Program Reviews

Peacebuilding in Colombia has been one of my favorite courses that I have taken during undergrad. I have learned so much about Colombia, and the conflicts that it faces. The lectures are taught by very professional and educated professors, and the excursions around town are as academically stimulating. Red Tree does a spectacular job at selecting a really diverse, interesting, and intelligent group of people. My cohort had definitely made this trip one of the best!

We arranged our language course via Red Tree Study which I can highly recommend. They helped us with everything, answered our emails always immediately - good work. Unfortunately we had to skip one week of language course due to changing plans (not because of the language course!) and even that was no problem at all. The language course at Nueva lengua was also very good, always helpful and many activities to do after class.

I arrived in Medellin with a handful of words of spanish, and a desire to learn more. I had read that this city was the ideal place to learn the language - great climate, friendly people, a great social scene, surrounded by the rich and beautiful natural environment Colombia has to offer. With the sole intent of learning another language, exploring an amazing country and immersing myself in latin culture, I started in Course 1 in Spanish for Foreigners at EAFIT University. The campus is lovely, and you have access to excellent facilities - an incredible library, swimming pool, excellent modern gym, tennis courts, cafes, restaurants, computers labs, copy shops, etc. The teaching quality is excellent, the classes and chance to meet other students, both foreigners and locals, was great, and they make a real point of weaving into the course program cultural and historical lessons. I highly recommend EAFIT, and I love Medellin so much I decided to stay. I now run my own business here and my spanish is pretty good, although there is always so much more to learn! My story is a familiar one - as they say - the only risk in Colombia is wanting to stay.

Dear reader:

If you are considering coming to Colombia to study Spanish, I highly recommend it! Let me describe my experience in the hopes that it may help you plan your own time here.

I contacted Red Tree several months prior to when I was planning to be in Colombia. Ginna went above and beyond, answering all of my questions, however small they were, and always making me feel welcome to ask more questions. This is was really important for me as I hadn't heard many things about Colombia other than the primarily negative image we have in Canada of this country.
Ginna was able to set up a Skype call with my host family's mother, Socorro, who is an absolute gem. I have been living with Socorro and her family in Bogotá for two months and couldn't ask for a better host family - inclusive, welcoming, and generous, the apartment is frequently visited by several of the many aunts and uncles of the family making for a relaxed yet full social life even before you step outside the door!
The language school Nueva Lengua is excellent. The professors are talented and work hard to be great teachers, there is a weekly smorgasbord of activities both in the school and around the city, and the school is well equipped and a comfortable environment to spend as many hours as you like. I highly recommend taking the Intensive Spanish course (an extra hour each morning) as well as the dance classes - if you are hesitant to dance, this recommendation goes double for you!

Whether or not you win the proverbial lottery of living with Socorro, attending classes at Nueva Lengua, or talking with Ginna, I believe Red Tree Study can be an essential part of planning of your trip. Best of luck on whichever path you choose!

Another thank you to Alex and Ginna of Red Tree Study.
Chris Madsen

Have done a lot of language courses trying to improve my Spanish and found that Red Tree were great at directing me to a course that suited my level and needs. They offered me really good advice, got me a great deal with the school and were always available during the course for feedback and help with any issues. Colombia is a fantastic place to learn Spanish with a great variety of schools and the Colombian people are amazing. If you want to have a fun course with great social activities and high level of teaching ability look no further. 10/10

Loved my time in Colombia. My course was great and I made good progress for my travels afterwards. The school was really friendly and I liked the other students. Colombia is amazing and I wish I could spend more time there, there is so much to see. If you like the sunshine then definitely go to the beaches of Tayrona. It was great booking with Red Tree, they were very friendly and gave a me a good range of options in each place even though my course was short. And the host family they found me was just amazing! It's a great option to stay at a local house instead of a hostel if you are serious about learning Spanish. Some of the schools in Colombia are not the cheapest but overall the experience was really good.

I interned with Red Tree Study over this summer and worked on the film program and social calendar. I was so fortunate to work with such a lovely and talented group of people during my time in Colombia. I would fully recommend the experience to film and media students who would like to broaden their knowledge and discover a different part of the world!
Having worked closely with the students during their stay in Colombia, I was able to see how involved they were in their work place. They had opportunities to work on set with crew, help with scriptwriting and assist in editing roles, amongst many other positions! The diverse range of activities available meant that they were able to tailor their stay to their strengths and interests and Red Tree Study was always on hand should the students need any assistance. Alongside their internships, Red Tree Study offers a wide range of social activities allowing students to discover all of what Colombia has to offer. With excursions to Salento (coffee region), hikes in Soacha, tours of the colonial town of Villa de Leyva and visits to the Salt Cathedral, they were able to explore this rich and diverse country.

