[thedriver]

(06-21-2013 11:28 PM)bounce Wrote:  

I plan on studying Spanish abroad in January. The problem is that it costs over $10,000 for a semester through an agency. However, if I were to go it alone I could probably save $3-4,000. Does anyone have any recommendations for specific schools in Latin America? I am sort of set of Colombia or the Dominican Republic. So far I found UNIBE in Santo Domingo and EAFIT in Medellin to be the most promising.

If anyone has any experience studying Spanish in Latin America could you please share your experience.

you can also search in the Dominican republic, Dominican American school

[T-Mac]

@thedriver...is this all about learning spanish or you want a place with fly local girls, sizzling night life, etc.? It really depends on what you are looking for. I can offer you options for every possibility. Sucre, Bolivia is an excellent place for learning spanish on the cheap. I took 3 weeks of class there. It is $20 per day for 4 hours. You can take less or more depending on your tolerance (4 hours felt like 20). I stayed in housing with other students for $5 per day. You can stay with a host family also for super cheap. It is actually a gem of a city for bolivia but the local talent will be tough on your eyes. The nightlife is primarily foreigners. This is pretty much the same story in Antigua, Guatemala. A bit more expensive. You could also head over to Lake Atitlan, Guat. The area is flooded with spanish schools and it is CHEAP. It would not be hard to stay with a host family, take class and get all meals included for under $200 per week. The city (more like a village) I would recommend for this is San Pedro. But there is very little going on here compared to Sucre. This would be a pretty solid immersion. You could also look into Merida, Venezuala. I know many freak out about the country but Merida is the Antigua of Venezuela and isolated up in the mountains from much of the issues facing Ven. Many foreign students and more of a scene than San Pedro. The prices in V change by the second. This would be the most expensive of the bunch but still reasonable. I have a friend in Cuzco, Peru right now staying with a family for $1,500 per month all in. I didn't check the prices in Quito but yet another option on the cheaper side and lacking in local talent.

I will wait on your reply before going into any further details. I have a friend that lives in Medellin (owns a hostel there). I can get you a lot of additional info. PM me with any questions and I will get you answers.

[pegador]

I would actually forget the language schools and get a private teacher in a country that's relatively cheap. I did this in Argentina and honestly, though I may have paid slightly more per hour, I learned 5x as much. I'd go to Buenos Aires or Cordova, Argentina. Cheap, women are hot and you'll have a blast and learn a lot. The only thing with Argentina is that their Spanish is different than what you'd hear in USA, but it will give you the foundation that you need. You can try one of the coastal surf towns in Nicaragua for cheap Spanish...i knew people who did that but I can't speak from experience...

[T-Mac]

Everything I referred to were private one on one lessons. They are easy to get through the schools. You can filter through teachers and pick your favorite. Or you can easily find a local teacher through word of mouth in any city you visit. I found Argentina pricy for lessons so I held off until Bolivia. I agree Cordoba is a solid choice but it will be more expensive. Also, the Argentinian and Chilean spanish confused me a bit. I personally found it easier to learn in the other countries mentioned.

[carouge]

(06-21-2013 11:28 PM)bounce Wrote:  

I plan on studying Spanish abroad in January. The problem is that it costs over $10,000 for a semester through an agency. However, if I were to go it alone I could probably save $3-4,000. Does anyone have any recommendations for specific schools in Latin America? I am sort of set of Colombia or the Dominican Republic. So far I found UNIBE in Santo Domingo and EAFIT in Medellin to be the most promising.

If anyone has any experience studying Spanish in Latin America could you please share your experience.

Not sure if you are still looking but you may consider looking into Guanajuato(the city) Mexico.I believe there are at least 3 language schools there.Only had a very short time there to look around but was a beautiful little old town,looks like Europe.Its a University town so a lot of young people.I heard a lot of foreigners go to learn Spanish there and from what I saw,there were many people from outside of Mexico.I noticed some nice Japanese girls staying at a hostel and one hot one in love with her local bf in a bar.Met Scandinavian girl,people from the east coast and noticed many foreigners in the streets.This is all in addition to the local ladies and uni students and Mexicana touristas that visit.would be a great daygame city i'd imagine.this is all info you could use if you are interested in other activities while learning Spanish of course.Just a suggestion.

