Spanish Language Schools in Latin America Guide

Spanish Language Schools in Latin America
Spanish Language Schools in Central America
Spanish Language Schools in South America

The Comparative Shopper's Guide to Spanish Language Immersion Programs in Latin America

Welcome to the comparative shoppers' guide to Spanish Language Schools in Latin America. SLSLA is the most comprehensive directory of its kind on the web; there is no charge for use or inclusion. The schools included in this guide represent the majority of Spanish schools in each country listed, as well as some of the more popular international agencies that represent Spanish language schools in Latin America. Each school listing has a brief summary of the school's included features of it's basic four-week program which will help you compare each school and country to get an idea of the price range in each country. With a few noted exceptions, the prices compared all include tuition, lodging, cultural activities, and registration fees. When a school has higher tuition part of the year, that is the price in this guide. You will need to visit the website of each school to find out more about the particular differences of each program and the cost for optional services such as transportation and excursions. Skip down to the Country Menu

When choosing a particular Latin American country or Spanish language school, you will probably be considering many competing factors. To make a good choice you first need to know what you yourself want out of your whole experience. You will be traveling to a school (or schools) in a Spanish speaking country with a particular urban/rural environment and climate and studying in a certain kind of class environment for a certain period of time each day. Most people choose a language and cultural immersion program in which they study a part of the day, enjoy activities and excursions part of the day and on weekends, and usually live with a native family. No matter how good a program sounds, it is the ability of the school to deliver the promised program that makes it worthwhile. Go ahead and check at least three references provided by the school if you have any doubts.

Questions that weigh into the decision of choosing one Spanish language school over another include:
How populated and developed is the country/area I would like to study and live in?
How natural or urban, untraveled or touristy would I like the school location to be?
How safe is the country/area I will be visiting in terms of disease, stress, and my sense of personal security?
How friendly, communicative, open and helpful are the local people toward visiting students?
What kind of physical climate do I prefer?
What are the school and classroom environment that I prefer?
How many other students do I prefer to have in class with me?
What kind of cultural activities am I interested in?
How will I get to the school?
How much is this really going to cost when it's all added up?
Skip down to the Country Menu

On group versus one-on-one classroom instruction. One teacher to one student instruction is not necesarily better or worse than small group instruction for language learning. Group instruction tends to be more structured and dynamic while one-on-one can be more flexible and intensive. That can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the personality of the student and the reliability of the program or teacher. Some students prefer to learn with class support, and the fun that accompanies a small group class. Other students may prefer to make their mistakes alone with their teacher or to be able to spontaneously take their class out of the classroom (or they may have to, because of a lack of classroom space in some budget schools). Many schools with classroom instruction will frequently have less than their stated maximum number of students in a given class. Schools that offer both group classes and complementary activities frequently have teachers accompany the students on the activities which are in addition to the instructional classroom hours. Schools that offer what seems like a lot of class hours per day for a great price often are counting any and all hours where there is a teacher present in an activity.

On student safety in Latin America. Latin American countries are by and large as safe as any country in North American and Europe. Beware that highly touristed areas in ANY country usually invite more crime than in other areas. Beneath each country listed in this guide, there is a link to the US State Department's Consular travel advisory sheets online. These reports are useful as a comparative idea of safety and personal risk in a given country. (They are not to be taken overly seriously as they are compiled from the observations and interpretations of Embassy staff who live in the capital cities usually behind gated walls covered with barbed wire.) To get a realistic sense of safety for visiting students in a given country, you really have to talk to people who have been there or, of course, see for yourself. Part of being in a school program is that you are guided by a native family and friendly Spanish language school staff whose business it is to help you to learn and adapt to your host country, so students in such programs rarely encounter serious problems.

On comparing prices of different schools. As you can see by browsing the listings below, prices for comparable programs can vary widely. This is due to not only to the quality and content offerings of different programs but also to the local costs of doing business for each school and country. Some schools may seem to be a great bargain but may not provide a high level of teacher quality or may not have any real classroom materials, or may only offer limited activities. On the other hand, very expensive schools may have an impressive (to them) modern building and video equipment, but may have forgotten the importance of the personal attention and direct learning experience offered at less expensive schools. Some schools are priced for a certain kind of student, for instance, budget travelers and university students who don't expect a lot of comforts or professionalism, while others cater more to business people, professionals and retirees. On the higher end of the scale, the more institutionalized schools tend to cost more; whether that has to do more with higher quality of their program or higher cost of administration is debatable. An important idea to keep in mind is that very similar quality programs offered in two different countries may cost significantly more in the one country than the other due to the difference of the economic environments in each country.

With these ideas in mind, compare the countries and schools listed below, and good luck finding the best Spanish language program for you!

Choose a Country...

Mexico / Guatemala / Honduras / El Salvador / Nicaragua / Costa Rica / Dominican Republic

Colombia / Venezuela / Ecuador / Peru / Bolivia / Uruguay / Argentina / Chile

Spanish School Agencies / Other Latin American Spanish School Directories

This guide is sponsored by Nicaragua Spanish Schools, Managua, Nicaragua, nssmga@ibw.com.ni, as a service to potential students and the Spanish language school industry in Latin America. All the information in this free directory is published for use as a general comparative guide. Update dates are listed on each school's listings (eg. 2/05). All information is approximate and can be verified on each school's website.

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Nicaragua Spanish Schools
Managua, Nicaragua

visits since September, 1998 --- Last listing update February, 2005

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