Choosing to go abroad can be incredibly overwhelming with the amount of programs, schools, volunteer activities, and internships available. When I decided I wanted to learn Spanish abroad, I chose to go to Colombia. However, I didn't know where to start or how to proceed. Luckily, I came across Red Tree Study. This organization connects you with whatever experience you are looking for. I set up a skype interview with Ginna, who lives and works in Colombia. Connecting with someone who knows the country first-hand was incredibly helpful. She asked me what type of experience I wanted to have abroad and then presented reputable schools and programs with full reviews. She guided me through each part of the experience: the homestay, language school, and what to prepare before going. I could not have been happier!

Personal Reviews:
Homestay: Clean apartment, friendly host, own bedroom/bathroom, convenient and safe location
Language School: she found the exact fit for me (small classroom, personable teachers, good prices)
Activities: there were many activities organized through Red Tree that were available for me to join. They included small day trips, tours, cultural experiences, restaurant visits, etc.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend Red Tree for anyone who would like assistance in organizing their experience. They take the time to help you find exactly what you're looking for at no charge. With personable assistance and advise you are sure to have a wonderful experience in Colombia!

For a long time, I struggled with the decision to go abroad for a semester, or get an internship. I knew I wanted to do both, but felt I needed to intern. Red Tree solved that problem for me in the form of a six week internship abroad. The program is very well scheduled with lots of trips and excursions and the people of Colombia, especially the ones you work alongside everyday, were very nice and friendly. This program marked my first time in a foreign country and it is definitely one that I will always remember. It was exciting and fun and Red Tree not only worked to make it that way but also worked to make sure we were always comfortable and happy with everything. Even taking it a step further, when someone wasn't happy about something, they worked very hard to correct it, which is something I was really pleased to experience, especially while in another country where the language is not my own. I really appreciate everything that Red Tree did for me on this trip and am grateful to them for making it so special and offering me this great opportunity. I have now come to love Colombia and the time I spent there, and came home to my family with a lot of exciting stories to tell them.

The course itself was brilliant and of such a high standard. Each lecturer brought something new to the conversation, covering a variety of fields such as politics, history, economics, law, geography, sociology and my personal favorite- psychology. By the end of the course you felt like you yourself were a specialist in the Colombian conflict and its peace resolution. Of course, we aren't, far from it, but the lecturers made us feel so, and really seemed to value our contributions and conversations about the issues and that's something i really appreciated.

The afternoon field trips gave us opportunities that we would never have experienced otherwise. I was definitely the source of envy for some of my university friends having talked to the Presidents team and met with the UN's development agency. The trip's really brought the whole learning experience to life and was a good reminder that the contents we were covering weren't just of academic interest, but is very real and very current and very important to Colombia as a country.

The social activities were hilarious- i loved the bike ride around Bogota when the city shuts out cars once a week, and watching Colombia beat Peru in the America Football Cup was honestly such an experience when you're surrounded by hundreds of Colombians going wild with every goal. In fact, you'd only have to wander round the city for 20 minutes in your spare time to come across some sort of street celebration, or march, or protest- Colombians seem to find any excuse to celebrate!

The RedTree team were incredible! We all had a great laugh with them and I definitely felt them to be helpful and concerned for our well-being throughout the trip, which I definitely appreciated in a hustling bustling city like Bogota. The co-ordinator Alex was brilliant- from day one of my application she was easy to communicate with and answered all my questions via email within the same day. A few of us decided to go to the coastal city of Cartagena for one of the weekends during the three weekends and I really appreciate her taking the time to help us with our planning despite it not being part of her job. Big up to our day to day facilitators too, Tom and Hannah! They were amazing, so much fun to be around but I always felt very safe with them, and they really helped the sometimes exhausting and intense days pass by easily.

All in all a pretty unforgettable three weeks, with outstanding lecturers and really admirable fellow students. With just 14 of us, it was a small group but i couldn’t have enjoyed their company more, and I’ve got to say I found it very refreshing to be surrounded by genuinely interesting people with noble career ambitions and intentions- and I think the three weeks gave each of us in different ways that extra bit of inspiration and determination needed to achieve these.