Learn Spanish in Bocas del Toro, Panama

My family and I attended Habla Ya Panama in Boquete for six weeks, in anticipation of a move to Chile for a year. The experience was great.

First, a word about Boquete and surrounding Chiriqui. We visited in July and early August, which is the rainy season, and the weather was great for us. It was never hot, and there was usually a strong cool breeze, just perfect summer weather. In the afternoons, at least in July/August, it often rains, so you might schedule classes for the afternoon. We stayed at Isla Verde, a series of bungalows with kitchenettes about a 3-4 minute walk from the school. They were surrounded by lush gardens, and I was very happy with our stay there. The restaurant at Isla Verde, Colibri, was our favorite in Boquete, but mostly we ate at the inexpensive local restaurants, Sabrason, Amarillas, and Orchiadas. The main part of the town, Boquete Centro, is fairly small, and has a mix of supermarkets, stores, and restaurants catering to locals, as well as more tourist oriented restaurants. Boquete some great coffee and chocolate shops (this is the source for some of the best coffee in the world). The town is surrounded by verdant hills, which is lovely, and you can buy pineapples and other vegetables on the street and in the fruit and vegetable market for inexpensive prices, so it’s nice to have a place to stay with a kitchen. There are fresh fruits everywhere, a few of which I’d never seen before, and many restaurants have batidas (fruit shakes) and fresas con crema (strawberries and cream). Boquete positions itself as an adventure town, and there is a lot to do outside the town, including hikes, coffee, honey, and chocolate farms, Volcan Baru (which I didn’t visit), and ziplining and other trips. For the hikes, you can just take a taxi to a trailhead, and then catch a minibus back to town. My favorite out of town adventures were a rafting trip and two visits to the Mini Canyons, where you can swim and picnic with the locals in lovely warm water. In town, we had an amazing cooking class experience at Colibri, and a chocolate making experience at A Perfect Pair, which we loved as well.

I came to Habla Ya with no Spanish language experience, and after six weeks I can communicate fairly well, having a conversation with anyone. I’m very happy with the progress I was able to make. My vocabulary is still fairly small, and when native speakers talk with me rapid-fire, I often need to ask them to slow down. For the first three weeks, I worked out of their first workbook, which gave me all of the foundations for the language. It was well organized, and I learned basic past, present, and future tenses, how to conjugate verbs, and a lot of other language structure. The next three weeks I worked out of a second book that added additional tenses, and other concepts. I think the school is very language structure oriented, which worked well for me. For these two books they were essentially laying the foundations for me so that I could add vocabulary later and conceptually know how to use it. The classes we took were from 1-5pm, with a 20 minute break in the middle. I had about 15-20 minutes of homework at night, but then I would generally spend another 40 minutes or so reviewing the day’s work, which was a big help in cementing my learning. Because I was there in the off-season, I had essentially about 3 weeks of private lessons (since there was no one else at my level at that moment), and three weeks with 2-3 other students in the class, who were coming from the US, Germany, and France.

I had two professors:
My professor, Pedro Abrego, was great. He’s a quiet person, and fairly reserved, and conveys both humility and an unflaggingly positive attitude. He’s extremely knowledgeable and dedicated to teaching. He keeps the class moving at a quick pace, although he’s happy to work through a concept until you understand it. He will not speak English, which in some cases might have saved some time (it can take me a long time to ask a question in Spanish), but I think that is part of the professors’ training. His explanations were clear, and I couldn’t believe how much I knew by the end. He was a good fit for me, and he pushed me far in Spanish. I appreciated the chance to learn with Pedro.

My professor, Erian Marin, was wonderful. At different times, he taught both me and my kids, and was equally adept at both. He has a great sense of humor, and makes classes fun to attend. At the same time he helped me move quickly through the lessons, he was attuned to the students who might need extra support, and kept us all on the same page. In the case of my kids, he understood how to balance learning with fun and games. My younger son was not as excited about the material as his older sister, and Erian worked hard to keep them both engaged (including the occasional soccer game). I was so impressed with Erian’s teaching skill and charm, and I routinely looked forward to my classes with him.

​I took classes in all 3 Habla Ya locations and they were all excellent! Boquete however is the perfect blend of adventure and focused study. Kimberly is an EXCELLENT teacher, patient and consistent in reinforcing new and repeat concepts. I highly recommend any branch of Habla Ya, but Boquete was by far my favorite.​

The best part of Boquete is the balanced lifestyle of adventure and relaxation. There are many locals, alot of retirees and a good number of adventure-seekers without it feeling overwhelming. My best advice is to do the scenic tour on arrival - you get to see so much in 2 hours and it really gives you a good understanding of what all there is to do!

If you're there for a few days or more definitely do white water rafting, horseback riding, hiking, a coffee tour, try fresas con crema (yum) and visit Bambuda castle for sure!

I had a wonderful experience learning Spanish with Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro! It was a great way to get a feel for local life since I still worked a full 8 hours a day and then studied for an hour every day after work. I stayed with a host family who was absolutely wonderful, made absolutely delicious food, and they were also incredibly patient while I learned. I arrived in Bocas without speaking any Spanish and by the end of my 6 weeks, my teacher Iraida was explaining the upcoming election and Panamanian politics to me while we only spoke Spanish. Needless to say, my understanding of the language has grown immensely. So thanks Iraida and Habla Ya!

