Have you thought about traveling to Guatemala with your family to learn Spanish? Well you aren’t alone. It is a great way to introduce your child to the country of their birth and immerse them in a foreign language.

But before I provide you with a first hand recommendation of a language school in Guatemala, let me tell you a little about the languages of Guatemala. Although Spanish is the official language, there are over twenty-one Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala.These languages are part of the Mesoamerican linguistic group and are spoken by the Mayans of Guatemala. Many of the Mayan people do not speak Spanish at all.

Now back to learning Spanish in Guatemala. I recently read a recommendation for a language school posted by a mother we will call S. For two weeks she, her husband and her two daughters (aged ten and six) attended the Ixchel Spanish School in Antigua, Guatemala and had a great time.

The instruction in this school is one-on-one, and each of them had their own instructor. You can choose to study from two to eight hours a day; S and her family chose five hours a day, Monday to Friday. Students can study at Ixchel from a week to six months or more.

The teachers follow a certain methodology, but the classes aren’t unnecessarily structured. After doing an initial assessment the first day, they create an individual learning plan for the student. They also incorporate games, field trips, videos, cooking and enjoyable activities. S reported that the teachers were terrific and made sure that the children had age appropriate classes and activities.

And what does this all cost? A program of five hours per day costs $125 per week. Weekly prices range from $70 to $170 for two hours per day up to eight hours per day.

Regarding accommodation, Ixchel has a “family stay” option where students live with a local family and get lots of immersion in the Spanish language. The family stay is $70 per week per person, and that includes meals. S stayed with a family that had four children so her kids had other children to play with. The house was very clean and they enjoyed staying there.

S highly recommends this Ixchel Spanish School and I thank her for providing this helpful information.

If any of my readers have studied at another school they would like to recommend, please email me at LisaS@adoptionBlogs.com

More information on this subject:

Adults Learning a Second Language


THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING OF THE MOTHER TONGUE IN AN ADOPTED COUNTRY


Why, How and When Should My Child Learn a Second Language