Program Reviews

My teenage son and I spent a wonderful week at Agualivar in summer 2023. We liked it so much that we returned in spring 2024 – and we hope to make it back again one day.

The family is warm, and it is a special experience to be welcomed into their lovely home, to learn from them not just the language but the culture and to speak with Spaniards about a variety of subjects. And the home-cooked Spanish meals are delicious.

I can hardly think of a better place for a Spanish lesson than their porch, with its stunning view of the Mediterranean. In our spare time, we enjoyed long walks along the sea, and during our summer visit, the pool was refreshing.

Most importantly, we left with a much greater understanding of Spanish, especially from the conversation outside of the class sessions. My son says he learned as much from Agualivar as he did from a whole term in school.

This May I enjoyed a wonderful Spanish Immersion course at Agualivar. The family was so warm and welcoming, the classes excellent, the accommodations beautiful, and the Spanish homestyle meals were beyond delicious. 

While  at the school, you will speak Spanish 100% of the time. This can be intense at times, but is a great way to rapidly improve your language skills within a friendly family environment. 

The Spanish classes taught by sisters, Stefi and Eli, were challenging and fun. With only 4 students per class I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with the group.

Carmen (Stefi and Eli’s mother), was so much fun to visit with and is an incredible cook, who prepared us delicious homestyle meals, which we all shared around a lively table. 

In the afternoons, Anna, our wonderful “culture and field” guide would take us on excursions to various archaeological and cultural sites. We often finished with great conversation and a cool drink at an outdoor café.

I highly recommend (and hope to return to) Agualivar. It offers a true Spanish Immersion experience within a lovely family environment.

What a great week! We were certainly immersed in the Spanish language, culture and way of life. Our lessons each morning, outside on the patio, overlooking the sea, were run by Fani and Eli; fantastic hosts and excellent teachers. Everything was super organised, but in a very warm and supportive way. We all spoke Spanish absolutely 100% of the time, even though the other 3 people I was lucky enough to study with were all native English speakers. I don’t think any of us even thought to drift into chatting in anything except Spanish.
Carmen, the mother of Fani and Eli, produced delicious (and healthy) meals made from local produce, and meal times were further opportunities to chat with our teachers/hosts.
The afternoon activities each day were fun and we also had one really good evening in a local restaurant where we ate and watched a great flamenco show.
I found it a fantastic week, and would love to go back and study there again.

La maison est spacieuse, chaque étudiant a sa chambre qui fait face à la Méditerranée. Les repas sont délicieux avec un souci de présentation. Carmen et ses filles Éli et Fani préparent les repas qui sont variés et qui représentent bien la culture espagnole. Tout est bon. L’ambiance est agréable. Pour moi ce fut l’occasion de PARLER la langue 24/7 …..une immersion totale qui m’a permis d’améliorer la capacité à converser.
La facilité de se rendre à l’école en taxi organisé par les professeurs. De plus tous les moments passés avec Ana la jeune femme tellement gentille qui s’occupait de nous sortir, les étudiants, tous les jours de 16h à 19h pour découvrir différents lieux aux alentours. Un vrai bonheur.

English:
The house is spacious, each student has their own room facing the Mediterranean. The meals are delicious with attention to presentation. Carmen and her daughters Éli and Fani prepare meals which are varied and which represent Spanish culture well. All is well. The atmosphere is pleasant. For me it was the opportunity to SPEAK the language 24/7…..a total immersion which allowed me to improve my ability to converse.
The ease of getting to school by taxi organized by the teachers. Plus all the moments spent with Ana, the very kind young woman who took care of taking us, the students, out every day from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to discover different places around. A real joy.

I spent the first two weeks of April 2024 at the Agualivar School of Spanish Immersion. The setting is the family home/farm of the teachers, Eli and Fani, and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea just east of the city of Malaga. The school’s atmosphere is relaxed and intensive at the same time, because of the concentration and focus necessary to adopt your non-native language 24/7.

Fani and Eli use teaching methods that are instructive and fun. Both teachers are also exceptional in their ability to explain Spanish grammatics, sentence structure, parts of speech and colloquialisms.

Each morning is dedicated to didactic lessons and each afternoon involves excursions with family friend, Anna, to nearby landmarks/towns and/or cultural experiences, e.g., beachside refreshment huts for beer and tapas.

Anyone looking for serious exposure to the Spanish language, mixed with a very comfortable family home atmosphere and top flight Spanish instructors should seriously consider Agualivar Spanish Immersion School as money well spent.

En Español:
Pasé las dos primeras semanas de abril de 2024 en la Escuela de Inmersión en Español de Agualivar. El entorno es la casa/granja familiar de las profesoras, Eli y Fani, y tiene vistas al Mar Mediterráneo, justo al este de la ciudad de Málaga. El ambiente de la escuela es relajado e intensivo al mismo tiempo, porque la concentración y el enfoque necesarios para adoptar tu idioma no nativo 24/7.

Fani y Eli utilizan métodos de enseñanza que son instructivos y divertidos. Ambas profesoras también son destacadas por excepcionales en su capacidad para explicar la gramática española, la estructura de las oraciones, las partes del habla y los coloquialismos.

Cada mañana se dedica a lecciones didácticas y cada tarde incluye excursiones con Anna, una amiga amable de la familia, a lugares/pueblos y/o experiencias culturales cercanas, por ejemplo, chiringuitos para tomar cerveza y tapas.

