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Ok, mis sentimientos... Ave Nicaraguita, Granada: I had a fantastic experience in my host family although it was difficult for me at first given the transition into Nicaraguan lifestyle and also the introduction into the Spanish language. If I had gone back now, I would have had a much richer experience in the family as I would understand more and be able to contribute. They were very generous and understanding. As for school, I was instructed by Karla and she was also great. She was patient with me at first and went with my pace throughout the week. I loved that she spoke no English to me. It forced me to pick up words and structures much more quickly. I also really enjoyed our excursions. When I left Granada after the first week, I felt that I had really understood the city and had seen many landmarks. It was great to start the program off in Granada also because although it is a city, coming from NYC I was able to relax and also get a strong sense of Nicaraguan life in a comfortable and friendly environment. Ave Nicaraguita, Masatepe (Flor de Pochote): Another great week of coursework. I was working with Arlen and she was also very good with following my pace and having me read aloud as she could tell that my expression was the most difficult in comparison to my writing and comprehension. Being on the farm was very interesting as I had to participate in activities each afternoon. I was not so skilled, but it was a good experience for me. I really enjoyed walking around the community and speaking with the people, especially those who worked in the coffee cooperative. The family on the farm was fine, but not so present although I understood that they had a business to run. One of the nights there, I got sick and they were extremely attentive to me which was appreciated. The cook, Reina was great too. Also, my accomodations were fantastic. I had a cabin to myself with a hammock and view of Lago de Apoyo. San Juan del Sur: I LOVED this school and set up. We each had our own room and bathroom adjacent to Yajaira's house. From the moment I arrived, Yajaira and her family were extremely hospitable and even arranged activities outside of the realm of our lessons in the area. Our lessons were just outside of our rooms in a courtyard and the instructors were fabulous. I worked with Claudia and she was incredible. At this point in the program, I was much more confident in my Spanish which I think made it an even better experience. They didn't arrange activities every afternoon which was nice so that I had time to explore the town on my own and go to the beach if I wanted.

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The School facilities are not much, but the location it very good. The staff is great they were very friendly and strait with the money details unlike some other school of the area. I was two most in Nicaragua and I tried 5 school and Avenicaraguita was in general the best. I think, it was because the staff could and tried to communicate at first all in english or french as I noted it and How they tried to set a study plan to my needs. Well in my case it was a very easy soft spanish since I have stadied it for 6 year. The most import for me was that they laid a map of the city and told me where I was able to go along without been warried of any danger. Best Regards Danx

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In the middle of June 2006, my girlfriend and I took classes at Avenicaraguita. In order to choose what school to attend to; first, we searched the net for info. We stumbled upon 123.teachMe.com and did like mrhands’ post about Ave nicaraguita. We arrived in Grenada and were surprised to see Avenicaraguita been advertised all over town. This gave us the assurance we would be dealing with an honest, respectable, professional, and effective Spanish school. We went to their location and spoke to the person in charge who mentioned that Avenicaraguita was part of Red Cross International, and added that by attending classes there, we would be financially helping Red Cross and the teachers make ends meet. We enrolled ourselves in a three weeks course happy of been, somehow, of help to Red Cross and the two teacher that would be working with us. The teachers were not as good as described by the person running the school. They lack, either, experience or, professionalism. They did try their best, this I can say, but best is not good enough when you are serious about learning as much as possible in a short time period. To top it up, later, we found out, through a gringo who owns a bar in town, that Avenicaraguita is not part of Red Cross. Avenicaraguita is private business using Red Cross name and the friendship between Ave nicaraguita’s owner and the person running Red Cross to attract students and make money at our expenses and by keeping low paid teachers in their payroll. We, unpleasantly, did finish our course, but were not about our experience at Avenicaraguita. We felt “cheated”.

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I am writing this from Granada tonight where I am attending Ave Nicaraguita for the second time. I came back because the people associated with this school are great folks and all of the money spent here goes to the right place.The school was very upfront in telling me that it is a privately owned business during the first contact I made. The school director, Sandra Espinoza, funds many projects in the barrio to help underprivilidged children and people who are looking for work. I have been to see them myself. My instructor has excellent credentials from a university, but more importantly, an infinite supply of patience and a real desire to teach. This school works very hard to place its students with a good family that will be compatable. One may always nitpick about the quality of facilities, but I think that they are just fine. There is plenty of water to drink and flushing toilettes. The electricity goes off sometimes, but that is not uncommon in the city. Feel free to call me with any questions about this school. I am a real person and am very happy with this school, Otherwise I would not have returned. Bart Thomas (859) 512-3044 mobile

