The teacher is successful at motivating students to speak both in the school and in social situations.

great teacher no hot water

I had a life changing experience and everyday wish to go back!

People friendly for older age people.

I attended this school twice -- good central location, the teachers are great, and the activities are based on what students want. Would love to go back!

We did a lot of fun activities and I enjoyed the teacher. She was sharp, able to help with what I needed to learn and direct the lessons toward my needs.

The town of Quetezaltanango or Xela has 45 spanish schools. They all cost about the same. At this school you get one on one teaching. If your a bit of a rouge you can save big bucks on spanish lessons by just going to Guatemala City and depending on the time of day that you get their stay in the city for the night. Do not travel in Guatemala at night the locals don't even do this. It take 4 hours to get to the highlands of Xela. This is the cheapest, best, and safest place in the entire country to learn spanish. Ok enough . . . Now if you are a rouge then when you wake up in the morning or fly in get to the private bus station Linadora good value, or Alamo a bit cheaper and just as good. And tell them you want to go to Xela (Shay-La) this is what everyone calls it Shay-La. When you get their you can rent a furnished apartment by the week or for a whole month. For a month it will cost about $100 USD. Once you find your living spot you can have your pick on the 45 schools, or just hang around one of them at lunch time or see an American walking with one. Ask them if they do private classes and most will say yes. It will cost you about $50 USD a week and they can come to your apartment. Or just pay for one week at any school and then cut the third party out to save money. If your a real rouge. The activities are usually organized by students and you can meet plenty of them around this town at any of the fund raising functions that are thrown by the 45 schools. If you want to get in on some activities. Once you get to Xela the chicken bus and the micro buses will take you any where for a couple of bucks each way. Banks srcew you on the change up and the atms that you don't stick your card into all the way are the ones you want to use. Do not use any machine that you have to stick your card into all the way keep a tight grip on it. Master card ATM cards you may have problems with but does work at some machines. Do not withdraw more than 1000Q at a time. If you do the machine will take your card. Visa is taken at most places. They also have places that change dollars and other type of money at better prices than a bank. The stores do not take dollars.

Studied 2 weeks in June 2009. Thoroughly enjoyed the excursions, weekly potluck, and variety of teachers. Did not enjoy my family homestay because it was more like a hostel. I did not get included in any family activities only some meals. Was treated more like a hotel guest than part of the family. Took me a week to get a desk in my room, and a week to figure out how to work the hot water, and never in the two weeks did I get a place to store my clothes and belongings so I had to put them out on the floor (although the family did keep saying they would get me a dresser/closet). I should have asked to switch families after just a few nights when I realized it was not what I expected. I highly suggest requesting any changes as soon as possible whether it be a family home or teacher. We are all different and have different expectations and when paying, we should explain to get what we want. The people at the school are very happy to get what we need and when my luggage didn't arrive for one week, the school personnel helped with phone calls every day to the airline. I was glad the school had a small kitchen and we used it daily. Coffee and hot water for tea or cup of soup was always available. Great central location.

I loved the school...excellent teaching and lots of opportunity to learn about Guatemalan culture. I would recommend it to anyone!