BEACH ADVENTURE

Rancho de Español has a special program that offers three weeks in our main campus and one in the beautiful beach of Playa Hermosa, located in the northern province of Guanacaste.

The program has 5.5 hours of Spanish instruction during the first and second week. Students will live with local families within a walking distance to the school. Safety is another plus for our students due to the size of the town. La Guácima is a real Costa Rican village where families preserve the real “tico” life style. Most of the families are related to each other which permits our students to interact with more than one host family.

There is good bus transportation to San José and Alajuela, the city second in importance in the country

During the first, second and fourth week the immersion in the local culture is total because the school is located in La Guácima de Alajuela, a small agricultural village 18 miles northwest of San José, capital of the country.

Here people speak nothing but Spanish and families enjoy hosting foreigners.

After that, we will take you to a beautiful beach on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica for the whole third week of your stay.

Some of our teachers will be with the group to provide a couple of hours of Spanish instruction and help with arranging everything for our students. They will be always available to help with your stay at the beach and reinforce the use of Spanish all the time.

Students will be lodged in comfortable cabins overviewing the ocean; they all have fans to make your stay more enjoyable.

The idea is that students get to visit one of our beaches but continue practicing Spanish, as most of these attractions are very touristy and students can easily fall into speaking English.

Spanish classes will be given from 3 to 5 p.m., so our students do not have to get up early and can enjoy the sun and surroundings.

Classes will never have more than 5 students.

The program provides transportation from La Guacima to the Pacific ocean and return to the original host family, three meals a day and study materials such as photocopies and handouts.

The forth week students will return to our main campus in La Guacima and will stay with their original host family.

Students will complete a total of 92.5 hours of Spanish instruction.

SCHEDULE

First and Second Week

Monday through Friday Spanish classes are from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There will be a coffee break from 10
to 10:30 a.m. and a lunch break from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.

Wednesdays and Fridays there will be latino dance lessons from 4 to 5 p.m.

Third Week

We will leave for the beach on Saturday morning and come back the next Sunday.

Students will be on their own most of the time.

Meals and transportation to and from the beach will be provided by the school as well as three meals per day.

Fourth Week

The same as the first and second.