Students Reviews

Although I've been taking Spanish on and off for years, I needed a good English speaker to get clarity on questions I'd had over the years. KARLA, my instructor was great. She gave clear instructions, and spoke slowly enough for me to be able to really understand what a Spanish speaker was saying... for the first time in my life. She also has a great personality! I would ask for her again in a heartbeat.

Hi there,

I'm not sure if this is the right place to submit my review but if so I'd like to take a moment to write my review on Rosa:

Despite as my name suggests I am a beginner in Spanish, having studied 1 week in Spain many years ago I was hesitant to study again, as the class I did previously moved too fast and was very overwhelming.

In Antigua, Guatemala at the Spanish Academy Guatemala I had a much better experience thanks to two lovely teachers I had - Teresa for day #1 and Rosa for the following four days.

Rosa was a fantastic teacher she was calm, patient, made me feel comfortable and also always made me laugh! I'd highly recommend her as she teaches at the pace you are willing to learn and is happy to run through things you do not understand. The classes are one-one-one so you don't have the pressure of keeping up with the class and you get one on one attention, much better value for money!

I would also return to the Spanish Academy Antigua given the opportunity to.

Thank you very much :)

Bottom Line: Outstanding Spanish School and Homestay; highly recommended.

My visit to Antigua was a mixture of work [visiting local hospitals and producing reports about their capabilities and quality] and Spanish-language education.

Julio matched me up with the perfect instructor, Marta Lidia Oviedo, who showed amazing flexibility during my class time by assisting me with language skills related to the medical profession and coaching me so that I would be able to speak with the local medical professionals and obtain the information that I needed for my reports. She also assisted me with the hospital visits by coaching me about use of local transportation to reach the facilities [e.g. in Chimaltenango], providing me with contacts to obtain general information about the local health-systems and gain access to medical facilities, and accompanying me during the visits to translate if I ran into difficulties during an interview. Marta was truly extraordinary.

The school arranged for Eric Figueroa, of Vela Travel, to pick me up at the airport when I arrived in Guatemala City; and even though it was a bit more expensive than other modes of transportation, I got door-to-door service, excellent insights from Eric, and was able to arrange follow-on transportation for my return [after 2 weeks in Antigua] to Guatemala City for work [receiving a "familiarization tour" of the city to identify the locations of the major hospitals.]

My Homestay at Casa Loretti was superb. Mary and her staff were extremely friendly and accomodating and the food was excellent.

My congratulations to Julio and the staff of Spanish Academy Antiguena for providing such a high quality and user-friendly service.

I did one week of Spanish school at the academy. I was well looked after by my host family; Katya and her three sons. The food was amazing. In terms of the school itself my teacher mirtala was great. She had the patience to endure my almost non existent Spanish and teach me enough so that I can get by. All in all I had a great week and I would highly recommend the school to anyone who would like to learn Spanish. Even the basics.

Joseph demarco

I enjoyed my time with Leticia Socorec and benefited from the one-on-one instruction from her. She was well groomed, prompt, and cheerful. Leticia was very professional in her approach to teaching Spanish, using various methods to provide quality instruction. She kindly corrected my mistakes and took the time to write down any words or ideas I did not understand. This helped with my vocabulary and the written idea or concept allowed me to re-read and study the corrected material. It was a pleasure working under her capable guidance.

I went to the Spanish Academy for 4 weeks. It was a great experience. I came with no knowledge of Spanish at all. My teacher was Sheny Flores and she did an excellent job of teaching me the basics of Spanish. I learned a lot in the time I was there and would recommend it to anyone.

I stayed in a homestay and it was amazing. There was always enough food and there was always lots of fresh fruit and bread available as well. It was very quiet and had a great view. If I came back I would definitely want to stay there again. The lady's name was Ilma and the son's name was Carlos.

I studied 4 weeks at the spanish academy antiguena school and I had a wonderful time here in Antigua.
Every lesson was interesting fun and helpful. I had a wonderful time with my teacher Licet Gomez!!!
The homestay was perfect, clean room and good food.
Gracias

My teachers name is Sandra or Sandi. While I was only at the school one week (and it was actually less because I was sick one day ) the one to one experience with Sandi was interesting, and fun. Sandi was skilled at keeping the conversations going, patient, and adept at encouraging me, and correcting me at the same time. I am impressed with the school and with the caliber of teaching, and highly recommend Sandi as a teacher.

