Spanish for Groups and/or Individuals

I absolutely love the format and pace of the classes here, they allow for optimal time to learn and practice. This week the instuctor was Deydi and she is super knowledgeable about all things espanol which is super helpful! I wish there were more opportunities for interactive experiences in the class. We spent a lot of time listening, which is super important but I wish we would have had more time talking. Overall, it was a great week.

Is is evident that Deydi really knows the Spanish language, she is a great teacher and corrects us when we are stumbling which is helpful. I wish she incorporated more activity-movement-games into the lessons. I felt as though I was sitting more than normal. I also would like to have more words-sentences-phrases written on the board to help us learn. I really liked how she talked to us about real life scenarios to help us practice our listening skills.

I absolutely LOVE all that Instituto Bilingue has to offer...what a great program!!

All of the experiences are amazing! I love Club A because it gives you hands on practice with kids from the area. I also love the excursions planned and otherwise. The Poza de Pipa is a hidden gem and there are no tourists there which is amazing and allows you to practice your spanish if you interact with the locals. The one thing I would like to see in the future is guided tours. Most of the ¨tours¨ are self guided meaning we pay for the transportation to-from but there is no guidance at the location and I would like to have more actual guidance.

I love everyone here! The teachers are great, the cleaning staff and receptionists are so super pleasant and hard working. Franklin is a fantastic driver...those roads to Poza di Pipa are NO JOKE! And Bethany is like a ray of light!

Are you serious? My family is amazing! I would live with them forever if I could. They have been MORE than accomodating with their meal preparation and their patience with my horrible spanish! I really could not have asked for a better more friendly more amazing family!

I am taking two weeks and love the Spanish immersion program and profesora Merlyn. Merlyn is an excellent teacher. I learned so much just talking with her. I find her very easy to follow and talk with. Bethany, the director, was kind, helpful, and responsive, and the whole staff was great! She is working with me to create the program I need. I really appreciate the flexibility. I wish I could participate in all the activities after class. My favorite activity was our walk around town. I wish I had a month here to experience all the activities. Intercambio was great. Love talking with new friends. Recommendations, better chairs in the classroom, and practice sheets for the homework. Love how clean and comfortable the classrooms are. Except the wooden chairs. After 4 hours they put my tail to sleep. My hostmom Iris is wonderful. Can she adopt me? It’s been a long long time since anyone has made my bed and served me breakfast in the morning. She doesn’t mind my attempts at conversation. Both Iris and Johnny are very kind and accepting. That’s all. Muchas Gracias!

I absolutely love the format of the class. They integrate games and activities to make learning fun. It is not a boring lecture by any means, it is quite engaging and interactive. As for the program, it would be great to start with an introductory walk around Liberia so students can get acclimated, that is probably the only area of improvement I would add. Oh and if there were opportunities to cook or eat more Tica food, that would be great!
Merlyn was AMAZING! I cannot say enough wonderful things about her, she is super knowledgeable, kind, and just an overall amazing teacher. She speaks with such clarity that it makes it easy to understand what she is saying. She incorporates games like BINGO and bananagrams to help you leave numbers and words in an easy, carefree way. She follows the book but is also flexible enough to let us jump through the book at our leisure and our comfort level. The homework we are assigned is necessary to help progression in a positive way. She really is great.
The Spanglish class was definitely one of my highlights of the week so far. Being able to interact with native Spanish speakers and have them provide you feedback is a great opportunity. Plus I love the games that we did like the hot seat, Kings Cup, and 20 questions. All were super interactive and helpful for the learning process. OH I almost forgot about the Farmers Market, a must do experience while here. Franklin walked us through the market and we had the opportunity to try different types of fruits and vegetables. I tried the pejibaye for the first time and it was so yummy...though I do want to try it with mayonnaise next time! I think being able to walk among residents and try native foods is essential to the immersion process.

I also enjoyed volunteering at Club A and the Kids Club, both were great experiences and really invigorate the soul. Seeing kids learning English the same way I am learning Spanish is really an enlightening experience. I think everyone who comes should try at least one of the experiences so that you can get the energy from the youth.