[bobdole]

Arica, Chile is a pretty good option if one is looking for spanish immersion..plus, it has a nice relatively undiscoverd surfing scene.

(Academia de Artes y Lenguas is my recommendation for the program)

[InternationPlayboy]

Chile? Chileans possibly speak the most fucked up Spanish around. I remember meeting a group of Chileans in Ecuador. I could understand one of them but the other two were impossible. One would say something, and I'd have to look at the guy I could understand to translate Spanish to Spanish. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. All across South America people talk about how terrible Chilean Spanish is. Seriously though, Colombia is the easiest! They speak so clear!

[WestCoast]

^ shit I only clicked this thread because I thought IP was going to explain how you shouldn't go to Peru to learn Spanish.

[InternationPlayboy]

Haha! From my take, Peruvian Spanish seems pretty similar to Mexican Spanish (only based on accent), but then again my Spanish isn't great. I'll go ahead and say their Spanish is better than their girls.

[mastauser]

ECELA in Lima is a good Spanish school, might be not the cheapest but I enjoyed it and I can recommend it, they have good accomodation as well (they are in Lima, Cordoba, buenos Aires, Valpariso and another Chilean beach town)

Is it true that some Latin American cities are dead in January because of summer holiday (like cordoba)? im going to go to a language school for Spanish again come and join

[InternationPlayboy]

Yes that is true. I'm sure cordoba probably slows down a lot when schools not in session since they have so many universities. In Vitoria brazil, if you go during their summer break, it won't be dead, but it won't be prime either as many people will be in guarapari. I'm sure there are lots of places like this.

[bounce]

well i finally bought my ticket to lima. some crazy people gave me a $4,500 scholarship to study spanish for a semester. I arranged to study at universidad del pacifico but i can still change it if i want. Anyone know any other good Peruvian schools?

[mastauser]

(11-23-2013 06:07 PM)bounce Wrote:  

well i finally bought my ticket to lima. some crazy people gave me a $4,500 scholarship to study spanish for a semester. I arranged to study at universidad del pacifico but i can still change it if i want. Anyone know any other good Peruvian schools?

In terms of universities some girls I've met go here (and looks good) http://www.upc.edu.pe/

[mastauser]

(06-22-2013 08:21 AM)Gallego2006 Wrote:  

Bounce--

Check out Academia Buenos Aires. I studied at their sister school in Uruguay for 2 weeks and they housed me for about 20 days. It cost around $1,000.

In Santiago, Chile, Escuela Bellavista has a really good reputation. You can even do DELE prep there as well.

For really cheap, look at language schools in Guatemala or Honduras. I have a friend who did two weeks of classes for under $200 total in Guatemala.. I don't know what school, but could probably get the name if you wanted it.

Would you recommend me going to Escuela Bellavista in Santiago in january? Or is Santiago not the best in that month?

[bobdole]

(11-20-2013 02:45 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  

Chile? Chileans possibly speak the most fucked up Spanish around. I remember meeting a group of Chileans in Ecuador. I could understand one of them but the other two were impossible. One would say something, and I'd have to look at the guy I could understand to translate Spanish to Spanish. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. All across South America people talk about how terrible Chilean Spanish is. Seriously though, Colombia is the easiest! They speak so clear!

isnt it better to learn the most difficult spanish?
i love colombia..but they they speak a very slow(and yes easy to understand) spanish. sure everyone will be able to understand u...but u will find it more difficult understand people further south (argentina/chile)

if u learn chilean spanish...everyone else's accent will be easy for you.
(you'll just have to remember to speak slow and watch the slang)

and i mention arica not really for chilean spanish...but b/c it might be a rad place to learn.

