He pasado una semana en Agualivar este mayo. Mi español pasivo fue bastante bueno, era capaz de leer libros en español, pero no tenía mucha practica hablando. Y cuando hablaba, nadie me informo sobre mis errores.

En Agualivar, he hablado español de la mañana a la tarde. Había cursos de gramática en la mañana y excursiones en la tarde. Cada día, debimos preparar como tareas presentaciones orales sobre sujetos relacionados con nuestras excursiones. Así, por ejemplo, una tarde, expliqué al grupo la historia y las obras de arte de la iglesia de Frigiliana con muchos detalles. Hablando, hice muchos errores, pero las profesoras muy simpáticas me corrigieron cada vez. Lo bueno es que ahora sé cuáles son mis errores más frecuentas. Vuelto a casa, puedo trabajar esos puntos. Pienso que mi español hablado se mejoró mucho en esa semana.

Recomiendo Agualivar a cada persona que quiere mejorar su español básico. Además, la escuela está ubicada en una colina con una vista maravillosa sobre el mar. Hay una piscina, y la comida es muy buena también.

In English:
I spent a week in Agualivar this May. My passive Spanish was quite good; I was able to read books in Spanish, but I didn't have much practice speaking. And when I did speak, no one informed me of my mistakes.

At Agualivar, I spoke Spanish from morning to afternoon. There were grammar classes in the morning and excursions in the afternoon. Each day, we had to prepare oral presentations on topics related to our excursions as homework. So, for example, one afternoon, I explained to the group the history and artwork of the Frigiliana church in great detail. I made many mistakes while speaking, but the very friendly teachers corrected me each time. The good thing is that now I know what my most common mistakes are. Back home, I can work on those points. I think my spoken Spanish improved a lot that week.

I recommend Agualivar to anyone who wants to improve their basic Spanish. The school is also located on a hill with a wonderful view of the sea. There's a swimming pool, and the food is very good, too.

I loved my time here, and would return just as others in my group had. A spectacularly complete set up: The house is fantastically large and beautiful; comfortable with amazing views of the hills, gardens, ocean, and pool. The classes are small and structured, but also allow for questions and conversations. The instructors were very engaging and encouraging, and our homework allowed us to dive into Spanish history, sites, and other interesting tidbit. Meals were delicious and varied, and also regional and healthy. Each day was different and fun, as we had interesting excursions and activities. I highly recommend you give it a go!

Una escuela de inmersión es la mejor manera de aprender rápido. Si estás pensando en ir a una, te aconsejo que elijas a Agualivar.

Lo disfruté inmensamente mi experiencia en Agualivar y no quería irme. Todas son muy simpáticas y me sentí muy como en casa en la villa hermosa.

El sitio es muy tranquilo y me gustó mucho la vista de mi habitación. Las lecciones fueron perfectas para mí y aprendí mucho. Las excursiones fueron divertidas y me encantó aprender sobre la cultura. La comida fue una delicia especialmente la paella de campo.

Gané confianza y mi vecina española ha comentado cuánto he mejorado. Espero volver pronto.

In English:
An immersion school is the best way to learn quickly. If you're thinking about going to one, I recommend Agualivar.

I enjoyed my experience at Agualivar immensely and didn't want to leave. Everyone is so friendly, and I felt very much at home in the beautiful villa.

The place is very peaceful, and I really liked the view from my room. The lessons were perfect for me, and I learned a lot. The excursions were fun, and I loved learning about the culture. The food was delicious, especially the country paella.

I gained confidence, and my Spanish neighbor commented on how much I've improved. I hope to return soon.

Some things that stood out to me about this program vs. other (non-immersion) Spanish learning experiences that I've had:
--Estefanía and Elisabeth are VERY good at teaching Spanish. They identify problems that you're having and explain them to you, they correct you without interrupting your speaking flow, and they come up with good exercises for whatever topic you're working on.
--They and their mom, Carmen, are also really lovely, lively people, and it was fun to get to know them.
--The immersion was real! The students and teachers spoke Spanish to each other the whole time.
--The non-classroom activities they scheduled were really interesting, even ones that sounded kind of boring on paper.
--I loved having meals with native Spaniards, as goofy as that sounds. Both at the house and in a restaurant, it made it really easy to ask questions about norms and expectations.

After studying Spanish from a book for many years, I was so nervous to do a language immersion. I was not very fluent in Spanish, and I was not a seasoned traveler. Well, those fears wore off immediately when I arrived at Agualivar Spanish School and was greeted by the most beautiful family - a teaching team of two sisters and their lovely mother.

