Last year I had the amazing opportunity to spend 7 weeks with HablaYa taking classes, volunteering and living with a panamanian host family (3 weeks in Boquete and 4 weeks in Bocas del Toro). I am not kidding when I say it was the most amazing seven weeks of my life. I have been gone for almost three months now and i can not wait to go back this summer and visit all my friends there. HablaYa is am amazing program that has the most wonderful people working there. My three main professors were Christopher, Irasema, and Yaira. I have taken spanish 5 years in public schools and two different universities in the USA and my 3 panamanian were hands down the best spanish teachers I have ever had. For the first time in all my schooling I was excited to go to classes and everyday was fun and exciting. Not only are all the employees and administrators at Hablaya great at what they, but every single one that I met was an exceptional person. My 7 weeks with HablaYa made an enormous impact on my spanish and my life. I was 19 when I studied there but it is amazing place for students of all ages. I would 100% recommend them to anyone who asked me.

This school is so good that I've just booked to go back. What makes it special is the teachers, they make learning interesting and fun. On my last trip, I was taught by Christopher and Yaira who were both excellent. I've decided there is no point going to any other school, it just won't compare to Habla Ya.

“yaira y Christopher son impresionantes!” Disfruté muchísimo mi mes en habla Ya en Bocas del Toro, y se lo recomendaría a cualquiera que esté interesado en aprender español en un ambiente acogedor y divertido. No sólo la escuela ofrecen actividades extracurriculares cada día, sino que también tiene algunos de los mejores maestros españoles que he tenido. Mis dos profesores, Yaira Muñoz y Christopher Clark, era agradable, atento y paciente, y hecho del aprendizaje agradable. Ellos me enseñaron tanto sobre el idioma y la cultura, y estaban verdaderamente interesados en mi progreso. Si alguna vez tengo la oportunidad de volver a Bocas, sin duda volveré a habla Ya y solicitud Yaira y Christopher imuchas chicos gracias!

I took spanish classes at Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro for one week (unfortunately only one week!!) in August 2012. I already booked my classes from Germany and everybody of the administration team was so friendly and helpful! I was picked up from the airport and welcomed in a very friendly way. My host-family was very nice, too and I really felt home. My teacher Christopher was great. He really tried to find out which was the best way for me to learn Spanish. So he adjusted his way of teaching exactely to my needs. I learnt a lot without even noticing! I could highly recommend HablaYa to everybody who wants to learn Spanish and spend a great time in Panama!

Hey guys i visited habla ya in bocas del toro for a few weeks and had the pleasure of being teached by christopher clark - one of the best teachers i've ever met! a friendly, young but very experienced guy who knows how to teach. thanks to him i improved my spanish a lot and can finally understand all the grammar no other teacher ever was able to make me understand. the classes were strict but funny at the same time and i always felt very comfortable even if i didn't know the exact anywer. we did a lot of diferent things in class like little games, audios, reading and speaking to be able to use our spanish in every part of life. apart from that christopher's manner of teaching he was always foculized on make us understand everything before going on with the next topic.furthermore the amount of homework was reasonable and so that i still could enjoy my trip AND study at the same time. what i also liked a lot is that we were never more than 5 people in class so one couldnt get bored because we all had the same level of spanish and could share our knowledge. i really recommend habla ya in bocas del toro to everyone who loves the beaches just like i do and i really recommend you christopher as a teacher if you are interested in making the best out of your spanisch level.

I went to that beautiful place called Bocas del Toro in 2011 and took spanish lessons in Habla Ya for nearly a month. I have to admit that this little school was an excellent way to learn spanish whilst enjoying tropical temperatures, palms and amazing beaches. At this point i would like to mention my teacher Christopher who is a great young and very motivated part of the great habla ya stuff. I really did enjoy his classes thanks to a different teaching methods every day and some very nice classmates from all over the world. Not only did I enjoy Chistopher’s Spanish classes but also the salsa and dancing classes he gave in Habla Ya. It was a great experience and all in all Bocas del Toro is the perfect place to learn Spanish and have some relaxing vacation at the same time.

hola chicos. quiero decirle gracias a todas las personas de habla ya. tuve un tiempo muy bueno ahi. mi profesor fue christopher y es muy amable y me enseno mucho espanol. el hizo las clases muy divertidas. ademas me gusta la organizacion de la escuela y el pueblo bocas dell toro con todas las playas lindas. yo recomiendo hablya ya a todos :-):-)

