Thread: Spanish School

So I'm really hoping I come up with the money to take 4 wks. & go to Spanish school. I kind of got hooked on the idea & know that if I don't take Spanish right away, who knows when I'll have the time to take it.

It was a toss up between the one in PC & the one in Boquete.

While I really love the people at the school in Boquete, I opted for the one in PC for a couple of reasons:

1. It was a slightly less expensive. Even the pickup at the airport is free whereas to get to Boquete it's close to $100.
2. I won't be living in PC, so I figured that would be a good time to get to know the city.

I'm just wondering what other people's experiences have been like with the schools.

I have found a room for rent. It's more than I wanted to spend as I thought I had another room for much cheaper, but the guy gave me misinformation & left me hanging.

Does anyone know of any other rooms for rent close to the school?

I need reliable high speed Internet & a large room b/c of my desktop or another small office area.

Thanks


Michelle

This should really be titled...."looking for a room to rent"

I was also asking about the schools, so it wasn't just about the room.

The one I was going to go to turned into a nightmare. The owner screwed up ALL of my plans & now I'm lost as to where to live.

Will be going to another Spanish school next week.


Michelle

Originally Posted by sensualspirit

I was also asking about the schools, so it wasn't just about the room.

The one I was going to go to turned into a nightmare. The owner screwed up ALL of my plans & now I'm lost as to where to live.

Will be going to another Spanish school next week.


Michelle

Which school are you registering with? Habla ya? In terms of a room have you considered the option of living with a local family affiliated with the school. It would immerse you in the language and you would have friends with locals fairly quickly. It might save you money and make for better experience overall. Just a thought.

Originally Posted by fleeted

Which school are you registering with? Habla ya? In terms of a room have you considered the option of living with a local family affiliated with the school. It would immerse you in the language and you would have friends with locals fairly quickly. It might save you money and make for better experience overall. Just a thought.

Maybe Nakedguy has a place. LOL

Hi Fleet,

Yes I know all that already My situation is different, as I run my business online & I need to have access to the ethernet cable & have a desk & a chair so I can work. I don't use a laptop for my business, only a desktop.

The schools told me they wouldn't be able to find me a family who could accommodate me, so I had to look for other accommodations.

I wanted to go with Habla, but the price to get to Boquete & their extra costs plus the extra money to get a hotel is too much for me right now.

They also can't get me real internet, it's wireless & I need at least 3 MB to run my phone. The hotel & the school only have 2.

So I'm going to go with Ileri. We'll see if she comes up with a family for me, otherwise I'm just going for one week.

Funny Bala. You'd think a nudist would be a lot more relaxed & happy


Michelle
P.S. Finally found the notices. Gmail thought they were spam.

Originally Posted by sensualspirit

Hi Fleet,

Yes I know all that already My situation is different, as I run my business online & I need to have access to the ethernet cable & have a desk & a chair so I can work. I don't use a laptop for my business, only a desktop.

The schools told me they wouldn't be able to find me a family who could accommodate me, so I had to look for other accommodations.

I wanted to go with Habla, but the price to get to Boquete & their extra costs plus the extra money to get a hotel is too much for me right now.

They also can't get me real internet, it's wireless & I need at least 3 MB to run my phone. The hotel & the school only have 2.

So I'm going to go with Ileri. We'll see if she comes up with a family for me, otherwise I'm just going for one week.

Funny Bala. You'd think a nudist would be a lot more relaxed & happy


Michelle
P.S. Finally found the notices. Gmail thought they were spam.

Ok I see your dilema. sorry I can't be of more assitance, best of luck and have a safe trip!

How did everything turn out? Are you already settled in and taking classes? I'm wondering because if you're not in much of a hurry, you can take Spanish classes at the University of Panama for very cheap. The downside is that (from what I know) the classes are only two sessions per week for a couple of hours each session. Not exactly the best for learning a language, but it's helpful nonetheless.

No, b/c that owner of the one school was such an ass, it threw everything off.

1. I found out a day or two before flying to Panama that the guy booted me from his program, so I told the guy I'm renting from that I'm only going to rent week by week instead of for the month as I had no idea what my plans were.
2. He then went ahead & without asking me, rented the room to someone else assuming I was just going to get a short term rental in Boquete b/c I was asking around. So now I'm looking for another place to stay until I figure out which town in the Interior I want to live in.
3. I thought I was going to go to another school that offered me a good deal, but the homestay she had could only let me stay there one week & with her only having wireless (not real Internet which is what I need), I certainly didn't want to be moving around week after week which is nuts.

I tried to get a tutor, but I thought it was $20 for 1 1/2 hours. Turns out he wanted min. 2 hours for $40.

In the end my biz consultant said, find yourself a place to stay FIRST. Spanish can wait & he's right. As much as I want to take the courses, if I'm homeless, what's the point.

See what one expat who owns a Spanish school can do to someone? I'll be reviewing his school warning others since no one should have to go thru what I'm going thru just arriving in a new country.

I'll check into the University, as that may be a plan if it's within my budget. At this point I just want to learn the most common terms I use. I don't need to learn the alphabet, etc. right away.

Thanks a ton


Michelle

This Spanish School in Argentina is considered to be the one of the best school in the country,

Originally Posted by stevensmtih15

This Spanish School in Argentina is considered to be the one of the best school in the country,

If that's the best, then I wonder what the worst is LOL

I read another site from another school & they were CLEARLY very professional & knew their stuff. They explained exactly how to know whether a school is any good or not. I have to be honest & say I didn't read over every page of the other school's sites, so I don't know if they educated the reader on the same thing, but if I got to this page on this school's site, that means their site was well done, as I usually don't have time to read every page on a site.

I found the one in Boquete to be the most professional & nice even when they knew it wouldn't work out. Although they all seem to be somewhat skittish b/c my situation isn't the norm. One asked if I could lower my expectations LOL I feel my expectations aren't high just b/c I need a desk, chair & good wired Internet. The other one just ignored me when I said it wouldn't work out. It's a shame, b/c now if I ever wanted to go to their school in the future, I wouldn't just for that reason.

I guess these schools only ever have people who don't have to work online coming to their schools. I don't know, in this day & age I know there's more online workers or netrepreneurs moving around the world. I guess most of them don't want to take Spanish lessons upon arrival. Or maybe most of the students are already retired.

In the end I don't think I'll be in PC long enough to go to the University, so I'll have to look for a tutor.


Michelle

Just take a Spanish class online.

Spanish is learnt in the street. Speak to everyone - try to ask things you have never asked before - always engage everyone that you can in conversation - it will become easier.

Originally Posted by snohobo

...(snip) try to ask things you have never asked before - (snip)...

Be careful, I ended up getting married using that same approach!

Originally Posted by becky7474

Just take a Spanish class online.

That's not my cup of tea. I would never push myself to do it & just reading or reciting text back isn't fun IMO. Glad it works for you


Michelle

Originally Posted by TennVol

Be careful, I ended up getting married using that same approach!

LOL, what did you ask for?


Michelle

How is the Spanish learning coming? I ended up taking the University courses I was talking about, and it was helpful but (as I suspected) not that strong. The classes progressed too slowly for my liking, and for the amount of time it was making me take off of work it felt a little wasteful.