Intensive Spanish Immersion Program in Heredia, Costa Rica

I initially planned to do one week of Spanish and homestay at Tico Lingo, but I enjoyed it so much I ended up staying for four!

For me, this was an ideal introduction to my trip to Central America. I was able to improve my Spanish, learn about Costa Rica from my homestay family and hang out with other students from the school.

I was in the middle class in the school, Kevin was a great teacher helping us to improve our conversational Spanish, learning grammar, expressing past and present tenses and some handy Tico phrases! Staying in a homestay was great, feeling like part of the family and practicing your Spanish outside of school.

We also organised some trips with other students from the school which was great fun, visiting La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio, also catching up with the guys again in Santa Theresa after we'd finished studying for some time chilling on the beach

Thanks for everything Chris, Yennifer, Maritiza, Kevin and Freddie!

I studied with Tico Lingo for three weeks in January of 2021. I learned a ton of Spanish and am absolutely way more conversational now, and have a lot of tools to continue to teach myself. I stayed with a host family and was able to continue to learn and practice every night when I went home, and experience authentic Costa Rican culture. My host family was very sweet and genuinely cared about my success in Costa Rica. The school staff was very helpful to any questions I had about Costa Rica, Spanish, and anything else that came up. All around, a great experience.

I’ve tried emersion Spanish school before but this one worked. ( more of a science than language person) Why did Tico Lingo work for me?
1. Program and small classes tailored to my goals.
2. Made learning fun - I m now studying/ reviewing nearly every day on my own due my experience.
3. Supportive social environment- positive and ecouraging feedback from teachers, staff that was echoed by my host family and even townsfolk- Ticos, especially away from resort towns are more likely to tolerate my broken Spanish so I get to speak more and practice.
4. Extra activities like yoga and intercambio with local English speakers.
5. Gave me usage and details that were hard to find online and absent from my previous in person classes.

A great place to learn - I’m on the road now and sufficiently functional gain momentum.

I loved my experience with Tico Lingo. They make it easy to learn spanish in a comfortable environment. From offering transportation directly from the airport to our homestay, to giving a tour of Heredia, I felt great attending classes. The best part of my three week experience was learning from Freddy, a teacher there. He provided tailored instruction that was incredibly well-organized. He made it fun as well and gave us a lot of advice about our travels around the country of Costa Rica. The Tico Lingo facilities were clean and modern, with fresh coffee every morning. Another activity that was surprisingly great was the Intercambio nights on Thursdays, when Ticos would come to practice their English while we practiced our Spanish.

I went from zero to 10 in 4 weeks!

I loved absolutely everything about my time in Costa Rica. It is difficult to put in to words all the extra benefits I experienced from what I imagined was just another Spanish immersion program in Latin America. I was so wrong! The biggest take away from Tico Lingo was that I felt that my language leaning goal mattered to all the staff as much as it did to me. It appeared that everything was carefully designed to support me to where I wanted to be. I can now say that I am confidently communicating in Spanish!

This school is hands down the best place on earth to learn Spanish! I had never had so much fun learning a new language, they have an amazing program and everyone treats you like they've known you since forever, its a super welcoming place. AGAIN... when I say hands down I mean way down... I can't recommend TicoLingo enough I loved the entire experience, all the way from the airport pickup, to my home-stay family welcoming me in their home, to the actual Spanish classes, to the amazing tours I was able to do in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is an amazing Country and TicoLingo has certainly picked a great and centric spot to be in. If you are looking for a Spanish immersion program like no other TicoLingo has you covered!

Being a student at Tico Lingo and living in Heredia for 10 weeks was the best decision I ever made. I had two amazing teachers - both were quickly able to analyze my level of Spanish and adapt to teaching me what I needed to know in order to get better. You build relationships with everyone at the school, not just your teacher and classmates. It's like a family and everyone is so supportive.

My host family and I became real family. From day 1 they treated me like a son and I knew I could depend on them for anything.

Heredia is a cool small city that is very walkable. It's a great place to stay and attend school. If you're feeling adventurous on the weekend your a short drive away to awesome nature or San Jose, the capital city.

My advice to you is if you are thinking about becoming a student at Tico Lingo.. Do it!! You will not regret it.

Choosing Tico Lingo is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. My Spanish improved immensely and I found a home away from home.

My experience with Tico Lingo is multidimensional. I’ve taken group and independent classes both in person and online and had the pleasure of working with 2 different teachers. Though I planned on living in Costa Rica for 1 month, I love my Costa Riccan host family so much I decided to quarantine with them for the foreseeable future. Today is my 6 week anniversary.

Tico Lingo classes (both online and in-person) made my high school and university Spanish classes look bad. Humans can not learn a language by memorizing vocabulary and “fill in the blank” worksheets. Why? We need to develop an ear for the language and we need context in order for the language to actually stick. At Tico Lingo, students are expected to speak, listen and interact. This participation based curriculum propelled my Spanish from an elementary to intermediate level in just 4 weeks. Hell yeah!

Tico Lingo is a rarity, a collection of genuine people who run a remarkable business. The teachers, administrators and staff... there are no words. #puravida