Classes start on Mondays. Every Monday, a new class begins. This seems to be unanimous among all the Spanish teaching schools I’ve looked at in Central and South America. You choose to stay in an apartment or with a host family. And you can choose to pay a little extra for a certain number of meals a day with the host family. I will most definitely stay with a host family and probably choose to get the meals as well. I’m all about full immersion!
January 4, 2016 is a Monday, so I will fly to Puerto Rico on January 3, because lodging begins the Sunday before classes start. This is pretty awesome, because it means I can ring in the new year in Nebraska, right before I take off on my new adventure!
School Option #1:
http://spanishabroad.com/san-juan-spanish-school/
In order to go to this school, I’d be going through Spanish Abroad Inc. which has been around since 1996 and has an A+ rating with the BBB. That’s pretty impressive. Booking through them gets you equal or cheaper rates than going directly through the school. They seem pretty legit!
In explaining the methodology, which is a communicative approach, I came to understand how I’ve taken several years of Spanish and still can’t speak it:
Generally speaking, grammar provides a language’s framework, while vocabulary gives you the tools to “dress it up” and communicate. In the past, maybe in the days when you went to school, Spanish language courses emphasized analyzing grammar (sentence structure, syntax) and understanding text. As you may have discovered, just analyzing and learning grammar will not enable you to communicate. In fact, you could spend years studying Spanish without ever having a real conversation. And, if this is your Spanish language background, your first attempt to try to speak with a native speaker was probably extremely frustrating.
This has absolutely been my experience! So I’m beyond excited to immersed in Spanish study that is going to teach me how to SPEAK IT with native Spanish speakers. VERY excited!
This particular school offers academic credit for any course, but you have to check with your home school to see if the credits with transfer. Note to self, talk to UNL about this!
They don’t appear to offer a combination of group and private lessons. It’s one or the other. I’m going to have to contact them to see if they can do a combination at all.
Also, they say they offer some cultural activities, but they don’t list them. However, it’s nice that the school is located in Old San Juan.
School Option #2:
http://islalanguage.com/spanish-courses.html
I.S.L.A. stands for the Institute of Second Language Acquisition. It’s only been around since 2010, but I love that, like the San Juan School of Spanish, they use a communicative approach here:
“We use the Communicative Approach to Spanish language learning. The focus of this approach is to learn to speak Spanish in meaningful contexts that you may encounter in real-life situations.”
I also like they way the have the classes set up so you can do a combination of group and private lessons:
- Group Lessons: Course instruction is conducted 5 days a week, 3 hours per day. Classes will be held Monday – Friday 9:00am-12:00pm. Teachers will track student progress on a weekly basis. Maximum group enrollment is 7 students, the average being 3 per group.
- Private Lessons: If you have very little time available or have specialized language needs, you may prefer to concentrate on Spanish in one-to-one tutoring sessions. Private classes may be scheduled for as many hours as the student desires and for as long as requested. This program is available for every level, although more recommended for higher level students.
- Combination: Many students prefer to experience a little bit of both options, group lessons for the interaction and private lessons to concentrate on their specific set of goals and language needs. I.S.L.A. is proud to offer the best selling combination course; students partake in the Group Lessons and then add 1 private lesson daily which takes place right after the group class.
I’m already planning to do a combination of group and private lessons. I’m very serious about this, I want to learn as much as possible while I’m there! Like a sponge trying to soak up every ounce of Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture I can!
I also like that they offer activities with your tuition! That’s important to me. I’ll be there for four weeks, so I can choose four with my tuition! I think this might be what makes me choose this school over the other one. And here’s the list:
The school offers one tour per week included in your tuition (activities and inclusions are subject to minimums and updates, call or email the school for details):
- – Walking Tour of Old San Juan
- – El Yunque Rainforest
- – Pinones
- – Bacardi & Isla de Cabra
- – Guava
- – Farmer’s Market with selection of Botanical Gardens or University of Puerto Rico
- – Art Museum
I.S.L.A. offers the following activities or services for an additional charge:
- – Catamaran Snorkel & Sail Day trip (weekend only)
- – Bio-Bay Excursion
- – Canopy Zip Lining
- – Other tours based on demand (ATVs, Camuy Caves, Horseback Riding, Ponce & Visit to Coffee Plantation)
I don’t know which school I will choose just yet. I have a lot of questions for both. Regardless, I think I will be budgeting for approximately $4,000 for the flight, tuition + home stay with meals, and other food/living expenses. It’s too early to tell yet, but this is my first ballpark figure.
It’s so fun planning all of this! This is going to be such a blast, beginning to end!
Student of the Crazy Life 