Easily exceeded expectations

I have been at the Tico Lingo Spanish school in Heredia, Costa Rica for the past five weeks and have one more week of study remaining. I am 64 years of age and retired. I came here as a beginner who knew a tiny bit of Spanish and understood very little when listening to others speak the language.

Considering that I grossly underestimated the scope of learning a new language and have been humbled by how big a project it is, I can still emphatically state that my experience here has greatly exceeded my expectations in every way.

This school is fortunate enough to employ some extraordinary individuals. Head of Spanish, Freddie Fariña, is simply a brilliant linguist and teacher. His ability to understand the English language in more detail than most native English speakers has made the inevitable confusion that arises from fundamental differences between these two languages remarkably easier to understand and navigate.

He is simply the best Spanish teacher I’ve ever encountered.

The other professors at the school are all highly qualified and effective as well and through some optional private lessons I have had the delightful experience of studying under most of them.

The support staff, especially Yenifer in the front office who is the heart and soul of the day to day operations, all combine their personalities with those of the faculty to create an environment that is welcoming, supportive, and always fun.

The range of students here is delightful, from many young adults, middle aged folks on up through old guys like me, with everyone interacting together in friendly and respectful ways. It’s a great atmosphere. I have made several friends who will remain my friends for the rest of my life.

My homestay experience has also been more than I could’ve hoped for. I can only speak for my particular hostess, Sandra, but the food has been delicious and my freedom to come and go as I please has never been a problem. Her home is lovely with an indoor garden, it’s open and airy and I feel completely at home here.

The school was founded about five years ago by a young American named Christopher who, along with his friend Freddie Fariña has done a remarkable job in assembling his staff and creating a lovely environment.

I chose the school for number of reasons before knowing any of the people there. Primarily, I wanted to be in a safe environment where the temperature was not excessively hot and where there were fewer tourists who might contaminate my environment with English.

The town of Heredia in Costa Rica sits at about 3600 feet in altitude on the Leeward side of the mountains thus enjoying temperate weather and a dryer climate. It is remarkably comfortable here. The small city of Heredia has it’s downtown at a 10 minute walk from the school and is a half hour by car from the international airport. It is remarkably safe and friendly, with clean streets and lovely people with lovely parks and a very cool market place.

I miss my wife and look forward to returning home but I have every intention of returning here for another six weeks of instruction. I have at least quadrupled my Spanish abilities during this time and although I still have far to go before I can understand native speakers easily, I now know that that goal is within my reach. I highly recommend the school to anybody looking for a positive experience in learning Spanish. I will be back.