Why Guatemala is the ultimate place to study Spanish?

11 min readMay 18, 2018

In this blog I provide an overview of my experiences learning Spanish in Guatemala in 2018. There is also a list of tips and links at the bottom for anyone thinking about studying Spanish in Guatemala.

Guatemala

Towns surrounded by erupting volcanoes, tuks tuks bustling down tiny streets, fresh food vendors on every corner and a warm culture where passersby greet you with a ‘buenas dias/tarde/noche’. This is a just a taste of what you can experience studying Spanish in Guatemala. I have just returned from 5 weeks of immersive Spanish study in Guate and for anyone wanting to learn Spanish I can’t imagine there are many better places to go. I went with the intention to improve my Spanish quickly and cheaply, but returned with so much more.

My Motivation

I had wanted to know Spanish for years. A few times I had attended short night courses, but not much stuck. However it was my feelings of inadequacy while backpacking around Colombia in the latter part of 2017 that turbocharged my drive to learn Spanish. I loved my time in Colombia but throughout the trip I couldn’t help but feel self conscious about my glaring monolingualism. Here I was on a bus next to a Swiss bloke who could seamlessly change between English, Spanish, French and German. Meanwhile, simply asking for a drink or basic directions in Spanish required me to; plan my question, repeat the sentence over and over in my head, only for me to stumble and ask with such a degree of timidity that I could barely hear the words come out of my own mouth.

When I returned to Australia I vowed to change this. I was finally going to learn Spanish properly. I remembered having similar feelings after my first trip to Latin America, so I was intent to do things differently this time. The first thing I did was enrol in Benny Lewis’ Speak in a Week Course. I had heard of Benny Lewis, an Irish polyglot who has learned over 20 languages, from the Tim Ferriss Podcast. His language agnostic course gave me some great language learning hacks, with the key takeaway the absolute necessity to start speaking from day 1.

One hack the course promoted was to use an app called iTalki. I used iTalki to find Spanish teachers online, this process was strangely similar to online dating… Nonetheless I quickly found a teacher based in Guatemala. Lessons were so cheap! I would pay only $5 an hour for a one on one Skype lesson. Which made me wonder why I ever paid so much for short group courses in Sydney?

After 3 months of Skype lessons I met my Guatemaltecan Skype teacher in person for the first time

Everyone told me that practicing everyday was critical, so that’s what I set out to do. iTalki has a feature that allows you to find practice buddies from across the globe. Here I discovered a whole new awesome community of people wanting to help others learn languages. The strength of the community is quickly evident, as soon as you login you are promptly bombarded with people wanting to help you on your language journey. Before I knew it I had made friends in Spain, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. This ensured I always had a friend to practice with. I also tried to practice at work. I found every Spanish speaker in my building (which in Australia was no easy feat!) and arranged lunchtime intercambios. Finally in an attempt to immerse myself I replaced all my English podcasts and music with Spanish ones. This proved more useful than I thought. It even led me to grow an appreciation for reggaeton, something I never thought possible.

The Goal

As part of Benny Lewis’ course I had set a goal to get to a conversational level of Spanish in 2018. One where I could maintain a decent conversation and build rapport solely in Spanish. While my Spanish was improving, to meet my goal I knew that I had to step it up a notch. Having resigned from my job (as mentioned in my last post) I was blessed with the luxury of time.

So why study in Guatemala?

During my previous travels to Latin America I had heard that Guatemala was not just an incredible country to visit but also a great place to learn Spanish. Guatemala offered cheap one on one classes and the option to stay with local families while you study. Perfect for anybody wanting to completely immerse themselves. Guatemaltecos also speak clearly and most importantly not too fast.

The Guate arrival.

I arrived in Guatemala on the 13th of April. I had booked nothing but my first night in Antigua, a city close to the airport. The only advice I had was to study somewhere around Lake Atitlan. After 3 days in Antigua, where I climbed Volcano Acatenango (a story for another day but one of the most incredible experiences in my life) I took a bus to Panajachel, a small town on the lake. On the bus I started speaking with a local who told me about San Juan. A lakeside town with few tourists. I quickly Googled to see if there were any Spanish schools there. Easily enough I found the Eco Spanish School. Within minutes I arranged, via Whatsapp, to visit the school that afternoon.

Immediately I was taken aback by the school’s serene garden. All the schools ‘classrooms’ were outside, bordering the banks of the picturesque lake. At that moment I knew that San Juan would be the perfect location for my first week of school.

The next day I met my first ‘GuateMama’ Elena and the other members of my new Guatefamily. Elena had a two girls, Elenita and Xchel, aged 2 and 7. I also met my Gautepapa Jorge, who was a cop in a neighbouring town. The house itself was basic, and yes, HAD NO WIFI! But I barely noticed, occupying myself with long and often difficult conversations over fresh meals and oh so many fresh tortillas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For my second week I decided to try a school in San Pedro, a neighboring town. While close, San Pedro is very different to San Juan, it is bigger and much more popular with tourists. As a result San Pedro has many Spanish schools. After visiting several schools I settled on the Mayab Spanish school. The director said I could try the school for one day and change if I didn’t like it, an offer too good to turn down.

In total I would study at four different schools and towns, including; San Juan, San Pedro, Quetzaltenango (Xela) and Panajachel. Each school, town and family had their own intricacies and cultural differences which only added to my experience.

