Spanish Language Programs in San Jose, Costa Rica

Crla Costa Rican Language Academy:
The Costa Rican Language Academy, CRLA, offers the highest standards in Spanish instruction along with an authentic cultural experience. Our mission is to always provide our students with a complete and effective learning experience in the Spanish language and a deeper understanding of the Costa Rican culture through personalized attention and dynamic teaching methods in a professional and friendly atmosphere.

Spanish and Homestay Program
At CRLA Spanish is learned in the classroom, in extracurricular cultural activities and in the home stay program. Students have the option to live with a Costa Rican family while attending the school. Each host family provides breakfast, dinner, laundry service and a private bedroom. The home stay program gives students another opportunity to practice their Spanish and learn about the Costa Rican culture firsthand.

Beginner Level
Beginner's course I, II and III has been designed to provide an introduction to elementary Spanish. The primary objective of this course is to offer students the opportunity to acquire communication skills in what we call "Survival Spanish". Functions include: asking/giving directions, using appropriate greetings, introductions and courtesy expressions as well as being able to communicate in different situations such as visiting a bank, restaurant, or other public places. Furthermore students should be able to give their personal information, and talk about personal preferences and activities in growing details.

As a Beginning student, you will study basic sentence structures, learn everyday vocabulary and develop the ability to clearly communicate basic ideas in Spanish.

Intermediate Level
The intermediate course is divided into Intermediate I, II & III and covers most grammatical structures, which will give students the tools needed to achieve more confidence and fluency when using the language. Students will learn these grammatical structures, while improving vocabulary, pronunciation, comprehension, as well as written and oral skills. At this level the students learn to use different compensation strategies to communicate their ideas when they do not know the exact structure or word that should be used. Students will also be able to hold conversations on various topics with native Spanish speakers, using the appropriate forms for each situation. This course emphasizes on Cultural aspects of the language and its real usage. Course emphasis is on culturally authentic reading and writing, along with continued development of listening/speaking competencies.

Advanced Level
This course includes the study of advanced Spanish grammar. The student should begin to master complex syntactical and morphological structures and special differences used in the language. In addition, the students will face current topics and conversations with a higher level of complexity and abstract thought in order to improve considerably in fluency and precision. This level includes cultural, social and historical aspects on different Hispanic speaking countries as a way to explain the relationship between language, history and culture.

The objective of this course is the proficiency and fluency in the Spanish language. Furthermore, emphasis is placed on the comprehension and use of the language in unrehearsed situations in culturally appropriate ways.