Don Pedro Learn Spanish in Antigua Guatemala

I studied twice with Don Pedro in Antigua. The first time was for one month of full-time, one-on-one lessons with Lhena. I had studied Spanish throughout school when I was younger, and wanted to speak more fluidly in my 50s. Lhena is a wonderful teacher and I never grew bored with our 4 hours together each day. We had very wide-ranging conversations on many topics, and reviewed grammar (especially the subjunctive). Lhena is terrific at correcting my errors without interrupting the flow of the conversation. Several afternoons each week the school planned activities and visits to local spots for students: a coffee plantation, a jade factory, a macadamia nut plantation, to mention a few. One or two evenings each week there were dinners and salsa dancing at the school, and students were joined by many of the teachers and staff as well as a wonderful salsa teacher!

The year after I studied with Lhena, I wanted to maintain the Spanish language skills I had learned, and also focus on topics pertaining to immigration, since I was planning to volunteer with an immigrant advocacy organization on the US/Mexico border. This time I studied with Bety via Skype. Like Lhena, Bety is a warm, wonderful persona and Spanish language instructor. Although my request to study immigration-related vocabulary and topics was a bit unique, Bety rose to the occasion, bringing relevant newspaper articles, ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) immigration forms and films to our lessons. I learned so much and enjoyed all of my lessons with Bety! I wholeheartedly recommend studying Spanish at Don Pedro in Antigua.

My daugther and I studied 2 weeks at the school. Back in Canada I took a package of hours to continue classes by Skype. My teacher was Claudia Raquel Muñoz Fernández, I truly recommand Claudia, she is a very good teacher. She is professionnal, punctual, she has a good methodology and she adapte the classes to my needs. She prepare the classes, send me texts to read, or documentaries to watch and the next class we were discussing and commenting on it. We discussed about our distinct culture and country. The exchanges were very enriching. This way of learning is very stimulating.

Thank you Claudia!

In 2014, I spend 6 weeks in the Don Pedro School in Antigua and had the time of my life. Last year I read that the school also offers Spanish lessons over skype. Prices are very reasonable, in comparison with what you pay here in Switzerland, for private lessons. The payment process is easily settled through PayPal.

Over a year now, I enjoy an hourly skype lesion each week. The connection runs to 90% stable although the school could improve some of its IT-equipment.

My teacher Dalia is doing a great job in that she makes the lessons very varied. Sometimes we talk about a current topic, sometimes grammar is in the focus or I have to do exercises. Dalia deals with my gaps by giving me appropriate homework, which we will discuss afterwards.

Overall: A great program, which I highly recommend to anybody, who would like to extend his Spanish skills and stay connected with beautiful Guatemala.

First, I found the school mentioned in the article: Antiqua Guatemala City Guide: What to see plus the best bars, hotels and restaurants (The Guardian March 30, 2018). The article mentioned Don Pedro school being one of the best and oldest in Antigua. I contacted the school, and asked if they could offer me a private online conversation class and they did. I studied 1 hour a week for about 18 months starting in 2018 with Claudia Muñoz Fernández who is a wonderful teacher with years of experience with people from all over the world and of different ages and levels of Spanish from complete beginners to advanced. She was punctual, a very good listener, not a constant interrupter for corrections like some teachers, friendly, not only Guatemalan but a fan of Guatemalan history and culture, interesting, funny, and very helpful just to name a few of her attributes. She made me feel very relaxed in such a short time that I felt we had been friends for many years. In addition, Claudia is very hard working, patient and adaptable to changes in class times and most importantly good at explaining intricacies of Spanish as well as her culture. I think she speaks English (my native language),but she never spoke it with me which was great. We only used Spanish.

Claudia definitely inspired me to want to visit Guatemala and I would not hesitate to study with her again at Don Pedro Spanish school in Antigua or online. Note, I did not study in Guatemala so I don't know about the school's accommodations.

I studied at Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School for 4 months in 2019 and I had a fantastic experience. My spanish improved remarkably thanks to the high quality of teaching offered. My teacher Maby was really fantastic, very kind and professional and she really helped me get to the level of spanish I wanted.

The classes take place in a beautiful garden. There is amazing local food to try everyday and also salsa dance lessons for those who are interested! The home stay was also a fantastic experience.

I really can't recommend this school more highly!

I really recommend this program to anyone wanting to learn Spanish, I had a really wonderful and enjoyable time learning Spanish. My teacher Dalia was a very skilled teacher, using different methods to teach me Spanish in the short time we had (5 days!!). After the 5 days of Spanish class with NO prior knowledge of Spanish I am able to communicate and practice with people all over Central America and South America which has GREATLY improved my backpacking experience! The homestay experience was also a great experience, my host family was very welcoming and accommodating. I was especially grateful to them for accommodating to my difficult dietary restrictions including vegan and gluten free! The family spent time cooking each meal for me and sitting down to eat with me which was really lovely. They took me out to an event with them and on my first night there their daughter me a mini tour of the town of Antigua. It’s really a wonderful added culture experience to stay with a local family while you are learning Spanish.

J'ai adoré mon expérience à cet endroit qui est tout d'abord magnifique et bien situé à Antigua, Guatemala. Les maestras Migdalia (Dalia) et Heidy sont formidables. Tout en étant sérieuses et concentrées sur le programme d'apprentissage, elles font en sorte qu'on se sente chez-nous à l'école et qu'on ait du plaisir. Les programmes sont faits sur mesure et sont très flexibles, en fonction de nos besoins. Des activités supplémentaires sont également organisées.

J'ai également apprécié le fait que l'école soutienne des jeunes élèves d'Antigua qui sont démunis ou qui ont besoin d'aide pour les devoirs scolaires. Nous avons partager quelques repas avec eux et discuter ensemble.

Ma famille d'accueil était toute simple, souriante, aidante. Mon logement était très propre et la nourriture très bonne, toujours servie à temps.

Enfin, je me suis toujours sentie en sécurité à Antigua quand je marchais en ville ou que je participais à des randonnées dans les volcans.

I would definitely recommend this program !

my 6 weeks in Don Pedro school was a really good experience. Thanks to my teacher Claudia, I can now have a conversation in Spanish! A lot of activities to discover the city of Antigua and a good project to support the kids who don’t have the chance of having food at every meals. Thanks to Elsa, every Tuesday and Friday we get the chance to eat a typical meal with the children. The family also give you the opportunity to live as a real Guatemala and to discover the local food
It’s a really good way to know the culture and the way of life of Guatemala. It’s an amazing country and you can travel all around from Antigua, it’s really easy. A lot of travel agencies provide the safe travel.

Thank you a lot!