I couldn't speak more highly of my experience with Habla Ya. I took only 1.5 weeks of classes (Intermediate 1) and I definitely wanted MORE! Before choosing Habla Ya (or Panama, really), I explored severalSpanish language schools online, and initiated conversations with several. In prior years, I had taken semi-private lessons in short stints in Mexico City and in La Paz, Bolivia, and based on those experiences, I knew I wanted something on the more structured side of things. Habla Ya impressed me right from the start - from the online placementtest, to the phone call I received the day after I submitted my interest. I found the initiation to be extremely supportive, helpful, professional and prompt. And my Habla Ya classroom experience exceeded my expectations. First, I made it to Bocas barely one hour before my first class was meant to begin - the office staff were accommodating and helpful (getting me water, ensuring a safe/trustworthy environment for me to just leave all my belongings while I went to class). My teacher, Diogenes, was exceptional. He began by understanding my learning goals and my learning style (e.g. do I like to be corrected along the way as I'm speaking or at the end?). Then he shared some things about his style and asked my permission to make some changes to our schedule (I was there over the two weeks of Christmas & New Year). Diogenes created a super-relaxed, yet well-paced environment encouraging of risk-taking and free of pressure. He is incredibly patient, quite funny, and enthusiastic about his own learning (which created fun opportunities for me to try to explain English phrases in Spanish), all of which resulted in an incredible setting for me. We would start each class just by chatting, storytelling. This allowed us to make a great connection with each other, and for me to practice conversations as I might actually have with my friends (versus awkward formal rote conversations I had in prior classes with teachers I knew nothing about and with whom I didn't feel comfortable being open about myself). He also used various games/activities and we even went for a walk during one of our classes... all methods to keep things interesting and nurture various styles of learning/reinforcement. I can't say enough about my experience with Habla Ya & Diogenes - HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Habla Ya does not care about the student learning how to speak Spanish! Their only concern is to take your money. Although I placed in their C1 (communications) course, they gave me conjugations in the present tense. After I complained for 3 consecutive days, they finally placed me into their C1 course. Unfortunately, the instructor had never taught a conversation course, and kept asking me what we should do! It was a total waste of time and money!

Excellent school with top quality teachers!

I've been there for 6 weeks, arrived with no spanish knowledge, and now I'm able to talk to the Panamenios. Benita was my teacher and she's the best one you can find.

I was at the campus in Bocas del Toro for four weeks and took group lessons there. The staff is super nice and competent, group sizes are comfortably small. The group activities organized by the school were always fun, it is almost like a family feeling with the other students. I want to specifically thank and recommend Eliana as a teacher, as she is a natural at teaching and motivating her students. By her loveable and cheerful nature she makes time fly as you learn more and more while having a great time.

This is already my second time at Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro. The first time I came here to study Spanish in 2015 (for 5 weeks) and I liked it so much that I returned this year again :) This time I took three weeks of group classes (level C1) with Benita. I would have loved to stay longer but it’s not possible because of work. I can only recommend this institution, the school offers a really good service, you feel very welcome, there is help whenever and with whatever you need, there is a lot group activities and it feels like being part of a big family. Especially the lectures with Benita were definitely incredible. I would like to compliment her. She fills the lectures with various exercises like telling stories, reading, writing, grammar parts, interpreting texts, listening to songs, playing scrabble on a Friday. The content is put together in such a way that you won’t feel like sitting in a class room. It rather feels like sitting together for a coffee and discussing different topics but nevertheless you are learning a lot. Well... sometimes we were indeed drinking a coffee during class, Benita looks after her students in such a lovely way as a mama :) Thank you a lot, Benita, for creating such a good atmosphere for learning!

I spent 4 weeks in Bocas del Toro. I took 4 hours group class and 1 hour privat class. My teacher was Benita and she is fantastic. She is such a lovely, cooperative, patient person. I had a great time and i learned a lot in her class. But not only Benita was amazing. The whole school did a great job. There were so many activities they organized for us. And the teachers also spent their freetime with us, and so we practiced spanish also outside of school. In this way I became good friends with them, and I had an unforgettable time. Muchas gracias por todo a Benita, Erian, Yeremy, Tonis, Cesar, etc...