First of all, the home is GRAND and surrounded by working orchards with spectacular views of the Mediterranean - charming. I had a private room and full bath with air conditioning - comfortable. Meals were fresh, locally sourced, and authentic to the region - delicious.

Second, the course content and cultural immersion are SUPERIOR. Stephanie and Elizabeth are talented, fun, interesting, and engaging instructors. They utilize a wide variety of teaching strategies that chase away boredom and help students make dramatic progress in a short amount of time. In addition to morning lessons, daily afternoon excursions are well-planned, informative, and enhancing to the overall learning experience.

By the end of my stay, I was finally fluent enough to travel 2 more weeks in Spain speaking only Spanish in taxis, hotels, stores, museums, and restaurants. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Agualivar Spanish School to anyone who wants to gain confidence and fluency in an amazing, private setting.

Intensive, personalized, structured and guided real life learning within the warm welcome and comfort of a family and their beautiful home and community, Agualivar (the home/farm/villa), Elisabeth, Fani, Ana - (2 sisters and their friend - our teachers), and Carmen - (Fani and Elisabeth’s mom and professional chef) provided everything needed for an exceptional, unique language/culture learning experience. From the moment Elisabeth picked us up at the Lagos, Malaga bus stop the Spanish instruction began. Easy and available to talk with about anything all day long, someone is around to interact with between classes. The day starts together with breakfast before 3 hours of morning classes. Carmen prepares a gourmet lunch worth a Michelin star. A break before afternoon class allowed time to walk into town or catch up on homework. Afternoon classes integrate interesting artifacts from history with points from yesterday’s excursions into town or language games and puzzles helped us strengthen grammar or sentence structure skills. Ana swings by mid-afternoon to take us into surrounding provinces for a glimpse of Malaga’s culture, exquisite antiquities and entertainment events. Fun and fascinating, we visited ancient caves, tucked away quaint villages in the hills, ancient fallen castles, beaches as well as local typical grocery stores, shops and cafes. The evenings were often met with both exhaustion and exhilaration after returning home to the enticing aromas of Carmen’s next mouth-watering culinary masterpiece. Conversation about the afternoon adventures usually led to a relaxing share of highlights and observations. Nearly 9pm (1700) by this time, we’d head to our private rooms, maybe review the morning class work, do homework for tomorrow or start on one of the end of the week’s assignments. Then sweet dreams. From day one all my dreams were in Spanish and continued to be for about a week after returning to he states!

I learned more in 2 weeks at Agualivar than a year of intermediate Spanish at the college level! Not only do you learn more functional vocab, grammar truths from myths, and sentence construction that is really used, but it’s put into practice so it sticks! Living it at Agualivar made the book, academic, video and podcast info practical, not just theoretical. So the language takes residency in your brain and has a chance to really become a second language if you keep using it when you get home!

This school is located in a beautiful and comfortable family home looking over the Mediterranean. The family is warm and welcoming. Estefania and Elisabeth are excellent professors. Their approach is practical and they keep class time lively, fast-paced and interesting. They encourage students to explore topics of their own interest, current events and life in Spain. Homework assignments were interesting and helped us apply what we were learning. I found the teaching methods very creative. Carmen is a gracious host and she prepares healthy, fresh meals. The fruits and produce are from her land. Ana is a local tour guide who takes students on daily field trips. She really added to our experience and immersion in Spanish. I highly recommend this immersion program and hope to return. I attended one week and would enjoy more time there for sure!

I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to attend Agualivar for the first two weeks of October. I’ve only been learning the language for the past year so I’m still at the A1-A2 level, so naturally I had some anxiety about being able to keep up with the conversation and fitting in appropriately with the level of the other students. Everything worked out really well. Fani and Eli did a great job creating a group of three students with similar levels of grammar and vocabulary, and they conducted their classes with skill, patience, and a wonderful sense of humour.
It’s not easy completely avoiding the use of English, but we managed to do so even on our unsupervised weekend day trip to Málaga.
The setting of their family home (the school) is spectacular. Frani and Eli are wonderful teachers and their mother Carmen is a gracious host and wonderful cook. I also really enjoyed the afternoon outings with Ana, who is so kind and patient, and an excellent teacher also.
Thank you again Estefanía, Elisabeth, Carmen, and Ana, for an unforgettable experience. I hope to see you all again next year!