt cheap and very good.

- The Coopertiva is a group of experienced teachers who used to work at the San Pedro Spanish School. They were not happy there and proposed some changes to the boss, who did not want to listen to them. So 8 of them left and started their own school, the Coopertiva, four years ago. They donate part of their earnings to help feed to some local impoverished families (and they will take you to meet those families too)

We started out at the San Pedro Spanish School and were disappointed in our 20-year old teacher who was fun and nice, but a terrible teacher. No structure or plans, and he would show up 1 hour late for class hungover. Some people did have a good experience there, so it is hit or miss.

Coopertiva in San Pedro was fantastic. We ended up staying there longer than planned because we enjoyed it so much. And I hope to go back!

Cheer! Kay

[kelcsmittty]

On the recommendation of a friend, I just spent three weeks studying at CBA in Quetzaltenango. It was just such an awesome experience. My teacher was great and I felt I made true friends of the family who run the school and several of the instructors. Founded in 1989, Centro Bilingüe Amerindia is one of the oldest language schools in Xela. Its university-trained instructors teach classes in Spanish as well as Mayan languages in a family environment. School profits go to various development projects. Over the years the school has started a few sucessful devlopment projects and is currently working on one in a rural community near the coast called Morelia. CBA's director lives at the school with his family and they are extremely welcoming to students. The instructors plan various optional activities during the afternoons such as dance and cooking lessons, visits to see how chocolate is processed locally, discussions on various cultural and historical topics. They are also helpful in finding volunteer oportunities for students to pursue and can place you into a variety of welcoming homestay families. I couldn't give it a higher recommendation!

For the project in Morelia, see: http://www.laceibaguatemala.org/

Phone: 502-7761-8535 or 502-7761-8049
Address: 12 Avenida 10-27, Zona 1 Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Directions: Three Blocks below Parque Central
Website: http://www.cbaspanishschool.com/home.html

[jazzkatten]

I Couldn´t agree with Kelcsmitty more! I, too, just finished studying three weeks of spanish here, and I´m acctually in the school while writing this .
The teachers here are really friendly and very proffesional! I didn´t speak any spanish when I got here and the school has really helpt me out a lot.

As Kelcsmitty explained the school arranges activities every day, which you can paricipate in if you like. Yesterday we had a guided tour through Xela, and today it´s salsa lesson, if I´m not mistaken . Nowadays, because the students requested it , we also play soccer at Saturdays; the sport is really huge here in Xela. Me, playing a lot of soccer in Sweden, naturally finds this awesome. Most people playing though aren`t that good, which makes it a lot funnier.

And as you probably know, Xela is a bit colder than Antigua, especially at the nights, but I haven´t met any person here being dissatisfied with Xela, and I couldn`t be happier with this city. From my own experience and from what I´ve heard Xela is so much more genuine than Antigua. Three days in Antigua are enough, but I´ve been in Xela for two and a half month now, and I just can´t get enough of it.

Go with CBA, I highly recommend it!