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[gitana2013]

Hi all!

I know this is a long shot, but in the late 90s I studied at a language school in Antigua. They also had a school on the island of Monterrico. I'm trying to track down the school's name to possibly study there again.

I'm sure it's changed since then, but from what I remember, the school in Antigua was in a lovely building right off the sqaure where people sat out in the open air with their teachers....there was also a room for watching movies. I worked with a private teacher for 4 hours or so a day. In Monterrico, the school was a simple building with an enclosed porch area with hammocks. I know that's incredibly vague.

Oh, and the school had a connection with the director of the nature conservation program in Monterrico that had caiman and turtles...?

For all I know, the school could have closed years ago, but just hoping someone who's in Guatemala might remember it. I've done lots of research online, but none of the schools sounded like the one I attended.

Thank you!

[dbuzzingham]

I'm going to assume that you are referring to language schools that teach Spanish here in Antigua and in Monterrico.

I'm an expat who has lived in Antigua for the past three plus years. Language schools here are a dime a dozen, in fact, hardly a block exists in the city (12 blocks by 12 blocks) that doesn't have at least one or more Spanish schools. Of course, they come and go as the economy grows and retreats.

Doing a simple search on the net, I found a school that seems to meet your criteria, i.e. a site in Antigua and a site in Monterrico. The school's name in Antigua is Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín (http://www.spanishschoolplfm.com/). The school in Monterrico now goes by the name Escuela de Espanol Proyecto Linguistico (http://proyectolinguisticomonterrico.com/). From the similarity in the names, I assume that they were owned by the same person(s) at some time in the past, but I suspect the Monterrico site was sold. Neither website refers to the other school, which suggest that there is no longer any association.

As far as location in Antigua, there are no language schools on the park (Parque Central). Most of the buildings are historical (Palace of the Captains General, a historical site), religious (the Cathedral) or government (the Ayuntamiento, i.e. city hall). Everything else is primarily tourist-oriented business or banks. The current location of PLFM is on 6 Avenida Norte, which is about a block from Parque Central. Exactly where it is, I don't know, as I've never noticed its location, although I do know it is still in business.

Spanish schools here in Guatemala all teach much the same way, i.e. one-on-one, with teachers "certified" by a government training program. Learning involves a lot of writing down what your teacher tells you out of the notebook they copied down when they were trained. It sounds strange, but it works.

Spanish schools here can cost you as much as $185 for a 20 hour/week schedule (4 hours/day). You can study more, in fact at least one school offers instruction for up to 8 hours/day. I suspect that suicide might result from such a program.

I'm currently studying at a small school that charges $65/week for 20 hours of instruction. Why the difference in price? Obviously, ambiance. More expensive schools have beautiful gardens, scheduled activities and other extras. I'm only paying for Spanish instruction in a school that shares a courtyard with a business and a private home. If your want a beautiful location, look elsewhere, but I don't see much of it as I'm translating Spanish to English and vice versa, conjugating verbs and doing the other activities that go into learning Spanish.

By this time I've told you more than you wanted to know, but hope I've answered your question.

p.s. I moved here from Iowa. Today's temperature range in Antigua was 59 to 77 degrees, while the place I moved from in Iowa enjoyed a temperature range of 2 to 11 degrees. Life is good here!