Study Spanish in Guatemala
Live with a homestay family while you study Spanish in Guatemala
Brush up on your Spanish, make some new friends and get an authentic taste of life in Guatemala. This might just be the adventure your family has been searching for.
Guatemala, Mexico’s next door neighbour in the central American chain, is a luscious, exciting destination that boasts volcanos, lava-heated hot springs, volcanic lakes, coffee plantations, and so much more.
In 2007, we visited for the first time and we decided to use part of our time to study Spanish in Guatemala. We decided on Antigua, a beautiful colonial town in the south of the country. We lived with a homestay family where we practiced our language skills over shared food and have always thought about returning.
This year, we decided to give our girls a chance to learn a new language in the same way, and maybe brush up our own skills. So, in early 2023 we started planning our summer trip to Guatemala. If you’re looking to plan a similar trip, here’s how we did it.
where do you want to learn?
There are a range of ways in which you can customize your Guatemalan experience. There are a few popular choices for taking Spanish lessons, and many reputable schools to choose from. You can take lessons in a colonial town like Antigua, or surround yourself in the natural beauty of a place like Lake Atitlan. There are additional options in Quetzaltenango (locally known as Xela). There are probably more options around the country, but these are the ones we considered.
Compare the schools and their programs
Once you have decided on your location, start searching out schools. We considered Corazon Maya and Cooperative Spanish School in Lake Atitlan, and Kamalbe and INEPAS, in Xela. There are many schools in Anigua but having spent time here previously, we wanted a new experience this time.
Many schools offer the choice of selecting between lodging with the school, or living with a homestay family where you will sleep, share meals and practice your language skills. You will also be able to decide how many hours per day you would like to study (usually between 2-6). Lessons are typically 1-on-1, but we contacted all four schools listed above about having our girls learn together, and all four schools were able to accommodate us.
Getting there
If you plan to study Spanish in Guatemala, here are some things you should know. Most schools start their week on Monday. If you are staying with a homestay family, they will expect you to arrive on Sunday. Contact the school directly if you need to customize your arrival details.
We arrived at La Aurora International airport in Guatemala City on a Wednesday night leaving us a few days to spare. We stopped in Antigua to fill the days, which required organizing an extra shuttle. If you are travelling directly from the airport, your school of choice will organize a shuttle for you.
Spanish school in Lake Atitlan
We ended up deciding on San Pedro in the Lake Atitlan area. Of the two schools we considered in the area, we selected the smaller Corazon Maya. We decided on 3 hours of classes per day with 2-on-1 instruction for the adults and the same ratio for the girls. We also chose to live with a homestay.
Our instructor Edwin was funny, very likeable, and really pushed our learning. He spent the time to figure out what our level was, and helped and encouraged us along our learning path. He had good English language skills but rarely used English, forcing us just that little bit out of our comfort zone, and pushing us to extend our Spanish.
Lola, who taught our girls, used games, walked through the beautiful gardens and made their first Spanish lessons so enjoyable that we decided that we would sign up for another set of lessons when we reached Xela, later in the trip.
Corazon Maya is a small, family-owned school with a roster of about 15 teachers. The owners, Chema and Josefa, organized a trip to a local volcanic sand beach, an afternoon in a Mayan sauna and a end-of-week dinner, that we shared with the family, teachers and other students. Spending time talking with them over coffee or sitting in the garden with the wind off the lake, cooling us, was a great way to learn and we couldn’t have been happier with our experience.
Tips, tricks and ideas to help your family travel better
