Program Reviews

Manuel Antonio
I was pleasantly surprised at how academic and professional this course was. As an elementary teacher for the past 6 years, I wasn't expecting to learn as much as I did! We had a balanced schedule that gave us time to complete assignments and lesson plans, and lots of class time where we learned and could practice our new skills. We had an amazing trainer who knew her stuff and shared many insights as to what a TEFL teacher entails. This course is definitely beneficial whether you are an elementary/high school teacher who has newcomers at various levels of english in your classrooms back home, or you are wanting to teach English abroad.

Máximo Nivel was a great school the attend. It is very structured to help you succeed. The staff is friendly and kind. The TEFL instructor, Mackenzie is very dedicated. He’s made my experience during TEFL a great experience. He also helped me make my international resume which helped me find a teaching position with the school. The school was such an amazing school that from the moment that I got there it was my dream to work there. The school made that possible! I would recommend this school !

I am so sad to be leaving Cusco and Maximo Nivel. This learning institute is such a warm place, with incredible resources, and very friendly people. I loved the TEFL program and teachers, they were very knowledge with lots of professional teaching experience. My teachers, Wayne, Annabelle and Sean did not hold back from sharing they're expertise and always gave helpful feedback. They were funny and kind. The international office staff and academic office staff were incredibly helpful with whatever resources I needed or confusion I had. Cusco is such an amazing place to be, there is so much culture, the nature and archeology are amazing, and the surrounding towns and cities are lovely. I also loved my Quechua classes, what a unique privilege to learn with Nellie. I can't wait to use my TEFL in another amazing country!

I loved my Maximo Nivel tefl experience. The course is well structured to make learners progress and be better teachers from the get go. Already in week 1, we got to practice teaching techniques with real students.

I wanted to do tefl in person because I felt it would be more motivating and I would get support. This is exactly what I got from my experience. I also think that doing the program with Maximo allowed me to become a better teacher because of the support I had along the way: By the tefl trainers, the other learners, academic directors, etc.. I would recommend this experience to anyone who would love to teach English as a foreign language.

Traveling is usually great, but traveling and coming back with a new skill is better! At the Máximo Nivel TEFL course in Cusco, Peru, I had a terrific time, met some great people, enjoyed the city and all of history and majesty surrounding it. The best thing, however, was the amazing TEFL course itself: wonderful instruction, teaching beginning on the second day with real non-English speaking students, Practical Teaching Week, the extra help that's always available, the dedication of the TEFL team and the support from the entire Institute. Our teachers, Sean and Wayne, were incredibly kind, generous, knowledgeable and experienced. There's a lot of work, but I feel prepared to take my first step and begin a new career as a teacher now, and I can't imagine feeling ready without everything I learned in classes, observations and practical teaching. I cannot emphasize enough how dedicated and professional this course is. If you really want to learn to teach, then go to Máximo Nivel, where they will put you on the path to become the best teacher you can be. I stayed for a few extra weeks and taught classes after my TEFL program ended, and I will be going home from Cusco in April with both an excellent education and real teaching experience. I've fallen in love with my students, and it's hard to imagine that others won't do the same thing.

I cannot recommend the TEFL course at Maximo Nivel in Antigua enough. It has been such a fantastic experience. Challenging yet fun. I have made some great friends, in the classroom and outside of the classroom. The TEFL was taught so well by our TEFL trainer Mackenzie with endless amounts of support and guidance to get us through and prepare us for the teaching world. The school is a wonderful learning environment. All the teachers are great people and offer support themselves. Definitely do it.

Maximo Nivel provides optimum support to not only make the greatest impact possible in my community volunteer experience, but they also provide the best ways possible to experience the culture for both personal enjoyment and growth. I spent a week teaching English in an after-school program for underprivileged children. I believe I had an impact on the children, but they also had a tremendous impact on me. In between the volunteer work, I was able to take in the culture through a coffee plantation tour, a walking tour of San Jose and a Volcano tour, all of which were worth it!

Mackenzie was a quality teacher. He made each lesson interesting and enjoyable but most importantly he teaches you using the TEFL teaching methods. This means that by the time you get up in front of students you have seen hours of the methods in practice. I would 100% recommend this course to anyone. All the teachers very friendly and will give you all the advice you will ever need. Maximo Nivel also provide all the resources that you will need both for the program itself and for your teaching in the future.

I took private one-on-one Spanish language classes 4 hours/4 days/4 weeks at Maximo Nivel Costa Rica (Curridabat location) in Feb 2023. The school administration is very well organized, from the online inquiry stage before I registered, through registration, arrival and orientation, and departure. The admin team is very friendly and professional; I felt they were there to support my learning and also my stay in Costa Rica. They switched my teachers 3 times in 3 days (I'm assuming because of their personal situations), but I understand things happen with people's schedules. Luckily the changes happened all in the beginning. The instructor was great; she tried to tailor the sessions per my interests, focusing on conversation and reinforcing with grammar/practices. She took the time and energy to bring in material we could discuss, based on our conversations in class. In addition, the school offers various activities that are included with the class price--weekly salsa dancing class, weekly cooking class, and tandem conversations (they pair up an Eng-learner and Spanish-learner and they split 1 hour speaking in each language. Great practice). The cafe was awesome to have coffee/tea (free!) and snacks (for purchase--you'll smell them baking brownies). Great value to have all these included with the class price. Location is outside the main San Jose downtown area, near a university, so it's still busy but less hectic than downtown--it's walking distance to train/bus stops, many restaurants, grocery stores. The school is also linked with a small travel agency, so it was really easy to book day trips on the weekends. Highly recommended.

From the moment I came out of the airport, till it was time to go home I felt very welcomed and secure! Maximo does a great job with the orientation and making sure you are comfortable and know that help is always available. Special mention to Ashleigh and Ashanti for being very welcoming and informative staff, as well as friendly! My host house felt like it was my own home, everyone was very welcoming, and the food was delicious! The accommodation overall was very clean and nice! Overall i had a great time here in costa rica and enjoyed my program at the school. The children were very fun and entertaining to work with!