School FAQ

Why learn Spanish in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica has no military with 1/4 of its land area being protected or devoted to national parks and though it comprises only 0.01% of the Earth’s landmass, it is home to 5% of its biological diversity. Costa Rica has the highest literacy and life expectancy rate in Latin America and Costa Rica been classified as the happiest country on earth 🙂

When do classes start?

We are open all year round with new course programs starting every week. Our 3 hour per day classes run from Monday to Friday with arrival on Sunday between 1-4 pm if staying in the Guest House or Hostel and between 1-3 pm if going into a homestay family.  If your schedule does not allow for a Sunday arrival, please be sure to let us know in your email.

Although we’re open all year round we have different schedules over holidays, especially around Christmas and Easter. We normally have fewer teachers available and therefore fewer spots available, so please book at least one month in advance during these dates.  Remember that in January, February, March and June, July and August we have many Spanish immersion groups coming in so you will need to be flexible with your schedule. Time slots cannot be requested and in some circumstances your schedule will change throughout the week.

Is there a cancellation fee?

Yes, any cancellation of classes has a cancellation fee of $50.00 per person.

If you are concerned about cancellation fees feel free to book for one week now and then add another after arriving. We would then apply the package price to the final price. Just be sure to let the school office know by Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning if you are interesting in continuing classes for the next week.

What if I’m going to arrive late?

Upon full authorization by email and based on at what time of the year and present availability, we do allow a one day delay if the incoming student is willing to have and pay for an airport pickup, our guarantee that you are on your way directly to us.  This would mean a Monday arrival and Tuesday class start due with Mondays missed class being picked up on the Saturday. If your flight is arriving mid week there is no problem to stay at the hotel until your classes begin.

The only other chance of having a mid week start is to call the office directly one week prior to your arrival to see how we are for space. If it should happen to work out the late starter student would not have a chance to request class times and would need to recover classes on OUR schedule to not interfere with current and new incoming students schedules.

Can I take double the classes?
All our standard package prices are 3 hours of class per day as they are almost always one on one which makes these 3 hours of class really intense and equivalent to 4 hours of group classes! Beginner students will find those three hours to be perfect without being overwhelming and frustrating.

Although more hours might be appropriate for intermediate or advanced learners we suggest to better spend that time practicing conversationally within town. Still wan to give it a try? As long as we do have space you can add extra classes onto the package class hours.

Can I get university credit?

We are not accredited directly to any College or University. In most cases credit has been granted by colleges or universities if necessary steps to obtain permission from the appropriate officials are filed prior to leaving your home country. A Montana Linda letter of completion, free of charge, is available upon request.

How many weeks of study will give me a good base?

We have found that most beginners with good learning habits benefit most from our 3-week program. Remember that your 3rd week of study is guaranteed one on one classes.

A beginner during this time should gain the ability to form comprehensible sentences in the present tense, form questions both negative and affirmative, use forms of the future and past tenses, and a few other specific grammatical tenses and feel quite comfortable carrying on everyday conversations including understanding what is being said to you.

For beginners we suggest following the direction of our self made book, allowing students to gain a basic knowledge of present, past and future while practicing conversational skills throughout all classes so you can use what you have learned. Once the basics have been learned, the student can then set the direction towards more specific grammar or just conversation.

If you choose conversation, classes can be based on specific grammatical points or just general conversation allowing the student to practice all grammar points together as it would normally occur in everyday conversation.

We receive many students that have already studied in universities or have taken classes at other schools here in Costa Rica and would like to apply their “gramatica” to more everyday conversation. Because our class size is small, the student can choose the learning style that fits his/her learning abilities.