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The rainforest of Manuel Antonio dropping down to the Pacific, with an islet on the horizon

Learn Spanish.Speak Costa Rican.

Tailored online lessons with local teachers, or a fully immersive learning experience in Costa Rica, from Samara and Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna and San Jose.

More than a language. It's a journey.

Choose how you want to learn

Online

Private, group, and couples' lessons with local teachers — tailored to your schedule, wherever you are.

Start online

In Costa Rica

Immersion across four stunning destinations. Study in the morning, then spend the rest of the day practising with locals — because that's where Spanish really sticks.

See the destinations

Choose your destination

Four places in Costa Rica where you can study by immersion. Pick one and tell us what you are after.

Aerial view of Punta Catedral in Manuel Antonio, with the strip of sand between two turquoise bays

Puntarenas, Pacífico central

Manuel Antonio

Rainforest and beach ten minutes apart

The country's most visited national park, and the smallest of the famous ones: a headland of rainforest dropping into two pale-sand bays. You study in the morning and practise in the afternoon, half an hour's walk away.

  • Manuel Antonio National Park
  • Punta Catedral, the island that joined the mainland
  • Capuchin monkeys right on the trail
A teacher writing «yo quiero estudiar español» on a blackboard, with two students at the table
A lesson there · Manuel Antonio Spanish SchoolPending
I want to go to Manuel Antonio
Playa Barrigona from the air, near Sámara: the Nicoya peninsula rainforest running down to white sand

Guanacaste, península de Nicoya

Sámara

The beach town where people still speak slowly

A bay sheltered by a reef, so the sea comes in calm and you can swim all year. It is one of the few Guanacaste beach towns that never turned fully touristy: at the corner shop and the soda, people still speak Spanish.

  • The bay, calm thanks to the reef
  • Playa Barrigona and Playa Carrillo, next door
  • The Nicoya peninsula, one of the world's blue zones
Three students and a teacher working with newspapers on a wooden table
A lesson there · Intercultura Costa Rica Spanish SchoolsPending
I want to go to Sámara
The cone of the Arenal Volcano seen from La Fortuna, its base covered in rainforest and clouds over the summit

Alajuela, zona norte

La Fortuna

At the foot of the Arenal

The town that grew up facing the Arenal Volcano and its almost perfect cone. Hot springs running warm off the volcano, a waterfall buried in the rainforest, and one of the most recognisable views in Costa Rica.

  • The cone of the Arenal Volcano
  • The hot springs of the Tabacón river
  • La Fortuna waterfall, between walls of rainforest
An open-air lesson on a wooden porch, with the northern lowland vegetation behind
A lesson there · Spanish Immersion Costa RicaPending
I want to go to La Fortuna
An ornate yellow colonial-era building on a street in downtown San José, with a red building and city traffic behind it

Valle Central

San José

The city where you hear the whole country

It is not the postcard Costa Rica, and that is why it works for learning: a real city, with its neighbourhoods, its traffic and its hurry. Nobody here switches to English to help you out, which is exactly what speeds things up.

  • The Mercado Central, from 1880
  • The Gold and Jade museums
  • The whole country within three hours by bus
A small group lesson around a table, the teacher pointing at a vocabulary sheet
A lesson there · Intercultura San JoséPending
I want to go to San José
See all four destinations →

Tiquismo of the day

Güila

/GÜI-la/

What it means
Kid, child. It is informal and affectionate, and it is used for any gender even though the word ends in -a.
How it is used

Esa güila habla tres idiomas.

«That kid speaks three languages». It is not derogatory: it is affectionate.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask most before booking. If something is not confirmed yet, we say so.

How is Costa Rican Spanish different?

Mainly in three things: voseo (you say «vos hablás», not «tú hablas»), a very widespread use of the formal «usted» even within families, and its own vocabulary —«mae», «tuanis», «brete», «chunche»— that you will not find in a generic course. The grammar is the same; what changes is what you actually hear on the street.

Do I need any Spanish to start?

No. You can start from zero. What does help is saying in the first lesson what you want it for —travelling, moving, working— because someone coming for a three-week holiday is not taught the same way as someone moving there for good.

What time are the online lessons?

The teacher lives in Switzerland, so there are slots that work for both Europe and the Americas. On the booking page, times are always shown in your own time zone and in Costa Rica's, so there is no confusion. One thing to watch: Europe changes the clocks twice a year and Costa Rica never does, so the difference between them is not fixed.

What do I need for an online lesson?

A stable connection, headphones and a camera. The camera matters more than it seems: a good part of any conversation lives in the face, and without it half of the correction is lost. There is nothing unusual to install.

Where do in-person lessons take place?

In Manuel Antonio, on the Pacific coast, and in La Fortuna, at the foot of the Arenal Volcano. The exact venues are not confirmed yet: we would rather say so than give an address that changes later.

Pending

How do I pay?

You hold the lesson with a PayPal deposit and settle the rest directly with the teacher. The deposit amount and the lesson prices are not published yet.

Pending

Can I cancel or move a lesson?

The cancellation policy is not defined yet. Until it is, the best thing is to agree it directly with the teacher when booking.

Pending

Are lessons one-to-one or in groups?

For now booking is set up for one-to-one lessons. Whether there will be conversation groups, and in what format, is not settled yet.

Pending