Hi all!
I found an old thread about language learning options but decided to make one about this school only...
My goals are to improve my Spanish so that I can eventually work in my field (healthcare) in Puerto Rico. Living in Palmas Del Mar is lovely but there is so much English here that I often take the easy way out and don't even try to speak Spanish.
I studied Spanish inconsistently for several years and even lived in Spain for a summer but it's been a decade since I've used Spanish much and the sound of Spanish is quite different here anyway. I've used DuoLingo for months and also listened to the Language Transfer course that people have recommended here.
I've researched options a bit and decided to try out a week of the Spanish immersion classes at ISLA in San Juan. The cost seems reasonable for what you get, $330 for 15hrs of small group immersion class and some afternoon activities as well. You can add on private lessons as well and if you take multiple weeks of classes the cost goes down. You can also do a home stay for $200 or less per week. I elected to stay at an Airbnb this time as my husband is coming with me but I may do the homestay in the future if I like the program.
The ISLA staff have been great at answering my questions and also have been very flexible with scheduling since I do not need the homestay this time.
I'm really looking forward to it and will update after the class with my thoughts.
ISLA language school
Wish you great success, it is not easy to learn a new language, I know, I had to learn English where the word order are reversed sometimes.
It took years to be fluent. Now I do not translate, I think in whichever language I am speaking at the moment and dream in both languages.
I had a great experience with ISLA. When we moved to PR I took a 2-week group class. It turned out that I was the only student for the 2nd week, so I was able to get private lessons for the cost of group lessons. We lived in OSJ, and it was a good way to get used to the bus, Then Urbano, and the Hato Rey ferry.
trekrider520 wrote:I had a great experience with ISLA. When we moved to PR I took a 2-week group class. It turned out that I was the only student for the 2nd week, so I was able to get private lessons for the cost of group lessons. We lived in OSJ, and it was a good way to get used to the bus, Then Urbano, and the Hato Rey ferry.
Good to hear! I'm hoping to take more classes in the fall when it isn't as busy too!
The week at the school was definitely helpful! I do recommend it. I would say that going for several weeks is the way to go though. They give you a test and then put you in a class at your fluency level. I ended up in a class with people that have already been learning together for several weeks which was a little tough as I often had questions on things that they had already gone over extensively in previous weeks. I had three different teachers during the week and they were all fantastic and friendly. I plan to go back in the fall for a longer period of classes.
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