Program Reviews

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!

My wife and I came to Instituto Estelar to jumpstart our ability to read, write, and converse in Spanish. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results. The course of study is intense, but the staff makes it fun and is very encouraging. It’s good to have the program in Liberia, which is not very touristy, meaning that you hear Spanish most of the time even when you’re not in school. We also stayed with a very nice local woman who spoke no English. That made for a total immersion experience. The locals are friendly and helpful, so if your Spanish isn’t good enough to communicate they’ll try hard to understand you.

We studied at Instituto Estelar for three weeks. Beforehand our Spanish was rudimentary. Afterward I was able to have extended conversations with locals in other parts of Costa Rica. Amazing. Many thanks to the staff at Instituto Estelar, without whom that wouldn’t have been possible.

I didn't really know what to expect when signing up for this program, but it has surpassed all expextations. The school's location is great, the program provides a lot of opportunities to connect to Costa Rican culture and the people within it, and most importantly it offers a great environment to learn spanish! My teacher Merlyn has been wonderful. She is so nice and approachable and always keeps thing fun and easy going. She only speaks in Spanish which in the first few days was a bit overwhelming but it forces you to to use what you know to figure it out, so I wouldnt really change that. The only time I would recommend a little English used is when assigning homework just so everyone is clear as to what is expected to be completed to the next days class. All in all very flexible and accomodating. Cooking class was fun and I liked that a traditional Costa Rican dish was made! The volunteering after class sounded very cool, and I would like to try it in the future. The staff is always friendly and helpful, and the institute is always in a very clean condition. Bethany has been extremly helpful, both before and after arriving! I took two weeks of Spanish immersion and really advanced in my Spanish abilities.

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class at Instituto Estelar Bilingue. I just took a week of the immersion program, but I learned a lot! I loved the structure in which the class was given, and the pace. Have taken several language courses abroad and, so far, this has been the best. Caroly, la profesora, esta muy simpatico. She was patient and kind! The class was fun and very effective...gave me some good ideas for practicing. She answered numerous questions...
Me encanta patacones, which we made in cooking class.... y Club A. The kids are so great! I know that had I taken the class during the busy season, there would have been more to do. Enjoyed Iris and her family very much....our conversations in the morning, her lovely granddaughter, Sophia, her children....y su perro - todos!

I had an awesome experience at Estelar! I did the immersion program for two weeks last August. My Spanish teacher Caroly was awesome! She always made the extra effort, and I enjoyed chatting with her in Spanish. The extra curricular activities were nice. My only minor disappointment was that I took the Spanish for TEFL graduates program and was looking to gain lots of experience in English Language classes. I was hoping for a little more structure there. Since I enrolled in this program weeks before arrivintg, I feel like there was time before my arrival to create a plan, and a volunteer schedule. The campus of Instituto Estelar is awesome! The pictures online don’t do it justice. Iris, my hostmom, was awesome! Everything went very smoothly with my homestay.

Everything the school has to offer is STELLAR!! From the classes, to the homestays, to the extra curricular activities, to the communication throughout your stay!

Before I even arrived at the school, I knew I had made the right choice because the director, Bethany, had sent me so many informative and helpful emails. And a week before I was scheduled to arrive, I received an extremely detailed schedule in Google documents that had tab after tab of information to help me while I was in town. It was so colorful and so full of activities that I was giddy with anticipation to arrive in Liberia.

Once you arrive there, the school is immaculate - so clean and organized and open -- it is hot in Liberia but you won't sweat during classes because there is a constant breeze. The classes are great, the instructors really know the information and the format is super engaging so that the 4 hours every day flies by!

If you are coming to be immersed, then you NEED to do the homestay. There is no other way to really immerse yourself in a culture and language without staying with/living with/ and communicating with people who live there. This was by far my favorite part of the experience. I have to admit the first two nights were a little awkward but once I started finding my voice en Espanol, I was able to communicate with my host family and I just absolutely adored them! They made me desayuno y cena cada dia and they made vegetarian meals because that is what I preferred. When I mentioned that I loved broccoli...I had broccoli! I just loved the family!

If you are anything like me and want to immerse yourself fully then take advantage of the activities. I took Yoga, Pilates, Zumba and other aerobics classes at two locations they mention in the Google document, IronFit and Unalome -- both places are waslkable from the school and are really great locations.

I also participated in Club A which was awesome! You get to interact and laugh with kids and what better way to experience a new place than through the laughter of a child! LOVED IT! The school also offers intercambio exchanges, Spanglish clubs, and movies in Espanol and I recommend doing EVERYTHING!!

And I went on every single excursion the school offered from the trip the Farmer's Market to Rio Celeste. There is so much to do and see...I just wish I had two more, three more weeks - heck, months to do everything!!!

There is no other word to describe this place than ESTELAR

La profesora es muy buena, sabe enseñar muy bien y es muy simpática. La las tenía excelentes calidades: dinamica, eficaz, conversacional, y interesante. It was very cool to use my newly learned Spanish skills in real life! The staff of Estelar are lovely, helpful, friendly and responsive. The facilities are adequate for learning. The class these two weeks was very helpful with a mix of speaking, watching videos, reading and learning new words. 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). The extra curricular activities were nice, although I didn't do all of them because I was with my family. The program and activities were beyond my expectations; I'll tell everyone I know how great it is!

English:
Merlyn is a very good teacher. The class was very interesting, effective, with a lot of time to converse in Spanish. And I corrected the errors in a very kind way. I learned a lot in class, I enjoyed it a lot. The house where I stay is clean, I have my own bedroom, and Marta is a very good cook. She prepared gluten-free dinners and beans without a problem, she also gave me the experience to try Costa Rican food. I feel like a daughter of Marta and Pedro. Estelar's staff is charming, helpful, friendly and attentive. The facilities are suitable for learning. I love all the extra practice I got in extracurricular activities! The campus is beautiful and feels like a second home during my stay.

Spanish:
Merlyn es una maestra muy buena. La clase fue muy interesante, eficaz, con mucha tiempo para conversar en espanol. Y corrigio los errores en una manera muy amable. Aprendi mucha en la clase, me la distrute mucho. La casa donde me quedo esta limpia, tengo mi propio dormitorio, y Marta es una muy buena cocinera. Ella preparo cenas sin gluten y frijoles sin problema, también me dio la experiencia para probar comida de Costa Rica. Me siento como una hija de Marta y Pedro. El personal de Estelar es encantador, servicial, amable y atento. Las instalaciones son adecuadas para el aprendizaje. ¡Me encanta toda la práctica adicional que obtuve en las actividades extracurriculares! El campus es hermoso y se siente como un segundo hogar durante mi estancia.