Folks ask often on this forum about good quality Spanish schools in Central America and I want to put in a plug for a school where I had a great experience in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala.
My friend Sylvia and I studied for a week at the COOPERATIVA SCHOOL which was a truly wonderful experience ($112/wk for 20 hours of 1-on-1 Spanish instruction, a week in a host family with meals Monday through Saturday, activities, and a small additional contribution to their ongoing projects). My teacher was the director, Lorenzo, and Sylvia's was Luis who also taught the salsa classes, two excellent teachers. We both had interesting, good homestays and the other students seemed equally pleased with both teachers and homestays. Tuesday through Friday there was an activity each night: a film about the mining controversy in the San Marcos department that my son was involved in last June, an academic talking about the Maya vision of the world and their place in it, salsa dance lessons, and a nice dinner prepared by the school staff. The teachers are paid better than at all or most schools in San Pedro and all of the money paid for homestays goes to the host families. The school class areas are lovely palm-roofed shelters set in a fabulous, colorful garden with views of beautiful Lago de Atitlán. The garden alone makes it worth a visit.
The school is very service oriented and invests heavily in the community in a program for supporting the education of a group of 16 deserving local students with high need. There are many volunteer opportunities available including volunteering in a program for disabled individuals which was a rewarding and memorable experience for Syl and I.
The town has a reputation for a large rasta/pot smoking crowd but we stayed away from the dock areas and rarely saw them. Our part of town (the school was a few blocks up from the Santiago Atitlán dock, my homestay was up the same street by the interesting town market) was quite traditional and very friendly. There are only a few main (regular-sized) streets and miles of little labyrinth walkways in between; we met some great people on those walkways.
Overall our time in San Pedro was the most productive and enjoyable week of our 3 week trip. If you're looking for Spanish language study in a good immersion environment and, like me, want to avoid Antigua and Xela (Quetzaltenango), then please consider the Cooperativa school. Let me know if I can answer specific questions or if you want more information about the school and the families.
those 'miles of little labyrinth walkways' make SP so interesting [regardless if you go to spanish school or not].
good report hopefulist [like the name tag too].
Alaska - So glad to hear you're enjoying your time there! What are the name of your teacher and host family? Please tell the folks at the school "hola" from Stacey from Oregon. I will be mailing photos to them this week and hope to return in the future with a group of teachers. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks very much for your advice on Guatemala language schools: i had been told either to go to Antigua or Xela but lake Atilan sounds really nice. Would you recommend here over the other big cities as being quieter/safer/less touristy?
I am planning on studying Spanish for around 1 month or 6 weeks. Is this too long to spend in somewhere quite small like San Petro la laguna? What are the weekend breaks / activities like? I want to be somewhere where i can do plenty of other things at the weekends, either local activities or opportunities to go further afield.
Also is it fairly easy to travel to and from lake atilan? I will be travelling on to Tikal and then Belize after my language school trip for a beach holiday! (as i don't think Guatemala is so good for beaches and i'm keen to do that at the end of my trip too!)
Finally, where are most students from at this school, and how old are they? I'm from the UK and a 26 year old woman - i'm a bit worried about being 10 years older than everyone else there!!
Thanks
With a month or more I wouldn't commit to the whole time in one school, no matter how great it is. If you love it, stay there the whole time, if not, check out another town and school. From San Pedro you can easily visit other villages around the lake or head to Chichicastenango for the week-end market.
San Pedro is less touristy than Antigua; I haven't been to Xela for years so can't help you much there; it's not as touristy but it's kind of a Liverpool.
I don't worry about age when I study Spanish in CA, I'm 50 and haven't felt out of place. I'm not looking to socialize much with other English speaking students, though, preferring to get to know my host family, volunteer, and practice Spanish. The age range and native countries would vary constantly; you could contact the school to get a better idea.
If you study at Cooperativa please tell Lorenzo and the others hello from Stacey from Oregon. Happy trails!
Hi
Thats really great advice and the school sounds fantastic - just what I'm looking for!
I only have a basic level of Spanish and was looking to study in one school for 5 weeks or so - is there much in and around San Pedro? Or are the evening/weekend activities offered by the school enough - bearing in mind the duration of my stay.
Any advice would be much appreciated - thank you
Sorry for the delay in replying - the thread has been down for some reason but they fixed it.
I would love to spend 5 weeks in San Pedro. You can access great 1/2 day and week-end trips from there and there are some great volunteer opportunities. In the evenings the school offers a variety of cultural activities - Maya speakers, Spanish films, salsa classes, visiting local families the school supports, and more.
I'd schedule the 1st few weeks and give yourself some flexibility; you might want to travel around for a bit or check out a different area for study.
Let me know if I can answer questions and please tell Mynor and Lorenzo hi from Stacey. Happy trails!
Great to see this post is still active hopefulist!
I just bought tickets to return to Guatemala again this year -- spent 5 weeks studying Spanish last summer in Xela and Antigua -- mid July to mid August. I plan to skip Antigua this year (except as a transportation hub), and will likely soon reserve my first week at the Cooperativa in San Pedro, based on your input and encouragement. It sounds right up my alley.I have arranged to return to study at El Mundo en Espanol in Xela for the middle 3 weeks. And I've also lined up a volunteer situation there.
I'm 55 and don't get around as well as I used to thanks to weak knees and ankles, so I'm looking forward to paddling on Atitlan. As you wrote earlier, age is definitely not a barrier to learning another language, it's all about having a positive attitude
trusted partner