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I recently took Spanish courses at Ave Nicaraguita. The experience was positive and I would like to return. I am at the beginner level, having never spoke a word of Spanish before taking courses at Ave Nicaraguita. The curriculum was, for the most part, well designed. We started with the "alphabeto" and worked on pronunciation. I also studied numbers, greetings, etc., and vocabulary. As part of the lesson, we toured Granada. My only suggestion is to focus on vocabulary more likely to be used in everyday conversation. I have high praise for my instructor, Jose. Jose is personable and he shared not only his language, but also his thoughts on Nicaraguan history, politics, and culture. This added to my experience tremendously. Ave Nicaraguita provided good hotel and touring information and they were reliable. Their pricing is fair and straightforward. No hidden fees or costs. The facilities are comfortable and are just fine. I recommend Ave Nicaraguita for anyone who is interested in studying Spanish at the beginning or intermediate levels. I also recommend them for ideas about touring Granada, finding a hotel, etc. Hopefully I will return soon myself.

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I am at the low end of intermediate and just completed a week of classes. The staff is very friendly and accomodating. The tutoring is one-on-one and each student can customize the classes to work on his or her area of interest, and chose the days and hours to meet. Can't beat this school for flexibility! My teacher Monica was excellent for pronounciation and verbs (the two things I chose to concentrate on) and an expert on the history of the local churches. To break up the class work we took a couple of walks around town. I plan to return.

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I’ve taken classes at avenicraguita for two weeks. I liked the method my instructor used to teach, found she made a very good effort to guide me into “abecedario”, grammar and every day conversation (basic Spanish). Mr. Bart Thomas said: is not uncommon in the city electricity goes off, but is a dislike thing; electricity and water go off together at the same time. I know it isn’t school fault; it is a country problem, due to politician’s eternal fight. Avenicaguita is located at Red Cross premises with no business relationship between them, it was what an instructor said to me. I’ve planned to return to Granada-Nicaragua on April 2007 to improve my Spanish, and will back to Avenicaguita, those people are very friendly and respectable, I like them. Marklb5.

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I sommeren 2006 var jeg næsten tre måneder i Nicaragua hvoraf jeg tilbragte to af dem i Granada. Her fulgte jeg spanskundervisning i tre uger på Ave Nicaraguita samt boede hos værtsfamilie og arbejdede frivilligt også organiseret af Ave Nicaraguita. Jeg havde en fantastisk oplevelse og en stor del af det kan jeg takke Ave Nicaraguita for. Spanskundervisningen var meget kvalificeret og min underviser, Carolina, var både kompetent og utrolig lydhør overfor mine ønsker til undervisningen og mit spansk niveau gik fra næsten intet til at kunne diskutere og føre samtaler udover det helt almindelige. Både lærere og andet personale på skolen var hjælpsomme og imødekommende. Opholdet hos værtsfamilien var helt fantastisk, jeg mødte en gæstfrihed udover det sædvanlige. Min værtsmor viste mig nicaraguansk kultur indefra både i hendes hjem og ved at tage mig med på marked og på familie- og vennebesøg. Det frivillige arbejde bestod i at undervise i engelsk og at spille volleyball i med kvinderne i et fængsel, men der er mange andre muligheder!Arten af frivilligt arbejde valgte jeg ved at tale med personalet på Ave Nicaraguita og ved at vælge ud en af deres mange samarbejdsorganisationer. Skolen hjalp mig i gang og jeg kan kun sige at jeg har været meget glad for al deres hjælp fra start til slut. En absolut anbefalelsesværdig skole!

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I attended Ave Nicaraguita’s “Expanded Immersion” program this summer and stayed at the Hotel Maltese The hotel is affiliated with the school and was included in the program. My overall experience was amazing. I enjoyed my stay at the hotel because the staff was very kind and really accommodating. It’s run by a woman named Maria who continuously checked in on me to make sure I was content with everything. She treated me like family; asking me how school was every day and always trying to feed me. My time at the school went really well too, I have attended other Spanish schools (not in Nicaragua though) and this has been my favorite. Each day there was a different activity, some that aren’t even listed on the school’s web page. My teacher always gave me vocabulary specific to the activity in advance. She also told stories pertaining to the activity that I would have otherwise never known. The best part of my program was my actual Spanish lessons. My teacher Karla, is very smart, well educated, and was super considerate of my needs. She did a really great job of presenting me with new information. We would then play games or do little activities to help reinforce what she taught me. If I ever didn’t feel like working she would just talk to me and answer my questions about Nicaragua. She did such a wonderful job and seemed genuinely happy to be working with me. I felt extremely comfortable, especially since learning a new language can be painfully embarrassing and tedious at times. As for the power and water, it is true that they go out every weekday for a few hours, but it is on a schedule, which makes it a little easier to deal with. My experiences with the school and the city of Granada were awesome; I would recommend this Spanish school without hesitation.

