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English
is rarely spoken in Central America
except in the tourist areas. Belize is the main
exception where
English is the standard language. English is also spoken in the
Garifuna
villages dotted along the Caribbean
coast. In
some of the remote Indian villages from Panama
to Guatemala
neither English nor Spanish is spoken well. We are not fluent in
Spanish, but
from a combination of living near the Mexican border for many years,
some high
school Spanish (in John’s case), many vacations in Latin
America
and a few weeks of “total
immersion”, we managed to communicate just fine. Being able to meet and
communicate with the locals made the trip immeasurably more enjoyable
and less
stressful. We know others who have made a similar journey with far less
conversational skills in Spanish, and they enjoyed themselves also. If
you are
planning an extensive trip through Latin America and have no Spanish
skills, we
would recommend that you consider flying down to Costa Rica or Guatemala
for 3-4 weeks of “total immersion” first.
Below
are some of the Spanish language schools that we
know of, and about which we have heard good reports. We have
experienced “total
immersion” training in both Costa Rica
and Guatemala.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Costa Rica
has a well-developed
ecotourism industry, although there is no indigenous culture. You will
find it more comfortable and familiar, but more expensive and less of a
“total
immersion”. Guatemala
is rich in the Maya culture, but the tourism industry is less
developed.
For a complete list of Spanish schools by country check out 123teachme.com, or for schools in Guatemala guatemala365.com.
Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala
(also known as Xela), has
few gringo tourists and very
little English is spoken, which presents a good total immersion
environment.
The schools are in the quaint old section but there is also a modern
area with
malls and McDonalds a bus ride away. Nora and Rolando Herrera at the Guatemalensis Spanish School
([email protected] or [email protected],
+502-7765-1384, http://www.geocities.com/spanland/)
were most helpful and promptly found
us a family that would take us and the dog; and they knew a secure
place we
could park our motorhome.The tuition was $135 person per week but as
a
couple we doubled up and came down to $120.00 each. This included five
hours of
one-on-one instruction, lodging and three meals a day with our family.
Guatemalensis used Primer
Libro, Spanish First
Year (by
Robert J. Nassi and Bernardo Bernstein Amsco
School Publications, Inc) as their workbook. They made photo copies of
various
pages for me, but I wished I’d brought the copy sitting on my shelf at
home. Other information on Xela and language schools there
may be found on www.xelapages.com.
Antigua,
Guatemala,
is
noted for its culture and total
immersion Spanish schools. Our friends there recommended the Christian Spanish
Academy (www.learncsa.com).
It runs $195.00 per week for five hours
of private
instruction per day, and a home stay with
a local family including three meals per day. Antigua
is charming and clean, and in
the middle of very interesting
places to see. Most of the people you will meet in town speak some
English
which may, or may not, be a good thing if you want total immersion.
Panajachel
on Lake Atitlan, also
in Guatemala,
is beautifully situated and has numerous schools but we don’t have
first hand
information about them. The location is hard to beat though.
As
a family we had done some total immersion in Costa
Rica
a couple of times on previous trips at Centro
Panamericano de Idiomas (wwwcpi-edu.com,
[email protected],
phone 506-265-6866, fax 506-265-6213). They provide four hours of
instruction a
day with a maximum of four students in a class for $340.00 a week. Five
hours
of instruction are $420.00.This was about the norm for Costa Rica.
CPI provides written
materials and airport transfers. Their branch in Monteverde is in some
of the
most fascinating tropical jungle in Central America.They also have
campuses in
Heredia, near San Jose,
and Playa Flamingo, on the Guanacaste coast. Our daughter spent nine
weeks at
these venues and managed to get her study with them turned into
university
credits.
There
are hundreds of other schools, and many in the same
cities we have mentioned. Be sure to ask how many people will be in the
class
with you, and how many meals are included, as it does vary from school
to
school. Of course the prices we quoted may have changed as well.
You
should also be aware that the Spanish spoken in Central
America is not Castilian, or European Spanish.
Spanish here is as different as English in the U.S.
is from that of Great
Britain. For example, when conjugating
verbs
they don’t teach the second person, familiar plural in Central America. There are also discernable
differences in the Spanish
spoken in the Central American countries. Vocabulary varies from
country to country. Also, we find the Spanish spoken in Central America
much easier to understand than that spoken in Mexico. Mexicans seem to
speak much faster and use much more slang. Thus, when selecting
where to
do your
Spanish immersion you might want to consider where you are going to use
it. The
experience you have will very much depend on the individual teacher and
the family
you live with. If you are not happy with either immediately contact the
school administration
and request a change.
Take
your own notebooks, pens and dictionaries. We
also recommend 501
Spanish Verbs by
Christopher Kendris Published by Barrons as an invaluable resource. We
found each time we have gone it has been an educational experience in
understanding the culture of another land as well as helping us learn
the
language. You can’t beat the price for an all inclusive vacation. 314 |