Cualquiera que busque una exposición seria al idioma español, combinado con un ambiente hogareño muy cómodo e instructores de español de alta categoria, debería considerar seriamente la Escuela de Inmersión en Español Agualivar como dinero bien invertido.

What a fantastic experience ! Fani, Elly and Carmen welcome you into their beautiful home and make you feel right at home. Lovely, comfortable, clean rooms and beautiful surroundings . Delicious home cooked food every day prepared and shared with the family .
The daily Spanish lessons are excellent , well planned and fun. In addition to the lessons you are taken out and about locally each day for further tuition by the lovely Anna.
This is total immersion and very full on. Absolutely no other language than Spanish . A brilliant way to test your Spanish skills and gain confidence .

Exhausting but well worth it.

I recommend this course to anyone who is serious about moving their Spanish to another level 😊

I had an amazing experience with the Agualivar Spanish Language Immersion program. From the beginning, everything was perfect: Fani very kindly setup travel for a fellow student and I, and we had a really enjoyable taxi ride with the friendly driver to and from the school. We were shown to our rooms, which have balconies and spectacular sea views as well as private bathrooms.

The meals were delicious, with fresh food and warm conversation. There were four students the week I was there, and I appreciated how much care and attention we each got. I was the least experienced with communicating, so it was not always easy to keep up with everyone, but I never felt anything but encouraged. Fani was always so kind and encouraging, as well as expressive, so adept at being understood. She made sure I had as much opportunity to talk as anyone else. As the least capable, it would have been easy to be overshadowed by better students, but that never happened, and I really appreciated the effort Fani made for me to participate equally.

The coursework is well-designed, with a personal touch that encouraged us to speak and question. We had homework every day, and time to rest in our pretty rooms, so took that time to immerse in the language even when taking in a quiet moment. There was even time to take a dip in the pool while I was there.

We had several really fun outings to see some lovely sights. I really enjoyed everything about Agualivar. The week was spectacular, and don’t think you could find a better Spanish immersion program.

My goal was to push myself to grow to the next level, and thanks to the skill of Fani’s teaching and her warm encouragement, I feel greatly improved speaking and understanding Spanish. I have even stayed in touch (communicating only in Spanish of course) with one of my fellow students. It was hard work and a glorious experience.

I had a great experience at the Agualivar Spanish School. Th home where we stayed is large and beautiful, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. They made every effort to provide delicious food, accommodating everyone's tastes. The Spanish lessons were geared to my level and every day we had a new experience. The experiences included tasting olive oil, exploring a supermarket in Spanish, exploring nearby towns, and a cooking class. They were well organized and classes were individualized. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to improve their Spanish. It is for intermediate and advanced learners.

The week I spent at Agualivar learning Spanish was incredible! My Spanish improved greatly and I learned about Spanish culture. The gorgeous house (mansion) where we had classes and meals and slept was so unique. My room had a balcony with an unobstructed view of the sea and the olive trees on the property. Our small group had lessons together which were quite varied and we had excellent meals together where of course we only spoke Spanish since it’s an immersion school. I loved that we had activities each day that took us to neighboring towns and areas so I feel like I got to know Malaga – and would gladly return there as well as to the Agualivar school. Our teachers were excellent and I really enjoyed our small class size.

I stayed at Agualivar for one month and had a life changing experience!! Although my experience with Agualivar was nearly two years ago, I still often remember this time with nothing but gratitude. My review will not be able to do my experience justice because it was just that special!! Somehow Eli and Fani were able to uniquely tailor my experience to my learner needs and travel wishes making it exceed all of my expectations. Fani, Eli, and Carmen welcomed me into their home and made me feel like a part of their family! They are so kind and full of love and warmth. They are truly some of the most special people I have met- they quickly changed from being teachers to friends. They were thoughtful and intentional in how they crafted this experience for me and the other students. For example, I spent the American holiday Thanksgiving with them, and they created an incredibly elaborate feast for us to celebrate with all the traditional staples- turkey, cranberry sauce (which was better than any I’ve tasted back in the states), and mashed potatoes. They also made sure that the other students who studied there at the same time as me were around my language level, leading to enhanced learning for all of us. In a short month I was able to improve my Spanish immensely. As teachers, they created an encouraging space for me as a language learner to build confidence with speaking. They knew exactly when to correct my mistakes so I could learn and when to allow them so that I could build confidence. They also provided Spanish lessons and engagement in multiple contexts. During my stay, we did this through classroom lessons, hikes, cooking experiences, wine tastings, games, over meals, at the local beach bar, excursions to nearby towns, etc. On our excursions, they took us to many hidden gems of southern Spain, avoiding many of the more common tourist attractions and instead giving us a glimpse of the real beauty of Spain.

The school itself is such a unique experience! The food is made fresh by Eli and Fani and was consistently delicious! They have a vast garden with fresh produce at all meals-my favorites were the mangoes and avocados! The accommodations were very comfortable- I was given my own room and bathroom and the views were unmatched! The school is located right on the coast of the Mediterranean with beautiful views from almost every room in the house! My favorite place to study was on the patio overlooking the sea! Additionally, during time off on the weekends, they gave great recommendations on where to visit and how to make the most of the excursions.

The depth of language development, friendships built, and travel experiences all made this a trip I will remember for the rest of my life! I wish I could go back every year! I have nothing but love and appreciation for these wonderful teachers and friends!