ESCUELA LATINA DE LENGUAS
COSTA RICA


Apdo. 203 Heredia, Costa Rica, América Central,
In the U.S. (520) 776-7189 Fax (520) 445-2546
In Costa Rica (506) 237-5709 Fax (506) 261-5233
E-mail us: eslatina@amerisol.com

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission at Escuela Latina is to educate students in the Spanish language using innovative classroom methods and cultural interaction. Utilizing a complete immersion approach, we place students with families and arrange homestays where they will feel sufficiently immersed in both the culture and language. This approach helps student develop effective communication skills and obtain an objective knowledge of the culture, customs and traditions of the country. Through community projects, we also give students the opportunity to leave feeling like they've made a difference.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Our program consists of four hours daily of Spanish lessons in classes with no more than 6 people. While the basic structure of our courses is built around a foundation of grammar, a strong emphasis is also put on providing learning through experience. We encourage you to participate in all of our out-of-the-classroom activities and if you are at the intermediate to advanced level, we can arrange for you to work on a volunteer basis in the community.

Through these real-life experiences, you can achieve a fluency by assimilating with the culture on a level you could never reach in your own country.

STAFF

Although the staff at Escuela Latina speaks Spanish with all incoming students, both directors speak English as well and are available to assist students in making travel or other plans in English if necessary. The directors are also instructors and maintain a high level of involvement in the quality and evaluation of a classes.

All of our teachers at Escuela Latina are native Spanish speakers, have university degrees in linguistics or language and teach their classes entirely in Spanish. We have chosen them keeping in mind high standards of knowledge, creativity, experience and enthusiasm. The teachers have also studied teaching Spanish as a second language and through this knowledge provide rewarding and complete language experiences for the students.

SETTING

We are located in Barva, a small colonial town about a mile and a half north of the center of Heredia, home of the National University of Costa Rica with all the services such as banks, restaurants and entertaiment, that you might need while you're here. The school is also unique in that, there is a yard with fruit trees and a veranda in back for dance class, cooking class and a place to relax and study away from the noise of the streets.

Barva has been declared a historic monument and all of the buildings in the center of town which date back to the 1700s are preserved by law. This location offers a much more authentic Latin American experience than the larger cities as the traditional lifestyles that have begun to disappear in the city still thrive in Barva. However, we're a convenient 25 minutes from San José, the country's capital and biggest city.

EXTRA ACTIVITIES

As part of the tuition many extra activities are included. Four times a week for one hour we have Latin dance class where you will have the opportunity to learn Salsa, Merengue, Marcado, Cha Cha Cha as well as other traditional Latin-American dances. Milagro, our cook, offers weekly cooking classes in which she invites you to participate in the preparation of a traditional Costa Rican meal.

Upon arrival, we will pick you up at the airport free of charge. On the first day of classes we will give you a tour of the vicinity. And as a special bonus we also offer free-form language interchanges with Costa Rican Students to practice your language skills in a fun environment.

We also offer Latin music classes weekly. This gives you the chance to learn traditional and popular songs form all over Latin America. At an additional cost we also offer weekend trips to volcanoes, beaches, rainforests, day trips to historical towns, coffee plantations and night trips to discotheques, movies in Spanish, theater, etc.

Our prices are as follows:

USA

Germany

Canada

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