I attended classes at the Bocas del Toro campus of Habla Ya for three months. Not only did I have an amazing time, but I also received an incredible education. My professors in this school were Benita and Eliana, both of which were amazing. I highly recommend this destination and these teachers.

Great school for learning Spanish! I was here for one week only but I found the classes had a big impact and I would definitely recommend for anyone serious about learning Spanish! The school organizes a lot of activities to do outside of class as well so it's great for learning solo or with a group. I had a Sergio as a teacher and he was fantastic!

We did a two week course at the Bocas campus with an amazing teacher Iraida! We had very very little Spanish and were in the most basic course that was perfect for our needs. There were 3 people in the class for the first week and then it was just us! We completed almost the 3 week course in 2 weeks, iraida tailored everything to our needs! She is possibly the most patient person on the planet, she corrected our mistakes gently and consistently. We had lots of fun in the lessons, playing games and going on an excursion one day. Absolutely loved our time there, made so by our teacher! Would recommend.

I have been studying in Habla ya Bocas del Toro for 3 weeks. And I can say that my group class teacher Lyneth was absolutely excelent! The lessons offer a great variety of vocabulary training, grammatics, discussions and language games. In addition to my group lessons I took a daily private lesson with Yesika, which helped me immensely with my Spanish. Thank you Lyneth and Yesika for their patience, Bocas was an amazing experience.

I spent a month at HablaYa in Bocas Del Toro and it was a great time and experience. I had a Sergio for the first week and Lineth for the last 4 weeks. Lineth was a great teacher that helped me improve my speaking skills a lot by making our class play games and do exercises that made learning easier and more fun. Lineth also made sure to give advice on what her students had to work on in order to make sure her students improved. Overall, my experience with Hablaya was great and Sergio and Lineth were great teachers. My Spanish level went from B1.2 to C1.2 at the school

I studied at habla ya for 3 weeks and I had Lineth as my teacher. I was very happy that I could study with her for the whole free weeks. Lineth is a very great teacher. I learned a lot during the 3 weeks and the lessons never got boring with her. She doesn't just use the book during class, we also did a lot of talking, played games and so on. Like that i could improve my spanish a lot. It was also great that there were not many other people in my class, for 2 weeks we were 2 and one week I was alone. I would definitely love to go back to habla ya to study with Lineth!

My family and I spent two weeks at the Habla Ya Bocas del Toro campus. Our experience was great. My teacher Benita was outstanding. She did a great job of push us forward at a pace that kept things moving. She was always happy to change gears to meet our individual learning needs. This was my first time taking a Spanish class and my Spanish grammar improved significantly. It was a great experience. My daughters (10 and 6) had classes with Yessica who was absolutely great The town was beautiful and felt very safe. Important, traveling with a young family. We did a homestay with Romaldo and Viodelda who were lovely! They made an effort to help us practice our Spanish, and the food was incredible. It was a highlight of our trip!

A great place to learn Spanish. I initially only signed up for 1 week but added a second week because I was really enjoying it and learning a lot. Benita is an amazing and patient teacher who knows her stuff. Expensive but worth it.

I just finished 4 1/2 unplaned weeks of language school in Bocas. I got in, in the middle of the week and just could attend a on going class. In my second week i could switch to private classes in the afternoon. So many thanks to the frontdesk for the flexibility. With Lineth i got an amazing teacher who was always adapting properly to my language level in speaking und boosting it in such a short time to a new level! So I got really into spanish and got joy of using it, what made me take 3 weeks more of private lessons with Lineth. By arriving i couldn‘t even build one proper sentence, now am able to have a real conversation. First i really would have prefered to take private classes in the morning, whats not possible, as the teachers have regular classes in the morning. but with classes from 3-5 you still have time to do something in the morning or learning a bit on your own. Some people take 4 hours of private classes per day-> for me 2 hours per day where perfect as its more intens (2 classes private are equal to 4 hours in a regular class) im only rating the classes as i organisied the rest like accomodation on my own.

I really enjoyed my experience with Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro! Benita was my teacher and she's amazing! She's so nice, funny, competent and with her you just don't see the time passing!! First I wanted to stay 1 week, but finally I had one more ;-) Muchas gracias Benita por todo lo que me aprendiste!!Fue genial!