[InternationPlayboy]

^ I suppose that's true, but it will also make it harder to learn IMO. I'd rather learn from people who speak clear and propper.

[Tail Gunner]

(11-26-2013 02:22 PM)InternationPlayboy Wrote:  

^ I suppose that's true, but it will also make it harder to learn IMO. I'd rather learn from people who speak clear and propper.

No kidding. I do not follow the logic of learning bad Spanish. By analogy, is it best to learn English in an urban ghetto in the United States?

[Tail Gunner]

(04-15-2011 10:23 AM)Jalouse Wrote:  

I haven't been but talking to some other travellers Guatemala sounds like great value. There are apparently two main places to go, unfortunately I don't have the names of these, maybe somebody else who's been there can shed some light on this.

People have told me you can live with a host family, have a one on one tutor and food for $100 a week.

I have heard the same thing about Guatemala. Some schools offer very cheap, but effective, one-on-one Spanish instruction.

I know this cat and I trust his judgment, if you are looking for a school in Guatemala:

http://capitalistenigma.com/?p=427

Taking lessons at that school for a few weeks is on my list of things to accomplish for next year.

[Aliblahba]

The best place to learn Spanish is between the legs of a beautiful Latina. And those legs are always open if you got game.

[Steve Derekson]

Spain is not the best place to learn Spanish.

The Spanish accent from Spain sounds pompous to Latin Americans. I am Spanish and I can tell you that my accent is a negative when talking to latinas.

Also, needless to say, women here suck. I think I have cracked them after my many years here, but even when you do know what to do, it takes a lot of emotional control, and the end result is getting with a narcissistic loudmouthed prude.

Avoid Spain.

[scotian]

I think that Colombia is a decent option but I'm biased because this is where I began to learn Spanish so naturally the Colombian accent (non coastal anyway) is the easiest for me to understand.

I was comptemplating taking group lessons as I did last time but decided against them as they're quite expensive and opted to do self study (some online resources and Spanish language books and CD-roms I bought back home). I also decided to hire a tutor, this girl from an online dating site offered to tutor me so I took her up on it and we met today at a cafe near my hotel. She gave me a test to guage my language capabilites and I then told her about the books I have in my hotel, she asked to see them (you can tell where this is going lol) and we went to my room, about a half an hour later and I"m banging her. I may have to find a new Spanish tutor.

[FretDancer]

Why do you guys say Colombians are the best option? I have never spoken with a Colombian so I have no idea how they speak or sound like. What kind of slang words do they say?

[Matt3B]

Lads, I recently bought Pimsleur's complete Spanish course to learn which cost me around £60 in total including postage.

I previously had the Latin American version and wanted to change to European Spanish, but having now done 10 lessons on both, I can see what they're teaching you is exactly the same...just one has an English narrator and the other American.

If anyone wants it, send me a PM and we can set up a drop box and I'll give you the files. I won't do it for free as I want to make a bit of money back on buying it as I feel like I've wasted £60 on something I already had. I'll give you the complete course of £10.

[carouge]

I didn't attend a language school but did visit the town and liked it.Just giving another option in your research.Its close to the States,if that's where you're from,and fairly cheap to live there I believe.Seems like there is a decent amount of foreign students there.I and someone else has mentioned it before.Cheers http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g15...Coast.html

[Every10GivesMeA10]

(11-28-2013 08:39 AM)MattC Wrote:  

Lads, I recently bought Pimsleur's complete Spanish course to learn which cost me around £60 in total including postage.

I previously had the Latin American version and wanted to change to European Spanish, but having now done 10 lessons on both, I can see what they're teaching you is exactly the same...just one has an English narrator and the other American.

If anyone wants it, send me a PM and we can set up a drop box and I'll give you the files. I won't do it for free as I want to make a bit of money back on buying it as I feel like I've wasted £60 on something I already had. I'll give you the complete course of £10.

Just so you know, most, if not all Pimsleur's courses are available to download for free if you know how to search for it.