I enjoyed changing up my school frequently for several reasons. Firstly it allowed me to see more of the country while I was studying at the same time, appeasing my OCD obsession of being time efficient. I also found that with each change the new environment spurred on my motivation. Lastly, while changing teachers had some inefficiencies it also had many benefits. Each teacher had different methods and picked up on different things that helped me improve.

Traditional Mayan and Catholic Semana Santa (Easter) procession in San Pedro

Overall I came to the conclusion that Xela was the best place to learn Spanish. Xela was the first place in Guatemala to open Spanish schools, so generally the teachers are more experienced and the schools better organised. Xela is also cheaper and offers 5 hour classes per day as standard. I found the extra hour a day, while sometimes grueling, really made a big difference. Locals in Xela also do not speak much English so you should have no trouble practicing.

However at the end of the day your school is only as good as your teacher. In Xela I was lucky to have a great maestra named Zury (pictured below). In our first class she made me undertake a thorough assessment. This revealed some gaping weaknesses in my Spanish. After two weeks of classes in San Juan and San Pedro I had grown overconfident. Zury quickly brought me back down to earth. She drew up detailed teaching plan for the week, another unique feature of schools in Xela. This involved going back to basics, including relearning the alphabet and basic pronunciation. It felt like returning to kindergarten. It was hard to take but I knew I had two choices. Sulk and really act like I was kindergartener, or embrace the opportunity to rebuild my foundations. I must admit I pretty much did sulk for the first two days, but when I noticed my Spanish dramatically improving I was brought back onboard. So much so that I decided to stay in Xela for a second week!

Zury and I during my ‘graduation’ where I was acknowledged as an Intermediate Spanish speaker

Finally for my last week I returned to Panajachel to study at the Jabel Tinamit school. My friends had told me the school was also really well organised, which I can now vouch for. Unfortunately I got sick midway through my time there. This finally put a downer on my motivation, which was when I knew that it was time for me to leave Guate.

So how good is my Spanish now?

As I write this I am not going to pretend that my Spanish is great. I still speak with plenty of errors and mistakes, but after 5 weeks studying in Guatemala I did achieve my goal to become conversational. I can now relatively easily converse and build relationships solely in Spanish. And in addition chatting up potential sexual partners, this newfound ability provided me with so many cultural opportunities in Guate. Suddenly every interaction became an opportunity to practice, meet people and learn more about the Guatemalteco way of life.

For example when I took a chicken bus to Xela I met my local amigo Otto. Otto was crammed next to me on the former American school bus (all Guatemalan chicken buses are done up former US school buses) and we got talking. Sitting next to each other so close that I could barely move my arms to pay the conductor I managed to find out he was about to open cafe in Xela. With the typical Guatemalteco hospitality he invited me to check it out. Over the next two weeks I ended up hanging out at his cafe heaps. I even attended one of his barista training days. Otto also enlightened me to my first ever ‘mixo’. A mixo is the unique Guatemalteco drink where you combine a dark and blonde beer, surprisingly it actually tasted great.

A chicken bus navigating the small streets of San Pedro

Another weekend I travelled to Antigua with a new local friend. This was such a great experience, over the two days we only spoke Spanish which allowed me to learn some Guatemalteco slang. It is also great to be shown around by a local. They just know where all the cool stuff is, like the the best street food and dive bars.

There are so many other seemingly innocuous experiences I had which were only possible because I could speak with locals. Just to name a few; laughing with locals about other gringos freaking out on a rough ferry ride, experiencing a traditional Guatemaltecan Easter family meal, joining a group of locals at the base of the San Pedro Volcano only to end up climbing it together and discussing the latest erroneous Guatemalan government policy over a hot atole (delicious hot Guatemalan rice drink) on the side of the road.

Local climbing compadres up Volcano San Pedro

Overall there were many frustrating times, but in the end Guatemala was exactly what I hoped for. I have had the privilege to travel a lot in my life, but Guatemala was different. It truly was my first cultural experience. As Benny Lewis’ stated “a language is a means of communication and should be lived rather than taught”. I would advise anyone who has the opportunity to try live another language, you won’t regret it!

My Tips to Study in Guate:

Try to not book your classes (or much else) in advance and definitely do not pay reservation fees. Check out the school online and read as many reviews as possible. If if possible visit the school in person and trust your gut. Google Reviews are also a great resource.
I stuck clear of large schools. They tend to have many students and you may be tempted to drift back to speaking English.
Whether your school is organised and well run is irrelevant if you do not have a good teacher and comfortable home. Before committing, confirm you have the ability to change both if you are not happy.
Don’t be afraid to tell your teacher what you want to learn. By learning something you are passionate about you are more likely to practice and gain momentum!
Check how many other students are staying with your family. Staying with other students has many positives like having someone to practice with, but a house with too many students (I heard stories of hotel like families with 6 students) takes away from the cultural experience.
Pricing can vary from between $160 to $250 USD per week. Confirm that pricing includes all meals and 7 days accommodation. Some schools may only include only 6 days of meals and 6 days of accommodation.
Confirm that your school offers activities in the afternoon and/or weekends. These are a great way to practice and explore the area with a local.
Try to only speak, listen and watch Spanish content. You only have limited time so why not get the most out of it? It sounds obvious, but you will have many choices everyday whether during the school recess or at a bar to speak English. Each Spanish conversation offers you an opportunity to cement the stuff you learned in class as well as learn new words or phrases.
Watch the show Spanish Extra on Youtube. It’s super corny but I found it a really useful resource to practice hearing and interpreting Spanish.
Forget Google Maps. Asking for directions is a great way to practice and meet locals!