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I really had a great time. My classes were very useful and my afternoonactivities were a combination of sightseeing and my interest: getting used to medical vocabulary in spanish (after my spanish course my medical internship in Nicaragua started). The people from the school were very friendly and helped my with everything I asked for.

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I took a class at Ave Nicaraguita for 1 week during September 2007 and I must say I had a great experience. Before the class starts, they will ask you what are your interests (history, pop culture, current situation in Nica etc.) and will shape your curriculum accordingly. I liked my teacher Maria Lidia as she was very patient and experienced. Outside of the class, I got to speak a lot of Spanish at the guesthouse, which was another big boost to my Spanish skill. It was also great that they took me to a baseball game and also showed me the nightlife there as well. The same week, the baseball team of Granada won the n'l championship and they took me to the crazy festivities after the last game! I think I learned not just Spanish but also a lot about Nicaraguan culture and people through the school.

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The school relocated recently to a somewhat grotty area, and the new premises were cramped, especially given that it was still low season. They had to "borrow" a teacher from another school to teach me - he was okay, but obviously not familiar with the school. Little or no quality control was in evidence by the management in terms of my learning experience. The school was unable to supply any learning materials or exercises for an advanced level student, and other students mentioned that they also received very few printed materials, either in the form of exercises or notes on grammar and vocabulary. The first homestay was extremely hot and not very clean, but quick and effective action was taken to find another place, which was vastly better. I switched to another school after one week.

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ici plusieures point forts. on est a granada et c est une ville. si a un moment, vous avez besoin de recharger vos batteries ou si vous ne savez pas trop bien comment vous lancer dans votre aventure. venez ici, c est tres different mais ce ne sera pas le choc le plu complet. Les professeurs parlent essentiellement espagnol. un peu d anglais si besoin mais n en demandez pas trop tout de meme. le plus de la formation c est le cours particulier. ca va a votre rythme et ca peut aller vite si vous le souhaitez. question activites cela change tous les jours mais ils pourraient parfois faire un peu plus. l avantage c est que vous ne rentrez pas a 18h00 tous les soirs et avez le temps de travailler votre esapgnol! Pour le logement, je suis reste dans la maison de l ecole. tout simplement genial. a la fois pres du centre ville, de l ecole mais a l ecart des touristes. la famille est super, on vous parle en espagnol et on ne mange pas que du riz et des haricots. c est une vraie difference.

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Value for money - excellent - 1 to 1 teaching and very good excursions with your teacher to see the town, museums, places of interest, national parks, the zoo, an old fort, the islands - all excellent and gives you more chance to practice your Spanish with your teacher. Facilities good when I arrived classes held in small and nice garden but in individual spaces with tables and chairs, water and facilities to make hot drinks available all day. When the classes moved to the Red Cross Building the facilities were not quite as good - it is a little run down and the entrance down a steep unmade track is difficult to walk down with a bicycle! One student did fall on this slope. All students, and sometimes there can be up to 8, are taught in one room although at different tables with different teachers - this is a little difficult because you can hear the other students' conversations with their teachers. There are fans for use at each table which help because the room is also a little airless. It is possible to take your chairs and table outside and have a little more quiet and air but the view is a little depressing - beat up old cars - but there are a few trees and palms. Toilet facilities very good at both places. Refreshments not quite so good at the Red Cross Building because, for me, not quite as easy to get hot water for my tea or fresh lemons from the trees(they existed at the previous location - I was lucky!) or sugar for my tea. But all of these things can be easliy rectified. Accommodation - I am staying in an excellent homestay with a very friendly family. Food on the whole good although a little too much beans and rice at times. My room although small has all I need - bed, chair, small table, chest of drawers and hanging rail for clothes and my own ensuite loo, shower (cold) and very small basin. Sometimes the shower doesn't work and I have to use another one in the yard. My room is cleaned but with the dust and the roof through which leaves etc fall the floor and things on my table seem forever dirty. Good location near the language school and near my volunteer placement and near the town centre but in a quiet area (apart from the cocks that start crowing some mornings at 4am outside my window!) and there is a yard with banana trees I often take my chair to to sit in - very pleasant! Program quality - on the whole very good - I have a good teacher with a great sense of humour - we get on very well. Sometimes I find her teaching lacks imagination as when she simply reads the grammar rules in Spanish to me. And despite emphasising that I need practice in certain areas and plenty of it I have not always got it. But she has given me lots of 'homework exercises' that have helped a lot and exams to assess my progress. Group activities with other students in the 30 min. break are a great idea and have been very well conducted - fun and good ways to learn and socialise. Student friendly - yes excellent - I have got to know other students, sometimes staff have introduced me to students who they think I can talk with because they are at my level - but all staff are extremely friendly, helpful and accommodating - nothing it seems is too much for them to do. You only have to ask. Fun factor - excursions and learning to cook I enjoyed, also dance classes a good idea and as I said the group activities. Perhaps an occasional evening activity or weekend activity or excursion would be good, When I first arrived I was told about a concert by a Guatemalan group of women which some of us attended with some of the staff - that was great - more occasions of that kind would have been good. For example the programme of weekly films at Casa de Los Tres Mundos I have found excellent - helped my Spanish and learning about America Latina - staff could mention it to students and arrange group visits it is FREE.

