Study Spanish in Guatemala it is one of the highlights that this wonderful country can offer and personally it is an experience that I recommend everyone to do.
Lots of kids from all over the world come here on purpose to study because it is by far one of the best places in the whole of Central America, given the low price and the very high quality of the schools present.
Traveling calmly and for a long time in Guatemala allowed us once we arrived on the lago Atitlan to allow ourselves a few days of relaxation between one excursion and another: days that we decided to spend studying Spanish in one of the many schools scattered around the cheerful and colorful town of San Pedro la Laguna.
Lago Atitlan
On Lake Atitlan there is a lot of schools, there are really something for all tastes from the most expensive and professional ones to those we call “home made”; the lessons are both for beginners (like us) but also for those who already speak Spanish and want to improve or perfect it.
The prices are by our standards simply ridiculous: clearly schools offer packages at various prices depending on the length of the course: the longer you study, the less you pay for the lessons (rightly so), the durations are variable, from one or two days, to whole months.
The hardest thing for us was choosing which school to go to because all of them are extremely competitive both in terms of prices and variety of courses and study programs.
After hours of asking left and right we chose the MayaB Spanish School because when we went to the school to inform us the owners were really fantastic, meeting our needs and trying to customize the course as much as possible in such a way as to make it as profitable as possible despite the few days available.
Furthermore, the school is a non-profit organization recognized in 2007 but which has been operating in the area since 1998, dedicating itself with a lot of energy to improving the living conditions of poor families in the villages around the lake.
The logo of the MayaB school
In the end we agreed on a basic course for total beginners lasting two days, studying almost eight hours a day alone with the teacher: in short, we had private lessons at a cost of about 4 euros per hour.
With the teacher we also chose the times that were most convenient for us, from half past eight to noon and then from one to half past five, dedicating time to both grammar and idioms and those sentences that are comfortable (and that in Guatemala they are almost indispensable) for everyday life.
Best of all, Spanish programs for foreign tourists are not limited to just courses.
At schools you can also ask for have homestay accommodation, paying something, in order to make a real "immersion" and to easily put into practice when you are at home, what you have learned during the lessons.
Unfortunately, we were already in a hostel, otherwise we certainly wouldn't have missed the opportunity to stay in a real Guatemalan house: but when such an opportunity arises, not only to study the language but also and above all to live a real experience in contact with the locals?
In addition to this, it must also be taken into account that by staying with local families, in addition to living an authentic experience, it also helps their family economy which, as in all of Guatemala, is not always the most flourishing: in the end there is no he finds himself alone having studied Spanish, but he leaves again with an enormous baggage, not only of culture, but also and above all of emotions.
In short, study spanish in guatemala staying with a family is an opportunity that should not be missed: you spend little, you learn a lot and also brings a bit of well-being to the locals. It just couldn't get any better than this.