Seriously this place is amazing. It is centrally located in Liberia so you can get anywhere within a few blocks which is easy (once you get the hang of it). The amount of information you receive prior to coming from Bethany is AMAZING and so super organized. She literally prepares you for any and all situations and gives you so many options. If you are bored or not sure what to do...you are not paying attention! She provides you with a detailed schedule and tab after tab of opportunities from Club A to personal, self guided tours, to a few longer full day tours. She also tells you where cafes, restaurants, gyms, and other places of interest are and gives us a map. I would say the map leaves something to desire but it is pretty helpful. The school itself is IMMACULATE, they are always cleaning it and there are so many rooms! The staff is beyond helpful and nice. Really they go above and beyond to make your experience a good one!
I had the pleasure of staying with Dona Carmen and her husband and I could not have asked for a better host family!!! I told Dona Carmen that I eat vegetables and fish and she made sure I had those things for every meal. I even mentioned in passing that my favorite food is broccoli and guess what? She made sure I had broccoli all the time...for desayuno and cena. She also provided me with fruit to take as a morning snack when I was at class. I was given a room to use, keys to have, and so much space it was amazing. The first day was tricky because my Spanish was so limited but as the week went on, I was able to communicate more with the family and that was super important and really shows that the program works. I cannot say more about how important it was to stay with a family, it really makes all the difference!

My teacher was great! Patient, helpful, and good at explaining. Only good things to say here! She was very helpful and able to focus on the areas I needed work. Occasionally I think it would be helpful to use English when trying to simplify a difficult concept or a certain word, because we sometimes spent a fair amount of time just trying to communicate in Spanish when I needed a few words in English. But overall the immersion was helpful, and the experience was very good. I learned a lot! The extracurricular activities were great! I loved all the extra practice, especially the cooking class! The Spanglish Social was amazing and Carla Anne did a good job facilitating it. The Intercambio was very fun! Everything went smoothly, and having a place to stay already arranged and transportation from Bethany was great! Bethany was kind, helpful, and responsive, and the whole staff was great! My homestay was beyond my expectations: this is my new home away from home! Dona Carmen is so kind and helpful. She is incredibly caring and a good host, and it is nice to be close to the school!

The preparation class for the SIELE exam has been exactly what I was looking for. I am the only student in the class and the teacher pays a lot of attention to the grammar while I speak, and so I get better. Before taking this course, I took three weeks of the most advanced courses that the institute offers. The activities are also fun. We start each class with a play on words and never get bored during classes. Enjoy the cooking class and the tour of Liberia. I am grateful that Bethany introduced me to a woman who is practicing English, so that we could do a language exchange. Also, Club A was a favorite part of my week. Everyone in the institute is very kind! Gabriela Solano is my mother Tica, and I have had a great time at her house. In the first week it has already taken me to two beaches and several very good restaurants. She is a very kind woman and I am very comfortable in the house. I have everything I need and I am very happy that you can stay at home.

The teen program was beyond my expectations; I'll tell everyone I know how great it is! I loved Caroly’s teaching style. Most of the class was fun and engaging conversations in Spanish. It really helped my speaking and listening a lot (the most important in my opinion). I love all the extra practice I got in the extracurricular activities, adventure tours, and volunteering with Club A! The campus is beauiful and feels like a second home during my stay. My group only stayed a week and I wish we could have stayed longer!

I really enjoyed having one on one classes with Merlyn. She was able to answer my questions, and provide clarification when necessary. She provided examples of how to use new information. The lessons are quick paced, but I felt like I learned a lot. I also enjoyed the conversational aspect of the class. I attended Club A, Spanglish and a cooking class this week. I especially loved Club A. I went on the Farmers Market tour this week and enjoyed it. The staff is always friendly and helpful, and the institute is always in a very clean condition. Dona Iris is my Tica madre. I really enjoyed living with them, they went above and beyond to make me feel welcome, comfortable and safe. I enjoyed that they expressed concern for me, but were not over the top in trying to make me feel like the city is unsafe. I especially loved the quiet morning breakfasts with Iris, as it is the time that we got to spend talking and practicing my Spanish.

Overall, fantastic. I really appreciated the individual attention and adaptability of my instructors to my learning style. Only thing I would suggest is, make me ask more questions! When we are having a long convo, it is pretty easy for me to simply sit and listen, and I am trying to be better about engaging actively instead of just trying to understand. Love cooking and dancing lessons. They are so fun, and I cannot wait to go home and show off. The trips were great, and the help in coordinating hikes, etc, was super useful. I found everyone to be incredibly friendly, welcoming, and attentive. Excellent experience. My Mama Tica is Annia Garcia Gerra, and my experience has been incredibly comfortable and fun. My host family talks with me every day in Espanol and is incredibly patient. The food is wonderful, and they are very supportive of my studying and various adventures.
Deydi was incredibly flexible and did everything she could to answer my questions and to make sure I learned what I needed before I left town. She was encouraging, precise, and very knowledgable. Thank you so much Deydi!! Super helpful and inspiring. Spanglish helped me meet locals with whom I got to hang out outside of class. The tour to the chocolate farm was amazing and so fun. Staff here is amazing, friendly, and helpful. They could not have provided a better environment in which to learn Spanish.