So, here I am a 'virgin traveller to Costa Rica'. My
primary objective outside of happiness is to improve my
Spanish skills. I need to refine them for an ESL program I
am participating in next year. In short, I'm having a very
difficult time determining the best language school for my
interests and purposes. I would like a smaller school with
closer contact with local people- perhaps a school run by
locals. I do not want to be merely a patron to a large
business. To this end I definitely want a homestay. I also
would rather be in a smaller town, not in San Jose. Low
cost is also a concern, but not essential. Atmosphere and
learning are my priorities.
Thanks for reading!! Any suggestions and/or experiences
would be greatly appreciated.
Megan
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You might want to try Alejuela. It's near San Jose,
frequent buses to and fro, but is much smaller. I saw ads
for schools when we were there in April. The usual advice
is to wait to line up the specific school till you're there
so you can see how you like the personnel, etc.
I think you'll find Costa Rica very enjoyable. Be sure and
visit Volcan Arenal.
Go to this site: http://www.studyspanish.com/
They have info on schools.
I have heard this school is good:
http://www.spanish-intercultura.com/
There are 2 owners, 1 originally British and 1 Costa Rican.
They have a homestay program so that would surely help you
beef up your Spanish, in addition to the instruction you
would receive. As far as costs, it seems that they're all
pretty much in the same ballpark. Oh, every month they
provide classes at the beach for a week for the people who
are interested, which sounds like a fun break from being in
the valley.
It's in Heredia, a small city halfway between San Jose and
Alajuela. I live in CR and have lived in San Jose and
Alajuela but I live in Heredia and prefer it definitely to
San Jose and Alajuela, although I like Alajuela quite a bit
too. Heredia is calmer, cleaner, less congested, the
National University is here and the whole atmosphere to me
seems more positive. It's a 40 minute bus ride from San
Jose and about 45 or so from Alajuela. One of the things I
personally like is that, since it's sort of at the base of
the mountain, there are views of the central valley.