Spanish Study and Cultural Immersion in Monteverde

  Costa Rica

• Monteverde: 
Monteverde

Dates: Start dates every Monday, all year round.

Description: Our school, which is located outside of the center, is a newly-renovated modern building with 10 bright classrooms, located within its own gardens. It also provides a kitchen and social area with snacks for the students. The school offers students access to its e-mail account for a one time fee of USD10; you may send and receive unlimited e-mail. The school organizes several cultural activities per week, afternoon and weekend excursions are organized by the staff tours coordinator and can also help the students with other travel arrangements.

The schools teaching staff consists of professionals with university training and experience in teaching Spanish as a second language. The teaching staff is accredited with the Costa Rica Ministry of Education. The teaching method emphasizes conversation and provides the students the opportunity to speak Spanish from their first moment in class. We tailor our programs to the academic goals of the student. The professors are open to teaching survival skills and grammatical structures which are most important to students.

Highlights: Located in a rural region about a 4.5 hour bus ride from San José, Monteverde is a small village community located on the Tilaran mountain range (5,600 feet) and is one of Costa Rica's most popular destinations.

Monteverde's biggest attraction is the Cloud Forest, which is a private reserve spanning the Continental Divide. The Cloud Forest has over 400 bird species, 420 species of orchids and more than 100 species of mammals including 5 species of cats. It also offers the opportunity to visit Sky Trek which is a system of trails, suspension bridges, and zip lines that offers visitors the opportunity to observe and appreciate tropical vegetation from different vantage points, above the canopy. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve of Costa Rica is acclaimed as one of the most outstanding wildlife refuges in the New World Tropics.

The village of Monteverde also has a strong Quaker influence. In the early 1950s, a group of Alabama Quakers fleeing the U.S. draft, chose Costa Rica because the country has no army and Monteverde because it was so remote. Despite the number of tourists, Monteverde and the adjoining town of Santa Elena (only 3 kilometers away), still maintain a small community and a life that goes on outside the busy tourism industry.

Cost in US$: 2 weeks from 1,040 USD

* Use of teaching materials and instructional documents.
* Placement test on the first Monday at beginning of course.
* Host Family accommodation in private room with 2 meals daily and laundry service.
* Maximum class size: 4 students.
* Cultural and social activities: 2-3 organized per week.
* Academic credit available, see main page for additional details.
* Language proficiency certificate at end of program upon request.

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel to Costa Rica Independently or in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups of Max. 4

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application