Study Spanish Cheaply in Guatemala and Honduras

By Susan Armstrong

Language schools in Guatemala and Honduras are an economical way to learn Spanish and absorb the culture. They arrange housing with a native family who agree to spend part of each day talking with the student in Spanish.

I recently attended Casa Xelaju, in Guatemala's second largest city, Quetzaltenango (nicknamed Xela, pronounced Shela).

For an additional fee I was met at the airport in Guatemala City, driven to a modest hotel room for the night, picked up in the morning, taken to breakfast, and put on a bus to Xela. The school arranged for someone to meet me at the bus stop in Xela and take me to the home of my host family.

More than Language Study

Most language schools in Guatemala offer volunteer opportunities in the community or the surrounding areas. They also provide weaving and dancing classes and even internships for people who can commit two to four months to intensive work. Students can receive credits, and adults of any age are welcomed.

Classes are usually offered in the mornings. In afternoon programs, available on a voluntary basis, the schools try to show the students as many aspects of Guatemalan/Honduran life as they can. For example, one afternoon my class visited a small town with the oldest colonial church in Guatemala. The village was famous for traditional weaving, and the teachers arranged for us to meet a family of weavers.

In Honduras, I stayed in the small town of Copan Ruins because it was only a 1-kilometer walk from the ancient Mayan ruins of Copan. While Quetzaltenango offered all the diversions of a city of 90,000 people, Copan Ruins had the laid-back pace of a small town of 5,000. Evenings are spent at the square.

With afternoons and evenings free, we had plenty of time to get to know the local culture and people. Any questions that come up during free time can be addressed the next day in class. I found this an excellent way to study a language and get to know Central America on a budget.