I completed a month of private lessons with Iraida. I had previously had two years of Spanish classes in highschool, but that was 10 years ago. Iraida was great at being flexible for what I needed to learn. I had some gaps in my knowledge and while she was always well prepared for the day's lesson, she was able to change topics on the fly when I needed more help in certain areas. I can tell I am way more comfortable with my Spanish thanks to the lessons. When I first came down here, I could order food and ask where the bathroom is. Now I can talk about things in the past, like telling stories or asking people more complex questions. The school also was very welcoming, and they have daily activities that any of the students can participate in. Bocas is beautiful.

Highly recommended language school! I studied several weeks at HablaYa at lovely Bocas del Toro and had a very great time! The school is well organized and they are offering various opportunities how to study spanish! The students are at every age and from all over the world. I decided to book a group class and I met many lovely people during my weeks. The staff & teachers (Lineth, Benita, Sergio ... ) are just incredible, very helpful, lovely and extremely nice and unique persons. They are not just teachers, they are your "friends and family"! Everybody is trying to give the best, to make your stay far away from home and the learning experience, easy and unforgettable! I felt very safe and very quick "at Home"! They are even organizing many activities "outside" the classroom and studying hours, which was always fun and a very good opportunity to catch up with them and all the other students (like Yoga, Volleyball, Movie Nights, Dinners, Tours around the beautiful island, Bonfire at the beach and many more things)! My special thanks goes to my lovely, wonderful and amazing teacher LINETH! She was always there for me and helped me so much to improve my spanish! She made me feel so secure and welcome from the very first minute. Her teaching style is a perfect mixture of: the basics with all the grammar, talking, playing funny games, laughing and telling very interesting stories about Panama, the culture and the peoples life! She even invited us to her hometown and her family, which was a great experience! I am proud to say, we are very good friends now and I am sure we will see us again, one time! Muchas gracias y hasta luego to my "Chi´s Lineth & Benita" and everybody else! Sandra

I just finished two weeks of Spanish classes with Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro, and I can say that overall I am very pleased with my experience here. I was a little anxious prior to my trip as I have never before spent time in a developing country, but my anxiousness was put to rest very quickly. Everyone in my homestay family (Alicia) was very, very friendly and accommodating, and I definitely was glad that I took this opportunity to learn more about every day life in Bocas. My teacher Benita is a great instructor and was very responsive to my preferences for class. She has extensive and thorough knowledge of Spanish grammar and also has a knack for telling great stories, which definitely helped me improve my proficiency in Spanish during the two weeks of classes. Benita even found a documentary in Spanish on a topic I was interested in, and then we ended up watching some of this documentary in class. Every concern and question that I had throughout the trip was addressed quickly and professionally, and I feel lucky that I chose to attend this school. If you want to learn Spanish and enjoy life living on a Caribbean island, then Habla Ya is the way to go.

I had a great time at the Spanish School! I have excellent teachers Iraida and Sergio. They were excellent teachers, I would highly recommend . I had Iraida for most of my four weeks there, she was engaged, fun, and very intelligent. She easily adapted the class to the needs of her students. She really brought to life the cultural aspects of life in Bocas de Toro. The other teachers, staff, and administration were all very friendly. I look forward to going back to this school to continue learning more language and Panamanian Culture.

I had a great experience with Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro. My teacher, Iraida Howard, was incredibly patient and taught me so much during my 4 weeks in her class. I started at the introductory level and Iraida answered all of my questions and challenged me in a supportive and encouraging way. I would love to return to Habla Ya someday to continue working on my Spanish! My husband and I appreciated the variety of activities provided by Habla Ya, including the Cacao Farm tour, exploring the beautiful beaches around Bocas, and enjoying many meals with teachers and other students. Overall, Habla Ya provided an enriching and memorable experience!

I spent 4 weeks studying at Habla Ya in Bocas (6 weeks total, I also spent 2 weeks at the Boquete location) and had an awesome experience. My teacher Lineth was excellent. She did a great job of making the classes challenging and fun at the same time, and she was very patient. I learned a TON of Spanish. When I arrived in Panama I knew only the most basic Spanish, and after 6 weeks I was having conversations with locals. The student body at Habla Ya comes from all over the world and I really enjoyed making new friends from around the globe. If you take the classes seriously and try to speak with locals outside of class hours you will be amazed at how quickly you learn!