BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey everyone. I'm a college student and I'm planning to study Spanish in Antigua this summer. What is the best all-around Spanish school (value, quality, etc.) in Antigua for someone like me? I plan on being in Guatemala for a month and a half, although I don't plan on spending the entire time studying in Antigua.

Hello -
Check out www.guatemala365.com and hit the link to the Academia Antigüeña - my son had an excellent experience there last summer. I think it was cheaper to reserve through the school's own website which you could google to find.

This topic comes up all the time on the Thorntree forum so search there if you haven't already: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=12&keywordid=222

Are you sure Antigua's the place for you? It's not a great immersion environment with so many schools and tourists and locals speaking English.

I had an excellent experience in San Pdro La Laguna, Atitlán at the Cooperativa school - excellent teachers, homestays, school garden, activities; check it out: http://cooperativeschoolsanpedro.com/

My photos and travelogues are below if you're interested. Keep us posted!

quote:

Reply

San Pedro is a great spot to learn Spanish and if you want to join Gringo land, Pana is across the lake.

Also Quetzaltenango is very good and I used Escuela Minerva, which apparently has only grown in reputation since I used it.
The owner is an ex-economist and the place is friendly. IN Quetzaltenango, Spanish is a necessity if you leave your house.

BTW, more than three weeks of study was for me more than sufficient. The education is very intense, and your brain gets filled to the brim eventually.

I'd recommend just about anyplace but Antigua to study Spanish. The place is gorgeous, but the only Spanish-speakers there are Guatemalan tourist-industry workers in town for the day. Just about all of them live in Ciudad Vieja, as Antigua real estate is too expensive for the average Guatemalan. Xela is a much better bet for immersion - you'll learn as much Hebrew or Danish as Spanish if you stick around Antigua.

thanks for the advice. i plan on studying in antigua for only a week or two, the rest of my time i plan on traveling around guate, to many of those places you guys just mentioned. however, i would like to spend some time in antigua to see what everythings about there. i do know that immersion is hard, which is the reason i want to study in xela an equal amount, but is there a school in antigua that is more popular with the student crowd? i would like to study in a place where i can meet other students, share ideas, get opinions about different guate locations, stuff like that.

chicagorilla,

You are definitely on the right track. By staying in Antigua first you will be in the hub of the tourist traffic. You will be able to learn a great deal from your fellow travelers/students.

I would suggest you come to Antigua without reserving a Spanish school. Check out the sites that hopefulist recommends to have an idea of places to look into.(By the way; welcome to BnA, hopefulist. You will like it even better than thorntree.) You don't need a reservation to get into any Spanish school you want to, and it is good to actually see the place before you commit your money. Also, never sign up for more than one week at a time. You want to have the option to change schools or towns when you want to.

You will love the night life in Antigua. Just studying and speaking Spanish becomes old very quickly.