I just ended my 4 weeks of Spanish lessons at this school. It was amazing! We had lessons in a garden (sometimes in the morning it could get a bit cold, but who cares...) and my teacher was amazing; Ana Luis! If you go there, ask for her! She's very patient and very good in explains the grammar (in English too). I started from scrach and now I can make conversation in Spanish.
Thank you all for the great time there! Hope to come back next year.

My wife, daughter and I spent three and half weeks studying Spanish 4 hours a day and living with a home stay family. It was a fantastic experience that I would highly recommend!

My teacher's name was Dora and when I return I would ask for her again. She was a great teacher and I learned a lot from her. It was hard work being immersed in Spanish but at the end I was very comfortable going into a shop and having a 5 minute conversation with the shopkeeper.

My home stay was equally spectacular! We stayed at "la casa de Maria de Hernandez. The food was the best, Maria and her staff even better. I would highly recommend them to all!

It was the trip of a lifetime! Thanks to all!

I attended this school for 4 weeks and would highly recommend it to other aspiring Spanish speakers. There are a lot of students here from many different countries, and it is a good way to meet other people.

My maestra, Silvia, was a great teacher. Her skills as well as her good sense of humor did indeed make my experience at the school a good one.

I have really enjoyed my homestay at the home of Sylvia and Marvin Gonzalez. They have a lovely family, and everyone tries to make you feel comfortable. They could not have been better.

From January to February 2015 I took action toward making my dream of speaking fluent spanish and traveled to Antigua Guatemala to study at the Antiguena Spanish Academy.

I found the homestay very warm with wonderful hosts who were very encouraging and helpful when practicing spanish. Things are simple in the homestay with living accommodations, food is basic, tasty and filling. As in all Central America there are a lot of carbs but some fresh fruits and veg are incorporated each day as well. I definitely recommend the homestay option as it's a great way to learn about the local culture and it's great for practicing.

The school is good. Obviously a great price. There is a lot of conversation during one on one class and my teacher (Marina - 60 years old) was good at finding new subjects to chat about and was a delight to greet every morning. All teachers I interacted with were friendly and helpful. The garden -where you study- offers a wonderful place to learn outside and there were lots of students doing one on ones. (Watch out for falling avocados. Haha.) To really make your learning stick you must do homework and study outside of class as well. It's easy to meet people at the school and the cafe food was a big hit with students at great prices and tasty traditional offerings. There are also many fun activities you can do based in Antigua - I did the Volcano Acatenango hike and Semuc Champey. Note of advice, shop around the travel agents.

If you are interested in any more info I'm happy to chat, share some recommendations or my experience. Feel free to write: mon_davis@hotmail.com

Monica Davis - Vancouver, Canada

Due to the nature of my work, I needed to brush up my Spanish. After looking on the internet, I was convinced to try this school due to reviews like these.

I studied for a little over four weeks at Antigüeña Academy with three different teachers. Two of them that I really liked were Lidia Isabel Castillo and Mary de Zuleta, who was my teacher the majority of the time. Lidia had another reservation, so I was only able to have her as my teacher for a couple of days.

I enjoyed Mary as my teacher so much that I decided to bump up my hours to eight a day, after taking six hours the previous two weeks. Probably around a third of the time we just talked to practice, since I already knew some Spanish, and the rest of the time we did exercises, all of which were carefully crafted to help me learn faster. She expected a lot of me, which challenged me to learn all I could. I would really recommend her--she has over 21 years of experience!

I was also really pleased with my homestay, Adolfo and Odilia Larios and family. From day one, they included me as part of the family and treated me as such. After school they would help me to practice my Spanish and answer any questions I had. The food was very good as well. I never had the same food for consecutive meals, and there was always a great variety of fruits, vegetables, etc.

To summarize, I would give this school a 10 out 10. The quality of teaching is very high, and the activities and the students from all over the world just add to the experience. I recommend to whomever I can, and will go back if I am able!

Loved every bit of it. Mi maestra fue muy paciente y muy difrutita! The classes in the garden made it even better. Even tough it could be a bit cold in the morning. I had 4 weeks of school and wished I had more time to learn more. Started from scratch and now I'm able to speak and listen (still learning though, haha). If you want to learn Spanish in a nice surrounding and good teachers, go here. And ask for Ana Luis!

I had a wonderful time in Guatemala while learning Spanish at the Antiguena Academy. I loved my teacher, Lily. She was fantastic - fun, challenging, and supportive! I learned so much in just two weeks. I stayed with a wonderful host family and would definitely return for another stay/course.