Antigua Guatemala

focuses on learning Spanish while visiting the most popular tourist destinations of Guatemala,Antigua, Lake Atitlán, Quetzaltenango, Río Dulce and Livingston. Classes may take place on a coffee farm, in a museum, park, lake shore, or in the classroom in Antigua.

Offers private Spanish lessons. Also offers choice of Student houses or Family stays accommodation, each with 3 meals/day 6 days/week, and private bathroom on request. Daily activities such as cultural exploration are frequently arranged by the school.

Spanish school Antigua is the most popular - though not the cheapest - place to learn Spanish in Guatemala. Prices and hours vary, and can change depending on the season. Also note that home-stay opportunities are available as a cheaper and more culturally enriching living situation than a hotel; the average home-stay with a Guatemalan family costs Q585 for 7 nights in your own room with shared bath and 2-3 meals per day except Sunday. It is well worth it to pay a little extra for your own bathroom or shower, and search for a family who takes in only one or a few students and local Guatemalan boarders for more immersion of the local culture. Families often visit each other on Sundays, and not available to provide meals. If you are the only student in the home, you are often invited for family get togethers, and it is quite a cultural experience. Informal conversational class can be had with the many shoe shiners in the central park, if you chose not to have your shoe shined and pay them a few bucks instead. Their education and vocabulary can be very limited, as Spanish is often their second language, and Mayan is their first.

Centro Linguistico Internacional

(http://http://www.spanish...) cli spanish school in antigua guatemala is the premier language school in antigua, with many features other schools simply do not have. internet with wi-fi, travel services, rooms, apartments, laundry, meal facilities and more.

Spanish Abroad

(http://www.spanishabroad....) provides an outside perspective on the quality spanish schools available in antigua. with over 10 years in the industry, onsite inspections and feedback from students have guided the decision process on the schools to offer in the area.

Learn Spanish in Antigua Guatemala in a serious and exciting way at "La Unión" language, cultural and Travel Center.

Escuela Jimenez

This school offers one-on-one instruction, customized to the student based upon an initial interview to determine the student's current knowledge of spanish. located near the main market street, the school is a family-operated business headed by miguel morales-jimã©nez. (http://www.spanish-school...)

Guate Linda Center

Among the languages offered for teaching are: spanish, english, french, italian, german, japanese, korean, and a mayan language named kakchickel. accommodation on school grounds is readily available. education is done on a single teacher per student basisone on one, with an average study time of 20-35 hr a week. (http://guatelindacenter.com)

Escuela Tecun Uman

Run by mario castellanos, one of the most experienced teachers in the city, the school has a good reputation with foreigners. (http://thegringosguide.co...)

Hill of the Cross Cerro de la Cruz is the hill is located on the north end of the city. You can walk to the base of the hill from anywhere in Antigua within 10 to 20 minutes. Regularly scheduled police escort to the top of the hill is done frequently. The schedule can be obtained from any tourist police found everywhere in the city and near the central park. They will tell you to walk to the police station in the south west end of town about 1 block north and one block west of St. Lucia catholic church. This simply will allow you to sign in the log book and hike an extra 20 minutes to the hill. If you prefer, wait at the bottom of the hill about 20 minutes after the scheduled tour, and you can tag along with the main police escorted tour, and saving yourself a 20 minute walk. Robberies have taken place on the walk up the hill. The walk last less than 10 minutes, but is tough if you are out of shape and can not keep up. Explain this to the police and tip him a little, and he will slow down for you. They too have a time constraints and want to let you have a full 20 minutes on top of the hill. Robberies have occurred on this hill without police escort, and resulted in the death of one tourist who refused to give up his valuable. Poor people live up on the hill side, and do not agree to let anyone take you up the steps, unless they are uniformed police.

Artisan Workshops Spend an afternoon with a local artistan specializing in Jade, metal works, or textiles. Enjoy a unique cultural experience and come home with a hand made gift! Check out As Green as It Gets for more information (http://www.asgreenasitget...)

El Mercado or the Market is located about 3 blocks directly west of the northwest corner of the town center. Walking through it is a cultural experience. The market is opened every day including Sunday, but is largest on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday. It is big, like a maze, and you will likely lose your way. It is dark in the covered areas, and brighter on the outside sections. The cheapest food, commodities, fresh meat, and gifts are found here. There are so many sections to the market, that one need to spend nearly a full day to see it all. Toward the south, is a modern, clean and well stocked gift, art and local artisan shop arranged around a central fountain. To the west is the bus station, where you can take buses to all local towns, and guatemala. To the east is the boulevard where well stocked supermarkets and restaurants are located. To the north, there are open soccer fields and the used clothing second hand items are sold. In the center of the market are dark alleys going through meat markets, "mini" restaurant rows, flower shops, and numerous fruit stands. A large outside area by the bus stop is an open air fruit market - where beautiful papaya, large mangoes, ripe pineapples, and all sorts of exotic tropical fruits are sold. Of course, the usual banana, apples, grapes of outstanding freshness and qualities are also found. Occasionally, livestock such as chicken and small mammals are sold also. It is a gathering place for all Antiguans, and where most families buy their groceries. You are guaranteed to get lost each time you enter the main area of the market. Straight in and straight out is the preferred method of navigation unless you had a compass and a map. The market has grown tremendously to the dismay of the locals who talked of the clean and bright well organized and smaller more beautiful market they grew up with.

Coffee Farm Tour Learn how to pick, process and roast your own coffee! Spend a day with a coffee farmer, on the base of Vulcan Agua, and learn how a day in the life of a small independent coffee farmer looks like. Tour will take you up the volcano to pick coffee from their fields. They will then take you to their homes to demonstrate how to separate the coffee fruit by density, husk the fruit, ferment and wash the beans, dry, remove the inner hull, sort by size and grade, roast, and - of course - taste! $25 bucks is a pretty good deal for the day, and includes 1 pound of coffee as well as English translation and guide services). Check out this link for more details: (http://www.asgreenasitget...)

Chocolate Making Class Learn how to make chocolate from the cocoa beans. A unique experience where you learn everything about the history of chocolate, the cacao plantations and the idustry of chocolate making. At the end of the class you will make your own chocolate bar at your taste and will be able to bring it back home with you. For more info visit ChocoMuseo's website

Escuela de Espanol Cooperacion

7 av norte, 15b. a highly recommended school run as a cooperative, ensuring teachers get paid fairly. the school has a nice garden area for studying. q750/week for 20 hr of one-on-one lessons. homestays with guatemalan families are available. email for more information.

Spanish Language Schools 123teachme

(http://www.123teachme.com...) is an independent, non-profit listing of language schools located all over the world. recommendations and comments are made by former students about different schools; each school is rated according to a five star system. students classify their school according to the criteria described on the site.

Spanish school Don Pedro de Alvarado

(http://www.guacalling.com...) one student, two teachers.our school suggests a 6 hours a day course.we find that the most successful students, the ones who achieve the most fluency and accuracy in the language, are the students who study for six hours each day.the student studies with one teacher each morning with the primary focus being on grammar and usage. in the afternoon, the student will study with another teacher who will concentrate on improvements in conversational skills.

Proyecto Lingüistico Francisco Marroquín

This is the oldest spanish school in antigua, founded in 1969, which has expanded to include courses in a number of mayan languages, including kaqchikel, k'iche and mam. their "complete immersion program" includes the option of accommodations with a guatemalan family. (http://www.plfm-antigua.org/)