Bocas del Toro is also s a wonderful place for all around fun. If you love the beach you'll love Bocas. It has incredible beaches and amazing diving. If you like adventure and want to learn Spanish, you should definitely spend some time in Bocas. :)

Highly recommended language school! I studied several weeks at HablaYa at lovely Bocas del Toro and had a very great time! The school is well organized and they are offering various opportunities how to study spanish! The students are at every age and from all over the world. I decided to book a group class and I met many lovely people during my weeks. The staff & teachers (Lineth, Benita, Sergio ... ) are just incredible, very helpful, lovely and extremely nice and unique persons. They are not just teachers, they are your "friends and family"! Everybody is trying to give the best, to make your stay far away from home and the learning experience, easy and unforgettable! I felt very safe and very quick "at Home"! They are even organizing many activities "outside" the classroom and studying hours, which was always fun and a very good opportunity to catch up with them and all the other students (like Yoga, Volleyball, Movie Nights, Dinners, Tours around the beautiful island, Bonfire at the beach and many more things)! My special thanks goes to my lovely, wonderful and amazing teacher LINETH! She was always there for me and helped me so much to improve my spanish! She made me feel so secure and welcome from the very first minute. Her teaching style is a perfect mixture of: the basics with all the grammar, talking, playing funny games, laughing and telling very interesting stories about Panama, the culture and the peoples life! She even invited us to her hometown and her family, which was a great experience! I am proud to say, we are very good friends now and I am sure we will see us again, one time! Muchas gracias y hasta luego to my "Chi´s Lineth & Benita" and everybody else! Sandra

I wanted to take a few minutes to compose a review of my experience in Boquete Panama and in particular, speak about Habla Ya, a world class Spanish immersion school that I keep returning to there.

Firstly, I’m a 63 year old Canadian and have lived in the U.S. for the last 28 years. During my formative years in Canada I had little interest in learning a second language and regrettably, while French was an option in the Canadian curriculum, taking it was not mandatory. After my relocation to the U.S. in 1991, I soon learned what a benefit it would be to learn another language. As almost half of the population of Phoenix and San Diego where I divide my time, are Spanish speaking, Spanish had to be my defacto choice.

Unfortunately, as an entrepreneur, my 30’s, 40’s and 50’s were dedicated to building my businesses and this left little time for anything, much less learning a second language. Secretly, during these 3 decades, I had a burning desire to learn the language and during the many trips my wife and I had taken to Mexico, I watched, listened and envied every non-native communicating in Spanish.

Now, fortunately I have an abundance of time and have diligently spent the last 3 years learning the language poco a poco! We’ve all heard metaphor, “slow and steady wins the race” and this is no more applicable than undertaking the exercise of learning another language. I’m completely dedicated and though I may be a little slower than the 20 somethings, I will achieve a level of mastery over this language. I can tell anyone who may be contemplating learning another language, the decision is not to be taken lightly. It’s grueling, frustrating and time consuming! So, why do it? Learning the language is no different than building blocks; you simply keep building on that which you’ve already learned. I’m by no means proficient but there’s very little that I can’t communicate to someone in a Spanish only speaking country. And this folks, is what keeps me going!

Now, to the school. I just completed my third trip to Habla Ya in Panama and each time keeps getting better. The first 3-week segment was in Bocas Del Toro, a quaint little beach town frequented by young and old from all over the world. The last 2 visits were to Boquete, a location I prefer due to its’ cooler climate, beautiful scenery and incredibly reasonable prices. Leidys was my profesora for levels A2 & B1 in Boquete. Leidys has been with the school for 10-years and I’ve found her to be excellent in her ability to teach new concepts and patient enough when certain concepts need to be re-explained. I’d recommend her highly!

The school is completely professional in every respect and there’s little wonder in my mind as to why they’ve earned their very favorable ratings year after year. From trying to accommodate the smallest request to meticulously organizing fun outings for the students, these people do it all!

YOU - QUIT PROCRASTINATING AND START LEARNING!

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No better way to learn Spanish than with Habla Ya in Bocas del Toro. Lineth was the BEST professor- it was a fun and relaxing learning environment. My Spanish skills improved significantly over 4 weeks. The school is very well organized and helps encourage you to keep speaking Spanish outside of the classroom and facilitates fun activities to take advantage of being on this island paradise!

The classes included grammar instruction and conversation practice as well as games to increase your vocabulary. It was so interesting to be at a school like this and interact with people from all over the world.

Bocas is a fun beachy surf town with great restaurants, night life, water activities, beautiful beaches and a charming feel. Habla ya in Bocas offers a total immersion experience and unforgettable trip.

I just completed three weeks of Spanish lessons in beautiful Bocas deal Toro at Habla Ya. It was a great chance to build a grammatical foundation in the language while having the opportunity to further practise speaking and listening in daily life. The staff were all friendly and helpful making it a great experience for the wonderful assortment of international students. My teacher Iraida was patient with a good sense of humour - she took us on interesting outings to see the area and interact with local people, and kept our classes fun with games and activities that offered great learning without ever being boring. I hope to return or try out one of their other locations in Boquete or Panama City. Overall, this was a fantastic experience with practical results that will help me in future travels to Spanish speaking countries.

We just had one week private Spanish lessons with Leidys and it was really great! Me and my boyfriend are having different Spanish levels and she managed that perfectly. She explained everything in Spanish though we could follow even with limited Spanish knowledge. She was a very helpful, enthusiastic and motivating teacher and we really had fun learning Spanish with her. The course was organized really good and we got great learning materials. In general the whole organization of Habla Ya was really great. Futhermore we enjoyed being in Boquete, as it is a very beautiful little town with an amazing landscape!

Raffaela and Lukas
We would higly recommend this language school to all people how want to everyone who would like to raise his spanish skills