Intercultura: Spanish Immersion with Local Family

I have led two student trips to Intercultura's Immersion program in Heredia. Each time the school, coordinators and teachers paid attention to all details in the planning of the trip and then while we were there. I felt comfortable and safe and like a part of the Intercultura family. Teachers tailored classes to what our students needed. Our excursions were fun and cultural. I look forward to going back in the future. My favorite memory has been the people I met both at the school and my host mom. Plus as a teacher, it's been wonderful to see the impact this trip has had on my students. Some said it was their favorite high school experience.

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.

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!

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 have never studied abroad before in my life, so getting the opportunity to go to Intercultura as my first experience was the greatest treat. The program was set up very wonderfully ! The teachers made the classes as much fun as possible with activities in the park, group improvisation, and games to improve our vocabulary and speaking skills. The weekend excursions were also amazing! I did so many new things that I will always remember. Getting to go zip-lining, rafting, and seeing monkeys all in one month? Can't beat that! Overall, I would do to this program every year if I had the time!

I enjoyed a wonderful two week immersion with the best teacher (Monica), and a welcoming family (Jeannette). Many activities: The Nutcracker ballet at the Teatro Nacional in San Jose, the capital. Two films at the San Jose International Film Festival 2015. Two cooking classes and an coffee planation tour. A weekend at the Parque de Nacional Manuel Antonio with parasailing, jet skis and surfing. And fascinating walks through the towns and cities. Plus I learned the verb endings for past tense and future tense!

Really enjoyed my host family. Mi professora was great. The staff were all very kind and helpful. I should have stayed longer.....only one week. The city is beautiful and very easy to get around. Only problem was if there is rain, you will get wet.

I took a weeks' course at each of Intercultura's locations, although I only stayed with a host family in Heredia.

The host family experience was fantastic and I thoroughly recommend it! I was impressed by the high standard of the home; the family were really fun, warm and caring and made time to talk to us each day. They spoke almost no English with guaranteed a fully immersive environment and kept me thinking in Spanish all day! Having meals included was really convenient and saved a lot of time (handy when there’s homework to complete!) and allowed us to sample traditional every day Costa Rican food.

I was happy with the facilities at the school and quality of teaching, and I particularly appreciated the way the curriculum was structured into one-week set programmes with an individual textbook. It’s a really great way to accommodate students who are constantly joining and departing each week, and ensures students aren’t placed in a group that has already been running for some time, or don’t end up repeating things to accommodate new students. Having someone arrange excursions was also a huge bonus, as it made it so much easier to get out and about and see the local sights – especially when the school has it’s own transportation.

I really enjoyed Heredia as a city, personally probably more than Samara beach as I prefer urban living to the outdoors. My favourite art was probably going to see a football match – what an atmosphere!

My host mother or "mama tica" was a real joy and went out of her way to make me feel at home. We would literally start the day dancing to "Bailamos" on the radio at breakfast. She also took my friend and me to a family friend's house for a traditional epiphany gathering, which was very thoughtful. And I actually loved Heredia--it felt like a very manageable, safe city with fun places to eat and hang out, and it's a short drive to many other destinations in the country. I was also really impressed with the quality of instruction and the use of smart boards in the classrooms at school, I appreciated the complimentary coffee/tea each day, and I sampled delicious pastries from several nearby bakeries during our breaks. Best Spanish class ever.

Instruction was very good, the school is very well organized, very professional. Homestays are very nice - I recommend it if you are thinking of making the trip. The families I've stayed with are helpful, friendly, and they don't speak English! Weekends can be great fun if you take advantage of the activities & tours, which are also very well organized. There are also extra acivities throughout the week (dance classes, cooking, movie nights). I've been there twice and I'm thinking about a 3rd trip this winter (2015-16).

This school and homestay was such a pleasure to experience! The school had a cozy, comfortable, and cultural atmosphere and offered amazing courses in not only Spanish, but also dancing and cooking! My friend and I stayed in a warm and welcoming home a few blocks away, we even looked forward to walking to school because it was a safe route that offered a fun view of the city. We also loved the trips planned by Intercultura for experiencing Costa Rican night life! The school is in the perfect spot and is not more than a 10 minute walk from anything you could possibly need!

I adored my time in Costa Rica. Having a homestay was wonderful as I was able to use my Spanish at home as well as at school. Also it is so interesting to see how other cultures live their day to day lives.
The school helped me improve my Spanish and give me confidence speaking. I enjoyed every class.
I would definitely return to the same school but I would like to stay longer than the one week I did stay.
Do not hesitate to go alone as I did as everyone was helpful and friendly.

In September 2012 I signed up for 4 weeks of Spanish classes at Intercultura, first 2 weeks in Heredia and then 2 weeks in Samara. I had a great time, both in the classes and living with the homestay families. I think the 2 campuses are relatively similar, both with skilled teachers and attentive staff, but the surroundings are quite different (urban vs. the beach). For that reason I'm happy I chose to experience both of these places. As for the language course itself, even though interesting and fun, I wouldn't exactly call it laid-back.

There are 4 hours of classes each day, but you also need to practice a little bit on your own and there's usually some homework too. Thanks to this relatively quick pace you can feel the difference and see your progress each week. I had no Spanish before, but after these 4 weeks I'm able to understand a whole lot and I can express myself to a degree. Obviously you can't become fluent in a new language in a month, but you'd be surprised how much one can advance in only a few short weeks.

Staying with a homestay family is also a great way to be more exposed to the local culture.

The families in Heredia and Samara are different, and the living environment in the latter is often basic, so you need to be a little open-minded and not expect 5 star hotel amenities. With that said I can report that I've enjoyed my time with both of my tico families, learning about their lives and especially eating all their delicious food (though truth to be told there's a lot of rice and beans involved). All in all, I can recommend Intercultura without hesitation to anyone wanting to up their Spanish skills and being immersed in the Costa Rican way of life at the same time!