Spanish Language Learning - Any Recommendations?

[Sekul]

Hi

I'm looking at intensive spanish courses. I'm around intermediate/advanced level in terms of grammar and comprehension but need significant practice with speaking.  I was wondering if anyone had any personal recommendations of good schools.

There's a helpful article(http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0505/study_spanish_language_in_nicaragua.shtml) which details quite a few but I would like some feedback from people who've tried any - ie level of spanish, quality of teaching. 

In particular I like the sound of Hijos del Maíz Escuela de Español Campesina in Eseli - anybody been there?

Also anyone know what the dialect is like in Nicaragua - will I end speaking with a particularly strong localised accent?

Thanks in advance

Luke

[Joshua Berman]

Luke,

Thanks for writing -- glad you liked the article. Most schools listed there (and in our books) are fairly experienced teaching to advanced levels, though I have no personal experience with Hijos de Maiz. It basically comes down to where you want to be -- in country village? in a city? on a beach? As for dialect, you'll have no problem being understood in other countries, even if you pick up some Nicaraguanismos. Suerte,

Josh

[Megan]

Hi Luke,

I took Spanish at the now-defunct "Nicaragua Spanish Schools" in 2000. It broke apart and, in my view, some of the best teachers in Granada started up "Nicaragua Mia".  APC Spanish School continues in the same location of NSS-Granada-- a beautiful building right on the edge of the park and also has some good teachers.

Having learned Spanish in Nicaragua, when in Spain I am easily tagged as someone who learned Spanish in Central America (though not Costa Rica- quite different). I think it is more the use of dimunitives that are pretty widely used in the region as compared to Spain (ahorita in place of ahora or ya)  than my accent, per se. Nicaragua also uses 'vos' instead of the "tu'" form, as in Argentina, but teachers won't teach you that unless you request it and instead will teach the more commonly used "tu" form (along with "usted", of course). As in many parts of Central America and the Carribbean, the "s" at the end of many words is mostly dropped when people speak though all the teachers in the language schools tend to enunciate more clearly.

Good luck in picking your school!

p.s. in terms of locations- Esteli is quite nice, a bit cooler than the Central and Southern part of Nica but can get boring after a few days, I think. For extended stays, I recommend Granada just because there is more going on-- though of course there are a lot more foreigners as well so you can fall into the trap of speaking lots of english if you want to.

[Sekul]

Thanks Guys

To be honest I'm not totally sure what location I want to learn in as I haven't been there yet to find out what they are like.

Ideally I'm looking for somewhere I can get immersed in the culture, have one on one tuition, and stay with a host family.  Ideally somewhere interesting and beautiful where my tuition fees go towards helping local projects and people.  Also, I don't want to end up hanging out with other travellers and speaking english!

Cheers

Luke

[Joshua Berman]

Hijos de Maiz is one of the more remote rural schools, so I bet that would fit your criteria.