Program Reviews

Great school. Classes were interesting and challenging. Lots of variety in methods of teaching. Lots of social things to do during the day- tours/picnic/dance lessons/yoga on the beach/cooking classes. would be nice if this school and others schools would have evening activities. Sometimes homestay can feel somewhat isolating. A welcome dinner would be nice the first night. Also, for students coming on the weekend, there is no one at the school and if you get there too late to go on weekend tour, you are basically in the town not knowing any other students or what there is to do. Would have been nice to be able to contact other students prior to arrival. Should have day trips on weekends. They do have weekend trips, but they are expensive and you have to be there by Friday morning to go on them. If you get there Friday night or Saturday, you are on your own for activities.
I feel much more confident in all aspects of my life, having travelled alone and been in a foreign country speaking a foreign language. You have to be alert and pay attention and that is so stimulating!
My favorite memory is all the new friends from all walks of life. Still keep in touch!

I spent the first 3 weeks of May 2018 at the Intercultura in Heredia. In my estimation, I was an “advanced beginner” in Spanish, but for a number of reasons, was placed in advanced classes. The teachers were great, and I enjoyed the other students who were almost universally college aged students from the USA. (I am Weekly options included yoga, dancing, and cooking classes. Weekends presented options for inexpensive travel within country—to national parks, volcanoes, and beaches. Glad I stayed with a “family”—a single older woman. All in all a good, safe experience. Wish I had more opportunity to simply speak Spanish rather than focus on book learning. If I return, it will be in “off-season” when fewer groups of college students reign supreme.

I was 38 yrs old when I had the good fortune of joining InterCultura in Costa Rica in January of 2016 as a complete beginner student. The school is clean and organized and the staff and hosts were warm and patient with my lack of Spanish. Classes were challenging and effective - I learned quickly - and professors were direct, kind, fun, and encouraging. My first housing match was adequate with a beautiful location. Though after three weeks, was clear it was not ultimately a good fit (noise, bugs, more well suited to younger students, etc.). School managers were understanding and open to relocating me to a calmer host-home environment. Most importantly, this change of location proved to me critical for me as during my fourth week I received very sad and tragic news of the unexpected death of a family member. The home-host, school staff, and my student peers supported me with equal amounts of love, respect and professionalism as experienced the initial shock of deep loss in a forgein country. The InterCultura community helped me communicate with family, airlines and arranged my ride to the airport so I could be back in the US as soon as possible (with in 24-hrs) to be with my family. I will forever remember the kindness, joy, and openness of the Tico/school families I met, the beauty of the location, the excitement and challenge of learning Spanish, and I hope to return one day to continue to develop my Spanish language skills and cultural appreciation. I highly recommend this school.

Class time is well-organized and the homestay option adds to the total immersion in Spanish. Other services, such as opportunities to have conversations with other students (language exchange) give students another forum in which to practice what they've been learning. Intercultura's fees are very reasonable, including two meals daily through the homestay. My Mama Tica provided great vegan and gluten meals for me. So, dietary needs can be met for any student who opts for homestay. Faculty, administration and staff all are very friendly, accommodating and professional. Extra-curricular activities made the program feel more like a vacation!

Best experience of my life. Great people, great staff. Best locaton samara is the most beautiful place i’ve ever been. I just fell in love with Samara and Costa Rica. The best place to learn spanish. I ve started with almost no spanish skills and after 6 weeks i was able to have some conversations. after a few weeks of travelling and home coming to samara for 4 more weeks I realt felt like at home. And almost like a Tica! The surf school is an important extra.

I had so much fun on this trip and it’s probably one of the best experience of my life! I would totaly do it again. I learned spanish quickly, the building is nice and has good installations. The location is perfect. I was in Samara and it’s nice for people who like small towns. The classes are interactive and fun. You also learn in small group, witch is nice to meet new people and to make friends! You learn a lot in class and at the end of the course, you will really feel like your spanish is better than before and you will feel way more confident.

I attended Intercultura in Heredia, Costa Rica to help improve my Spanish. It wasn't a requirement and something I did on my own volition--like the majority of students I met there. I thoroughly enjoyed the program. The classes and professors were great, the extra cultural class options were fantastic. I didn't love Heredia though. We were advised not to be out after dark on the street and to take a cab home if we were out late. I prefer walking around so this wasn't great to hear. I was home every night by sunset at 6pm to avoid roaming the streets after dark. My host family was pretty nice. They hosted a ton of kids. One of the family members wasn't as nice, but she was around the least, so I didn't have to interact with her a ton. The house was nice, too and the cooking was fabulous.

I came to Costa Rica knowing very little Spanish, so the first few days were quite stressful! However, once I got used to the culture and the language, I started to understand more and more Spanish. The Intercultura Spanish classes were very helpful in giving me a good start with useful words for daily life. Living in Costa Rica was wonderful: the weather was always perfect, the people were friendly, and there was a ton of natural beauty to explore. I loved zip lining in Montezuma

I wanted a spot to refresh my Spanish and also spend time in a beach community with swimming and outdoor activities. Intercultura exceeded my expectations. The teachers were excellent (I did the private lessons) and were flexible in covering my deficits and making quick progress on the review. The staff, especially Darihana at the front desk were very friendly and helpful taking care of my questions, not only about the program and school but the local community. My husband (not interested in the school) and I rented our own place, and did not do the home stay and she was helpful regarding were to shop, local customs, etc.
The school also offered extracurricular classes in yoga, done in an outdoor covered platform overlooking the beautiful beach with an experienced helpful instructor (Lindsay). We also attended dance and cooking classes, which were fun. The group classes would have worked well had I been visiting on my own, and who knows? Maybe I will return, Samara is a fun, friendly and picturesque small coast town.

I was in an advanced group class in the Samara campus for a week. The campus is beautiful with excellent facilities and is right on the beach. The teacher was very organized and professional, and taught us fine points in grammar that were very helpful. The main drawback was that the other students were almost entirely Swiss, predominantly teenagers on a gap year after completing high school. My class was entirely Swiss and the language around the school outside of class, and within class when the teacher wasn't present was the Swiss dialect of German... It was hard to practice speaking Spanish under these circumstances. If you are an adult who does not speak the Swiss dialect of German, you may find the school is not a comfortable place to study.