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I went to this school from December 2008 to January 2009. My program was one week of classes with six weeks of voluntary work afterwards. I couldn't find the school, because they had just painted it. During my first week, there were hardly any students, so for me it was just going to classes. I thought that was normal. Then in January my roommates were going on walks during the break in the morning and doing 'dynamica' (little games). They got showed around Granada, where the bank, cemetery, bus stations, etc were. I feel like I really missed out on this, because I could've got to know the students/teachers better this way and it would've broken up my 5h class day a bit..! My first teacher was nice, however, occasionally I was listening to her voice for 80% of the class, instead of me practising. She was mostly telling me stories, which were interesting, but my main goal that week was to practise orally. My second teacher (whom I only had for a couple of hours) was very professional and let me practise, in a very pleasant way. Luckily I did experience some of their goodbye parties, which are great fun! The family I stayed at the first week was typical Nicaraguan, very basic. I had a room (a bed, a small table and a fan) and my meals were very greasy and typical Nicaraguan. I did appreciate her trying to variate a bit, even though there is hardly any money for it. She tried talking to me, but understanding her was hard with her thick accent. I think she thought I wasn't very intelligent.. She took me to a couple of events, which was nice. I worked for a well set-up project, Carita Feliz. It works very good for the community and it actually achieves something for the children in Granada. To see how it works, helping with their classes is a good idea. I saw that only a few teachers really need help, I was quite unnecessary. I also translated their website, however, the direction wasn't very enthousiastic about the idea and they never thanked me really. Unfortunately this still isn't online, eventhough I've put a lot of work into translating their crooked sentences. During the project I lived in a residence. I had some communication problems between the school and my organisation(s). These were solved quite easily. I lived with a family, they are very nice. They really try to involve the students and have good conversations about everything. I learnt a lot about the country (and Mexico). It was a pity that the father spoke to us in English quite often (to practise or because of our 'non'-understanding of Spanish?). On top of that, me and the other students nearly always had breakfast and lunch alone, speaking English. So, dinnertime was the only possibility to speak Spanish. I enjoyed going to the local gym. Overall it was an interesting experience. Of course there were some factors that could've been better, but I guess that's the case for most schools. Thank you for everything, Suzanne.

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One word "POOR"

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Ik ben begonnen met 4 weken spaanse lessen en daarna 4 weken vrijwilligerswerk. In de tijd dat ik lessen volgde waren er 6 andere studenten. De lessen waren individueel en 3 keer per week werd er een activiteit georganiseerd om het spaans met de andere studenten te oefenen. Tijdens de lessen werd er alleen spaans gesproken. Dit heeft naar mijn idee ontzettend geholpen omdat je anders al snel terugvalt op het engels. De eerste dag heb ik een test gemaakt om te kijken wat mijn niveau was. Ik sprak amper een woord spaans toen ik begon, maar door de intensieve lessen merkte ik na een week al een grote vooruitgang. Mijn lerares was erg professioneel. Samen hebben we overlegd hoe ze de lessen zou geven. De eerste twee weken bestonden voornamelijk uit het leren van woorden en grammatica. De weken daarop hebben we meer gesprekken gevoerd. In de middagen werden er vaak activiteiten georganiseerd, zoals het bezoeken van musea, vulkaan mombacho, danslessen etc. Na deze 4 weken ben ik begonnen met het vrijwilligerswerk bij een organisatie die opkomt voor de rechten van vrouwen. Helaas was er weinig werk en ondanks dat ik regelmatig nieuwe ideen voorstelde werd hier niet op ingegaan en bestonden de dagen vaak uit praten en tv kijken. Na overleg met de school heb ik samen met een andere student een nieuw project opgezet wat een groot succes is geworden. Tijdens de lessen en het vrijwilligerswerk heb ik bij twee verschillende families gewoond. Beide waren ontzettend vriendelijk. Ze hebben me Granada en de omgeving laten zien en nodigden me altijd uit wanneer er iets speciaals was. Ook heb ik niet alleen mijn spaans met de families kunnen oefenen maar hebben ze me ook veel geleerd over Nicaragua. Tijdens het eten hadden we vaak interessante gesprekken over het leven hier en over de verschillen met andere landen. Nog steeds heb ik goed contact met ze en ondertussen ben ik alweer voor een 2e keer terug gekomen naar Nicaragua om ze op te zoeken. Kortom, ik heb een geweldige tijd gehad op de school en bij de families! Femke